"Spring"ing Back to Branson - Regular Updates every 2-3 Days! - COMPLETE 10/15 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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"Spring"ing Back to Branson - Regular Updates every 2-3 Days! - COMPLETE 10/15
Cast: Me, Christie, 36, stay-at-home mom and obsessive-compulsive trip planner.
Husband, Jay, 37
Our son, Joshua, 5
Jay's dad Jerry, 66, retired and living with Jay's sister
Experience: Fifth trip for me and Joshua, fourth for Jay, third for Jerry
Dates: May 21-27, 2007
Lodging: Big Cedar Lodge, Ridgedale, Missouri (6 nights)
Transportation: truck, 8 hours from Clinton, MS
Contents:
• Introduction
• Planning
• Day 1 - May 21
• Day 2 - May 22
• Day 3 - May 23
• Day 4 - May 24
• Day 5 - May 25
• Day 6 - May 26
• Day 7 - May 27
• Conclusion
Introduction
Welcome to yet another Branson trip report by ME! If you've read one of my reports before, you know that I'm very detailed and long-winded, but fortunately I've gotten the picture thing down - with a slight delay thanks to ImageStation closing their website, and having to set up a new account on Shutterfly. As usual, I will be giving you a very detailed account of our activities for each day. This type of trip report really helps me plan better, and I hope it helps you out as well. I also keep all my reports, so they serve as a journal to help me remember things later that I otherwise would have forgotten about.
If you read my holiday Branson trip report, you'll see the pattern we're currently in of a trip to Branson every six months or so. This was our third year in a row to visit here in the Spring, and I was excited that we were able to stay almost a whole week this time. Jay's dad Jerry now lives with Jay's sister and is just like a little child. You have to make him do everything, and he keeps coming up with all these crazy stories about things that are happening to him when she's not at the house to "protect" him. So we decided to bring him on this trip with us and give her a break. And since he was at our house for a few days before the trip, as well as a couple of days afterward, she had almost two whole weeks' break. She ended up using the time to hold a garage sale of a lot of his junk!
As usual, I would welcome any and all comments or questions via a Private Message or a reply to this post. I'm always ready to offer up my assistance based on what I've picked up over previous trips, as well as answer any questions you might have. I'll be posting updates to this report every 2-3 days, so keep checking back for the next installment.
So if you've been keeping up with us, you know that we've been visiting Branson twice each year - once in May, and again over Thanksgiving weekend, for the past two years. Over the course of all those trips we've stayed at both of our vacation club resorts, Big Cedar Wilderness Club and Falls Village. Each time we've been we were able to do a little something new each time. We loved going, but all those trips were very short, so we were only able to do a few things each time.
Well, I was very excited when Jay told me he would be taking all his vacation days at once this year, giving us six nights to spend on this Spring trip. I did my usual research online, and found several things that sounded like fun. I also looked up prices for some of the things on our to-do list, so we could decide how to plan our days and our budget.
Our trip was scheduled for the week after Joshua got out of school in May (the week before Memorial Day). We would leave the following Monday and stay for six nights. That would give us five full days to spend in Branson, which we thought would be perfect - time to sample a few more of the attractions we had been missing on previous trips, plus some down time every day.
We decided not to pre-order any tickets this time, mainly because I didn't see any special deals available online for the things we were wanting to do. Because we pretty much knew the things we were wanting to see this time, there wasn't that much planning involved in this trip - mainly just trying to figure out what to do each day, and where to eat. Our main plan was to pick one main thing to do each day, either morning or evening, and spend the rest of the time at the resort reading, watching movies, or just hanging out.
We called our vacation club to make reservations, having two options available. First choice was to stay at Big Cedar again, since it had been a while since we'd stayed there, and we really liked it. But if the only space available was at the other resort (Falls Village) then we would take that as well. Happily, when we called we found out that Big Cedar had just what we were looking for - a 2-bedroom unit in one of the lodge buildings (a lock-off unit), for all six nights we were hoping for.
As I mentioned previously, Jerry (Jay's dad) is now living with Jay's sister and driving her up the wall every chance he gets. I had mentioned to Jay a while back that since we already had our big trip planned for later in the summer, we should offer to take Jerry with us on this trip to Branson to give his sister a break. He agreed, although neither of us were real excited about it, because we knew it would tax our nerves to have him along. However, we told Jay's sister about it and she tried her best to get Jerry excited about it. I'm not sure it worked all that well, but he was still made part of our plans. Jay's sister would bring Jerry to our house the Friday before we left, he would go to church with us that Sunday, and we would all leave for Branson that Monday morning. We would arrive back home the next Sunday evening and Jay's sister would come pick him up the next day (Memorial Day).
