BRANSON, MO. - PART #5, COLLEGE OF THE OZARKS FARMERS MARKET and a COOKING DEMO!

On Friday, June 26th, I set my alarm and woke up extra early so I could leave the RV park and head to the College of the Ozarks.

It was a good walk and I had a good work out walking up a 1 mile long grade. I passed through the town of Historic Hollister, MO. where they have this nice colorful caboose at their train station.

It was about 2.7 miles to the Farmers Market. I had my nice canvas insulated grocery bag with an ice block in it. My friend Fannie and the staff at the RV park, told me about the Farmers Market at the College of the Ozarks.

I was blown away when I walked to the C of O as everyone calls the college. It looked like it should be on the cover of a top landscape and building magazine. I loved the waterfalls, stone walls, trees, shrubs and flowers.

For right now, I will touch just a little on the history, but I want to save most of the history information along with pictures for when Ralph and I go on a self guided tour next week along with having made a late lunch reservation in their beautiful culinary restaurant.

One thing I noticed right off the bat was the teenagers I encountered while walking were nicely dressed, clean cut, no tattoos, body piercings, outrages hair color or hair styles and even before I spoke to them, they were looking at me in the eye and saying good morning!

Then I found out why. This is a Christian College. It is a fully accredited, four-year college founded by the Reverend James Forsythe in 1906.

For right now, I will just talk about the fabulous farmers market and the farming and agriculture part of the college with the help of their Farmers Market brochure.

Farming and the use of farm raised products have been a part of the College's 106 year heritage that allows students to work instead of pay for their education.

The colleges nickname is "Hard Work U"  and that was given by the Wall Street Journal. All full time students participate in the "Work Education Program", where they work a certain number of hours in over 80 campus workstations. Job assignments range from the fruitcake and jelly kitchen to the campus dairy farm.

The Diary barn is called the W. Alton Jones Diary. Here the students milk 60 Holstein, Guernsey and Jersey cows at 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. They sell the milk and I am going to buy a quart before we leave.

Whittaker's Pride is where the beef and pork are raised. There is a USDA certified campus plant where another group of students turn the beef and pork into Grade-A smoked meats. They have many flavors of summer sausage and the one flavor we love is jalapeno cheddar sausage. I will buy some before we leave Branson.

There is the Kranzush Garden where students cultivate bumper crops of broccoli, cauliflower, onions, cabbage, beets, green beans, tomatoes, okra and numerous tasty other veggies available at seasonal times. Farmers Market is every Friday at 7 am.

The college provides a Christian education for those found worthy. Upon completion of their work assignment, the College guarantees to meet the entire cost of education of institutional scholarships and grants. Debt is openly discouraged, work ethic and the development of Christ-like character encouraged.

There is the Hoge Greenhouse where students grow a number of trees, shrubs, annuals and vegetables start and are for sale. The beautiful landscape, ponds and water gardens are all over the 1,000 acre campus.

It was nice that the college has feeders for the ducks and swans.

I loved watching the ducks and this momma swan. Here she is calling her babies and they soon answer her call.

Here is a nice large pond with a water fountain and a duck house in the middle. The college was getting ready for July 4th celebration as you can tell by the banners. They actually are celebrating it on  June 28th.

Edwards Mill is where the lost art of stone-ground milling and hand woven goods are made. They ground and sell all types of flour, corn meal, biscuit, pancake and waffle mixes.

In the Fruitcake, jam and jellies kitchen they make and sell about 30,000 jars of jellies and apple butter each years along with 25,000 fruitcakes. The fruitcakes are shipped all over the world and yes I love fruitcakes and I am going to buy one.

There is Stanley's Stained Glass and Home Accents are where students meticulously craft stained glass pieces and fragrant candles.

All these goodies can be purchased at the Farmers Market and also at the Keeter Center. I will write more about the Keeter Center later in the week when we come back and do a tour. It will blow your mind.

If I ever find the "Fountain of Youth", I am going to come back here as an 18 year old student and go to college here. For me to say that is something else because I have always hated school with a passion. I told my parents exactly that when I came home from my first day of school!

