Natchez was delightful. Lots of antebellum mansions to view and a magnificent view of the Mississippi from the elevated eastern bank, all in a small-town atmosphere. For those literary types, Natchez boasts an excellent fiction author - Greg Isles. I've read a couple of his novels and am on my third. Contemporary mysteries, mostly set in Mississippi and Louisiana.
Across the wide Mississippi we go and northward through Louisiana cotton country and into the rich soils of southern and eastern Arkansas. We tried to look up Bill and Hillary in Little Rock but it seems they are elsewhere occupied. We carried on nevertheless, through the Ozarks and into Missouri. Somewhat surprisingly, we ended up in Branson, Missouri. Surprisingly, I say, because it seems everyone else on the planet has heard of Branson except us. Think Las Vegas for country folk, and without the casinos. There's a four mile long "strip" loaded with concert halls featuring all the country music stars you hoped you'd forgotten about years ago! Apparently this is where they all end up. So we take in a show, and guess what - it was fun!
Across the wide Mississippi we go and northward through Louisiana cotton country and into the rich soils of southern and eastern Arkansas. We tried to look up Bill and Hillary in Little Rock but it seems they are elsewhere occupied. We carried on nevertheless, through the Ozarks and into Missouri. Somewhat surprisingly, we ended up in Branson, Missouri. Surprisingly, I say, because it seems everyone else on the planet has heard of Branson except us. Think Las Vegas for country folk, and without the casinos. There's a four mile long "strip" loaded with concert halls featuring all the country music stars you hoped you'd forgotten about years ago! Apparently this is where they all end up. So we take in a show, and guess what - it was fun!
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Center
A scene from "A Country Jamboree"Carrying on northward and westward, we pass Kansas City, Nebraska, Sioux City, and Iowa ending up headed west across South Dakota. Wonderful grasslands and big skies. We even pass Laura Ingalls Wilder's hometown (remember "Little House on the Prairie")? We visit the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D. see four presidents at Mt. Rushmore, and end up in Deadwood, S.D. Deadwood - think Las Vegas in the mountains with gunfights on the street each day...... and sometimes snowstorms overnight.
An overnight snowstorm in DeadwoodWe make it back into Montana and finally cross the border into Canada. For no apparent reason other than only 2 guys on duty (out of the six booths) we waited 90 minutes to cross. Reunited with our daughter, cat, brother's family, friends, and the Bailey NHL Hockey Pool trophy, things feel good. Even the two-day blizzard fails to dampen our spirits as we make quick stops in Innisfail and Edmonton.
The QE2 Highway welcomes us home.Finally, it is back to our Lloydminster home after two months away. Nothing much has changed - I shovel the driveway the next morning. But it is good to be home!
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