Achievement Day and Tree Trimming

Shaylene wins ‘Most Improved Player’ in Volleyball.

Grandma and Shelby trim the tree.

A Walk of the beach at our Lake Lot at Brightsands Lake.

Teri and I went to our Lake lot on Brightsands Lake for a walk of the beach. It had been a bit warm and a snowman has almost given up standing.

Grandkids Making Cookies

Teri felt she recovered enough to have the Grandkids over for the weekend.

One of the things we did was make ginger bread cookies

Week ending on November 19th

This week was spent with Doctor appointments, Arm brace fittings, day surgery and initial recovery.

We got home from Saskatoon on the evening of the 16th of Nov. and everything went well, in fact very well.  I turned out it was not a rotator cuff repair but instead she had a rotator cuff decompression or a Acromioplasty. This was done arthroscopic and she will heal MUCH faster. She will NOT have to wear a sling for 6 weeks straight but just when the shoulder has pain.

Home at St.Walburg and Off to the Imhoff’s with the Goodie Box

We made it to St.Walburg late on Saturday Night with one day to spare. Today we went to the Imhoff’s with their goodie box from the trip.

We had a great visit and supper. Thanks

Road Trip Day 3 North Dakota to St.Walburg

Today is the longest day we left the middle of North Dakota and went through Estevan to travel back home.

We found the land of SNOW in North Dakota onwards.

Road Trip Day Two Iowa to North Dakota

 

More evidence of the flooding of the Missouri River. This is the railway tracks with the track bed washed out.

Burning off the stray in South Dakota

More evidence of flooding.

Road Trip Back to Saskatchewan

Today we set off to return home. We put the motorhome in storage in Branson, MO this morning and are heading north. Teri got a phone call from her surgeon that there was a cancelation and she is slated for day surgery on her arm on Nov. 16th, 2011 in Saskatoon.

As we entered Iowa we say the devastation for earlier flooding of the Missouri River. The fields in the flood plain valley had not seen a crop this year.

 

This Photo is taken on interstate 29 going north at the Iowa border. Notice the river silt still on the highway. There are gas stations and hotels along this stretch that still have not reopened.

Tom Mullica–A Tribute to Red Skelton

We went to one extra show that was not on the agenda and it was Tom Mullica’s Red Skelton. Teri laughed so hard that Tom gave Teri a signed poster for “my #1 Laugher”. Teri was sitting in the front row and she thoroughly and loudly enjoyed the show.

Casandra the Voice of an Angel

 

This is our Agenda

This is the Crew

Casandra the a 18 piece band

The comic songs

Duets

This also was a great show, not as impressive as SIX but a great show.

RVFEST Christmas in Branson

The tour we are on is called ‘RV Fest Christmas in Branson’ hosted by Les and Jean Potteiger. They did an excellent job of hosting a great small rally. Thanks again. Les and Jean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

from Les and Jeans Blog this is part of the recap.

“

The third RVFEST ‘fun’ rally is history! The owners of seven RVs rendezvoused 5 November 2011 at America’s Best Campground (ABC), Branson, Missouri for an action-packed, seven-day rally. Attendees represented California (Beverly Hiltachk and Paulette “Casper” Nordahl), Florida (John and Audrey Murphy, and Bill and Martha Potteiger), Michigan (Joseph and Betty Medsker), Missouri (Larry and Judie Stocker), Virginia (Les and Jean Potteiger) and Saskatchewan, Canada (Terry and Teri Meyers) making this an International rally. Jean and I thank all for attending and supportingRVFEST Christmas in Branson.

Our scrumptious Welcome Dinner Saturday evening was served in the balcony of the Hughes Brothers Theater after which we were entertained by the unbelievable SIX, an a cappella group that sounds as if it is accompanied by a full orchestra, but there are no instruments - all musical sounds come from the SIX brothers! There are four more brothers that work behind the scene. They concluded the show with Silent Night accompanied by their Father playing his own arrangement on the piano. Their performance was outstanding to say the least. Their six Chevrolet Camaros are lined up by the street in front of the theater! Our rally was ‘off and running’!