C of O offers a liberal arts program with majors and minors in 45 areas that include: Accounting, agriculture, art, biology business administration, chemistry, science, conservation and wildlife management, culinary arts, criminal justice, history, hotel and restaurant mgmt., mathematics, music nursing, religion, psychology and etc.

This was the wonderful Farmers Market. The chalk board is welcoming everyone and letting us know of the "featured item" will be "the potato". They are going to make A la dauphinoise, which is gratin potatoes.

Students made these homemade muffins, cookies, breads, sweet breads, pottery, candles and stained glass that are for sale.

I had a nice chat with these 2 lovely students, Paytience and Alichia. When you talk to any student here, their eyes light up. They love their school and education they are getting!

Fresh stoned ground 2 lb. and 5 lb. sacks of white and wheat flour, corn meal, biscuit, waffle and pancake mix can be bought. I did not get pictures of the mile and meat case.

There was a nice checker board game outside for anyone who wanted to play. The checkers were made from tree limbs and the board out of wood. I am sure a student made it.

Here are Culinary students, Maalek and Annisa. Maalek is studying to be a chef and is in the Culinary Arts Program. Annisa is just starting and was his helper. Maalek was very well spoken and engaged very well with the audience. He explained every step and gave good pointers and hints as he was cooking. When he graduates he will be a Certified Sous Chef and that is the "under chef". They are also taught managerial skills.

He had one that was already baked and everyone got to try a sample. Oh my was it delish and we all got a copy of the recipe.

I loaded up my bag with veggies and headed home. It was a fun morning!

BRANSON, MISSOURI - PART #4, THE DUTTON'S and I FINALLY GOT MY 24 KARROT CAKE!

On Tuesday, June 23rd, I headed to Weight Watchers about 2.3 miles away. I lugged a bag of "my old BIG clothes" and dropped them off to the thrift shop in Branson. All money goes to the local animal shelter.

The WW meeting was at a beautiful senior and community center. Wow was I surprised when I walked in. There must have been close to 50 folks attending the meeting. What was nice is the community center had coffee there for a donation. You all know how Ralph and I like our coffee. Although we mostly drink decaf, we also drink the high test if that is all they have.

Anyway, I stepped on the scale and I lost 2.0 pounds! I now have lost 47 lbs. and weigh 156.8! Just 8 more pounds to go! Look out Dino's 24 Karrot Cake! Here I come!

You know over eating is just like any other bad habit or addiction. It is just like people who smoke or do  drugs. It is a hard habit to break. For people that over eat, their drug of choice is food.

I often explain my food addition this way: If I had a magic wallet that every time I opened it, there would be a crisp one hundred dollar bill in it. When I spent it, well then another one hundred dollar bill would appear. If I had a choice of having a magic wallet or eat anything and everything I wanted but never would gain weight, guess which one I would choose? I wouldn't be having to go to Weight Watchers, bike or walk, that is for sure!

I had to giggle under my breath, I overheard a woman tell another lady that she checked the nutrition label and did the calculations of how many points a Walmart doughnut was and that is was 4 points. Each food has points and you are allowed so many points a day with WW. Of course there I was thinking of my Karrot cake and the points in that, YIKES! But then I am walking it off today to the tune of 6.5 miles by the time I get home.

The WW Leader, Linda was a very good speaker and I introduced myself to her after the meeting.

On the way home, I went to visit Dino. Well "HELLO DINO"! And look, he is waiting for me with his famous 24 Karrot Cake!

There was another lady working this morning, so I got to tell her of my story and how much I was going to enjoy my reward and of course that I was going to "share" it with my sweetheart. (I think?)

She packed it up in a container and threw in 2 forks. I said "oh no, keep your forks, that just may be a little too tempting". I pictured myself stopping some where along the lakes shore and sit on the banks and eat it all by myself".

Well I had about 1.5 miles to go and I walked really fast to get it home because of the delicate icing. I just thought the whole time that do I have enough "will power" to wait until tonight? Sure I do.

