Branson or bust

Friday morning we got up early and left for Branson, Missouri for a week of fun and relaxation. The Dad's mom and dad were generous to let us use a week of their time share time. There was a very heavy frost on the ground so we were happy to be leaving for warmer weather. The trip, according to map quest, is suppose to be 11 hours.
As we were going down the freeway we realized there are some rather unusual ways that companies advertise and some interesting sights to be seen so out came the camera. These three life size planes are for an airport.

This the most unusual welcome center we saw. It is a two story barn complete with a silo. Really neat inside too, it has a huge stair case to the second floor which has a gift shop.

This wind farm is such an incredible sight with all the windmills going around at the same time. These windmills can be seen for miles on each side of the freeway.

Stopped for a little lunch in Iowa.

We were well acquainted with the back of this trailer. Why? Because we followed it for mile, after mile, after mile, after mile, after mile of single lane 50 mph construction areas on the freeway where we should have been zipping along at 70 mph.

We saw this guy who had to be at least eight stories tall.

There were Indians on the prairie. Which in Missouri they actually use the word Indians. In our state that is very politically incorrect, we say Native American or people gasp. All schools and businesses that had anything to with Indians had to change their names and/or mascots.

To complement the Indian was a charging buffalo.

In our state fireworks are illegal so it seemed out of place to see huge firework stores. And the store were mega huge and they all had cars in front of them. When do you shoot off fireworks besides the 4th of July? Another odd thing about Missouri is that you can smoke in public. Again, in our state that is illegal, even in bars.

We saw this horse standing in the grass by a freeway off ramp while it's owner was on the other side of the road selling baskets. The horse never moved the whole time we were getting gas even with cars zooming by it. Not sure why they tied it there instead of by them but we figured they knew more about what makes a good hitching post for a horse than we did.

By the time we were two hours over schedule, and there was no end in sight to the road, it turned to just plain silliness in the car. Finally, 15 1/2 hours after we left home, we got the place we are staying. Whew, what a day!