14-BRANSON, MISSOURI, PART 1

We arrived in Branson the day before yesterday, grabbed a quick lunch and headed out for Silver Dollar City.

 Silver Dollar City is a Theme Park built probably in the 70’s. The last time I was here was in the early 1980’s, back when those of us who lived in Kansas, didn’t really know what other theme parks such as Six Flags or Disneyland was all about.

Silver Dollar City could be described as Six Flags on…hmmm…shall we say, on OZARK MOONSHINE!!??

No, no one is drinking, but it is made to look like it has grown up straight out of the Ozark woods. The area is heavily treed with paths meandering up and down hills. 

Many of the buildings which have been there for about forty years, have completely moss-covered roofs. There are lots of shops and tons of artisans, many of them demonstrating the making of their wares.

These guys were doing some outdoor cooking, sort of like an old outdoor campsite. There are a lot of antique items scattered around as well.

And just in case you forgot you were in Hillbilly territory, there was a warning on a water fountain. It reads, “McCoys ONLY, NO Hatfields.”

 

This artisan sold Turkey Calls (for hunting wild turkeys. I found it interesting that his last name was “Buzzard.” I guess birds of a feather really do flock together.

There are very few rides here, unlike Disneyland and those other parks that are primarily wild rides. Those that are here are again, very “Ozark-ish". One of the rides was the Flooded Mine. 

Looking through the trees you can see this building (the mine) is surrounded by water.  Little boats took passengers in, through and around the mine…

…ending up with a serious drop into a pool of water, getting the passengers very wet. The day we were there was only about 50 degrees. The Flooded Mine Tour didn’t get many takers.

A wood turner who used old tools…

…this man made hand crafted wagon wheels…

…and this gentleman was a blacksmith who made knives out of railroad spikes.

There were many other artisans as well, almost anything you could think of, primarily done the way it would have been done a hundred or so years ago.

There were lots of things that were primarily intended to add to the atmosphere like a working wood water wheel next to a stone well house and a split rail fence.

 

This tree house was not open to visitors but was really neat to look at anyway.

There was also a lot of entertainment going on all through the park. Some was inside buildings, others on the “street” where folks just gathered around to watch.

“Houdini” teases a little girl with his tricks.

The Horse Creek singers were really good.

So was the trick horse!

And of course there was lots of food…

I think this boy was trying to get the whole turkey leg in his mouth!

The next day we started our “show circuit.” They have wonderful professional and well known performers here in Branson that put on top quality shows for really reasonable prices. Nothing like Vegas prices. There are dozens of shows going on at any one time. 

Last time we were here we saw the Texas Tenors who were wonderful, so this time we saw the “Three Redneck Tenors.” As hokey as that sounds, they were really good.

The first half of the show was mostly comedy along with beautiful singing. Peel away the comedy, and you found very accomplished musicians. One graduated from the Julliard School of Music and they had all sung with prominent opera companies around the world.

The second half of the show they did more serious singing, the kind that tends to make one jealous of the amazing musical talent of these three gentlemen.

Today we saw The Acrobats of China. This was a team of 25 Chinese athletes who performed amazing acrobatic feats of strength, balance and grace.

Although many shows in Branson welcome you to take pictures, in this one it was forbidden.  So once again I am taking pictures off the web.

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!!

We are scheduled to see a few more shows the next couple days. I’ll fill you in later.

13-EUREKA SPRINGS, ARKANSAS

We have spent the last three days in the beautiful Arkansas Ozarks, Eureka Springs to be exact.


After leaving Oklahoma, we welcomed seeing many more trees and sporting their Fall colors as well. The red leaves had fallen about two weeks ago. Now there are still some yellow leaves and lots of burgundy and rust colored ones.

Roads also began to get more winding as we approached town.

This little town of Eureka Springs is known as the Switzerland of the Ozarks and for good reason. It is extremely hilly, (they call them mountains here) and houses and shops are built on the sides of cliffs all over town. 


That also results in some amazingly steep streets. Being an old town, these steep, winding streets are also very narrow. And being a tourist town, that makes traffic interesting at times.

There are tons of great little shops that I would have loved to spent time exploring, however, since the streets are so steep in most places, I knew my knees would not be happy. 

Also parking is a real issue meaning I would have to do lot of walking on those hills.  I decided to save my shopping for somewhere else where the area is flatter.

Eureka Springs got its name from the many fresh water springs that have surfaced in various places around town. When I was here some 30+ years ago, you could go up to any of the springs and fill your water jug for wonderful tasting drinking water.

Now they have done a lot of lovely landscaping around the springs which is really beautiful to look at. However, there is no place to park near them and there are fences in front of the spring so you can’t get to the water. Times do change, don’t they.

 

From a view point you can see across the valley where the business district is and view the historic 1886 Crescent Hotel.

We had tickets for the Great Passion Play on Thursday night that is held at an amphitheater complex just up the road from our RV park. We had really been looking forward to this.

It was a beautiful Fall day with perfect temperatures when we checked into the park on Tuesday.  We were told that Thursday it would be cold and raining. We immediately changed our tickets to that night. It was a wise move.

