Branson, MO, Bus Trip 2008

Seven Minoters and two Candians were met by 49 bus riders from the Williston, ND, area at the South Cenex Convenience Store. After loading our luggage we headed out of Minot around 9 A.M., Mon., Nov. 10, 2008 for our bus trip to Branson, Mo. The day was cloudy and cool as we headed East for our first stop at Rugby, ND, to pick up our coach driver. Our next stop was a short stop at Devils Lake, ND. Next we stopped at the West Acres Mall in Fargo, ND, for lunch. We arrived at the Terry Redlin Art Center in Watertown, SD, around 4:30 P.M. A Center host greeted us and invited us in for coffee and cookies and to view his many paintings. We spent an hour looking over the Terry Redlin paintings. We arrived in Sioux Fall, SD, in a light rain around 7 P.M. for supper and then on to the Comfort Inn in North Sioux City, SD, for the night.
Tuesday, Nov. 11, found us up at 6 A.M. for breakfast and boarding the bus at 7 A.M. for our journey to Branson, Mo. Potty stops were taken about every 2-3 hours. We arrived in Branson, Mo., at the Grand Oaks Hotel around 4 P.M. After unloading and checking into our rooms we again boarded the bus for a short trip to Montana Mike’s for a planned sit down supper. After a good supper we took the short trip to our first show. Mickey Gilley entertained us with his many hit songs and Christmas songs. Joey Riley one of his band members did the comedy part of his show. Arriving back at our hotel around 10:30 P.M. it was time for a good nights sleep after a long day of riding.
Wednesday, Nov. 12, we needed to be done with the continental breakfast at the hotel and ready for our bus ride to our first morning show that
began at 9:30 A.M. Yakov Smirnoff a famous Russian Comedian entertained us for a couple hours. The second half of his show was dedicated to Christmas songs and acts. Smirnoff arrived in Branson, Mo., in 1992 and has been performing here since. This theater seats about 2,000. His acts were enjoyed by everyone. After his show we headed to Paradise Grill & Steakhouse for our first buffet of many to come. After stuffing
ourselves we again boarded the bus and headed to the Daniel O’Donnell & Mary Duff show. (They are now regulars at the Minot, ND, Hostfest) This show was held in a theater formerly known as the Mel Tillis Theater now owned by the Tri-Lakes Church. (A branch of the Assembly of God Church). This theater seats around 2,600 people and it was reported every seat was sold. A number of bus riders had seen him before at this past Hostfest in Minot. Allot of the riders made the trip to see O’Donnell as their main reason for making the trip. Someone in
our group counted and he did some 38 different songs. He started his show down in the audience and spent time during the show also in the
audience shaking hands. He stated some 40 motor coaches were parked in the lot outside while riders were attending his show. His Christmas part was great. His singing partner Mary Duff had an injured leg, so performed from a chair. She was unable to do any dancing with O’Donnell.
Most of you that have seen his shows know how much they dance together throughout the show. He tells you at the beginning that his shows last nearly three hours and his did this afternoon. His show was voted by our tour group as their favorite. After a buffet supper at Sadie Sideboard Buffet we were off to the Andy Williams show. The lighted park and trees outside his Moon River Theater is something we’ll all remember. His show lasted nearly two hours with no intermission. No part of his program was dedicated to marketing his items. There was a nice gift shop outside the theater for you to purchase gifts and music. It was reported he will celebrated his 81 birthday this year in December. For his age he did a great job and many of the tour group voted this their first choice of shows. We did notice him cheating a bit as he watched three different prompters on the floor showing him the words to his songs. But if you are 80 what the heck. The Christmas part of his show was second to none. After his show it was a ride back to our hotel.
Thursday, Nov. 13, after breakfast at our hotel it was into the bus and off to watch the Lowe Family Show. This family of five daughters, one
son and a five-year-old grand-daughter with their parents put on a great show. All through the show the family members kept running around on the stage changing instruments. What a talented family. Two of their girls were not working with the family act now. They probably had the best
salute to our soldiers and veterans of any show we seen. They placed 27 large flags around the stage during their honoring of our country,
soldiers and veterans. We had lunch at Stage Door Restaurant. This was a buffet style meal and again most of us ate too much. Back on the bus we headed to our 2 P.M. Moe Bandy Show. Country Music Legend Bandy has had 10 #1 and 40 Top Ten hits during his country music career. This is his 18th season in Branson. Some of us attending thought the sound was turned up a bit too high. The show would have been enjoyed better if the sound had been softer. At 5 P.M. we arrived at the Golden Corral for dinner. There must have been some one hundred selections of food. Some of us when leaving thought we tasted most of the selections. The Shoji Tabuchi show began at 7:30 P.M. It was just amazing how many curtain changes we witnessed. There was a number of flying Christmas people on stage. Tabuchi can really play the fiddle. Just can’t understand how much money is spent to produce this show. The Christmas part of his show was truly amazing. The group was told ahead about the bathrooms in his theatre, so the men and ladies made it a point to use the bathrooms. It was amazing how both were decorated. The men’s had a pool table in it and Christmas trees all over. The women’s had Christmas trees and live plants throughout. This stage production was the best of all the shows we attended. The man that greeted us at the front door was Terry Fecho formerly of Minot. All of us from Minot knew of him and found time to visit with him. He and his wife after retiring in Minot built a house in Branson. They have lived in Branson about three years.