We made salmon cakes for dinner. Our good friends Marlis and Sharon from Minnesota caught Salmon and had it canned. It was DELISH! I made homemade tartar sauce, homemade cole slaw, asparagus and sweet potatoes.

I watched the clock all evening and finally 7:00 p.m. came. That is usually when we turn our coffee pot on for our evening coffee. I waited attentively as the last dropped of coffee dripped and the dinger bell went off and hot dog, our coffee was done!

During my walk home, the cake did get bounced around a bit and the decorative icing carrot got a little smashed, but that did not change the taste.

So I put it on one plate with 2 forks and we sat side by side on the couch with our coffee. Oh my was it DELISH and I so enjoyed every sinful and flavorful bite! Yes I did share with Ralph, bite for bite matter of fact. I did not even try to sneak in a quick extra bite between our matching bites. Oh shame on me, but I thought of it!

I was waiting for Ralph to say what he usually says about a rich desert. "Oh that is enough, it is a little too rich for me, you go ahead and finish it." Well there was not a peep out of him, dang it!

I have often told Ralph that if we were in a boat and it was sinking and there was only one life jacket, I would give it to him. But if we were on a desert island and there was only one sandwich, well that sandwich is mine!

On Wednesday, June 24th I headed into town for my morning walk. I got out early than I normally do, so a cozy fog was coming up  off the Taneycomo Lake.

Fishermen catching tonight's dinner.

There is this nice shop on Main St. in historic Branson. They have pretty clothing and a western clothing section down stairs. While here last week, a nice shirt caught my eye and I bought it. I am trying to get away from T shirts and I found this white short sleeve shirt with all kinds of colorful butterflies on it. It goes well with several colored shorts and capri's that I recently bought since my weight loss. I have worn the butterfly shirt to the shows and have received several compliments on it.

Anyway, there was this really eye catching large tote bag. It was well made and "American Made"! I have always tried to buy American made things when I have a choice. It has an Indian Pony on it with feathers and war paint markings on the horse. It really caught my eye and every time I would go to town, I would pop in and look at it. It was decently priced at $42.

I occasionally use a large tote bag, especially when I go to cowboy shoots. I pack all kinds of letter writing material in it like greeting cards, letters and post cards that I want to send out that month. Especially during Christmas time when I am addressing 150 envelopes and stuffing them with our Christmas Letters.

I also lug along my thick travel journal book. Even though I write our adventures on this computer travel blog, I still like having something I can hold in my hand and read. I often refer to my journal book when Ralph and I look back on our travels this past year, because sometimes I forget where we were and what we were doing way back when.

However I do have a tote bag and although it is not real big, it is cute because it has little RV's all over it. I do stuff it full and the sides are bulging out and I can't close the top and maybe I could loose something (I am trying to talk myself into getting this tote bag). I just don't have enough room to keep 2 totes.

In the afternoon we  had tickets to go see "The Dutton's". The Dutton's are a family show and they made the Top 10 in season 2 of "Americas Got Talent" in 2007.

On the way to the show we passed by a miniature golf course. Thought this was interesting.

Again for what ever reason, my pictures don't want stay "up right", so like all the other times before, just tilt your head.

 The Dutton's are Mormon's. They are International Touring Artists. Dean and Sheila are the Patriarch's and I am guessing in their 70's. Their children and grandchildren now total 26! Most all are in the show and most play several instruments, sing and dance.

The instruments range from violins, mandolins, banjos, key board, guitar, drums, fiddles, bass and harmonica.

They also do several funny comedy routines and interact with folks from the crowd. These brothers are Ben and Jon. They were comical with their zingers and one liners. When Jon would play the banjo, Ben would match the notes with his horns that were strapped all over his body including his back and the back of his legs. They had the crowd in stitches!

During several of the songs, they would switch instruments to show the crowd that they can play any instrument. This family was so versatile and talented. They also did tap dancing numbers and other dance routines.

 Look closely and you will see the little boy in the red shirt with the black sweater vest. He is fighting leukemia. He was in some of the little skits. They said his prognosis is promising.

This was a Mary Poppins song and dance routine.

