Show me Missouri

It was a dark and stormy day in the state of Missouri. Garrett wanted to show us the state and we wanted to enjoy the outdoors, but the prospects were looking bleak. Under pressure, our host Garrett pulled through and found a serene piece of wilderness, packed with exotic animals to enjoy.



Shortly after our stop, we kept with the wilderness theme and headed over to Bass Pro. Still not exactly sure what Bass Pro is. First off they have a retail section the size of Wal-Mart, specializing in only hunting related gear. Then they have about 500 dead animals, consisting of maybe 100 species mounted on the walls. I guess it’s to show what you can do with the gear you buy. But wait, there’s more. They also have an aquarium, restaurants, boat dealer, museum of dead animals, McDonalds and a Starbucks. I’m sure we missed some stuff too. All under one roof.

After lunch we headed south towards Arkansas. Entering the Ozark Mountains reminded us of New England -- rolling hills, alive with the fall foliage colors. The leaves were even more colorful due to the warmer weather. However, the foliage in the Ozarks is contrasted with the cheesiest billboards in the country. You see, in the heart of the Ozarks is Branson, Missouri, or “The poor man’s Reno”.

If you don’t know about Branson, well this town is something else. It’s hard to describe. Some people call it “The Vegas of the Midwest”, but I’m not too sure about that. It’s more like a mini golf course meets a Broadway show meets a retirement home. Whatever Branson is, it’s worth a look. Especially the Titanic Museum. Some of the workers there saw us on MSNBC earlier in the day, so they called us up and offered free tickets to the museum. Pretty cool to see, thanks guys.

After checking out Branson, we parted ways with Garrett and got out to the highway. Back to some grassroots hitchin’…