A few weeks before the trip I started gathering up some things I wanted to take along, mainly for our downtime at the resort - movies, books, and a jigsaw puzzle. Joshua's travel goodie bag was included on our packing list, as well as one of the remote-control vehicles he got for Christmas. We also started planning for what meals we would be cooking at the resort - sandwiches and chips, meat for the grill, baked beans, scalloped potatoes, spaghetti, ingredients for vegetable soup and cornbread. And of course breakfast was eat-in as well. I took some snacks for the road and to keep with us during the day while we were out and about. We would be stopping as usual for fast-food lunches on our two driving days.
Jay's sister arrived with Jerry Friday, and the babysitting job began. He can no longer be interested in much of anything, just like a child has a short attention span. He also needed to be told to get a bath, and needed his clean clothes laid out for him each day. We made it to church together Sunday, then I made sure that all our bags were packed. Jay had talked me into going in the truck (Nissan Titan) instead of my new Altima, and I was glad we did. The back seat of the truck was a little more cramped than the car would have been, but I think it worked out better in the end. Jay fixed the cover on the back end of the truck Sunday evening and started loading up some of our things. Before bed I went over our usual packing list, making sure that we wouldn't forget anything. I made Jay a list of the items that would need to be put in the cooler in the morning, since I knew he would be up before I would. As per tradition, the last thing we did before getting in bed was to plug in the cooler so it could start cooling off. Goodnight!
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HA! This trip was nothing ... you should hear about the TWO WEEKS that he stayed with us later in the summer ... but don't worry, there's no way I would subject you guys to that!
I had planned for us to leave home about 7:45, but I don't remember what time it actually was, I'm thinking it was a little after 8, based on the time stamped on our lunch receipt. Nothing much happened on the first leg of our trip. We had gotten a portable DVD player for Christmas, so that was hooked up in the back seat, where I was sitting with Joshua - Jerry rode up front with Jay. I think we watched Cars during the first leg of our drive.
After about a couple of hours we stopped at the Arkansas Welcome Center, which on Highway 65 is at Lake Village. This is our usual stopping place, as it's the first real rest area you come to. We try not to stop at gas stations unless we need to. We all went to the restroom, then Jerry took up a few minutes of the welcome center attendants' time talking about how he was born in Arkansas and now we were going to Branson, blah, blah, blah. We picked up a few new Arkansas booklets (not sure why since we were just passing through) and walked back out to the truck. I pulled out a snack for everybody, along with a drink for each of us from the cooler. Then we were on our way again.
We made it to our next stop without any incidents, and pulled into the Arby's in Pine Bluff. After visiting the restroom we went to place our order. Jerry had a beef and cheddar combo with curly fries and drink, Jay had the bacon beef and cheddar combo with regular fries and drink, I had the regular roast beef combo with curly fries and drink, and Joshua had chicken nuggets, baked Lays and chocolate milk. Jay also got he and his dad each an apple turnover. After a yummy and satisfying lunch we washed up and were back on the road heading toward Little Rock.
Next up on our list of regular stops was the Shell station just off the interstate in Conway. Just like last Thanksgiving, Jerry kept offering us his Exxon card to gas up. And also just like last Thanksgiving, Jay kept trying to explain that the Exxon station was on the other side of the street and we wouldn't be able to get back into traffic if we went there. Jay also had to keep explaining to Jerry on this trip that he had already given us money to pay for his share of the trip - every time we did anything he kept offering to pay, and Jay kept explaining ... While Jay gassed up the truck, Joshua and I ran inside to use the restroom, and we had to convince Jerry that he also needed to go since we wouldn't be stopping anymore until we got to the resort. Just like a child, I tell you! Once we got back in the truck, I got each of us another light snack out, along with a drink, and we headed toward Branson. We had about another 2 ½ hours until we got to the resort, and we settled in for the last leg of the journey, with Joshua getting a short nap along the way. I put the headphones on during most of this leg of the drive, as Jerry started in with his crazy talk and of course he kept repeating himself, and I didn't want to listen to it. There was a couple of times Jay had to tell him to be quiet because of Joshua not needing to hear all of his choice words.
Finally, finally, finally, after driving through lots of small towns, we reached Missouri. Our resort was just a few miles over the state line, and I was getting very excited since we hadn't stayed at Big Cedar in a while. We pulled in and enjoyed the scenic views as we headed down the steep hill toward the resort, and found a parking place right up front at the clubhouse. While Jay stood in line to check in the rest of us used the restroom and then looked through the travel brochures in the lobby. It only took just a few minutes, and we had all our paperwork in order. After politely but firmly refusing their offer of coming to an "update" meeting (in reality, a sales pitch to upgrade your membership by purchasing more points ) we went back to the truck to drive up to our building.
