Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Branson March 2013 Day 1


Day 1:  Wednesday March 20th



Departure Day!  I got up early to finish packing and get the car loaded up.  We left our house about 8:45 am.  Destination:  Silver Dollar City.  Originally I had intended to go there Thursday, but as the day grew closer the weather forecast was not good for Thursday (snow, cold, yuck!).  Wednesday was supposed to be about 50 degrees and sunny so we took the best opportunity we would get.



We arrived around 1 pm and parked in Lot 5.  We only had to wait a few minutes in line for the tram (which was actually a bus).  The driver literally packed us in that bus – she filled all the seats and then had people stand in the aisle, which is what the girls and I did.  She drove a bit faster up to the entrance than I felt was safe with people standing up!  But we made it safely.

We had to go to Guest Relations to get our season passes printed since they hadn’t arrived in the mail in time.  Unfortunately the line was quite long and it took an hour before we got into the park.   



The girls had requested to go to Grandfather’s Mansion first thing, so that’s what we did!  They love that place.  Next we went to Thunderation.  The line was long.  It took us about 25 min to get on the roller coaster but it was fun.  The bottom photo was taken from inside the loading area, looking out over the track.  In the summer you can't see much, if any, of the track because of all the leaves.





The Grand Exposition was our next stop, for the girls to ride the Magnificent Wave Carousel.  This is a very fancy name for swings.  I can’t ride spinning rides, so fortunately they are tall enough to ride alone.  This particular ride freaks me out for some reason and I have a hard time even watching them ride it, but I let them because they love it.  We waited about 25-30 min in this line.

We headed towards Fire in the Hole.  Partway there we stopped at the Riverfront Theater to watch Mike Bliss, an entertainer who does comedy and juggling, for a few minutes.  It was entertaining but we not enough to spend our time on when our time was limited.  Unfortunately, the line for Fire in the Hole was long.  The girls said they didn’t want to wait that long, and that was ok with me.

I wanted to see the new roller coaster, Outlaw Run, before we left, though, so I went to one of the frozen lemonade stands and asked the man working there if he could tell me how to get to the new roller coaster.  He answered, “Walk.”  Haha!  Once he gave us the real answer (in the Wilson Farms area near the Giant Barn Swing) we checked it out.  You can’t see a lot of it from the deck area the way you can with Wildfire.  The first drop is visible, though, and it looks amazing!!  The sign out front said the wait time was 130 minutes at that point.  My friend Kim and her family had tried to ride it earlier Wednesday and gave up after waiting 3 hours in line.  Apparently weather and mechanical issues were causing problems.  One of these days I’ll ride it, after the new wears off and the lines aren’t two hours long!






On the way up to see Outlaw Run we passed a horse racing game where you make the horses move by squirting a water gun at a target.  It was $3 to play but there was no one else around so I knew at least one of the girls would get something so I let them play.  Chesney’s horse came in first because Allie had a little trouble getting on target at first, but they both got a prize.  Chesney got a small stuffed horse and Allie got a small stuffed pig that says Silver Dollar City on the side.  As we were walking along later, Allie said, “You know, winning stuff is much better than buying it, because it doesn’t cost you anything when you win it!”  Um….well, sure. 




Chesney wanted a funnel cake and there happened to be a funnel cake stand right across from Outlaw Run so we waited in line.  About 20 min.  Have you noticed a theme yet?  Yes, that would be waiting in line.  There was only one person in this stand, taking orders, making the funnel cakes and handing them out.  After about 15 min another employee showed up, it appeared she had gone to get change because she had a big stack of cash in her hands and was out of breath from hurrying.  She was very apologetic for the wait time which I appreciated.  Once she was back, the young man went back to cooking the funnel cakes and the line started moving faster.  They have a red velvet funnel cake on the menu, with cream cheese icing.  I’d love to try it sometime but the girls wanted a regular funnel cake with powdered sugar this time.

I was impressed to see that you could also buy fresh fruit at this food stand - they had individual cups that contained one kind of fruit or a fruit tray with about 3 different fruits plus a yogurt dip, along with whole apples and bananas.  This will be a good alternative to all the bad food available at SDC!




The funnel cake was so delicious and worth waiting on, for sure.  It was warm and chewy, so fresh and wonderful!  We walked towards the exit while we ate, because it was about 4:30 and we needed to get checked in to the condo, get some dinner, and get ready for the Haygoods show that evening.  There was a tram ready and waiting.  It was definitely colder riding back on the actual tram, but not as scary as the bus ride had been.  Always a tradeoff.

Arriving in Branson, we went to the check in center for the Grand Crowne Resort.  Last time we stayed there it was busy and it took a while to get done, but this time I was in and out in about 10 minutes.  They gave me a free Branson Guest Card (which would be $20 if I purchased it online – I know, because I did purchase it online last year).  This was a nice bonus because we will use several of the discounts in it.

We were assigned unit 401A in Building 7.  It’s the smallest of the condos, a one bedroom, one bathroom unit with a living room and full kitchen.  It was very nice and considering that I paid $39/night it was well worth the money!  We unloaded the car and unpacked. 

