One more time

 Here goes nothing.  If it blanks out this time it will be my last post of the blog.

64º here in Clarinda, IA at 9:30 am Wednesday.

The tree trimmer finally came yesterday and thinned  out the huge Oak tree that is at the southwest of the house.  With a tall bucket truck and several guys running the chain saws they took quick care of it.

I can't find a recent photo of the tree before trimming, but it had gotten quite large, had a lot of dead branches in it.  They took out some major branches on the bottom, and thinned it out up in the middle.

We had them remove the four large Junipers that had always covered the front of the house.  Photo at right is the last one to come out.  With the skid loader he simply lifted it up and snapped the roots off.

The "bare" house as it looks now.

The Goldwing Express Branson Bluegrass Festival was much larger than the one in Macon, MO.  With the open-sided pavilion and the tent behind it, people were able to spread apart some, and the 3 or 4 times it rained we were under cover.

As you can see by the schedule, we had full days.  They slipped in an extra Gospel group each morning, and with all the call-backs they all ran a little long.  Was well after 9 pm the first two days when finished and after 10:00 pm the last day.  We were not too far from our trailer and did take at least one break each day, either walking or taking the shuttles they provided.

Boot Daddy's people always made mention, on the show, to ring the bell as they entered the store which would tell them we saw the show and get free bottle of BBQ Sauce.  Were able to snag two of these $4 bottles free!

Had been wanting to buy this book and was able to save the $6.50 in mailing fees from the internet.  One of the most interesting books I have read.

This is Butch, the sound man.  He did sound
for the four Goldwing Express cruises we took.

On the way from Macon to Branson, MO we stopped in Springfield at Boot Daddy's.  They are a major sponsor on Larry's Country Diner.  Didn't buy any boots, but we each got a pair of casual shoes, and got to see one of the guys from the company who is on every Larry's Country Diner show.

Lizzy, with the Little Roy & Lizzy show

I have taken 426 photos this month (and it is only the 16th!) but will show a few here of the Branson show.

One of the young men on Little Roy
and Lizzy Show.

Little Roy was short, and probably in his
early 80's, but he was full of energy, bouncing
all over the stage pulling all sorts of antics.

Larry Efaw, from Ohio

Larry Gillis and "Swamp Grass" from
southern Georgia. 

This is the sponsoring band - Goldwing Express
Shawn, Paul, Pops (Bob) and Steve Baldridge