As I mentioned in my last blog post, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks vacationing in beautiful Branson, Missouri.  Despite my initial reservations (no offence to country music fans, but Dolly Parton just isn’t my cup of tea), Branson is a great place for a vacation with the family.  It certainly helps that this is finally a trip that is all about fun, 100% pure vacation… I’ve been so busy lately that I was starting to think the scale that measured my work-life balance was broken!

Those who have been following my exploits know that I’m always up for a little adventure – during my latest business trip to Las Vegas for a trade show, I found time to take a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon and drive a McLaren around a racetrack at 155 mph.  (Side note:  Those were two separate adventures; even I’m not quite extreme enough to do them back-to-back… Though, now that I mention it, it might be fun to go sky diving and land at a racetrack, with a sports car ready for you to take the wheel!  I’d consider that as the concept for my next business venture, but the insurance prices would probably be outrageous.)  My adrenaline-filled excursion this trip was ziplining.  The tour we went on took us down Wolfe Mountain and over the beautiful Ozarks canopy… and concluded with a heart-stopping 40-foot freefall!

Even outside of the ziplining, we really enjoyed getting to see the autumn scenery that Branson has to offer.  In Pensacola, Florida, we don’t really have a “fall” season.  Sure, it gets cooler in the later months of the year and some of the trees lose their leaves, but it’s nothing like what the Midwest has to offer.  Much of the foliage was still a vibrant green, but many of the trees along Route 66 were beginning to sprout their fall colors.  As beautiful as it is, though, I’m glad we’ll be settled back in warm Florida before winter settles in.