This time we were in one of the newest lodge buildings (it was called the Roaring River Lodge), just up the hill from the clubhouse, and our unit was on the second (entry) floor. We had stayed in one just like this a couple of years ago (just the 1-bedroom side) but this time we also had booked the studio side for Jerry to sleep in. The doors to both the Studio and the 1-Bedroom unit opened to the walkway outside. On the 1-Bedroom side you entered directly into the kitchen/dining room - very small.
Joshua took this picture of the kitchen counter after everything was moved in:
Joshua's picture of the dining table and kitchen, taken from the living room:
Joshua's picture of me in the dining room:
Here's a picture of the light fixture over the dining table:
The decor reminds me of the Wilderness Lodge ...
Beyond kitchen and dining area was the living room with an entertainment center and gas log fireplace.
Joshua's picture of the living room from the dining table:
Joshua took this picture of Jay (not that flattering of an angle) with one of the fish decorations in the background:
I'm sure you all LOVE Joshua's angle thing he has going on in his pictures!
Joshua's picture of the living room from the balcony:
There was a french door which led to a balcony. Outside there was a table and chairs, and we could see a portion of Table Rock Lake beyond the other lodge buildings.
Joshua's picture of our neighbor's balcony:
view from our balcony:
closeup of the same view:
To the left side of the living area was the bedroom with a jacuzzi tub.
Joshua's picture of me and Jay watching TV in the bedroom:
The bathroom had a walk-in shower and double vanities. You could also enter the bathroom directly from the entry/kitchen area. To the right of the living room was the connecting door to the Studio. Coming from outside into the Studio, on the right was the bathroom and on the left was a closet. Then you are in the bedroom area, and on the left is the kitchenette and the connecting door to the 1-Bedroom unit. On the far side of the bed is a couch which opened up to a sleeper, a couple of chairs, a table and an entertainment center. Beyond were french doors going onto a balcony with a table and chairs. If you want to see additional pictures, go to Welcome to Bluegreen Online , click on explore the site (you don't have to log in), then look up Wilderness Club at Big Cedar in Ridgedale, Missouri. You can see pictures as well as the floorplans.
After we unloaded the truck, we had a quick snack and then got settled in. I found a movie for Joshua to watch, then I started our supper for the evening - cornbread and vegetable soup. While I was cooking, Jay decided to unpack Jerry's suitcase. He put all his dad's clothes in the dresser drawers in his room, then put his suitcase inside the closet. And every day for the whole trip they had the same discussion - {Jerry: Jay, I can't find my clothes, somebody stole them out of my suitcase. Jay: Your clothes are in your dresser drawers.} Every day. After supper I organized all the brochures we had picked up and Jay and I discussed what we should do tomorrow. We had kind of talked about this before the trip, but we never did put anything down in stone. After making a plan, we pulled out the sofabed for Joshua and went to bed ourselves.
Next up: Day 2 - I die a noble death, Jay survives and is branded a coward, but does Joshua live or die?
About This Page: 
If you've read one of my reports before, you know that I'm very detailed and long-winded, but fortunately I've gotten the picture thing down - with a slight delay thanks to ImageStation closing their website, and having to set up a new account on Shutterfly. 
As usual, I will be giving you a very detailed account of our activities for each day. This type of trip report really helps me plan better, and I hope it helps you out as well. I also keep all my reports, so they serve as a journal to help me remember things later that I otherwise would have forgotten about.
Jay's dad Jerry now lives with Jay's sister and is just like a little child. You have to make him do everything, and he keeps coming up with all these crazy stories about things that are happening to him when she's not at the house to "protect" him. So we decided to bring him on this trip with us and give her a break. And since he was at our house for a few days before the trip, as well as a couple of days afterward, she had almost two whole weeks' break. She ended up using the time to hold a garage sale of a lot of his junk! 
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I had mentioned to Jay a while back that since we already had our big trip planned for later in the summer, we should offer to take Jerry with us on this trip to Branson to give his sister a break. He agreed, although neither of us were real excited about it, because we knew it would tax our nerves to have him along. However, we told Jay's sister about it and she tried her best to get Jerry excited about it. I'm not sure it worked all that well, but he was still made part of our plans. Jay's sister would bring Jerry to our house the Friday before we left, he would go to church with us that Sunday, and we would all leave for Branson that Monday morning. We would arrive back home the next Sunday evening and Jay's sister would come pick him up the next day (Memorial Day).
It's almost time to go 
with the trip and with Jerry. 
Once we got back in the truck, I got each of us another light snack out, along with a drink, and we headed toward Branson. We had about another 2 ½ hours until we got to the resort, and we settled in for the last leg of the journey, with Joshua getting a short nap along the way. I put the headphones on during most of this leg of the drive, as Jerry started in with his crazy talk and of course he kept repeating himself, and I didn't want to listen to it. There was a couple of times Jay had to tell him to be quiet because of Joshua not needing to hear all of his choice words. 
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