I found the Branson area absolutely stunning, but capturing it's rugged beauty from a moving truck proved difficult, here's a few shots:
Turned out that our load we were pulling didn't have to be delivered until Monday morning, which meant the weekend was ours to do whatever we wanted with! Our decision? To spend Saturday at Silver Dollar City! No sooner was the idea proposed then I had the app downloaded and our tickets purchased. ;)
Silver Dollar City has always intrigued me. My family doesn't shut up about the delightfully fun trip they took there when I was three years old and in a stroller. From what they've said though, it seems that for my three year old self, the highlight of that trip was a few bites of kettle corn...whereas they, apparently, rode tons of rides, and watched shows and demonstrations of things like glass-blowing! I have always wanted to redeem that pathetic sounding day for myself, and July 18, 2015 the opportunity literally fell in my lap...so I snatched it!
But wait...
Before you start thinking this was too easy for me, please recall that currently my only source of transportation is an 18-Wheeler with a Conestoga trailer, this was, of course, my always-prepared-father's first thought. I immediately called Silver Dollar City to ask how we could get around this issue. The employee I spoke with was somewhat vague but assured me that the parking attendant would know what to do with us when we got there, and that we would be admitted into the park in the vehicle.
Saturday morning we headed off to battle Branson traffic with eager anticipation of Silver Dollar City. However, once we arrived, things took a bad turn. The so called "Parking Attendant" looked at us like we were crazy when we pulled up in our huge truck and trailer. Dad asked him where we should go and he stumbled around his words and halfway gave us directions to a lot but basically just kept saying, "The curves on the road there are REALLLLLY sharp, like REALLLLY sharp." In so many words, he assured us that it would be ill-advised for us to park on the premises. Dad and I thanked him and started to drive off-neither of us said much-I just left him to think while I silently soaked in the miserable possibility of crushed hopes. Dad simply steered us back onto the highway and started driving. Soon we were completely off of Silver Dollar City's turf and still hadn't seen any lot with a space big enough for us. While I was mulling our possibilities-all zero that I could think of at the moment- Dad was pulling the truck off the highway and into the spacious parking lot of a place called "Sam's Trailers". As soon as he parked, Dad explained to me that we were going to go in there and ask them if we could park the truck on their property. I can't deny that I looked at him a little cynically, but proceeded to march right into the place beside him. Dad introduced us, shook the man's hand, explained our plight, and simply asked if we could park our 18-wheeler in their parking lot all day long. You know what they said? Without asking for any payment (Which we offered), they gave us a resounding YES. Your faith in humans restored yet? Mine was. This story is a perfect example of a few of the things I admire in my Dad- he always calmly finds a way to do what needs to be done, and he's not ashamed to ask a fellow human for a helping hand. It seems to me that people often forget the value of face-to-face interaction. My Dad is one of the few who have not forgotten. Hearing a person's voice, talking fairly and kindly to them, and shaking their hand has power, people.
I could make this post twice as long as it currently is with all the joys which the day at Silver Dollar City held, but we'll just stick with: roller coasters, glass blowing, pottery, water rides, coke floats, show choirs, amphitheaters, my Daddy, pretzels, dippin' dots, fireworks, sunburn, lightning bugs, and lots and lots of smiling.
I think you catch my drift.
Also, Sam of "Sam's trailers" is my fav person ever.
~Ab
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