Branson, MO Day 2

I finally ran again!  Yes, I know you are all surprised.  I was too.  It was nice to look around the campground between gasps and pants.  It is really an nice campground.  It is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers campground.  If you have never stayed at one of the corps campgrounds it is a real treat.  They are always really nice and are almost always on a lake or river.  We hung out at the campground for a while.  Then the rest of the day was kinda chaotic.  We couldn't figure out what we were going to do, so we pretty much did nothing for a few hours.  We would drive a bit and then just stop.  After that nonsense we finally drove to the Chateau Hotel and we all got out and went in.  It is a beautiful place right on the lake.  It had a wonderful pool so Dave and the boys went for a swim.  It was very nice and relaxing to just hang out by the pool and do nothing.  That is the funny thing about this trip.  You would think we would have a lot of free time but we really have very little.  We are always doing something.  We have decided that a little more relaxing time will do us good.  After the Chateau we went to the downtown Branson area and walked around.  It is a really pretty shopping area right on the lake.  Dave and I both decided that if we were ever to come back and stay in a hotel here we would stay at the Hilton right in the middle of it all on the lake.  Dave has never been to a Bass Pro Shop so we walked in there and watched the man feed the fishes in the huge tank.  We bought another fishing pole to take the place of the 2 that the boys left at the campground in Texas.  Sterling was craving Chinese food (it's his favorite) so we went to a Chinese buffet for dinner.  After dinner we headed back to the Indian Point Campground and watched another best of Johnny Carson video that I got at the garage sale in Chicago.  I love watching Carson and it has been cool that the boys seem to enjoy him too.  While I'm talking about blasts from the past I need to mention that I have been reading Hardy Boys books to the boys and they are really enjoying them.  We have been having problems tonight with the electrical in the RV.  We are really praying that it is the campgrounds box and not our RV.  We will let you know tomorrow.

Thought of the day:  There are a lot of restaurants to choose from when you are eating out.  I have decided that if you want your restaurant to survive you need to either have really great food or a original theme.  If you have a great theme people go for the fun of the theme.  For instance, everyone is telling us to go to Lambert's Cafe on our way to Bartlesville, OK.  It is known as the home of the throwed rolls.  If you say roll they have roll chuckers that will chuck a roll at you.  We are all very excited to go to this restaurant so that we can say "roll."  The thing that is funny to me is that not once has anyone mentioned if the food is good or bad, nor have we asked.  All we care about is that they throw rolls.  There are a lot of restaurants like this that survive and thrive on their fun themes.  So if you open a restaurant and you are not an extraordinary cook you better have a good theme.

Branson, Missouri

First, if you haven't voted in our survey you only have 2 days left.  It looks like we have a lot of mixed opinions on what the boys are collecting!  I will post the results when the survey is over and I will also post a picture of their collection. 

Second, a friend of mine and regular blog reader, Kerry, suggested that we schedule a live video feed.  I thought it sounded like a great idea and a lot of fun for the boys to feel like they are on TV.  So with a lot of help from Kerry (who is a genius when it comes to broadcasting, video and well pretty much everything) we are working on setting up the Hulsebus Family Dream Channel.  As soon as I complete the lesson from Kerry I will post the day and time of our broadcast.  Kerry says that everyone can post questions while we are on the air and we can respond to them immediately.  Stay tuned for more info!

Finally, if you know anyone that would like to read our blog please feel free to email it to them.  I do not have  lot of my extended friends and families emails so a lot of them never got the blog info ( www.hulsebusfamilyream.blogspot.com ) ....Thanks!

