Paula and I went to Branson,
Missouri, which bills itself as “The Country Music Capital” (Nashville might
disagree), and it was stupendous!
10 shows in 4 days and not ONE word
of profanity in any of them. Just music, comedy and friendly fun.
One or two stars would come aboard
our bus as it pulled into the parking lot, ask where we were from, chat with us
a while, then welcome us to their show.
After the show, the star performers
would be in the lobby for free autographs and photos of us with them.
When we went to the bus to prepare to
leave, more stars came aboard and thanked us for coming.
This is the friendliest show casts I
have encountered in all my years. Most stars perform, then walk off the stage
and out of your life.
The 1,723 miles on the bus, air-conditioned
as it was, is a mite tough. Once we passed through St. Louis and The Arch and
got to Branson, Gad-About took us to and from our hotel, to breakfast and a
show, to lunch and another show and to dinner and still another show.
And then back to our hotel where it
was easy to fall asleep after all that activity.
We liked the Gad-About experience so
much that we already have booked the Ocean City, Maryland-Assateague Island
wild ponies tour in September, between WVU’s game with Youngstown and BYU. That
Mountaineers open date always opens us up for a trip somewhere.
Next trips:
July 25-28 flight to Alpena, Michigan
for golfing on the Rogers City golf course and chatting with Bob Kasper, Class
of 1950 like me, an annual summer event for two guys who have exchanged the
same two Christmas cards every year since 1955 and who have been best friends
since we first met in first grade at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School in
Monongah. Bob comes to our home in autumn and we go to a WVU game together –
Oct. 22 TCU game in Mountaineer Field this year.
Aug. 18-22 in North Carolina with my
daughter Monnie Ann of Brunswick and her family on their 2nd home
about an hour from Charlotte near Grandfather Mountain. I’ve always been
partial to mountains and Mountaineers.
Sept. 11-14 at Ocean City, Maryland
and roaming with the wild ponies of Assateague Island and Paula, who like West
Virginia is wild and wonderful.
Dec. 5 flight to Orlando, Florida to
re-join Paula, who will drive to her 2nd home in The Villages,
Florida in October. We’ll return to Ohio for the holidays, then drive down
together to The Villages where we’ll stay till late April.
When I think about all this, I still
can’t believe that a coal miner’s son from Monongah has been to 54 countries and
44 states and will play 100 rounds of gold this year.
Life is good. The undertaker can
wait.
If you want to see my online photo
album of my trip to Branson, Missouri with Paula, click on
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