Branson, MO to Oak Grove (Independence), MO

Sunday – March 12  We didn’t do anything last night in Branson, due to the snow.  And we got up to the snow still on the ground and froze to the trees. 

We decide to take a drive around the town.  This town is larger than it seems and the attractions are shopping, shows and restaurants.  Mostly.  We were looking for coffee and found a Krispy Kreme donut place.  Just coffee, we said. That’s all we are ordering, we said.  As we were standing in line, a worker came up and asked us and another two people if we had our free donut yet.  So we each took one. It was free!  Right out of the cooker. It was hot and moist and so good.  So we ordered our coffee and I ordered another chocolate covered donut and Jim had a fritter. 

Not really our kind of town.  I realize we don’t really do too many concerts and those we do are people we really want to see.  The shows must be good because people love them. There are a lot of imitators. One show had imitators of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.  Then Dolly has a big place with a show with horses and such.  We just didn’t see the need to spend an extra night here.  I can see where it might be pretty crowded in the summer. Lots to do.

We left Branson and headed north. We drove through the rest of the pine forest. I guess the Ozark Mountains are spread through northern Arkansas and Southern Missouri.  Later we started getting more oak trees and less pines, but still very woody. 

We crossed a lot of water at the Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Recreation Area.

We left the woods behind in about Clinton, MO and started into farm land.  We found our KOA campground at Oak Grove, MO.

I had contacted shirt tail relatives in Independence when we started this trip. We had arranged to meet for dinner when we got to town.  I wanted to see Martha who is the sister of Marge.  Marge was the step-grandmother to Sonya and Sam.  I had seen Martha several times over the years, when she and her husband would come to Idaho or when I would travel to Missouri with either Jim or Sonya and Sam. Martha is now 88 years old and sharp as a tack.  She brought three of her five children.  Steve brought his wife, Denise. All total we had Jim and I, Martha, Steve & Denise, Neal, and Annette.

Denise, Steve, Neal, Annette, Martha, Cindy

They assured us that Branson is a fun town and that it rarely snows. We also talked about the Lake of the Ozarks where they do some fishing.  It is 100 miles long and is created by two dams.

Steve is going to come pick us up tomorrow and take us out to see Marge’s grave.