 Today we left the campground around noon and stopped for lunch at the Little Bread Company in Eureka Springs, AR.  It's a local's hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop.  We all got sandwiches which is the one thing we should never go out to eat for since we eat sandwiches almost everyday for lunch in the RV.  With that said, they were still good.  After lunch we headed to the Thorncrown Chapel.  WOW, what an amazing place of worship.  It was beautiful and so serene. We happened to walk in right when a tour group had been seated for a history lesson of the church.  What a treat!  The story of how the chapel came into being was quite amazing.  Then the tour guide sang The Lords Prayer!  It seriously sent chills down my spine and tears in my eyes listening to her use her amazing voice in such a beautiful place to sing praises to God!  I posted a link so that you could read the history of the chapel if you would like although the way the tour guide told it, it was much more heart felt.  She was a friend of the family who built the chapel.  After the Thorncrown Chapel we headed to Branson, Missouri.  We stopped at the bank and grocery store in Branson and then took the scenic route around the city.  We are very lucky because I have a friend that I work with at GMS (Get Motivated Seminars) that lives around here and he has been so helpful in giving us all the tips as to where to drive, what to see, and where to camp.  We took his advice and are staying at a marvelous campground called Indian Point.

I need your help!  I'm looking for some of your favorite crock pot recipes!  I use my crock pot a lot.  I like to throw something together in the morning and then its ready for dinner when we come back in the afternoon.  If you know of a great crock pot recipe please post it in the comment or email it to me at cindi.hulsebus@gmail.com!  Thanks!  Love you all!

Laundry and a Hoe Down, Eureka Springs

The title pretty much tells it all.  The campground only had 2 washers so laundry took most of the day to complete.  Dave did most of the laundry while me and the boys did a major clean-up in the RV.  After all our hard work we decided to reward ourselves with the Ozark Mountain Hoe-Down.  We have been trying to get more exercise in so we decide to walk the 2 miles to the theater.  We stopped at a Sonic-type burger place for dinner (good thing we were walking... I guess that just canceled out the exercise thing.  But... it was thee only place to eat on the way.  Well, I guess we could have walked a little farther and found something healthy, but that would have required more excercise!)  We then arrived at the theater early.  The show was very entertaining and quite funny.  All three boys really enjoyed the night although they didn't know most of the songs, most of which were country.  One of the main characters and part owner of the theater "P-Nutt" (who was very funny) used a funky hat in his skit.  They sold the hat in the gift area.  The boys decided to combine some of their allowance and buy one hat for the three of them to share.  Well P-Nutt heard they were using their own money and gave them 3 hats for the price of one!  They were so excited and have been playing with their hats ever since.  

Thought of the day:  There are a ton of really great people everywhere you go, but you usually don't know it because you don't take the time to meet them.  It's amazing how easily a conversation gets going when we take the time to start one.  We're doing more of that on this trip and the information and generosity we have received from these new friends has been such a blessing to us.

Posted by Cindi.    Dave and I share a computer and if he checks his email and doesn't log out I tend accidently post using his name. 

Eureka Springs, AR

What a great little town!  The morning was full of work but great results.  Dave and I installed the new carpet!!  It looks so good and feels even better.  We have a little more work tomorrow to finish it off, but we feel really good about our accomplishment.  Maybe when we get back we will start a carpet installation company...hee hee, not! 

After the carpet we took the trolley all around Eureka Springs.  We had heard it was a cool city, but we were surprised at how cute it was.  It is a mix of Victorian charm, western romance with an old European influence.  It has quaint pubs nestled among art galleries and specialty shops.  The street is lined with brick and stone buildings that seem to be carved into the side of a hill.  Most of the buildings in historic downtown were built before my Grumpy (that's my grandpa) was born.  The vibrant green treetops layer themselves above the buildings and just under the baby blue cloudless sky.  The whole town kinda winds its way up a hills until it stops at the Crescent Hotel.  From there you can look over the top of the trees and see Christ of the Ozarks overlooking the city.   This pure white sculpture of Christ is 67 feet tall.  We enjoyed our walk around the hotel and window shopping the shops lining the street.  We even found a chocolate shop that was giving out free samples...yum.  After our tour of the city we took the trolley

 back to our campground.  I had made dinner in the crock pot before we left so dinner was ready when we arrived.  After dinner we relaxed for a hour and then walked a half mile to The Great Passion Play.  