This is one of the Dutton daughters and was she awesome with that violin. She has won many contents.

We loved this show and afterwards we got to meet Mr. and Mrs. Dutton and a few of their children. My gosh they have to be so proud! It was a great show and I would see them again!

BRANSON, MISSOURI - PART #3 and ACROBATS OF CHINA!

On Sunday, June 21, I headed out for my walk. It was a peaceful Sunday morning along the shore of Lake Taneycomo.

I only wish Ralph could walk too, but as most of you know his "fused ankle" keeps him from walking long distances. Thank goodness we are able to ride bicycles together though. We would be doing that but it his incredibly hilly here in the Ozarks plus the temps have been in the 90's with very high humidity. But he is enjoying relaxing and doing his Sudoku puzzles.

When I head back to the RV park, I usually stop in historic Branson and browse through Dick's Five and Dime. It is a Branson Landmark and has been here for over 50 years.

Dick's children now run it and everyone that works here is so friendly and helpful, the gals at the register are so bubbly and were fun to chat with.

You see things here that you just don't see any where else and of course I always see something I need although I didn't know I needed it until I saw it.

That afternoon we had tickets to see "Acrobats of China". We had great seats too, they were center front row seats!

I wish my pictures turned out better. Video's were not allowed, but pictures were okay as long as you did not use a flash. Well I tried to figure out how to shut my flash down in my iPhone and I had to wait until intermission where I could fool with it. Eventually I did figured it out but after I missed many acrobatic performances.

If I can count them all, I believe there are 12 ladies on this bicycle. You can't see the one pedaling the bike. The lady in front is standing on the front of the handlebars.

After the show, the acrobatic stars came out to the lobby to pose for pictures and sign autographs. Look at the little ones in the yellow suits. They looked to be between 7 and 10 years old. I just could not believe how they could tumble, jump, twirl, flip and fly though the air with the greatest of ease.

Their show was breath taking and I did gasp several times and I think my palms remained sweaty over the course of their 2 hour show.

I have decided that these Chinese acrobats have no vertebraes. How can they contort their bodies and arch their back to the point that the back of their heads can actually touch their butts? Unfortunately those were in the first half of the show when my iPhone was still set on flash.

They are hard working and magnificent performers, very athletic and so disciplined. We were just amazed beyond words and we just couldn't say enough wonderful things about their show.

This was another fun day in our life and I don't ever forget to thank God everyday for our life!

On Monday, June 22, I went for my usual walk. I just love the peaceful walk along the river into Branson. I got a treat on this morning by seeing a flock of geese enjoying a swim.

On the way back, I stopped in Historic Branson and when I passed by the The Fudge Shop I kept hearing my name being called to come in and get some fudge. I didn't cave in to these bunch of "dummies" yelling at me from the roof!

As I continued on with my walk, I peered through this large window where I saw a man painting. It caught my attention, so I walked into Crain Creations Gallery where I met a very soft spoken and friendly man named T. Morgan Crain.

As you can see in his painting, it has been matted but he continues to paint pass the mattings edge for a special effect.

He is extending the tree and fence out on the matting and has painted leaves on the corners. It was just beautiful.

I really enjoyed talking with him and I picked up some literature to read about him. When I got home I read it and found out that he was inducted into the National Hall of Fame for Legends of the Outdoors in Nashville, TN.

He stated "one of his greatest desires is that his gift to paint will bless people and he feels it is a privilege to paint what God has created".

He has won numerous awards through out the country. He has painted numerous covers for the magazine Cabela's and Fiocchi of America. Franklin Mint requested seventeen paintings for collector plates.

I enjoyed walking through his studio admiring his beautiful paintings. What a treat this was for me.

I headed over to Branson Landing and popped into Dino's 24 Karrot Cake and Cafe. I told the lady that if I have a good weigh in tomorrow at Weight Watchers, that I would be in to get a slice of Dino's famous 24 Karrot Cake! Carrot cake is one of my favorite flavors of cake and my plan is to share it with Ralph that evening. (I think?)

Until next time.............Happy Trails to You All!