Sunday on the agenda was the beautiful Casandre’ The Voice of an Angel in the afternoon followed by Hollywood’s Christmas Spectacular that evening. The vivacious Casandre’ is backed by a 10-piece live orchestra. She beautifully sang a variety of songs and entertained us with comedy as Aunt Erma! The Spectacularsingers/dancers entertained us with Christmas songs from the movies. We had great theater seats for all shows except the Spectacular and this influenced our evaluation of this show.

Christmas with the Lennon Sisters in the Andy WilliamsTheater Monday afternoon was a hit that featured sisters Janet, Kathy and Mimi, and at times, three of Janet’s granddaughters singing many Christmas songs. It appears that the musical Lennon family will continue to entertain America for many more years! We attended the spectacular Twelve Irish Tenors show that evening. We thoroughly enjoyed them. After the show, we met all twelve young ‘hunks’ in the lobby.

Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede Dinner and Show Tuesday afternoon was a Christmas spectacular featuring a North-South competition with trick horseback riders and a comedian as well as a spectacular Nativity scene with live animals and angels flying above with a video narration by Dolly Parton.

Wednesday morning was spent with Buck Trent who greeted us in the lobby before the show. The former Hee Haw star provides a wonderful show with talented entertainers. It is a pleasure to listen to vocalist Kenny Parrot as well as Buck and his entire band. That evening we were entertained by the one and only Oak Ridge Boys singing many of their hits as well as many Christmas songs. It was a ‘Country Day’ that pleased all!

Our Saskatchewan guests departed Thursday morning to return to Canada, by car, leaving their RV in Branson for a winter trip to Arizona. Teri had been waiting two years for a rotor cuff operation and when a last minute cancellation came up, she jumped at the opportunity to have her shoulder repaired.”

The blog goes on about the stuff we missed, but still we really enjoyed the part we where able to attend!!!

Saturday Night the 5th and SIX

The opening of the RVFEST was the group SIX. They were great!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE3ia5ug5qE&feature=player_embedded

This is off of their website.

ABC Campground in Branson, Mo

We are staying in Branson at the ABC Campground. This is a great campground just out of town on a quiet road but very close to Branson. The fall colours are still present.

Teri just loved this sign as you exit the campground.

Fall Colours in the Ozarks near Banson

Old Downtown Branson, Mo

This evening we toured the old downtown in Branson.

Teri just loved Dicks 5 &10. It reminded her of a old store in Meadow Lake, Sk. where she grew up. We found lots of stuff we could not do without!!!!

Road trip to Branson Missouri

Today we drove to Branson. We got the road sign for Kansas as well as Missiuri.

Hutchinson, Kansas

Hutchinson is a city of 40,000 about 40 miles from Wichita. We stayed at the Kansas State Fairgrounds.

Kansas Underground Salt Museum

The Museum

Tram Ride in the Great Hall

It’s a 70-second trip to the Kansas Underground Salt Museum 650 feet (200 m) below the Kansas prairie. Visitors ride in a double-deck elevator that holds fifteen people on each level.^[17] Because of the large size of mining equipment and the limited size of the elevator shaft, most of it had to be disassembled to go underground. Then, of course, had to be put back in working order. Reversing that process to take out obsolete equipment would be inefficient considering there is plenty of space in the mine to just abandon it. So there have been many more downs than ups involving mining machinery and vehicles. And over the years, numerous no-longer-used items have accumulated throughout the mine, creating sort of an ever-expanding time capsule.

Therefore it also created an invaluable resource for Salt Museum curators. They scoured the 67 miles (108 km) of mined caverns at the Hutchinson Salt company. The artifacts they were able to collect have significantly contributed to the scope of the museum displays.

The weather in Kansas may be erratic and unpredictable, but conditions underground are very predictable and constant. The mine naturally maintains a temperature of 68 degrees with a relative humidity of around 45%.^[18] The mine chambers are very large, ranging in size from 2,500 to 15,000 square feet (1,400 m²) with ceiling heights ranging from 11 to 17 feet (5.2 m). Since 1954, anyone going into the mine has been required to wear a hard hat and rescue breather.^[19] In the history of Hutchinson’s salt mine, no visitor or mine employee has ever needed to use the breather. The Mine Safety and Health Administration, which regularly inspects all aspects of the operation, considers the Hutchinson mine one of the safest in the world.

The material used for much of the museum flooring is very similar to concrete; but instead of sand, salt is used with the cement and water. Thus, it is known as Saltcrete. With the ready availability of the salt, it is definitely practical and cost effective for the museum. Saltcrete does leach – emitting a fine dust of salt – until it is cured, which takes approximately one year. It has limited applications because water makes Saltcrete blister and disintegrate.

