Lambert's Cafe in Ozark, MO

Roll tossing is just part of the fun at Lamberts!  What a hoot!  So if you haven't been to Lamberts Cafe "home of the throwed rolls" you have got to go!  We didn't really know what to expect when we walked in the door at Lamberts but we heard it would be fun.  It is a lively place that was packed even for lunch at 11:15am.  There was a big line outside but we only had to wait for about 20 minutes.  Once we got seated and opened our menus we knew we were going to walk our stuffed. Every Southern dish come with 2 sides and 5 "walk-arounds."  Walk-arounds are dishes that special servers just continue to walk around and ask if you want more.  One of these walk-arounds doesn't get handed to you... it's thrown at you from across the room.  When you see the roll guy you just put up your hand and a roll come flying to it.  Man are those rolls good!  The boys said it was the best bread they've ever eaten (I would have to agree if I wasn't spoiled by my grandma's cooking).  When our meals came in the gigantic skillet our stomachs knew they were in trouble.  Dave had Chicken Fried Round Steak and I had Ground Beef Steak.  The boys went way out on a limb and had burgers.  They gave us so much food that my meal leftovers alone feed us all dinner later that night (and I'm not kidding).

We noticed that all over the walls there were dollar bills that patrons had written misc info on. So we decided to leave our mark as well.  We left home with $400 in $2 bills, so we left our mark in style.  On our $2 bill we wrote our blog address, "www.hulsebusfamilydream.blogspot.com"  I wonder if someone will see it and visit our website (If thats you "Hi" please leave a comment.

After lunch we stopped at all the stores we needed to run errands at and then drove to Bartlesville, OK.  We are so looking forward to seeing our friends "The Burmans" from home (Granite Bay, CA) tomorrow!  

Look closely for the flying rolls in 2 of the pictures.

Poll Results!!

Many of you voted on our last poll and have been dying to know what Tanner and Peyton have been collecting!  Well, you may have thought it was girls numbers (1 vote) but thank goodness for mom that, that is not the answer!  The real answer is squished pennies!  I think after silver dollar City they have 18 now.  It actually is a great souvenir for them to collect.  They are only $0.51 and they don't take up a lot of room in the RV!  Thank you all for voting and if you were one of the 4 people who picked the right answer, just think, you are smarter than the 9 other people!  We wil be posting a new poll soon so stayed tuned.

Silver Dollar City Theme Park - Branson, MO

We were told by many people that if we made it to Branson, Missouri the Silver Dollar City Theme Park was a must.  The admission fee wasn't cheap for a family of five but it turned out to be money well spent.  We all had a great time over the last day and a half.  I say "day and a half" because when you buy a day ticket it is actually good for the day prior starting a 3pm until close and then the next full day.  We used up every minute of time.  Needless to say, now we are all totally wiped out!

Back in 1894 Branson's first attraction, the Marble Cave, opened to the public.  It was named as such because some of the early explorers in the 1880s thought the cave was full of marble.  Over time geologists determined there was actually no marble in the cave so the name was changed to Marvel Cave.  In 1960 a theme park was started above the cave.  Today, Silver Dollar City is a major theme park which combines family fun with the timeless appeal of crafts and a dedication to preserving the 1880s Ozarks culture.  In addition to several roller coasters and water rides, the park also has several shows and craftsmen demonstrating trades such as glass blowing, knife making, blacksmithing and candle making to name a few.  This park is laid out well, is very clean, and like the Disney parks you can't see anything behind the scenes.

On the first afternoon we all managed to hit the best rides and even made it to the Magic Show and their end of the night Great American County Nights Show.  We're not big country music folk but it was a very good show and we appreciated the emphasis placed on God and county (the USA not the music).  We were also very impressed with the time taken to thank our military veterans.

Of course the next morning we were one of the first cars (the FIRST RV) in the parking lot and one of the first to ride the most thrilling coasters.  Tanner and Sterling have always loved thrill rides but it is Peyton (now over 48") who has become our latest daredevil thrillseeker.  One of our family favorites was the Powder Keg ride which we went on 3 times.  This ride is explosive, shooting you from 0 to 53 mph in 2.8 seconds.  It was so hot and soooo humid that the water rides kept us coming back for more soaking sessions.  We were able to convince the kids to see a couple more shows as well, Veggie Tales Production and the saloon show.  Another way we cooled off was by taking the 1 hour tour of Marvel Cave.  This cave was very impressive.  The entrance to the cave, the Cathedral Room, is the largest cave entrance room in the United States.  For a recent anniversary they brought in 5 hot air ballons and flew them inside the Cathedral Room.  We descended down into the cave over 500 feet (almost 600 steps).  It was quite an adventure which we all thoroughly enjoyed.  Did I mention we are all exhausted?

Branson, MO Day 3

We spent the late afternoon at Silver Dollar City.  We will be going there all day tomorrow.  I'm too tired to post tonight so I will post tomorrow night about today and tomorrow.   I will also post Poll results and answer tomorrow.

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?