We had heard that it was a must see.  It was going to be pretty pricey so we were a little hesitant about going.  Well God has been really good to us!  While I was in line to get tickets I got to talking to a church who had brought a large group to see the play, and to my surprise they blessed us with 5 tickets (that was a $75 dollar savings).  Thank you God!  The play was very good.  There were a lot of actors, child actors and even live animals.  The set was incredible.  The costumes, special effects and lighting made the show spectacular.  The best part is that it was the story of Jesus's life, death and Resurrection.  It was really good for all of us to be reminded of what Jesus did for us and what he continues to do.  I took a few pics before the show started, but cameras were not allowed while the play was going on.

After the show we were going to walk back to the campground but it was too dark and there were no sidewalks so we asked a parking attendant if there was a cab.  He said he would give us a ride back.  The reason we walked there was that the shuttle was $5 per person and we are trying to be frugal.  Well, we figured we saved $100 today and got to do everything we wanted to do!  God is really watching over us!

Arkansas Scenic Byway 7

We left the Hot Springs area and headed north.  We took Arkansas Scenic Byway 7 up to Eureka Springs.  Scenic Hwy 7 has been voted one of the top 10 most beautiful drives in the US.  Along the drive you pass through quaint towns, beautiful mountains, outstretched lakes and a never ending forest.  It definitely lived up to its reputation; it was gorgeous.  One of the highlights of the drive was when a black bear ran across the road about 50 yards in front of us!  I reached for my camera but the bear was way too fast.  After we all settled down Peyton had the quote of the day.  He said, "You don't see that in Sacramento."  We all had a big laugh and Dave and I shared a proud smile.  Although it was a great drive it was also very curvy.  I made Dave pull over for lunch because when I even attempted to get up I was tossed all over the RV.  Tanner and I were also a little carsick.  We pulled into Harrison around dinner so we stopped at a Mexican restaurant for a bite to eat.  It was situated in a old Victorian home.  The food was great and the waiter was originally from the Sacramento area.....small world.  We are actually quite amazed at how many people we bump into that are from the Sac area.  After dinner we drove the last 45 min into Eureka Springs and settle into the Wanderlust RV Park (this park was recommended by our English friends we met back in Peoria).  We are looking forward to the many activities this town has to offer.

Thought of the day:  Driving is so much nicer when you have nowhere to go and no deadline to get there.  

Digging for Diamonds, AR

We left Walmart early and headed for Crater of Diamonds State Park.  This is the only diamond bearing site in the world that is open to the public.  It is a 37 acre plowed field that sits atop an ancient volcano.  They believe that 95 million years ago the volcano erupted which caused the diamonds to surface.   The first diamonds (2- 5/8  and 1- 3/8 carats) were discovered in 1906 by John Huddleston who was a farmer and owned the property.  He sold the diamond property to a mining company for $36,000.  It wasn't till 1972 that the state of Arkansas bought the land and turned it into a state park.  Since then the park has had over 2.6 million visitors and in that time 26,881 diamonds have been found, 778 of them were over a carat.  The most notable finds were a 16.37 white diamond which was discovered in 1975 and the Strawn-Wagner diamond, a 3.03 carats when found.  The later was cut into a 1.09 D-flawless 0/0/0 diamond.  It is the most flawless diamond ever cut.  There has also been many other finds over 5 carats.  Besides diamond you can also find lamproite, amethyst, banded agate, jasper, peridot, garnet, quartz, calcite, barite and hermatite.  

With all that said, we did not find a diamond but I did find a sunburn on my back.  Sterling located a nice agate stone and we also found a few quartz and jasper stones.  It was fun but now the kids have ruled out another career option.  They don't want to be strawberry pickers or diamond miners.  