Friday, Nov. 14, found us at the 10 A.M. Doug Gabriel show. Some of us hadn’t heard about Gabriel, so we didn’t know what to expect. Most of us were surprised of the tremendous show he and his wife put on. He spent time in the audience welcoming fans with hand shakes. Danny Lindsey of Crosby, ND, was asked to come up on the stage and play a Christmas tree. After putting on his tree gown Danny did a great job of dancing with Gabriel’s wife, while she sang some Christmas songs. Great job Danny! Near the end of the Christmas part of his show Gabriel sat down on the stairs near the front of the stage with a Bible in his hand and read the Christmas story. This was the first show that this side of the Christmas season was expressed this way. This was enjoyed by our group. Buffet at Peppercorns and off to attend the 3 P.M. show of Pierce Arrow. These young men put on a great show. The bass singer of this group is the world’s lowest bass singer according to the Guinness Book of world records. At 6 P.M. we all gathered at McFarlain’s Family Restaurant for a sit down dinner. Six members of our group had a joke played on them at their table. They sat at a table that was rigged with a lift under the table. This lift began to raise their table a bit while they were having
dinner. Most of the other table members knew this was happening to them and we began watching them. Some of them couldn’t figure out why they were being watched while eating their dinner. Finally one at the table realized the table was nearly chest high and this wasn’t normal. Then
the rest of the table members questioned what was going on, as the rest of the group began to laugh and clap. They were all good sports about
this joke. After another great dinner we headed to the Baldknobbers Jamboree show. This was our last show of ten. Baldknobbers was Branson’s first show beginning in 1959 when the four Mabe brothers began entertaining visitors on the Branson lake front. The group performs a wide variety of music ranging from country classics to gospel. This was a great show to end our group of shows over the last three and a half days.
Saturday, Nov. 15, found us up early packing, eating breakfast and preparing for long day of bus riding. Leaving our hotel before 7 A.M. we
headed down the road for an hour visit at the Bass Pro Shops about 30 minutes from Branson. This was 300,000 sq. ft. for us to browse for an
hour. In Kansas City we drove past the KC Chiefs NFL football stadium and next door was the KC Royals baseball stadium. Gas here was $1.69 as compared to $2.19 in Minot. We arrived in Sioux Falls, SD, around 6 P.M. We were dropped off at a local mall for dinner of our choice. At the Mall while eating we ran into Jay Wahlund and his family from Minot. They had just gotten done watching their daughter and other Minot girls compete in a Cross Country meet. After dinner we headed to the Sioux Falls Ramada Inn for our last nights sleep of this trip.
Sunday, Nov. 16, we headed out before 7 A.M. on the road for Minot and Williston. After a lunch and a few potty stops the Minot group arrived
in Minot around 4 P.M. After we said our good byes the rest of the group headed on to Williston.
Some Closing Thoughts
After boarding the bus in Minot I realized most the riders were either related or good friends. Arlene seemed to be related or friends with the
entire group. She got caught in a number of jokes, which she maybe had it coming. We found out from the group she sleeps late and maybe late for appointments. She couldn’t win with this group though. If she was early to board the bus everyone clapped and cheered. If she was late
they cheered. We did find whatever side she sat on was most often first off the coach for food and shows. Then we found out the co-host of the
tour was her cousin. It was all in fun, Arlene. All the shows used the theme, "God, Family & Country." The entertainers made a point someplace
in their show to speak to these three words.
I couldn’t close without saying a big thank you to three people. Steve & Ardis Joraanstad who organized this trip did a tremendous job putting
together a great package of food stops and shows. Everything seemed to be right on schedule. I would recommend them at Travel World of Crosby if you have thoughts of taking a tour. They love their work and take pride in making their customers comfortable. Thanks Steve & Ardis.
John Axtman, Rugby, ND, drove our 2002 45-ft. black motor coach around 2,228 miles. The coach has a 450 HP diesel engine and a 6-speed
automatic transmission. The diesel tank holds 235 gallons. It gets about 6 MPG. The coach costs about $400,000 when new and had around 391,000 miles on it. John has been driving coaches for 22 years and has made some 80 trips to Branson. He knows his way around Branson like the back of his hand. Most times he dropped us off a few steps from our eating place or theatre. Thanks John for a safe trip.
