Are you interested in joining us for the "cruise" on Friday evening? (see link in Post #15)

 

Sure.

 

Cool.

Thus far, I believe the Moonlight MINI Dinner Cruise tentative interest tally is as follows:

deanman - 1
MeenieMom - 1 (or 2?)
05MINI - 2
Tasmanian Blu - 2
srmitch2 - 2
Gil-galad - 1

I'm guessing that the bsteigs might want to come along too (will confirm at GC). By my calculation, that almost gives us our own EIM boat.

 

I won't know if my daughter will be joining me on the trip to Branson for sure for another few weeks. It is looking like she will be able to ride shotgun, but she just started her first job (DQ counter help) and is afraid to ask for any time off until she has been there for a bit...I'm really hoping she can make it, though.

 

Peggy and I are planning to attend and looking forward to seeing you all again. We are probably staying at the same condo village Bill and Alyce may be at which is about 1/2 mile from the Hotel. If anyone is interested in a condo we may be able to score an extra one or 2 but would need to reserve soon. PM me if interested. The pontoon ride sounds like a good time. Looking forward to the trip.
Steve & Peggy

 

Steve, that is awesome news. We love motoring with our extended Council Bluffs family! At our January meet, B & A offered to share some banked time share points and made reservations for those who could commit, meaning that a bunch of us Iowans are already set up to stay as a group at that condo village. Sounds like a party!

I'll try to get the word out to those who might be interested in your offer. Looking forward to seeing you and Peggy again.

 

Is it time to go yet? Is it?? I'm ready to go!!

 

I'm too focused right now on skirmishing at the border, but after the 21st I'm sure the anticipation will grow exponentially.

With that said, I'm thinking that the "traditional" favorite route to our destination (with minor mods) should be socialized to make sure everyone is okay with it. The route at the following link starts at our friendly BP Station in Ainsworth along IA-27/US-218 and ends at the Wyndham Branson:

http://g.co/maps/xf7vm

If we head out from the Ainsworth BP at 8:30 am, I figure we can make a couple of gas/food stops along the way and easily reach the resort by 4:30 pm (although I have absolutely no idea what the traffic is like west of downtown Branson along Country Blvd. on a Thursday at that time of the day...anyone else know?).

How's that sound? Any other recommendations? I hate to be heavy-handed with the route planning, so feel perfectly free to tell me to crawl back into my hole and be quiet...

 

We are VERY appreciative of your "heavy-handed" planning and routing! It's a very good plan

We can can talk about the plan more at the BS in a few weeks

I'm going to be hosting a Balcony Party in "our" rooms for our EIM friends at some point in our adventure. This is a result of the ribbing that Linda S. has given me over my insistance on a balcondy suite

What fun we'll have

 

A hint to traveling thru Branson. If you take a left at the lights by Dixie Stampede on the main drag and follow the Yellow route you can avoid the main drag in Branson and change the 30-45 minute drive into 10 minutes. The Yellow route comes out about 3 blocks from the Wyndham. We learned this from some locals last year and it worked out great for us. Its "The Road Less Traveled"

 

Thanks! I modified the Google Map at the reference link ( http://g.co/maps/xf7vm ) to reflect this handy route suggestion by Steve and Peggy (I think I got it right).

 

I'm most grateful for the trip planning! I've gotten so lazy that I just do whatever Karen (GPS) tells me to...even though several times her navigation skills haven't been worth the cost of the updated maps. So~~~LEAD ON, INTREPID EXPLORER!!

 

+1

 

I just follow the MINI in front of me. Usually Gary and he has never steered me wrong! Really looking forward to this event. The balcony party sounds like a really fun time!

 

Just some food for thought...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio..._Missouri.html

 

More Food For Thought

#1 George Dyer No evening shows
#2 Rankin Brothers No Saturday nite shows
#3 Cat’s Pajama’s Vocal Band $33, 7:30 Sat. nite
#4 Six $34, 8 PM Sat. nite
#5 The Haygoods $33, 7:30 Sat. nite

 

More food for thought for those considering a show...

D. Clark's American Bandstand Theater seems to get pretty good reviews, as does the Legends in Concert show playing there -- recent reviews are mostly favorable. The tribute show might be more universally appealing than straight-out CW music. It's likely they may be doing something special in honor of DC's recent passing. They have an 8 pm show on Saturday. Tickets are ~$35. The theater suffered some damage from the tornado earlier in the year but has been repaired. Their performances resumed on 4/14.

They also used to have the 1957 Car Museum -- purportedly the world’s largest collection of 1957-era cars and trucks -- but it closed in 2009. Rats!

 

Hey guys!!!!

How is everyone!?! Its been to long. I missed the last few get togethers... One because of an appendicitis which lead to surgery the day before Cedar Rapids... Then a radiator leak right before the get together at granite city. Well, I Swapped the Radiator myself and paid for my hotel room (Thanks Billl and Alyce!!). Nothing is going to stop me this time!! **Fingers crossed**

Are any of you guys meeting up and driving together to Branson? I would like to tag along if so...

Can't wait cant believe I missed getting to checkout the new roadster

 

Jay, good to hear from you. Check out the info in Post #33 in this thread, and the link to a Google Map. Looks like there is a consensus on adopting this route. You're more than welcome to rendezvous with us in Ainsworth on Thursday morning for a 8:30 am departure.

Speaking of missing out, did you see all of the photos and video clips of our drive last Saturday?

 

There's always the Dixie Stampede...and in the latest issue of Midwest Living there are a couple references to Branson. One that caught my eye was an old-fashioned 5 and 10 store. Think I'll try to take a peek at that. I don't have a preference as to what show to see, they all look interesting; the only thing that may be difficult is getting a group of tickets to ensure we stay together. I also don't know how difficult it is to get tickets the night of the show.

 

That's 4.9 miles from our Balcony Suites. $44 for a show on Saturday at 3:00, 5:30, or 8:00.

So many options for fun. How will we ever deicide

 

I just heard back from the resort that the wifi is free, despite what the literature says is a "nominal" fee. Those of us without smartphones love that

 

Haven't seen anything yet on the HPMS WordPress site related to route recommendations, but this resource might give us some ideas:

http://www.bransonrideguide.com/saddlebag_Maps.html

The biker recommendations are usually pretty good.

 

Yes! There are some great options in the list. I like how there are various lengths, from a half hour, to 4 hours. We're sure to find something to meet our needs for fun.

 

I am super excited and looking forward to this trip! Unfortunately Gozer STILL hasn't had a spring cleaning My fingers are crossed that this weekend will see her all sparkling clean!