Sisters’ Weekend 2015

Another Sisters' Weekend has come and gone … and much fun and laughter was had by all.

We started by heading to Branson, Missouri for a full day of fun at Silver Dollar City.  This was our before picture as we headed into the park.

We started with the tour of Marvel Cave … this is one of the *living* structures inside the cave that continues to grow with mineral deposits from the running water.   Most of the bats were still hibernating, but we saw a few who woke-up early.

Our next stop was the American Plunge … there were virtually no lines for the rides, so we got a log ride all to ourselves … which also means that since there were no other bodies in front of us, we got all of the water dumped on the two of us … we were soaked.  If you survive a day at Silver Dollar City without getting soaked … you're missing out.

We rode rides, watched an International music show, ate food … an all-in-all perfect day at the park.

Next stop was a delicious sushi supper at Mitsu Neko … we love our seafood (everything in the restaurant was purple … including the ginger).

We stayed our first night at Big Cedar Lodge.  After walking the equivalent of 45 cases of stairs (according to my sister's FitBit) and over 15,000 steps, we truly appreciated soaking in the outdoor hot tub and watching the sunset to end our day.

The next morning, we grabbed some breakfast (and a goofy sister photograph with a big bass) before heading out to hike at the Dogwood Canyon Nature Park.

It's been a lot of years since I've seen a dogwood tree in bloom … and they were exceptionally beautiful at the beginning of the trail.

It's a three mile hike to the end of the trail (and the same three miles heading back).  We had perfectly overcast skies with a slight breeze … only a few sprinkles along the way.

There are so many beautiful water falls.  I could have sat and listened to this one all day long.

Here's our picture at the final trail marker before we started heading back.

By the time we finished, we were starving, so we headed to Joe's Crab Shack on the Branson Landing where many crab legs were consumed.

Our second night's lodging was at the Savannah House where they served freshly baked cookies & cobblers at 9pm.  After walking over 25,000 steps that day, a warm cookie was certainly in order.

We spent our final day shopping in Springfield, Missouri and enjoyed more fine dining which included catching throwed rolls at Lambert's Cafe.  I had Chicken Livers with homemade chunky applesauce … way too much food for one meal, but very delicious.

We ended the day with a delicious Vietnamese meal at Lam Tuyen.

We had a fantastic time … got lots of exercise in the gorgeous outdoors … and enjoyed great meals … but mostly we just got to hang-out together and laugh … nothing better.