2. Throwed Rolls

Our next stop was Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston, MO., home of the "Throwed Roll".

We have eaten at Lambert's in Sikeston and Foley, AL before. When I saw on the Overnight RV Parking app that Lambert's allowed you to stay in the parking lot overnight for free, we set that as one of our destinations. It will be our first boon-docking experience.

Boon-docking or dry camping is staying without connections to electricity, water, and sewer. We are self-contained. We carry 50 gallons of water and have 25 gallon grey and black water tanks. We also have a generator, so we are not suffering by any means.

The food at Lambert's is very good and it is a very interesting place to eat. The rolls (which are very large) are thrown to you from a roll delivery cart. You know when the rolls show up. When people start waving their hands like a rock star just showed up looking for a seat, the rolls are here.

 The thrower rolls the cart down the middle of the main walkway. It doesn't matter if you are sitting 5 ft away or 40 ft away. If you hold your hand up you will get a roll thrown your way. Even if you don't want a roll, you should still pay attention. Some of the rookie roll throwers' aim can be off a bit, you might get whacked on the back of the head with a roll. But not to worry, it's not french bread, they're soft rolls.

We finished up eating what we could of our meal. The portions are huge (both the entree and sides). They also bring around fried potatoes & onions, macaroni & tomatoes, black-eyed peas, and fried okra (as well as sorghum and apple butter for the rolls). We took leftovers for the trip to Bowling Green the next day.

It was still a bit warm when we got back to the RV so we fired up the generator and ran the AC for about an hour. Once we it cooled down inside, the temperature held pretty good for the evening. We slept well and the next morning we headed toward KY.

I hope you have a chance to experience Lambert's some day.

Lambert's Cafe, Home of the Throwed Rolls

Get ready, here it comes (Lambert's photo)

I circled the flying roll (Lambert's photo)

The trip, so far

1. Branson, MO - The Live Music Capital of the World

We planned a trip Branson because Radio TropRock advertised a show in Branson called, Parrotville-A Jimmy Buffett Tribute show.  It sounded like something I would like. When I saw there was an RV show in Springfield, MO in September, I figured it was a sign that we should go to the RV show and look at RVs and then pop on down to Branson.

In the mean time, we found our "perfect" RV in Independence MO. We were able cancel our hotel reservations in Springfield and Branson and make reservations at a campground near the Theater District of Branson.

Reuben Branson opened a general store and post office in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in 1882. The town that formed around his store was formally incorporated in 1912 as Branson, MO.

The first theater for live performances was built in Branson in 1934. Today Branson promotes itself as "The Live Music Capital of the World". Branson has over a 100 live shows running during the peak season. We were there during the off season, but there were still plenty of shows available (some of the shows only run once a week in the off season).  Shows range from  Broadway The Star Spangled Banner Celebration, which highlights New York's Broadway performances, such as Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Les Miserables, Chicago and Grease to Country Tonite is for the die-hard country fan to Legends in Concert which features performances in the likeness of Elvis, The Blues Brothers, Liberace, Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe. There are tribute acts for the Eagles, Beatles, John Denver, Pasty Cline, and many more. Along with Parrotville, we saw the Abba tribute show.

At nearby Table Rock Lake there are opportunities to take in riverboat shows.  There is also a resort near Table Rock Lake called Top of the Rock, not to be outdone by NYC. This Top of the Rock was built by the owner of Bass Pro Shops. 

One day we took an Uber to the downtown area of Branson. The old downtown area has gone trough a revitalization process and there is a mix of old and new. We at at an old style diner and strolled through the old shops along the main drag. When we got to the riverfront, we found it was filled with newly built stores. We wove in and out of most of the stores, thankfully Theresa was just in a looking mood.

I saw somewhere in town (probably on a restaurant place mat) that Paul Henning drew on memories of a Boy Scout camping trip to the Ozark Mountains near Branson when he created the TV show The Beverly Hillbillies (is that really a bragging point???).

Musicland Kampground is within site of the Titanic Museum

Welcome to Musicland Kampground

Is that a bear? Don't worry, it is a concrete bear (even I can outrun this one).

Map of Branson

Well, we went and did it!!

Well, we went and did it. We went and purchased an RV (Recreation Vehicle). I even had a custom made license plate frame that says; My Other RV is a Vessel. If you didn't follow along on my blog about the Great Loop, you may need to know that the Lock workers along the waterways would often refer to the non-commercial boats as RVs (Recreational Vessel). We haven't given up on boat travel. We still want to go back and do the Erie Canal on our new (to us) boat, when we get one. But for now, we are taking to the open roads for our trips.

After completing the Great Loop, our plan was to buy a 5th wheel camper and travel North America. We went to dealer to look at 5th wheel campers. We knew we did not want a super sized unit. Our plan is not to go set up and stay for long periods of time. We want to see sites. Like traveling by boat, it is about spending a day or two in each place and then moving on. Maybe one day we will have a list of places we want to go back and spend a week. But for now we want to stay compact and mobile.

The sales person asked what size truck we have, so she could match us up with the right size camper. We didn't have a truck yet. She said; Well you really need a truck first. She indulged us and showed us a few different length models and talked about the size truck needed to pull it. We felt that something in the 30' range would be best for us. We left there with a 29' 5th wheel in mind. We had an idea of what size truck we needed. Soon after, we purchased a truck with a towing capacity of 12,800 lbs.

Now we developed a list of needs for the the camper. We plan to boon-dock as we travel along.
Boon-docking is camping without hookups, no electric, no sewer, no water. So I nice sized water tank and black/gray water tanks is a necessity. for Electrical we can carry a generator in the bed of the truck. We also wanted to have a bed that could be used without putting a slide out.  The search was on.

After looking at a lot of 5th wheel models. We finally settled on a 30' Class C motorhome. WHAT!!!

We decided that the motorhome is more suited for they type of travel we wanted to do and had the maneuverability we wanted to be able to stop at roadside attractions. The Thor 28Z met our requirements. We (I) looked on RV Trader for the Thor 28Z. We wanted one that was a year old, less than 25,000 miles, leather like furniture, the larger AC unit, and pre-wired for solar. (Recycled leather is what they call it these days. Not sure what is recycled about it, but it sounds so eco-friendly. Which is is probably not at all.) We located units that fit our requirements in Texas, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Missouri.  Missouri was perfect since we had a trip planned to Missouri in mid September. We made a deal on it in late August and the dealer agreed to hold it (with a deposit) and allow us to inspect it when we got there. He would return our deposit if we didn't like it. 

We rented a car and drove to Independence, MO on Sept 10. The next day we drove on to the RV dealer and inspected the RV. It was exactly what we expected. It was a year old model, but had very little wear. We turned in the rental car and Ubered back to the dealer. We signed the final paperwork and headed to Branson, MO. for a three night stay. More about Branson in the next post.

We haven't come up with a name for her, but we are thinking about names. Let me know if you have a suggestion.

Parked at Musicland Campground, Branson, MO