We have not regretted our decision to NOT buy a Class B RV.  We wrote about our dilemma on how to travel in two posts, here and here. We finally figured it out. This is our third road trip as we return to our love of hiking. This is the start of our most recent travels in diary form.

On November 11, 2021, we departed our home in Myrtle Beach. We took two days to drive to Bill’s brother’s home near Boonville, Missouri. It is just over 1,000 miles and without stopping, takes around 16 hours. In case you aren’t familiar with David and his wife, Linda, you can just about catch up to their lives in a post written here. Most recently, their was some good news is that he has taken a turn for the BETTER in his battle against cancer. Modern medicine has done all possible to eradicate his body of the disease. He was told there was nothing more they could do but offered palliative chemo. In the meantime, they have looked at alternative treatment methods. The latest CEA test results were encouraging, for those familiar with CEA tests.

11/19/2021 After a week with David and Linda, we went to Branson, Missouri to hike! That’s probably not what you think of when you say you are going to Branson, is it? More about that below. From there, we returned to the Fayetteville, Arkansas area to visit with my aunt, uncle and cousins. Then we went to Little Rock area. I have cousins to the south and north of the city. After all that, we headed back to Myrtle Beach. According to this map, it was about

11/19/2021 Our drive to Branson was just over three hours. We do like short drives! We arrived at the Holiday Inn Club Vacations Ozark Mountain Resort, Kimberling City, Missouri.

Our one bedroom condo had balcony, a full kitchen, large living/dining area, fireplace, huge master bath, washer and dryer. It was all we needed plus a beautiful view. The sunrises and sunsets were beautiful but my timing to capture them wasn’t very good!

11/19/2021 David and Linda HIGHLY recommended we visit the Sight and Sound Theatre. They visited it with Bill and David’s mom years ago and saw Samson. We made reservations for the current show, Jesus. It was fabulous and we echo their thoughts. It is well worth it. However, we didn’t leave enough time to fight the traffic. We learned Silver Dollar City is a very popular destination on Saturday which held us up a bit. Then we didn’t think about the traffic to get into the theatre parking lot. But we were in our seats a few minutes before the show started.

Click on the photos to see the full details and to view as a slideshow:

To the best of our ability, we visit anyone we know that is nearby. We have a dear friend, Cheryl Hurst, who lives in Branson! Her son and his family live nearby but we couldn’t manage getting together with them as well. It was Thanksgiving week. I worked with her husband, Larry Hurst, in Philadelphia. God used them in a mighty way as Bill and I began to reconcile and then remarried. We were devastated to learn Larry had passed in 2013. I wrote a tribute to him as he and his family was so special to us.

11/21/2021 We enjoyed our live and on-line church service from the comfort of our condo. Oh how I missed being in the children’s ministry – that is the worst part of traveling. Missing those precious little ones! We searched around for hikes, using the All Trails app. Our first pick was to the Henning Conservation Area: Streamside and Glade Trails. This turned out to be our favorite hike while there. We went 5.9 miles. We started at the Scenic Overlook on Highway 75. We took a few pictures there and trusted the reviews, we would hike away from the sounds of the highway! We started on the Streamside Loop Trail, then connected on Shane’s Shortcut. Then to the Glade’s trail and back to make a full loop. Initially, I started out with one pole. Once we got on the trail, I realized I needed two. So my hero went back to the car for it. His entire hike was just at 7 miles. Oh the things he does for love!!! ❤️

Click on the photos to see the full details and to view as a slideshow:

“The hills are a great book, wherein God has written, in the language of mountain and tree, and sky, and flower, and brook, the things that make wise those who pause to read.” Harold Bell Wright

This quote captivated me! So of course, I had to learn more about Mr. Wright. From Goodreads:

“Harold Bell Wright was a best selling American author of the first part of the 20th century.  Between 1903 and 1942, this minister-turned-author wrote nineteen books, several scripts for stage plays, and several magazine articles. At least fifteen movies were made from his novels. Seven of Wright’s books appeared on the top ten best sellers lists, two of them twice, including a number one seller in 1914, a number two in 1916 and a third best seller three times. He’s best known for his work entitled The Shepherd of the Hills which was made into the well known, outdoor play, of the same name, performed in Branson, Missouri.”

“Here and there among men, there are those who pause in the hurried rush to listen to the call of a life that is more real. He who sees too much is cursed for a dreamer, a fanatic, or a fool, by the mad mob, who, having eyes, see not, ears and hear not, and refuse to understand.”
–From The Shepherd of the Hills

“Originally published in 1907, The Shepherd of the Hills is Harold Bell Wright’s most famous work. Pelican Publishing Company is honored to bring this classic novel back to print as part of the Pelican Pouch series. In The Shepherd of the Hills, Wright spins a tale of universal truths across the years to the modern-day reader. His Eden in the Ozarks has a bountiful share of life’s enchantments, but is not without its serpents. While Wright rejoices in the triumphs, grace, and dignity of his characters, he has not naively created a pastoral fantasyland where the pure at heart are spared life’s struggles and pains. Refusing to yield to the oft-indulged temptation of painting for the reader the simple life of country innocents, Wright forthrightly shows the passions and the life-and-death struggles that go on even in the fairest of environments that man invades. The shepherd, an elderly, mysterious, learned man, escapes the buzzing restlessness of the city to live in the backwoods neighborhood of Mutton Hollow in the Ozark hills. There he encounters Jim Lane, Grant Matthews, Sammy, Young Matt, and other residents of the village, and gradually learns to find a peace about the losses he has borne and has yet to bear. Through the shepherd and those around him, Wright assembles here a gentle and utterly masterful commentary on strength and weakness, failure and success, tranquility and turmoil, and punishment and absolution. This tale of life in the Ozarks continues to draw thousands of devotees to outdoor performances in Branson, Missouri, where visitors can also see the cabin where the real Old Matt and Aunt Mollie lived.” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1043521.The_Shepherd_of_the_Hills

The rest of our hikes and diary up next. Did we go see the cabin where the real Old Matt and Aunt Mollie lived?