Vacation

Well, I've been in Branson four days now. I thought that it might not be a great trip, but it has been surprisingly fun. We arrived here around 4 p.m. on Friday. (We left Amarillo around 1 a.m.) Dad had some issues with backing up the RV when we found that we were in the wrong location on a few occasions. He ended up jack-knifing the RV and the Honda and dented the compartment that holds the generator on the RV. But he didn't seem too concerned about it. Friday evening we spent hanging out in the condo... which is really nice. My sister did a great job of choosing this place. The condo is near the lake and it has two bedrooms and two baths. We ended up with 10 people staying here and had probably about 18-20 in here at one time when we cooked out on Sunday. But back to Friday... we had to find our way to a super Walmart and get supplies and luckily I had already seen where one was located on a map. That wasn't a very exciting visit as it was really crowded and the checkout line took forever. We had frozen pizza that night and the boys swam in the pool and we visited with family that was here. Saturday we slept in, then went to Silver Dollar City. It had a really great coaster named Wildfire. It was a steel coaster that was very smooth. It had a great first drop that went into a half loop cork screw combination, then it also had a loop and a cobra roll (for those coaster enthusiasts out there). It was a GREAT ride. A very smooth coaster. We sat in the front for two rides, the 2nd/3rd rows for one ride (for picture purposes) and then in the back for my last ride. All rides were great and the lines were really not bad at all. I think I waited about 15-20 minutes at the most for a front row seat.
We also rode a few other rides including, unfortunately, a river rapid ride that left me soaked to the bone. That part kind of sucked. Other rides included Thundernation (a mine train coaster that had some great helixes), Fire in the Hole (dark ride that gets you a little wet), Grandpa's mansion (a kind of strange house with mirrors and slanted floors etc. that disorient you). Overall the park was nice.. a bit limiting on rides and coasters and to me overpriced, but fun none-the-less. That evening we gathered around the resort rooms and just visited. It was good to see relatives I've hardly ever spent time with or even met for that matter. My sister got really drunk. I admit I got a bit toasty, but did not go overboard. (learned my lesson after a situation a few weeks ago)
Sunday we went out on the lake and attempted to water-ski. The lake was a bit choppy as a storm was heading our way, but we tried our best to ski before it hit us. I guess things are a bit different since I was a kid and it wasn't quite what I remembered. Of course back then, I only got up on one occasion and it was fun, but we stopped going to the lake after that. Well, I tried to remember everything, but perhaps it's because I'm a FEW pounds heavier than I was, but it was really hard. The boat just yanked the rope out my arms it seemed. I really tried to hold on and let the boat pull me until I could stand, but never got that far. The lake water was nice and warm though. It was a good thought at least. When I did get back in the boat, however, my forearms were really, really sore. I think I must have pulled muscles in them or something because I've had a hard time doing things like opening jars or lifting things since then. My son did really good for a beginner though. He finally got up and on the skis, but didn't last long. I think he has a better knack for it than I do. Well, the storm came in and we had to abandon the plans for the day. That evening we had a cookout with most of the family and it was a great time.
Today we went back in the boat (since we didn't get our full day last time) and this time we went tubing instead of skiing. The lake was calmer this time. I went last and the first time I tried it, the rope was hung on something on the boat and it ended up jerking the tube out from under me and I know have a huge bruise on my arm because of it. I finally got going the second time, but it was hard holding on to it at times, but it was pretty fun. This morning we also took family group pictures that I hope to have posted soon. This afternoon we went to Celebration City (another park) and it wasn't too bad. It had three coasters and several flat rides of which Josh was appreciative. First one we rode was called Thunderbolt. It was a steel mini that had some pretty good helixes. Other than a big jolt at the end, it wasn't too bad for a coaster. Next we rode Wildcat, a new wooden coaster. As woodies go, it wasn't too bad. It was really quite fast and had lots of twists in it. The final coaster was horrible. It was a wild mouse with lots of dips and lateral turns and it banged one up quite a bit. That is definitely not on to ride more than once. We also rode tilt-a-whirl, scrambler, go carts, and played minature golf. My brother played some games on the midway (won a monkey for Josh) and we did a little bit of shopping. I bought Josh a jester hat that he's been wanting and a t-shirt that I thought was pretty clever. I originally wanted to get it for myself. It said "The top ten reasons I procrastinate. 1."
I thought it was quite funny.
So far that's my vacation. We're going to be headed up to Chicago tomorrow. Going to hit a couple of museums on Wednesday (I hope) and then going to Six Flags Great America on Thursday. After that, I'm not sure what the plans are.
Well, I'm about to fall asleep typing, so I better head to bed soon.