Eureka Springs is also known for the Christ of the Ozarks statue. It is on the Passion Play grounds and towers over the entire valley. It can be seen for miles. It is seven stories high  with a 60 foot span. It was erected more than 40 years ago.

There were two other brief performances prior to the Passion Play.

The first was “David the Shepherd.” He was an actor who talked about being a shepherd and applied scriptural truths to the everyday aspects of that vocation. 

He also made sling shots and gave a demonstration of how to use them (on a tree down the hill a bit from this venue.)

Next was “Josephus the Potter.” He was truly a potter who sells his work in the gift shops on the property. 

He made this pot while demonstrating the relationship of Christ as the Potter and we as the clay, with making a real clay pot. Both of these presentations were very inspirational.

The Passion Play began after dark. We were in the nose-bleed section only because there were about a jillion steps to get down near the stage. Once again, the knees dictated where we sat. In other words, we watched from afar. We did have binoculars that helped a lot.

I tried to take a picture as soon as the play began. You would have enjoyed it. Several Roman soldiers in full garb came in riding four or five white horses. 

That was followed by someone leading a camel and lots of sheep being chased by children. However, because of the darkness, my camera required a three or four second second exposure. In other words, all I got was a blur.

Anyway, it was a great Passion Play and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I was told that the company that owns the Play is on the verge of bankruptcy and they don’t know if they will be able to open next year. 

The Christ of the Ozarks statue is in serious need of repair as well. It would be very sad if all of this were to close. This Passion Play has been a very important part of Eureka Springs for many, many years as well as an inspirational experience for thousands of people.

We had seen a sign as we were approaching Eureka Springs advertising “Quigley Castle, Ozarks Strangest Dwelling.” We heard it was interesting so we went.

“Strange” was an apt description.

I had high hopes for Quigley Castle driving down the tree covered dirt road with all the Fall colors all around. After that, things got weird.

The property was owned by Elise Quigley and her husband back during the Depression. They lived in a lumber shack and had five children.  

She designed a new house that was large enough for her family and would reflect her love of nature. The house design had 28 large windows but glass was unavailable during the war.

Elise and her husband argued about the house for months, then one day he went to the lumber mill and she took the children and tore down the house they were living in so he would have to start building the house she had designed.

They built the house completely with their own labor and lumber off their land.  They spent only $2000 for supplies, including glass for the windows, which they were unable to get until three years later. 

Elise wanted to bring nature indoors so she left four feet between the outside walls and the inside walls. In this space she planted large plants that grow up to the second story. They are still there today.

Inside the living room plants are between the two walls.

The same plants reaching up beyond the second floor.

Elise loved rocks and started collecting them out of creek beds, thousands and thousands of them. She covered the outside walls of the house with these rocks, fossils and shells. The yard is also full of things she built or covered with all these rock.

She also loved bottle trees and had several.

The back yard was full of rock wall, seats, and fences all covered with rocks adhered with concrete.

There were several rock flower pots.

Even the mailbox was covered with rocks.

Mrs. Quigley passed away at age 74 in 1984, collecting more rocks right up until the end of her life. Her granddaughter currently lives in a few of the upstairs rooms and shows the house to visitors.

This house was indeed strange, but I was impressed by the amount of hard work this woman put into building her house. It was obviously a labor of love.

As we left the Quigley Castle, we were greeted by this view as we reached the top of the roadway.

Tomorrow we point the RV toward Branson, Missouri. It’s only an hour or so from here, so will be a short trip. We are looking forward to seeing some great entertainers and fun shows in Branson.

12-OKLAHOMA

The last few days we have spent in Oklahoma, a state with great museums and some of the roughest highways we have been on.  OK, I won’t talk any more about the bumpy roads. We will be out of Oklahoma tomorrow and hopefully to smoother roads.


When in Oklahoma City we visited the National Cowboy and Western Art Museum. This is a fantastic place. It is a beautiful and very large building housing tons of amazing art.

This seven foot high original Plaster of Paris casting of “The End of the Trail” greets you as you enter the museum.  

This was found deteriorating in a California park when the museum rescued it. It was then bronzed and the finished bronze is now at the Presidio in San Francisco.

At the other end of the hallway is “The Canyon Princess.” She weights eight tons and is carved out of a single piece of marble. From this angle, she stares right at you.

No, this is not our new RV! Actually the first display we came to was a collection of black and white, somewhat heart-rendering pictures of the Oklahoma dust bowl. Think, “Grapes of Wrath.”

There were many galleries of terrific art that I was not allowed to photograph. I don’t understand the prohibition against photos without flash, but that’s the rules. We have found this in several museums/galleries. Here, when I could take pictures, it had to be without flash. So if I show you some pictures that are a bit fuzzy, you know why.

One of our favorite paintings is, “Emigrants Crossing the Plains,” by Albert Bierstadt, painted in 1867. It is huge, maybe ten by six feet or more. I was not allowed to photograph it.  Again, I’m not sure why. 

If it was for sale, which it wasn’t, it would cost about a gazillion dollars. We bought a print of it in the gift shop, about 16x20 inches, for $25, which we will frame when we get home.