We tried to get a campsite in Crater Park but they were full so we drove an hour and a half to Lake Ouachita State Park.  This lake is huge and the campground is very nice.  We had a good BBQ pork dinner and then the boys and I walked to the swimming area.  We had a great time swimming.  Dave decided to stay back to do the dishes and fix a broken chair.  After swimming Dave and the boys roasted marshmallows by the fire then watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  I was wiped and headed to bed. 

Thought of the day:  We talked to a guy on the diamond field that had a fenced in area to keep his mining materials.  We asked him how many diamonds he had found.  He said in a very proud tone that he had found a yellow carat and a quarter.  We then asked him when he found it.  He said 15 years ago.  Wow, ever since then he pays $2 a day to rent a space and spend hundreds of hours a week trying to repeat what he did 15 years ago.  It got me thinking about how many people do the same thing.  We have a major moment in our past and we sometimes waste the rest of our lives trying to repeat it.   

Little Rock, AR

Sorry we haven't posted in a few days.  It's very hard finding the time when I am working an event.  So I am going to catch you up on the last few days.  We arrived in Little Rock on Sunday and pulled into the Comfort Inn.  We joined our friend Jay and jumped in a hotel shuttle to head to dinner. The shuttle driver gave us quite a tour of Little Rock on our way.  There is a lot more history there then I would have imagined.  Of course it is Clinton land and home of the new Clinton Library.  We heard that the library cost 138 million dollars to build.  Little Rock also made civil rights history in 1957 when 9 black students were allowed to enter Central High (a all white high school).  They had to do so under the protection of the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army by orders of then - President Dwight D. Eisenhower.  It was really an eye opener to the boys and a reminder to Dave and I that less then 52 years ago the southern states were still not allowing black children to attend school.  Seeing the statues of the children made me think about what courage those 9 children must have had. I honestly don't think I could have been that brave.   After the tour we went to dinner at the Flying Fish.  This restaurant had been featured on many food network shows including Rachel Ray.  It was very unique and very good (It was also very reasonable).  After dinner we walked past the Clinton Library to our hotel.  The next day I got up early and loaded in for my show.  The boys swam and played video games in the room.  After load-in I took Tanner with me and the GMS staff and we went to Hot Springs, Ar.  Marlo and Darrin, who are extremely generous, rented a few speed boats, ski's and tubes and we went out on the lake.  We had such an amazing time.  Tanner surfed on the tube and also joined in on the how many people can you fit on a tube competition.  You can't tell in the pic but there is 6 people!  I also posted a picture of one of the the teany tiny shacks that lined this lake.  It was also very nice to spend some quality one on one time with Tanner and I'm looking forward to doing the same with the other boys.  I think it was also good for them to be apart for a bit.  Dave and the other boys watched Tiger Woods win the US Open and also took our RV in to be fixed.

Tuesday was show day and I got up at 4 am and got home at 9 pm.  The boys came down in the afternoon and helped count tickets.  While I was at work Dave took the boys to the Discovery Children's museum in Little Rock.  Sterling's favorite activity was the football gallery where he got to throw footballs through tires.

Today we slept in and had a late breakfast in the hotel and then caught a ride with Aaron and Sylvia to our RV (which was in the shop for a check up).  We then did a bunch of errands ( Camping World, Home Depot and finally Sams Club).  We are now heading to the only Diamond mine in the world that lets you keep what you find.  We won't get there till after 10 pm so we will stay at a nearby camp ground and go in in the morning.

Thought of the day:  What are we doing today in America that in 50 years we are going to look back on in disgust and shock?  

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!

We love our DADS!!!!   Pop and Grandpa S you both are the best!  Thank you both for all you have done for us!  Not only are you both great Dads but you are also wonderful Granddads to our boys.  The boys adore you and are so blessed to have you both in their lives!  

Dave, the boys couldn't be more lucky to have you as their dad. We love you!

