Branson, MO - Day 4

 

Our last day spent playing tourist we went to Silver Dollar City  - or, as the locals call it "Steal Your Dollar City".

When you enter the park, you are confronted with a cave tour for Marvel Caverns. I remembered doing this tour with Isaiah on our first trip to Missouri, but Ari didn't remember it all.

The cave tour is definitely worthwhile. It takes about an hour and involves a lot of stairs and walking.

A couple of videos of the waterfalls inside the cave.

Tons of pumpkin decorations as we are in Halloween season. There was a demo on how to carve a pumpkin and a booth where you could order a foam pumpkin with a custom design. They were pricey, though.

We weren't that interested in the rides, although Ari did go on the Outlaw Run roller coaster and said it was the best ever.  

There was supposed to be a crafts fair with local artisans, but it was maybe a dozen kiosks and not that great. I have seen better at Farmers Markets.

I also was interested in the entertainment. There were musical acts on-going throughout the park, but many of the acts were Christian-based.

One guy preached how Christians were under attack in this country - which annoyed me. White Christians are the ones in power in this country. They are not the victims. They are playing the injured party because their power is being threatened by minorities demanding equality. Demanding equal rights is not the same as "cancel culture" or taking away anybody's power. 

It's not a pie where if someone gets equality, it diminishes the next guy. Everybody benefits when everyone has an equal shot. We are short of workers and we are neglecting a great resource. If we put people in jobs instead of prisons, we would all benefit. 

Rising tides lift all boats.

One of the M Double O's boarders gave us some persimmon cookies. They are tasty. I have been having them for breakfast and as a small snack here and there. She says the persimmons in Missouri are about the size of a kumquat as opposed to the ones in California which are about the size of a grapefruit. 

California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri...eighteen states means thirty states to go. 

Heading into Arkansas...

So, while we were playing tourist in Branson, we stayed at the M Double O Ranch - that's MOO for those of you a little slow on the uptake.

The M Double O is about 20 minutes outside of Branson, so the location is perfect. Sheryl & Jeff are awesome hosts. Sheryl picked up six bales of hay for us so we could restock our stores. 

She also gave the horses their evening meal as we would pre-load their hay bags and leave them in front of their stalls.

We had water and electric hook-up. 

The horses had large 20' x 12' paddocks with cover, so they were in good accomodations.

Sheryl even took Ari out for a trail ride on their property and they had a fine time.

Sheryl arranged for Brian, her farrier, to come out and give our horses a trim. He also takes care of the horses that perform in Dolly Parton's Stampede.

He did an excellent job balancing their feet and taking care of our boys.

He said he could do horses like ours all day long as our horses basically take a nap during their manicure time.

The M Double O is listed on horsemotel.com, if you want a layover place near Branson with your horses.