I leave you with a few famous words we heard from Steve often. Wasn’t that a great meal? Everyone enjoyed the food? Wasn’t that a great show? Did everyone enjoy the show? Ardis is everyone here? Ok, John let’s roll.
Tuesday, Nov. 11, found us up at 6 A.M. for breakfast and boarding the bus at 7 A.M. for our journey to Branson, Mo. Potty stops were taken about every 2-3 hours. We arrived in Branson, Mo., at the Grand Oaks Hotel around 4 P.M. After unloading and checking into our rooms we again boarded the bus for a short trip to Montana Mike’s for a planned sit down supper. After a good supper we took the short trip to our first show. Mickey Gilley entertained us with his many hit songs and Christmas songs. Joey Riley one of his band members did the comedy part of his show. Arriving back at our hotel around 10:30 P.M. it was time for a good nights sleep after a long day of riding.
Wednesday, Nov. 12, we needed to be done with the continental breakfast at the hotel and ready for our bus ride to our first morning show that
began at 9:30 A.M. Yakov Smirnoff a famous Russian Comedian entertained us for a couple hours. The second half of his show was dedicated to Christmas songs and acts. Smirnoff arrived in Branson, Mo., in 1992 and has been performing here since. This theater seats about 2,000. His acts were enjoyed by everyone. After his show we headed to Paradise Grill & Steakhouse for our first buffet of many to come. After stuffing
ourselves we again boarded the bus and headed to the Daniel O’Donnell & Mary Duff show. (They are now regulars at the Minot, ND, Hostfest) This show was held in a theater formerly known as the Mel Tillis Theater now owned by the Tri-Lakes Church. (A branch of the Assembly of God Church). This theater seats around 2,600 people and it was reported every seat was sold. A number of bus riders had seen him before at this past Hostfest in Minot. Allot of the riders made the trip to see O’Donnell as their main reason for making the trip. Someone in
our group counted and he did some 38 different songs. He started his show down in the audience and spent time during the show also in the
audience shaking hands. He stated some 40 motor coaches were parked in the lot outside while riders were attending his show. His Christmas part was great. His singing partner Mary Duff had an injured leg, so performed from a chair. She was unable to do any dancing with O’Donnell.
Most of you that have seen his shows know how much they dance together throughout the show. He tells you at the beginning that his shows last nearly three hours and his did this afternoon. His show was voted by our tour group as their favorite. After a buffet supper at Sadie Sideboard Buffet we were off to the Andy Williams show. The lighted park and trees outside his Moon River Theater is something we’ll all remember. His show lasted nearly two hours with no intermission. No part of his program was dedicated to marketing his items. There was a nice gift shop outside the theater for you to purchase gifts and music. It was reported he will celebrated his 81 birthday this year in December. For his age he did a great job and many of the tour group voted this their first choice of shows. We did notice him cheating a bit as he watched three different prompters on the floor showing him the words to his songs. But if you are 80 what the heck. The Christmas part of his show was second to none. After his show it was a ride back to our hotel.
Thursday, Nov. 13, after breakfast at our hotel it was into the bus and off to watch the Lowe Family Show. This family of five daughters, one
son and a five-year-old grand-daughter with their parents put on a great show. All through the show the family members kept running around on the stage changing instruments. What a talented family. Two of their girls were not working with the family act now. They probably had the best
salute to our soldiers and veterans of any show we seen. They placed 27 large flags around the stage during their honoring of our country,
soldiers and veterans. We had lunch at Stage Door Restaurant. This was a buffet style meal and again most of us ate too much. Back on the bus we headed to our 2 P.M. Moe Bandy Show. Country Music Legend Bandy has had 10 #1 and 40 Top Ten hits during his country music career. This is his 18th season in Branson. Some of us attending thought the sound was turned up a bit too high. The show would have been enjoyed better if the sound had been softer. At 5 P.M. we arrived at the Golden Corral for dinner. There must have been some one hundred selections of food. Some of us when leaving thought we tasted most of the selections. The Shoji Tabuchi show began at 7:30 P.M. It was just amazing how many curtain changes we witnessed. There was a number of flying Christmas people on stage. Tabuchi can really play the fiddle. Just can’t understand how much money is spent to produce this show. The Christmas part of his show was truly amazing. The group was told ahead about the bathrooms in his theatre, so the men and ladies made it a point to use the bathrooms. It was amazing how both were decorated. The men’s had a pool table in it and Christmas trees all over. The women’s had Christmas trees and live plants throughout. This stage production was the best of all the shows we attended. The man that greeted us at the front door was Terry Fecho formerly of Minot. All of us from Minot knew of him and found time to visit with him. He and his wife after retiring in Minot built a house in Branson. They have lived in Branson about three years.
