Toy Time

With the Christmas season upon us it seemed to be an appropriate time to post some of the photos I took at the Toy Museum in Branson, Missouri. It's every kid's dream of Christmas morning. Their collection includes toys from the 1880s to today. Their focus is to help you remember your childhood. whether you are 7 or 70.

They have a huge variety of toys, including planes, trains, cars, lbicycles, lunch boxes, dolls, circus, etc.

We saw many toys that we grew up with and many that our kids had.

They have a large collection of trains and cars.

I saw a garage that I yearned for for many years but never got.

They have a great collection of pedal cars.

There were many toys that I bought for my kids when they were little.

The doll collection was extensive, including many Raggedy Ann and Andy items.

They had Davy Crockett and Red Ryder toys, and a good selection of Roy Rogers toys. They were all my heroes. I still have the Roy Rogers cup that I sent for from Quacker Oats in about 1950. You can see a couple of them in the photo below, one on the shelf directly above the lunch box and one to the right of the lunch box.

There was lots more to see at the museum and we enjoyed it very much. If you find yourself in Branson I would recommend taking an hour or so and taking a walk down memory lane.

Cruising in Branson

We spent yesterday afternoon and today in Branson, Missouri. There is so much to do there that it's very hard to choose what you want to do, especially since we were only spending a limited time there. Cruising down the Strip is very interesting and as usual I took photos from the truck. Unintentionally I captured myself taking a photo of a mini golf course, and since I've taken so many photos on this trip that way I thought it was appropriate to include it.Today was a beautiful sunny day around 70 degrees so driving and walking around was very pleasant. One very interesting building we passed is the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum.

I know many of you will remember Dick Clark's American Bandstand and he has a theater in Branson too.

We did manage to see three shows, the Baldknobbers Jamboree Show, the Dixie Stampede, and the Roy Rogers show. Below is the building for the Dixie Stampede. It's one of Dolly Parton's enterprises, and features trick riding, music, comedy, and dinner.

The Roy Rogers Museum and Theater was a must-see for me as he was one of my heroes when I was a little girl. They are closing the Museum in December but they intend to still perform at a different venue in Branson. Roy's son Roy Jr. and his grandson Dustin both sang in the performance today along with their group the High Riders. I'll post some more on the show and museum after we get back home.

There is a Toy Museum in Branson and we stopped there. Unlike the Toy Museum in Kansas City, I was able to take lots of pictures and will post some of those later on.

We also made it to the Car Museum and Marty was drooling a bit.

A very interesting museum was the Titanic Museum. No photos were allowed inside but I'll post more about it later too.

We headed out of Branson this evening and went about 20 miles up the road. We'll be heading west from Springfield tomorrow along old Route 66 to make our way back to the Pacific Northwest. We will be mostly on the Interstate as we are getting to the point we need to be heading home, but I'm sure we'll find a few places of interest along the way. I'll have more photos from the farm later and some of the sights around there.

Down on the Farm

We arrived at my brother-in-law's farm on Sunday. It is located in the Ozarks just a few miles from the Arkansas border close to Thayer, Missouri. I didn't have an Internet connection so I'll be playing catch-up for a while. Below are some images from the farm. Right now we are enjoying Branson and I'll post some photos from here in the next day or two.

Another Day in KC

The color of the maple trees all around KC is gorgeous.

This is a shot of another of the fountains.

We went to the Toy and Minature Museum. They have a lot of antique toys, dolls, and many, many dollhouses and minatures and a huge marble collection. Sadly, the rule was no photographs. My hand was twitching and kept reaching for my camera, but they had a lot of "hall monitors" who were watching over the collection. Below is a postcard showing some of the toy cars from the 20s and 30s.

My great-nephew Jack was being Mommie's helper.

More Kansas City

South Through Missouri

We are on the road again heading south through Missouri. The first three photos were taken through the window so the quality isn't great. Below we are crossing Lake Truman.

I spotted some pumpkins are in the fields waiting to be made into jack-o-lanterns.

In Rolla, we visited the Frisco Engine 1501.

Long-known as a major stopping off point along the historic 2,000-mile-long Route 66, Rolla was also the original terminus of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, known locally as the "Frisco Line." The Frisco Engine 1501 is also known as the 1501 "Blue Bonnet Special".

The engine is one of only 30 1500-series engines built in 1923 for the Frisco Railroad. The locomotive has an oil-fired 4,500 gallon boiler and weighs 350,000 pounds. It is displayed with a passenger car.

Marty and our grandson Michael pose in front of the locomotive. Michael is doing National Guard training at Fort Leonard Wood and was able to get a day pass to spend the afternoon with us.

Our next stop will be my brother-in-law's farm in Thayer. I may not be able to post from there but I have scheduled a few posts of KC over the next few days.

Kansas City Cont.

Here are some more KC images.