Back from Branson (With an Item About Larry Gatlin)

We're back from our week's stay in Branson and quickly immersed in trying to catch up on things here. It was, as it always is with us, a bit of a working vacation but we managed to have a delightful, relaxing, even inspiring time. We enjoyed great times with my sister Sherry and her husband John, including spirited conversations, meals, driving around the area, a long day at Silver Dollar City, and the joys of the Andy Williams Christmas show which I blogged about last week.

On our own, Claire and I discovered Vasken's, a terrific deli which offered the best potato salad I've ever eaten -- though in too small a portion! We ate there twice and almost did again the morning we left. We also watched some football on Sunday afternoon and got quite a bit of reading, mostly done late at night (Claire was finishing Dicken's David Copperfield, I was re-reading, after probably 25 years, Albert Speer's Inside the Third Reich). We also planned Christmas projects while gazing across Table Rock Lake, did some driving in the woods north of town and, on our last night, attended a fabulous show starring the Gatlin Brothers and Debbie Boone.

Interesting note -- before we left the Mansion Theater that night, we spent a few minutes with Larry Gatlin talking about pro-life ministries. He had performed a very moving pro-life song in the concert which motivated us to stick around and talk to him a bit. The photo at right shows Claire with Larry Gatlin before we left.

Traveling home yesterday was fun too. We enjoyed our last hours of satellite radio, discussed Christmas plans, stopped for lunch in Kansas City at our favorite haunt there (the original Arthur Bryant's BBQ at 18th and Vine), and Claire took about a 90-minute nap.

When we arrived back in town, we stopped at a store to get Mom some goodies and then went over for a long visit. It was after 8 when we finally got home and the car emptied. We played a bit with the neighbor dog and then relaxed for a couple of hours before discovering our new furnace wasn't working. No problem -- we tossed on an extra cover and went to bed.

So, things are kinda' back to normal now except for Claire's visit to the doctor in a bit. Then, since the rental car has been returned, blogging is completed for the day and even the furnace is fixed, we're going to take this evening as a post-vacation vacation! See you tomorrow. And have a great Veterans Day.