Friday, Nov. 14, found us at the 10 A.M. Doug Gabriel show. Some of us hadn’t heard about Gabriel, so we didn’t know what to expect. Most of us were surprised of the tremendous show he and his wife put on. He spent time in the audience welcoming fans with hand shakes. Danny Lindsey of Crosby, ND, was asked to come up on the stage and play a Christmas tree. After putting on his tree gown Danny did a great job of dancing with Gabriel’s wife, while she sang some Christmas songs. Great job Danny! Near the end of the Christmas part of his show Gabriel sat down on the stairs near the front of the stage with a Bible in his hand and read the Christmas story. This was the first show that this side of the Christmas season was expressed this way. This was enjoyed by our group. Buffet at Peppercorns and off to attend the 3 P.M. show of Pierce Arrow. These young men put on a great show. The bass singer of this group is the world’s lowest bass singer according to the Guinness Book of world records. At 6 P.M. we all gathered at McFarlain’s Family Restaurant for a sit down dinner. Six members of our group had a joke played on them at their table. They sat at a table that was rigged with a lift under the table. This lift began to raise their table a bit while they were having
dinner. Most of the other table members knew this was happening to them and we began watching them. Some of them couldn’t figure out why they were being watched while eating their dinner. Finally one at the table realized the table was nearly chest high and this wasn’t normal. Then
the rest of the table members questioned what was going on, as the rest of the group began to laugh and clap. They were all good sports about
this joke. After another great dinner we headed to the Baldknobbers Jamboree show. This was our last show of ten. Baldknobbers was Branson’s first show beginning in 1959 when the four Mabe brothers began entertaining visitors on the Branson lake front. The group performs a wide variety of music ranging from country classics to gospel. This was a great show to end our group of shows over the last three and a half days.
Saturday, Nov. 15, found us up early packing, eating breakfast and preparing for long day of bus riding. Leaving our hotel before 7 A.M. we
headed down the road for an hour visit at the Bass Pro Shops about 30 minutes from Branson. This was 300,000 sq. ft. for us to browse for an
hour. In Kansas City we drove past the KC Chiefs NFL football stadium and next door was the KC Royals baseball stadium. Gas here was $1.69 as compared to $2.19 in Minot. We arrived in Sioux Falls, SD, around 6 P.M. We were dropped off at a local mall for dinner of our choice. At the Mall while eating we ran into Jay Wahlund and his family from Minot. They had just gotten done watching their daughter and other Minot girls compete in a Cross Country meet. After dinner we headed to the Sioux Falls Ramada Inn for our last nights sleep of this trip.
Sunday, Nov. 16, we headed out before 7 A.M. on the road for Minot and Williston. After a lunch and a few potty stops the Minot group arrived
in Minot around 4 P.M. After we said our good byes the rest of the group headed on to Williston.
Some Closing Thoughts
After boarding the bus in Minot I realized most the riders were either related or good friends. Arlene seemed to be related or friends with the
entire group. She got caught in a number of jokes, which she maybe had it coming. We found out from the group she sleeps late and maybe late for appointments. She couldn’t win with this group though. If she was early to board the bus everyone clapped and cheered. If she was late
they cheered. We did find whatever side she sat on was most often first off the coach for food and shows. Then we found out the co-host of the
tour was her cousin. It was all in fun, Arlene. All the shows used the theme, "God, Family & Country." The entertainers made a point someplace
in their show to speak to these three words.
I couldn’t close without saying a big thank you to three people. Steve & Ardis Joraanstad who organized this trip did a tremendous job putting
together a great package of food stops and shows. Everything seemed to be right on schedule. I would recommend them at Travel World of Crosby if you have thoughts of taking a tour. They love their work and take pride in making their customers comfortable. Thanks Steve & Ardis.
John Axtman, Rugby, ND, drove our 2002 45-ft. black motor coach around 2,228 miles. The coach has a 450 HP diesel engine and a 6-speed
automatic transmission. The diesel tank holds 235 gallons. It gets about 6 MPG. The coach costs about $400,000 when new and had around 391,000 miles on it. John has been driving coaches for 22 years and has made some 80 trips to Branson. He knows his way around Branson like the back of his hand. Most times he dropped us off a few steps from our eating place or theatre. Thanks John for a safe trip.
I leave you with a few famous words we heard from Steve often. Wasn’t that a great meal? Everyone enjoyed the food? Wasn’t that a great show? Did everyone enjoy the show? Ardis is everyone here? Ok, John let’s roll.
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