NATIONAL COWBOY & WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM

We continued on to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, which was more interesting than I expected it to be.It's a huge place full of artifacts, sculptures, artwork, and even an old western town.

This sculpture awaits you as you enter.

This is just one example of the beautiful beadwork displayed.

They have a whole room of different examples of barbed wire and branding irons.

I really enjoyed the displays about old movie and TV cowboys-it sure brought back memories. Sorry for the poor quality picture-glass and lights make museum pictures a challenge.

Don had fun in the western town, as you can see.

He also enjoyed the many Remington sculptures, and the artwork on the saddles and spurs. This museum is well done, first class, but it's a maze and easy to get lost. Of course, if you're lost in a room with Hugh O'Brien or Tom Selleck-who's gonna complain?

STEAK SANDWICH

I asked a lady at the bakery if they had a good steak sandwich at the Cattlemen's Restaurant, and she said we should go to Del Rancho. It's an old drive-in, but you can eat inside also. You phone in your order from your booth. This place is known for their steak sandwiches-and it was good-but it's not what we expected-it's country fried steak.

COWBOY CHRISTMAS PARADE

If you're looking for a new experience-this is it. I knew ahead of time that 100 Texas Longhorn cattle begin the parade, so I had time to chicken out. Anyone that knows me, knows I don't get close to large animals, especially those with horns! I was amazed at their good behavior! I expected cowboys to be "riding herd" along the sides (to protect the crowd), and there were only two in front and two in the rear. Don's theory of the well behaved cows-Toni wasn't on their menu. Thank God! Here you see them leaving the stockyards and coming toward us.

They're close enough to touch. It wasn't bad enough that they went by, they turned around and came back. That meant I had to pray twice!

The first part of the parade was mainly native Americans, which the cowboys refer to as Indians. Note to Kathy Fitz who wants to be a squaw-would you like one of these guys to come home for supper?

There weren't any bands, but there were cowboys on horses, men on cycles, loads of antique cars, the Sheriffs bomb squad truck, greyhounds to adopt, and animals of all types dressed for Christmas. Here's an example.

After an hour it ended in the same way (almost) that all Christmas parades end-with Santa.

STOCKYARDS CITY

Stockyards City is a neighborhood in Oklahoma City consisting of the stockyards, the Cattlemen's Restaurant, a Mexican bakery and several stores where cowboys can buy clothes. One of them had rows and rows and rows of Wrangler jeans. It's kind of like cowboy Heaven! Why were we there, you ask? For the Cowboy Christmas Parade. While we were waiting, we went to the bakery. Most of the strange items were made of puff pastry and were rather dry. I wouldn't put the Mulert stamp of approval on it.



The famous Cattlemen's Restaurant-they're known for their steaks.

For all you cowboys, here's a nice sculpture.

This is part of the stockyards.

JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM

We wandered on down the road to Oklahoma City, and between finishing the Christmas cards and sightseeing, we've been very busy. We were surprised to find so many things to do here. We had a wonderful experience at a Christian Church that had what they called, a "Journey to Bethlehem". You were given "papers" on the way in, and told to keep them available to show the Roman soldiers. Each group or "family", had a man, woman, and child as leaders. They took us on a tram to the woods and led us along the path to find their friends, Mary and Joseph. Along the way, we met other families.
We met the Kings and a boy who introduced us to them. He was intrigued by my "lightning box".


We met the shepherds and saw their sheep and llamas, and even heard angels singing on high.



We were stopped by the scary Roman soldiers, but were able to make it to Judea to pay our taxes and have our papers stamped.



We finally made it to Bethlehem, and spent time at the market where people were dancing and selling their wares.




Then we found their friends, Mary and Joseph and their newborn crying baby in a stable.

Then our family led us to hot chocolate and cookies and said goodbye.

We also got to meet some interesting holiday people!

This is the eighth year that this church has provided this event for free, with 300 volunteers involved. We loved it!

FAVORITE SIGN

Before we left Branson, we spotted a sign that was humorous. If you'd like to buy the business, it's for sale.

BACK TO BRANSON

We got back around 6:30 Saturday night and drove through a little snow, but nothing serious. We were lucky to get a pull thru spot, since it was dark, windy and cold. We went to a new place for dinner, but I didn't have the camera with me. We're going back this evening, so will take pictures then. Jeff's mother and step-father, Mary and Jim Weingartner, and Mary's sister and husband, and her brother and his wife, visited this morning. We're meeting them for dinner.

We had a lovely time with Mary and her family at The White River Fish House. The food was good and so was the company-especially Diane-she was delightful! Obviously, she wanted me to be sure and mention how nice she is-not the way her sister Mary says she is! Actually, we had a good time with all of them!

Here's a picture of the restaurant on a barge.

The view from our table.

The decor inside-maybe you can guess that it's owned by Bass Pro Shop.

From the left-Don, Toni, Mary, JoAnn, Diane, Tom, Roger and Jim.