Fayette and Branson

Look at this, I am so responsible, I'm writing another post only 2 days after the other one. Man, am I good.

As I may have stated before, We left my Aunt Julie and Uncle Bobby's on Saturday morning. We didn't leave until a little after 9 and we had a really long drive, to Crawfordsville, IN. This was the only day that we went through 5 states, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. This was the third day in a row that it didn't rain but that brought its own problems, for example, when we camped out in a KOA that night, it never cooled down below 70 and we both got bitten by around 30 mosquitos since it was too hot for our sleeping bags.

The Next morning, we left town around 10 since we only had 6 hours to drive and we gained an hour crossing into the central time zone. We were headed toward Fayette, IA and Upper Iowa University where my buddy Greg Tehvin helped run an STLF Leadership Camp. Some of you may have seen me wearing a STLF sweatshirt around, it stands for Students Today, Leaders Forever and it is a student run organization that promotes service and leadership among mainly high school and college students. This camp was run by college kids for those in high school.

It started off awkward, since we arrived around 4 and Greg still wasn't back with a bus full of students from Minneapolis, so we kinda walked around and looked kinda sketch. But once Greg arrived, things started to straighten out. Much of the staff was amazing, we were only going to be there for one night but they were all extremely friendly, especially a couple of them named Ted and Abe. I even got to run the computer and press buttons during their opening and introduction performances where they introduced the staff. We still stayed somewhat separate, since we knew that it wouldn't be good to try and engage the kids if we were only going to be there for a short time, but that didn't go for the staff or for one guy, J.J., who happened to be from Clackamas, OR. Don't worry, he was outgoing enough to survive through it.

So we took some pictures, one with Harry and the entire group, played some ice breaker games, and took part in their calming closing for the night ceremony. After that we chillaxed and played some pool, table tennis, and shuffleboard, thats right, with some of the kids and staff until 11 pm which was the campers curfew. We were sleeping in the staff meeting area so we didn't get to sleep until around 1 am, and then we were interrupted at about 3 that morning by a couple of cleaning ladies, who just came in, started talking, turned on the lights, stared at us for a second until we woke up and looked at them, and then left. Kinda weird, especially in the wee hours of the morning.

That morning we got up, packed up, had breakfast, talked for a bit and then left, since we had to drive from north eastern Iowa to south western Missouri. There's no question that this was really a worthwhile stop. Obviously it started off awkward, and we knew that it would be, but everything couldn't have turned out better. With a staff, and a friend in Greg, who are so outgoing and friendly, it doesn't take long to begin to fit in. We both would have loved to stay longer, especially for the entire week, but we knew that wasn't possible and that it was probably for the best, for the campers sake, that we didn't hang around for the entire morning.

It took all Monday to drive down to Branson, MI and we got there around 6. Branson, we decided, is the Las Vegas for old people. We drove down the strip and it's just full of shows, but shows that usually include Dolly Parton and the return of the Osmand Brothers. It's the type of place that my dad would like and that my mom would never allow him to go to.

We went down there to visit a high school friend who I haven't seen since then, her family moved to Missouri for a job and she goes to the College of the Ozarks. This is the most rediculous school on the planet and the only good thing about it is that you come out of school debt free. Otherwise, here are some of the restrictions: You can't drink, they have a one strike policy and on just the word of someone else that you were drinking, even if you're 21, you're gone; they have a 1 am curfew; No boys or girls allowed in the opposite sex's rooms ever, and only for a certain amount of time in the lounges; there are guard gates at all the entrances to the school that can enforce many of these rules; etc, etc etc. Savannah, nor any of here friends like it, but it's non-accredited so if someone does get kicked out, or decides to leave, they have to start over.

We went to dinner at a restaurant where one of Savannah's friends worked. They had delicious food, my pulled pork and Luke's ribs were both great. After that is when we did the tour of the strip and then decided to stay in a hotel instead of camping, since we obviously couldn't stay with Savannah. No problem, though, since it was only $35 for a room with a double bed. We hung out with Savannah and 3 other buddies for a while longer and then went to our delicious beds.

It was a bit out of the way to drive down to Branson but in the end it was worth it. I don't think we've ever gone to a place, on this entire trip, where we've regretted going there. Some places have been better than others, sure, but nothing has been bad or un-fun. We're almost done and we only have one more stop, Denver, CO, and I doubt that we'll regret that.

Chris