Branson to Blue Springs

As forecast, the performance of hypnotist Jim Wand was extremely entertaining. No New Zealanders made it to the stage, but those folk who did helped make it a great night for the rest of us. The Dinner and Show was at the College of the Ozarks. There's a great story behind the College of the Ozarks which you can find here at www.cofo.edu/ After the Show it was back to the Chateaux on the Lake for a nightcap with Eric, Sonja & colleagues. We shared stories over a few beers - I tried two more American beers and so far my favourite is a Chicago beer called 3-1-2.

The Tuesday keynote speaker was a California Highway Patrol veteran, lawyer and risk management expert called Gordon Graham. He had a good message and delivered it well. Conference wound up around 11.00 am then we headed back to Blue Springs. We stopped off in Branson for a little retail therapy where I discovered that my general low tolerance for shopping had not improved for crossing the equator. On our return to Chez Johnson we took a detour through Warrensburg, MO, which is home to UCM - the University of Central Missouri, where Eric completed his undergraduate degree. CMU has a roll of about 12,000 students.

We ended the day back at the "Johnson Inn" where we met Sonja's sister Cherith, her husband Chris, their daughter Samantha and the Johnson children - Hayley, Colin and Emily. These three are fantastic kids (just like our own) and we look foward to getting to know them better over the next 10 days.