I got this picture of the original off the Internet. So why the prohibition of photography??


There were several collections where I was allowed to take pictures (without flash.)

This was just a small amount of the collection of native clothing. The white spots on the blue dress are elk teeth. 

Milt and Donna, our next door neighbors are leaving this weekend for a hunting trip to Colorado. I wonder if Donna will come home with a new dress covered with elk teeth???

Also rugs, jewelry, and beadwork…

…and feather headdresses.

There was one section on Old Western Movies and the movie actors we all grew up with.

This “theater” showed a movie about old west actors. Don thought they should have served popcorn…

Of course there was Matt Dillon…

And his sidekick, Festus (Ken Curtis). What was really surprising was that Ken Curtis had another career as a vocalist, singing, among other venues, as one of the Sons of the Pioneers. 

He also was married to the director/actor, John Ford’s daughter. If that puzzles you, look at this next picture. He is not always “cock-eyed.”

Lookin’ good, Festus!

This was a life-sized cavalry rider in a collection on the military.

Down at the end of another hallway was a marble statue of Abraham Lincoln.

Don has always been a Lincoln fan. Once in his much younger years, he saw a bronze of Lincoln’s hands. He has talked about it ever since I have known him and continues to look for them.  So I took this next picture for him.

They may not be bronze, but still beautiful.

There was also a life-sized bronze of Ronald Reagan standing in a hallway.

Our friends, Bill and Teri had suggested that when we were in Tulsa, our next stop after Oklahoma City, that we should go to the Gilcrease Museum.

What an incredible place this was!!

This bronze statue was out in front of the museum. This image is also emblazoned on all Oklahoma license plates. 


We went inside to again be confronted with the “No Photography” rule and in both of these museums, guards roam throughout the halls to make sure you don’t lift your camera in a forbidden area.

So this is a picture I took off the web, just to show you the kind of art that is on display at the Gilcrease.

Before we left, we saw a stairway to a lower level that said, “Research Library, 5,000 Artifacts,” so we went downstairs.


We saw a lot of historic pottery, many from Acoma, the same southwest Navajo tribe from which we have gotten most of our personal pottery collection. However, it was only a hundred or so pots that we saw.


Then I noticed that under the shelves of pots, were stacks of pull-out drawers. Pulling out a few of them, we found a treasure trove of artifacts of beaded moccasins, dolls, arrowheads, Mayan pottery and much, much, MUCH more. Here were the 5,000 artifacts and they were amazing.


Then today we went to the Will Rogers Memorial Museum just a few miles north of Tulsa.

This painting is behind the welcome desk. I liked the casual pose of Will Rogers in this picture, as he seemed to approach life in general in a casual manner.

This time, I can take pictures, but without flash. It seems that when they let you take pictures without flash, the things you want most to photograph are in very low light, making sharp pictures a tough thing to accomplish.

In the main hallway, was a life-size statue of Will Rogers.

This painting of Will Rogers roping horses shows his (birth place) home in the background.

This mural shows Will Rogers and the roping he was famous for…as well as acting, wild West shows and other talents.

This was a nice painting of Will Rogers, his wife and children.  Again displayed in low light.

Looking out over the Oklahoma landscape, is the family tomb where, between the walls, is buried Will Rogers, his wife and children.

This picture collage, as we headed out the door, again celebrates Will Rogers amazing roping abilities.

From here we headed 12 miles out of town to the Will Rogers birthplace ranch, Iron Dog Ranch. Will referred to it as, “The White House on the Verdigris River.”

The lady at the museum instructed us that the birthplace ranch was near Oologah Lake. We were told to turn at the Dam Saloon.

Sure enough. There was a Dam Saloon at the corner. There was a sign advertising, “Dam food”, “Dam Beer”, “Dam Dancing,” and goodness knows what else. Oh, well, it’s a landmark that is memorable for it’s name, if nothing else.

The sign, Iron Dog Ranch, let us know we had arrived at the Will Rogers birthplace ranch.

This is a working ranch, so there were goats, donkeys, and horses on the property.

The exterior of the house was very attractive, and considered rather opulent back in the day.

The view from the front of the house was beautiful, overlooking Oologah Lake. However, since I don’t know just when the dam was built filling the lake, there was likely just the Verdigris River or at least a smaller lake, at the time Will Rogers lived at the ranch.

The inside of the house was interesting as it was built one room at a time and the first two rooms were built of log timbers. The lap board siding was added to the house as it was further constructed, covering the timbers.

The house only consisted of two rooms when Will Rogers was born in this room, the family bedroom.

The view out the oval glass in the back door looks across the Oklahoma landscape of valleys and rolling hills.

Tomorrow we head to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, know as the Switzerland of the Ozarks. We are looking forward to seeing the famous Passion Play that performs in an outdoor amphitheater there. 

I saw it there some 30+ years ago. I froze half to death in the cold of the evening back then. This time we will dress warmly. Don is looking to see what they do in the Passion Play that he can incorporate into his monologue performances. However, for some reason, he plans NOT to add any singing into his performances… 

Good plan, Don.