Horseshoe Lake, Arkansas

Today we made the drive into Arkansas.  We decided to stay the night at Horseshoe Lake.  The campground is called Box Hound Marina and RV Park.  The guy that owns this has quite the business going.  He has a monopoly on the fuel on the lake.  He says he can charge boats whatever he wants because if you don't want to pay it you can grab a gas can and walk into town.  I think this could be a good business to own.  You sit everyday in your store  at a gorgeous lake and make a ton of money on campgrounds, boat docks, boat gas, boat rentals and convenient store items.  

Anyway, it is a really nice lake and there is a great swimming area that has a floating deck that you can jump off of.  We spent hours in the water (which was really warm) playing monkey in the middle with one of Sterling's footballs.  We also practiced our dives off the floating deck and Dave showed off by doing back flips.  Peyton has become quite the swimmer.  The floating deck is quite a way out and Peyton (with a few mommy breaks) swam all the way out there.  There was a boy jumping off the Swimming deck who had one leg.  Peyton was very intrigued with how this boy could swim and dive.  So Peyton decided that he was going to swim the whole way back with one leg.  I didn't realize what he was doing until he started going under.  I told him he needed to master two leg swimming before he tried to swim with one.  We had a very nice BBQ'd dinner and then the motor home was (for the first time) peaceful.  Let me explain.  When we were at the garage sales outside of Chicago, Tanner found a 3 man tent he was desperate to have.  So we set up the tent and gave the kids a walkie talkie to contact us incase of an emergency.  After the first 20 min of walkie talkie madness. Dave and I actually had about 5 minutes of quite.  That's when Peyton decided he didn't like the tent and came in.  He fell asleep quickly and all was quite again for 15 min until the other two got scared and came back into the RV.  Oh well, I guess 20 min of peace is better then no peace!  

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions as to where to visit.  Yes Mitch, that is Dave in the Mr Incredibile outfit!   The scary thing is that he not only wears that costume to Six Flags he also wears it while driving the RV.

Six Flags St Louis

Today we went to Six Flags St Louis.  It was raining so we pretty much had Six Flags to ourselves.  We also spent a few wet hours at Hurricane Harbor.  I guess if your playing in the water it doesn't matter if it's raining.  Since we have a season pass, hanging at a amusement park is a pretty cheap way to spend a day.  We ate lunch and dinner in the RV so we actually didn't spend a penny today.  We are now heading toward  Little Rock, AR.

                                    

               Could you imagine wearing that outfit in the rain!

          The alien looks as if he is giving Peyton the evil eye

These People where stuck up there in the rain for over an hour.

St. Louis Science Museum

Today is the last day of the kid's school back home so we decided to celebrate by going on... another fieldtrip!

We didn't want to break our record of not staying in the same place for more than 2 nights so we unplugged from the "metro" St. Louis RV Park and headed out.  Can you believe that our home, the motorhome, has not been parked in the same place for more that 2 nights!  I keep saying this, but "one of these days we are going to have to slow down"...not yet.  We picked up and took a short drive to the St. Louis Science Museum.  This one was good but not spectacular.  (We are becoming museum critics with all our experience.)  There was quite a bit to do for kids which is always top of mind for us.  We got passes to the Discovery Room where the kids played at separate stations, building, creating and exploring.  My favorite was the build your own waterway where I created a river with Class 4 rapids for rubber duckies.  If this were in a Toy Story movie the duckies would have loved it but would be hurting in the morning.

I am proud to say the Hulsebus 5-some successfully built the Gateway Arch replica on the first try.  Other groups attempting this feat were... uuhh ... having more difficuty.


One of the highlights of the day was flying planes over St. Louis using flight simultors (ok... it was just a video game).  "Over" might not be the best word though as we all managed to fly into the downtown buildings.  We did manage to navigate our aircrafts under the Gateway Arch which was the ultimately challenge aside from landing successfully.

    This is a tornado.

It's great having season passes to Six Flags.  "MORE FLAGS... MORE FUN!"  With about an hour and a half 'til closing time we decided to ride a few rides.  Of course the last one we did as a family was the Rapid River where we all got totally drenched.  WM here we come.