Branson, Montana, and stop-motion animation

When I posted the summer make-up, it was about 10:30 at night in my grandparents' house in scorching Oklahoma. So, it being so late, and since Dad was getting onto me about how we had a flight to leave for at the crack of dawn, I didn't post any Branson. And now, we only have what I'd call a 1/2 day left in less-scorching, beautiful Montana. How about we go in chronological order and I get Davis time in Branson first?

One thing everyone who hasn't been to Branson before needs to know is this: beware of the millions of shows there. It's very much a performance town, and almost all of it is country music and impersonators. Some things there I would willingly go to (which we didn't), but others just look cheesy. Cheez-Whiz-coated cheddar topped with Swiss cheesy. So tourists be warned: if Elvis impersonators and Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede aren't up your alley, avoid the shows altogether.

Another thing non-Bransonites should know: there are a lot of the following tourist sites:

-mini-golf courses

-wax museums

-old-time photo places

-condos

-resorts

-tattoo shops

-misc. other tourist traps, Ride the Ducks, for example

If you can't tolerate big crowds and glittery suits, then just avoid this town altogether.

Still, if you have plenty of family members who don't like to humiliate you too often (like, enough so you know that they're related to you, but not so much that you think that everyone wants to be your little brother) it can be fun. We did a couple of traditions: we went shopping in the outlet malls, did a 37-year old waterslide that never gets old, and had our meals in Granny and PaPa's condo when we weren't go-karting or fishing. It was nice, just some traditional family bonding time. There wasn't much we did that we hadn't done before. Usually, I DON"T like that, but sometimes it's comforting, not boring. I was sad we had to go, but not too sad, because we'll get to come to OK for a few days before we head home for good.

The flights went somewhat smoothly. The only bad thing that happened was airport security decided to randomly buzz me at the metal detector. "Yeah, she's definitely a terrorist. Let's buzz her!" So, it wasn't really a big deal. They swabbed my hands, and I failed the ever-confusing TSA test again because I put on deodorant with glycerin in it that morning so I didn't smell like shtankiness. I don't know what glycerin has to do with anything, but they had to pull us aside AGAIN, and disassemble Mom's purse, and my purse too. At least the screening people were women so it wasn't as humiliating when they swabbed my tampons. And then, they took us into a side room, locked the door, and explained that since I was Mom's "property" they had to pat her down instead of me. I didn't look for most of the process. The peek-a-boo scan in the Atlanta airport isn't half as invasive. It was 6 AM, we were grumpy and starving, and our little plane to Denver was cramped. But at least we were away from the TSA agents.

Getting into Big Timber was nice. So was being able to walk everywhere in town. One day, Dad decided that he'd lug his first 2 girls up Airport Hill. I was amazed by the view, but the whole trek is 3 miles, and 1 1/2 are uphill. I wanted to get a picture of the 5 mountain ranges you can see from the top, but Dad hasn't gone back up. Whatever. I got some good pictures anyway. We did some of the usuals:

-Virginia City and Nevada City

-Bozeman

-Livingston

-time with the cousins

-an old-time photo (last year it was a bag-dress, this year it's bug-eyes...I can never look the way I want in those photos :-(.....)

-the usual lazy afternoon with ice pops and back patios involved

But there was one UNusual--we slept in a trailer. Grandma wants to call it a guest house, Mom calls it a tin can. I'm sticking with trailer. It's not too bad, even though it creaks a bit, and when it rains there's one spot that drips on the carpet even with the vents closed, and there's a weird noise my table-converted-to-a-bed makes when I roll over...

Again, whatever. I'm still fine in our guest can.

Oh, and the stop motion! I'm experimenting. I decided not to spend my money in Branson (a difficult choice) and blew my whole wad on an animation book from one of my favorite publishers, Klutz. I made 4 with this free software. Here's my best one, starring my sister and Plasticine clay:

The summer that I didn't talk about at all

Ok, so I'll bet you're all getting kind of tired of finding nothing but my story, and nothing about my life, because you all love me so much and need to know what I'm doing all the time, because you love me to the point of stalking me.

Ok, maybe not THAT much, but I'm sorry I haven't talked about my AMAZING summer at all. So I'll make up for lost time and just do that now.

Nashville Workcamp wasn't my favorite, to be honest. I mean, I loved getting to go to Tennessee with my youth group (most of us, anyway) and get to know some of the older high schoolers better, but there was exactly one person I knew in my crew. So for, like, 6 hours, I didn't have my best friends near me. Breezy's awesome, and I'm glad I know her now, but we barely knew each other before. We stuck together mostly--she even bought me a slushie at Sonic once--but I missed Katie. And since I couldn't go on ladders, I could hardly do anything of importance. If the windows weren't just out of reach, I could have done that, but I had to stand tiptoe on a bucket just to get halfway up the shutters. And I thought 5'5'' wasn't bad for 12 years old!
By the way, I was talking with Breezy and Victoria from the YG, and they kept saying, "You do NOT act like a 7th grader! You could pass for a high schooler!" And I'm like, "I wish!" But I digress.
So I spent most workdays sitting around, texting Mom about how there was NO WAY I was going to hold an A-frame ladder for someone, or offer any more "moral support." One of our co-group leaders asked me to offer "moral support" to the people who could actually paint, like we were supposed to, and I kind of made a joke of it. I filled a spray bottle with cold water and spritzed people with it. They seemed to appreciate it, but I could really have done more to help out than just spray people. So that particular trip is not on my top 5 list of favorite youth trips ever. IMPACT, however, stands at #1.

Oh, IMPACT. How can I describe it? Even saying there's 1000 kids all singing in the giant (and FRIGID) Allen Arena on Lipscomb's campus isn't adequate. Because there's amazing lecturers and speakers, and a little entertainment thing that includes improv, and there's a drama every day, and Coffee House gigs that include free coffee every day, and you can open up to everyone about whatever you need to say, and all the other things that happen there isn't enough. To really get it, you need to GO! My first experience was incredible, if you haven't caught the enthusiasm in my words yet. And my family I'm going to see starting Friday will probably hear all about it, but for those of you who haven't gone to IMPACT, please look into it. If you can, get your church to go, if you attend one. It is indescribable. Oh, and while you're at it, learn the Interlude. I'd be beside myself with joy. :)