Underground Vaults & Storage Gallery

Superman and Jack Frost costumes in the UV&S Exhibit

While the 26-acre facility is a secured site in another area of the Hutchinson Salt Company mine not open to the public, Underground Vaults & Storage (UV&S) has replicated the look and set-up of its operation for the Kansas underground Salt Museum. The company is internationally known for its highly protective, secured storage capabilities, including being home to the original film of many movies, like Gone with the Wind and Ben Hur, as well as television show masters. UV&S also stores medical records, oil and gas charts, and a host of other valuable documents and other materials from all 50 states and many foreign countries.^[23]

Businesses prefer this storage because of the constant temperature and relative humidity, the high security level created by “shaft only” access, and the mine’s safeguard from natural disasters like tornadoes, floods, hurricanes or earthquakes. Underground Vaults and Storage and the Kansas Underground Salt Museum have been loaned several artifacts and actual costumes from popular movies. The temporary exhibit includes such notable memorabilia as Batman and Mr. Freeze costumes from Batman & Robin, James Dean’s shirt from Giant, the Snowman from Jack Frost, and Agent Smith’s costume from The Matrix.

This is an old IBM system 38 Computer stored down in the salt mine.

The storage capacity 64MB, 1979 Cost $91,780, in 2007 dollars $274,000

IPOD Nano storage is 8,000MB and the cost in 2007 $230.00.

UV&S used this System 38 until the early 1980s. By comparison the iPod has 63 times more storage capacity, runs 72 times faster and is available for about $230.

Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center.

The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center is a museum and educational facility in Hutchinson, Kansas that is best known for the display and restoration of spaceflight artifacts and educational camps. It is one of only three museums to display flown spacecraft from Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions.

Facilities

The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center grew from a planetarium established on the Kansas State Fairgrounds in 1962. The 105,000-square-foot (9,800 m²) facility now houses the largest collection of Russian space artifacts outside of Moscow, and the second largest collection of space artifacts in the world, second only to the National Air and Space Museum.^[1][2]

The Cosmosphere has four venues: The Hall of Space Museum, The Justice Planetarium, The Carey IMAX Dome Theatre, and Dr. Goddard's Lab, which is a live science presentation. The Cosmosphere also hosts a series of camps for children as young as those going into second grade, up to a camp designed for grandparents to attend with their grandchildren.

The only Smithsonian affiliate museum in Kansas, the Cosmosphere was voted one of the Eight Wonders of Kansas in a 2008 national poll.^[3]

Collection

Included in the Cosmosphere's collection are an SR-71 Blackbird, the Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft from Mercury 4 and the Odyssey command module from Apollo 13, as well as Redstone and Titan II launch vehicles used in the Mercury and Gemini programs. A prized item on display is a moon rock from Apollo 11, the first manned mission to land on the moon.

The Cosmosphere is the only museum in the world that has both an authentic restored V-1 flying bomb and an authentic restored V-2 missile. It is also the only museum outside of Russia that has an authentic, flown Vostok capsule.

Nearly all of the vehicles, rockets, spacecraft, and spacesuits on display are either authentic or a "flight-ready backup," which is identical to the item actually flown: if a problem is detected in a spacecraft, rocket, or suit before it is flown, the backup fills in on the mission for the damaged item. The only replicated items in the Cosmosphere are the model of Glamorous Glennis, the Bell X-1 flown by Chuck Yeager, and the life-sized space shuttle replica that greets visitors.

The Cosmosphere museum begins with the earliest experiments in rocketry during the World War II era, explores through the Space Race and Cold War, and continues through modern times with the Space Shuttle and International Space Station.

Teri and I have been to Houston Space Center, Cape Canaveral Space Museum and the Smithsonian Space Museum in Washington DC, but this museum is the best at explaining the space race of the 1950’s to early 1960’s with both the Russian and USA displays. The Russian displays are exceptional. 

Road Trip from Garden City to Hutchinson, Kansas

Today we drove from Garden City to Hutchinson. We are still in Kansas.

Some of the thing we saw:

Wind farms. Who knew the land on Oz could be windy?

Nice place for lunch.

The view at lunch.