Ozark Country Campgrounds, Branson, MO Day 7 Sunday 07/31/2022

I was awakened by the sound of activity outside from next door and got up to see what was going on and discovered that my neighbors with their Class A were getting ready to pull out. They must have gotten up early as they already had their tow vehicle somewhere else and as I watched, were maneuvering the RV out onto the road. I could see they knew what they were doing so I went back to bed. When I got up a bit later, they were gone or at least I thought they had. We harnessed up and went out for a walk wandering in every direction according to whatever way, the “Boss Lady” dragged us. We approached the exit to discover that the Class A was parked with the engine running in the parking lot. They had their tow dolly hooked up so maybe they were just making their final drive preparations. We wandered back to Quatro and then went through the usual breakfast routine before settling down to write. 

I did some research on my travels and scrapped my original half planned trip that would have taken me into Colorado and decided to go in the opposite direction staying more in the Ozarks into Kentucky and maybe Tennessee. I have changed my original direction from West to East and then will slowly make my way South back to Henly for the winter. I like these mountains as they are much cooler and more comfortable temperature wise although a lot harder to drive in. I do not want to be here in the winter though and will need to keep moving South to arrive back at Henly, Texas, my home base hopefully around December 1^st. 
 
Today was another one of those lazy days (aren’t they all?) and I listened to Audiobooks for a couple of hours. The pool, which I can see from where I sit, was remarkably busy with several families of kids having a wonderful time accompanied by lots of screams and laughter as they doused each other or pushed each other into the pool. The accompanying parents mostly sat and chatted amongst themselves with the occasional dip in the water and sad to say, without exception, all were very much overweight, both men and women. There was only one young lady in a tiny bikini who was probably a daughter that had anything resembling a figure worthy to look at. Wait a minute, that did not come out right at all. What I should have said was that she was the only non-overweight person in sight as even most of the kids were on the plump side. She, of course, did not swim but sat in a lounge chair and played with her phone generally looking bored as she had only younger kids to impress… 

It began to grow dark, and the pool was empty with all of them back to their RV’s and so we went out for the last walk of the day. It was nice and cool, and the rainclouds have moved on. We wandered around for a bit before returning to the RV for the usual evening’s entertainment. We have finished watching, “In the Heat of the Night,” a program I enjoyed immensely, and I searched around before settling on a British Police Mystery. It only had 5 episodes and I watched them all and now need to find another series to watch. 

Written 07/31/2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com

Ozark Country Campgrounds, Branson, MO Day 8

Monday 08/01/2022

I cannot believe that it is August already and that theoretically, we still have a month and a half of Summer to go with Summer officially ending on September 21^st. It has been brutal in some parts of the country with extraordinarily little rain. I was glad to get out of Texas because of the 100 plus degree days and it is cooler here in Missouri in the mountains although, I do not want to be here for the winter. I cannot imagine driving these roads with the mountainous terrain and hairpin bends covered with snow and ice. 
 
We did our usual walkabout and wandered all over the place before returning for breakfast. Even both dogs ate the food I put down for them, much to my surprise. They must have been hungry…My row of RV’s is looking very empty as there are only three of us left at least for now as another had pulled out this morning. We are just starting our second week here and our current plans are to move next Monday. I often wonder where they all head off to and what it is that drives them to this life. I can understand the weekenders, but I wonder about the full timers. Of course, currently, even the younger generation can work online to earn money from about anywhere if they have the right sort of a job. 

We had nothing planned for the day except things like food and drink and writing in the blog. I settled down to the usual emails and writing and am caught up with both the posting and working on pictures that I have taken. Another Class A coach pulled in, this time opposite us and way up the hill about 100 yards away. It is an Allegro and looks bigger than Quatro but with a similar paint job. Nice looking rig. 

I broke one of my unwritten TV rules about watching television in the daytime and watched the English Women’s National Team play Germany in the European Cup Final. It was an exceptionally good game with both teams giving their all. The teams were so evenly matched that the game went to overtime after a 1-1 tie at the end of full time. Happy to report that the English Ladies won 2-1 in the overtime period with 86.000 people watching at the Wembley Stadium in London. I coached women’s and girls’ soccer players for years and even I was impressed by the physical prowess that these ladies displayed. Some of their individual moves with the ball at their feet, were brilliant and quite breathtaking and none of them shirked the physical confrontations. That is what makes them International Players to represent their countries. A great game to watch. The only time their feminism showed was at the very end when the German Ladies unabashedly let their feelings show and wept openly at losing and the English Ladies wept for the opposite reason. I am not ashamed to say that I wept along with them at such a brilliant display by both teams and their outpourings of raw emotion. 

I spent a couple of hours listening to the latest Audible story. This one by Dean Kootz called “Lightning.” Kind of a science fiction thing but entertaining and the narrator was particularly good. By then, it was time for the last walk of the day and we wandered around going this way and that with me steering us in a general direction. Sandy, as usual, had other ideas and whenever she could, would direct us anywhere and everywhere depending on which way her nose pointed. Like the well-trained creatures that we are, Mikey and I followed along only adjusting when it became tricky or dangerous. 

We finished off the day in the usual fashion of food, drink, and TV. I managed to find a couple more episodes of, “In the Heat of the Night” that I had not seen before we adjourned to bed. 

Written 08/01/2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com