Branson, Missouri - The live music capital of the USA

Marty Haggard, son of Merle

Our campsite in Branson

Us with the cast from Top 10 Rock 'n Roll

It's now Sunday in Branson and we've already seen 5 shows. All were very good and some we considered excellent. The best in our opinion were a show called "Top 10 Rock n' Roll" and "SIX". We bought the DVD from both but are not sure you can get close to the same feeling as from a live show. Tonight we will go to a country music show starring Marty Haggard who is Merle's son. We'll let you know.

Us with 2 cast members from SIX

The Rankinettes from the Rankin Brothers variety show

Elvis impression from Rankin Brothers show

Penny Gilley and Jeff Brandt from her show

Heading south to Branson

We left Cody, Wyoming for Omaha, Nebraska via Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The country is noticeably flatter in this area and not very interesting.  We stayed in Omaha for a few days seeing friends and having some very nice meals as well as visiting the zoo. We basically relaxed after our frantic driving schedule over the previous 2 weeks. We head towards Kansas City, Missouri today and then on to Branson, Missouri.

Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse in South Dakota

MOUNT RUSHMORE

Another well know National Park in the USA is Mount Rushmore. Most Americans are familiar with it but relatively few have visited. It's very patriotic as well as inspiring with its 4 president's heads carved in granite at 5500 feet above sea level.

CRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL

There is another memorial about 17 miles from Mount Rushmore to memorialize an American Indian hero named Crazy Horse. It's a work still in progress after being started in 1948 and nobody at the site will give a completion date.

Yellowstone Park

geyser at Yellowstone

We left Jackson Hole, Wyoming for Yellowstone Park at the northwest corner of Wyoming. Traveling through this huge & magnificent park is something you've heard about your entire life. It seems like the hype would be impossible to live up to. Untrue! We spent 2 days and could have easily spent 2 weeks. The views are constantly changing and the geology is like nowhere else on earth.

geyser at Yellowstone

   Hot water vents at Yellowstone

temporary road block at Yellowstone

Old Faithful geyser at Yellowstone Park

After leaving Yellowstone we traveled north into Montana. Beautiful scenic drive with wide open spaces.

From Montana, traveled west to the cowboy city of Cody, Wyoming

Our trip north

The Grand Teton mountain range in Wyoming

 

We arrived in Dallas October 2 and after a 2 day car trip to Houston where all went well, we started out on our trip north. After traveling thru Oklahoma, Colorado and most of Wyoming and after about 1300 miles and 5 days we arrived in Jackson Hole, Wyoming a very nice upscale western town in Grand Teton National Park. The weather was nice for most of the trip except for the last couple of days which were cold with some snow in the mountain passes. 

Entrance to park in Jackson Hole, Wyoming made from elk horns