2013 RV Trip: Parking challenge, throwed rolls, war, and third time is the charm

After visiting the two caves south of Harrison on Saturday, June 15th we collected Big Red and drove the short hour to the Branson area. Our next stay would be three nights at the Baxter Park Campground (Corps of Engineers) on Table Rock Lake. A rain storm was coming in, so we now hurried to get there. We traveled a hilly, curvy 5 mile road, which dead ended to the campground. Check-in was smooth and friendly. We proceeded to our reserved site which was a back-in right on the lake. Four challenges were immediately presented:
1. interior 1 way road was narrow.
2. the back-in had large landscape stones on each side to avoid.
3. across from the site was a drainage ditch.
4. marking the drainage ditch was a post.

Let's just say this didn't look good. As much as Tim tried he couldn't get Big Red's 45 feet to bend enough. The nice check-in lady could see our distress. She had us hop in her car as we scouted for a useable site. It's the weekend, so our options were limited, but we found a nice site overlooking the lake at the top of a small hill. It worked great and was easy to get Big Red backed in.

Site at Baxter Park campground overlooking Table Rock Lake

We only got a few sprinkles and were able to settle into our site. The sprinkles were a precursor of rain to come. It rained the next two nights. We've seen to Branson twice before. Outdoor theater is one of our favorite things to do when we travel. This time we purchased tickets for the Shepherd of the Hills (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd_of_the_Hills) drama for the Saturday night performance. It took about 30 minutes to drive from the campground to the outdoor theater. Arriving at the parking lot, we were greeted by an attendant advising us the performance had been cancelled because of impending bad weather. 30 minutes later we were back at the campground and it rained. STRIKE ONE.

Father's Day, June 16 was celebrated by phone calls from our two kids families. It was great to talk to them. We celebrated an early Father's Day on Saturday, June 8th before we left town.

One of the three Lambert's Cafes (http://www.throwedrolls.com/) is located north of Branson in Ozark, MO. We decided to go early and maybe we'd miss some of the Father's Day crowd. We arrived about 2 p.m., but our plan didn't quite work.....70 minute wait.

Linda coming back to car after putting our name in

We spent some time waiting in a nearby antique mall and looking around the area.

Finally our name was called and we were ready to eat. Tim had fasted for 24 hours preparing for the meal.

Tim ready for "throwed rolls"

As soon as we were seated the guy came from the kitchen with the rolls cart ready to throw. Tim catches one of the first rolls throwed from the cart from about 20 feet away.

Linda enjoying hot throwed roll

Our meals were served shortly after. They were huge as we had remembered.

Tim's center cut ham with carrots, mashed potatoes and black eyed peas and throwed roll

Tim gorging himself

After stuffing ourselves at Lambert's Cafe, Tim wanted to visit a Civil War battlefield nearby: http://www.nps.gov/wicr/index.htm. Wilson's Creek was a very early battle in the Civil War and a Southern victory. The North found out early the war was not going to be a walk-over.

Tim in front of Visitor Center

Canon on battlefield

An almost 5 mile driving tour takes you through the stages of the battle, which had its ebbs and flows. Signs along the way providing information of the progress of the battle. Tim enjoyed the tour. Linda endured it.

We had our tickets from the previous night's cancelled outdoor drama, so we drove back to Branson for the show. This time we got into the show. Just before intermission, the rain came. STRIKE TWO.
Back in the car and to the campground drenched with our tickets in hand. It rained and stormed through the night. We'll try on Monday night to attend the drama again on our last night in the Branson area.

THIRD TIME IS THE CHARM

Monday night turned out to be a beautiful night. The show went on as scheduled and we enjoyed it.