How we got to Branson

Here is they story of how we ended up in Branson, MO. (These dates may be off by a day or two).

June 21st - Josh was in California and found out about a 2nd assistant superintendent job in the Monterey area. He interviewed for it, but found out it was only for a greenskeeper position.

June 28th - He was offered the job of greenskeeper. We decided to take the job. The employer agreed to give Josh the job knowing that he would be looking for a better job. He would start July 12th (the same day my classes started in SoCA)

July 1st - Josh got a call from the superintendent at Top of the Rock golf course near Branson, MO. He wanted to interview him for the assistant superintendent position.

July 5th - We drove down to Branson for the interview. Things sounded very promising.

July 6th - We drove back to Buhler

July 7th - We started driving to California. At this point we were discussing what would happen if he were offered the job in Branson, but did not really come up with any final plans.

July 11th - Josh dropped me off in SoCA for school and he drove up to Monterey.

July 12th - Josh went into the new job and explained the situation. They both agreed that it would not be a good idea to start work if he were not going to continue to work there.

July 13th - Josh got an official offer from Top of the Rock. He had to decide by Friday July 16th

July 14th - The golf course in California wanted to talk with Josh about a 2nd assistant superintendent position.

July 15th - Josh interviewed for the 2nd Assistant superintendent position and they offered it to him right then.

July 16th - Josh talked with the VP of golf at Pebble Beach about the possibility of working at Pebble in the near future. They had a good chat and he didn't believe that anyone would be moving on any time soon, but whenever someone did, the job was Josh's. Josh spoke with the people at Top of the Rock and explained the situation so they agreed to give him until Monday July 19th.

July 17th - I am at a conference pretty much all day so we really didn't have any time to discuss the jobs.

July 18th - Josh and I talked on the phone quite a bit and just barely leaned toward Branson.

July 19th - Josh called and accepted the job in Branson and turned down the job in California.

July 24th - I flew from LA to Monterey.

July 25th - We went to our old church in Monterey, and this was one of the hardest things to say good-bye to (except for our really good friends out there), but we both felt comfortable with our decision after that.

July 29th - We packed our stuff in a u haul trailer.

July 30th - We left Monterey and made it to Barstow, CA. Our Jeep was having a difficult time pulling the trailer through the mountains. The rear end had been making quite a bit of noise and when we were going over passes, it was really bad. We tried to call u haul locations and none of them had a truck to switch to. We decided that it would be a bad idea to go through the hottest part of the desert during the afternoon sun. We got a hotel room in Barstow and thought we would sleep then leave at midnight. Without any options really, Josh's dad called and said he would drive their Yukon out to Arizona and he would pull the trailer. So at 6:30pm central time, he got in the car and drove west.

July 31st - Josh and I decided to leave at 4am and meet Jack in Western Arizona. We of course got there before he did and had a little breakfast, went to a dog friendly museum, and got a few supplies from the store. About 11am Jack met us and we moved the trailer over to his car. We got on the road again and Jack kept driving. He drove from Buhler, KS to Kingman, AZ and on to Albuquerque, NM without sleeping, it was about 28 hours.

August 1st - In OK City we took the Yukon and kept heading east, while Jack took our Jeep and headed back to Buhler. Josh and I stayed in Joplin that night.

August 2nd - Josh and I made it to our new home. The first place of our own since we left Bhutan.

August 4th - We surprised my parents that happened to be vacationing in Branson and told them we moved there.

August 6th - We drove back to Buhler to get some of our things that we left there and to trade vehicles.

August 8th - We drove back to Branson.

August 9th - Josh started his new job.

It was an eventful couple of months and I am glad it is over. We are settling into our new place and Josh is working like a crazy man.