I stayed on 60E for awhile until I hit Missouri. Following Uncle G's advice, I decided to check out Branson, so I took 60E to 86E to 76E, which headed right through Branson. THe roads there led along many farms and flat lands, and I could feel that this was the Great Plains indeed. The scenery was pretty, but got kind of boring, and I was anxious to get to Branson.
Maybe 10 miles outside of Branson things changed rapidly. Hordes of billboards started to line the road, advertising all the events available in Branson. It was nuts, I felt like I was heading into Atlantic City. Traffic hit a near standstill at some point, and I realized that this was the traffic through the main strip of Branson. I kept going, and Branson began, with more hordes of billboards and neon signs, all advertising many different places for food, motels, and shows. It was crazy. It was overwhelming.
Here's the only shot I got of the main strip.
It was around 5:30 PM, and I decided to find a place to park, so I turned off the main road. What was really weird is that the town died off VERY quickly. While I was downtown swamped in neon-emblazened consumerism one moment, I was in the woods on a small road nearly 1-2 blocks of distance later. It was a bizarre feeling. I parked at a small mall, and went walking around.
There was a show being advertised called the Baldknobbers, that Uncle G. told me about, so I bought a ticket for the pricy price of $20. I had an hour to kill, so I went to a place called "Country Kitchen" for some hopefully country food. I later realized that this is a chain of restaurants, that never made it into the NorthEast. I walked around after dinner for a bit. Branson is really weird. Kind of like a cross between Nashville and Las Vegas. Glitz and Glamour everywhere, but how much sincerity?
The Baldknobbers prided themselves as being Branson's first show back in 1959. The show started at 7:15, which was some guy Joe playing "ragtime". It was more like him doing folk-songs on a honky-tonk style piano, then telling jokes such as pretending to quote an ad from his small hometown newspaper for a cleaners saying "Don't let machines rip and tear your clothes. We do it by hand". The auditorium was packed, it seemed like the show may have been sold out. On a Tuesday! Nuts!
The show began with a camera panning the audience, with the view being shown on a large screen. This was to entice people to buy the show, which was sold outside afterwards. Of course the people hiding from the camera were the ones they zoomed in on.
The show started with some good ol' country soul music, with some fiddle and banjo jamming. The two guys at the center of the show were prominent hillbilly stereotypes, one had crazy buckteeth, and the other was a totally slackjawed yokel. Show was pretty entertaining, lots of music and lots of jokes. 'family-style' kind of stuff, but it wasn't all bad. An Asian dude and a women were the great fiddle players and the only ones who really got down and jammed. Even the standin' banjo player didn't do too much during most of the show, which was a shame. The had some of the pop-like country ballads too, which are really cheesy and not my thang, but most everything else was pretty good. Lots of jokes, lots of folks.
Here are said country yokels and bumkins, with the well-dressed host.
The finale of the show was a tribute to America's armed forces. Here's
a shot as of the finale, as people were walkin' out.
After the show I tried to get some ice cream at the only place open late,
but it was wicked jam packed, so I took off. Drove 65N through Springfield,
onto 64, and then found a place to camp at the Pomme de Terre State Park.
Driving around were two areas, some with electric power, but nobody was
at the spots without power. It was kind of freaky, but that seemed cool
and cheaper, so that's where I set up. My car was making a weird noise,
which I hadn't heard before, a kind of grinding sound by the front-left
wheel. It kind of bummed me out, I didn't want to have to deal with my
car breaking down on my trip.
Eventually found a camping spot, and checked the wheel, but didn't see anything obvious with the flashlight. I did get a car wash this morning after I entered Missouri, maybe something with the water screwed up the brakes? I hope not. Set up tent and fell asleep.
| Location | Pomme De Terre State Park, MO |
| Odometer | 133,044.3 Miles Total 4290.6 Miles On Trip 312.3 Miles Today |
| Coordinates | 37° 52.674' N 93° 19.361' W |