We didn’t have time to go to the grocery store and fix something for dinner so we decided to eat from the concession stand at the RFD TV Theatre.  I was hoping they’d sell the mini D’Giorno pizzas like the Americana Theatre does, but they did not.  Chesney got nachos, Allie got a corn dog, and I got popcorn.  Our breakfast had been protein bars, lunch was the funnel cake, and this was our dinner lol.

My aunt Winona, her daughter Jessica, and granddaughters Lexi, Kyleigh, and Chloe were in Branson as well.  The above-mentioned Kim was giving away 2 tickets for the Haygoods because she changed her plans, so I got them from Kim and gave them to Winona and Jessica.  I met up with them in the lobby to give them the tickets, but their seat assignments were on the other side of the auditorium so we didn’t sit together.

The Haygoods show was great, as always.  Not much that is new from last year, but slightly different arrangement of things.  Again this year Aaron is absent, but at least he’s no longer on the billboards and flyers, so it’s not as obvious that he’s missing!  The Haygoods add and delete family members like other people add and delete Facebook friends.  The official word is that Aaron is not coming back to the show, but in Haygood speak that probably means he’ll be back soon.














After the show, we waited along with my aunt and cousins to get autographs and pictures of the Haygoods.  They were nice and friendly as usual.  Tim was riding around on his banjo boy cooler and the girls thought that was hilarious. 





Happily surprised to find Andy’s Frozen Custard still open, we hit the drive through.  I ordered the chocolate chip cookie sundae, Chesney got a Thin Mint concrete, and Allie got chocolate custard on a cone.  So delicious!  Then it was back to the condo and time for bed!



Monday, March 25, 2013

January Project Life Layouts

I am not doing Project Life in the week-at-a-glance style.  I am digitally scrapping my photos in chronological order, using templates designed by Becky Higgins and Julie Billingsley, and a variety of digital elements from various designers.  I am self-taught using Photoshop Elements 8.  I absolutely love digital scrapbooking for the convenience!  I don't have a dedicated scrapping area so having everything available on my laptop makes it so much easier to get pages done.

These are my January layouts.  This is the first time I'm posting them on a blog so hopefully it works!


On the right side of this layout, I have a Once Upon a Time sticker from Get Glue that I'm going to put in the journaling box above the TV.










Thursday, March 29, 2012

Branson, Day 5

Sunday was our departure day, so after we awakened from our Andy's-induced-sugar-comas, we got our stuff packed and loaded the Nitro.  Breakfast was protein bars with the promise of an early lunch after we shopped a while.  I wanted to take some random pics before we left town, too.  First, I got the water tower that's behind the RFD TV Theatre.  I probably could have gotten a better view if we'd gone to the Butterfly Palace parking lot, but we were already in the RFD TV Theatre parking lot.

Next, some dead presidents:



While browsing around in the gift shop next to Ronald Reagan, I happened upon this shirt:

"WE NEVER FORGOT 5-1-2011"  Ok...they never forgot, but apparently I never knew...???  I don't know what this shirt is about!

We went to the Disney Store and Old Navy at the Tanger Outlets, after which we were ready for lunch.  After tossing out about 15 suggestions, we ended up deciding to go to Blue Man Grill again. 



This time, I got the Ridge Runner Cluckers from the appetizer menu with a side of those yummy little onion strings.  Katie got the Mamma Mia burger, which is a burger with marinara sauce and provel cheese on it.  The girls both ordered sliders this time.  Everything was delicious again, and everyone was friendly again! 

We headed for Branson Landing when we were done with lunch, and along the way got some more pics of tornado damage.  I'll include those in a separate post about the tornado.  Down at the Landing, we parked in the Belk parking lot and walked on the boardwalk all the way to the Bass Pro Shop end, then backtracked to shop!  Along the walk on the boardwalk we fed some ducks with some leftover bread we'd kept from breakfast the morning before. 



We browsed in the As Seen on TV store and the Christian bookstore, then heard the Marble Slab Creamery calling our names (maybe I imagined that part).



It was good ice cream, but ridiculously expensive.  It was $22 for the three of us.  Those sprinkle cones alone were around $2.50 and then one scoop of ice cream was over $4.  If we ever eat there again, we'll be sharing! 

My next stop was Kirkland's, where I purchased some items I'd seen when we were there Thursday.  I don't do a lot of impulse buying, so I'd been mulling over the decision and finally went for it.  When I everything put where I want it, I'll post pics of my Kirkland's purchases.  I like that store a lot.

The girls checked out one of the candy stores after that, and we sat by one of the fountains and enjoyed the nice weather for a little while.  A quick stop at Payless and then we couldn't find anything else to delay our departure...I so did not want to leave!

Here are some pics of the girls at the fountains at the Landing:





We found a station playing the KU game.  Towards the end we were about to be out of the broadcast area so I pulled off on a side road so we could hear the Jayhawks beat North Carolina and head to the FINAL FOUR!  ROCK CHALK!!  We got back to Lawrence about 2 hours later and downtown was still pretty wild.  I love living in Lawrence when it's tournament time and the 'Hawks are #WINNING!

This wraps up my trip recap for this visit.  I'm not sure when we'll be able to go again, but I'm already looking forward to it.  I'm planning on two more posts related to this trip, a review of the Haygoods show and a post about the tornado, so I'll post the links on 1branson.com when those are up.  Thanks for visiting my blog!