Total KM = 363

Woke up to driving rain in KC this morning so we took our time getting going and by the time we were on the road the sun was shining. Although we have only been in the humid midwest for a few days now we have realized that weather forecasts are somewhat unreliable (and that is being generous with praise). I think it may have something to do with the humidity, latitude and topography resulting in mixtures of cold and warm air. These mixing patterns appear to be totally unpredictable resulting in poor meteorological prognostications. Today we had beautiful sunny weather (it was 31.5 C when we reached Branson whereas the forecast said overcast with showers and t-storms (which are now predicted to come overnight).

Branson, Missouri bills itself as the "live music capital of the world" and has a rich history dating back to its first days in the 1800's. Starting with a small store at a riverboat stop, the city now boasts over 40 theaters with 60,000 theater seats with over 70 live theater shows. We will attend "Number 1 Hits of the Sixties" tonight. It is just a short walk from our motel.

We managed to stay off the main roads and had a very nice ride through the Missouri countryside - rolling green farm lands, white picket fences, red barns and really nice fresh (not cattle) country smells. We didn't see many live critters but did see two dead armadillos on the side of the road. Lots of bird activity as well including an osprey with a fish. There is some evidence of flooding in fields and the banks of Truman Lake were pretty well into the woods.

We now have a destination after the past week of being nomads. We have decided to make Georgia our turn around point before heading to Houston for our flights. A former colleague of Doug's from COTR lives in Georgia so we will go to see her in the south eastern part of the state. We had planned a visit two years ago when we did our Florida trip but ran out of time.