On the road: Home for now

August 15, 2018

Home for now . . .

We had to return to Houston for 10 days or so for a follow-up doctor visit and to take care of a leak in the camper shell. We hope to be able to resume our travels soon. It feels like old times - finding ourselves at home in August with the start of school just ahead only this time we get to share the excitement with two of the grandkids. Logan starts Kindergarten and Caleb goes off the Pre-K

After our visit to St. Louis and Jefferson City, we ended up in Springfield, MO and made a visit to Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, site of a Civil War battle in 1861. We drove the auto route through the park, but didn't spend much time out of the truck with thunderstorms threatening in the area.

Our next destination was Independence, MO to visit the Harry S Truman National Historic Site and the nearby Truman Presidential Library and Museum. Both locations were interesting and educational (as well as air conditioned in the heat of the day). After three nights in motels, the weather moderated a bit to allow us to stay in campgrounds again.

The Truman home where President Truman and Mrs. Truman tried to live like regular folks again after leaving Washington, DC

Brian's imitation of a WWI soldier

replica of the Liberty Bell in front of Truman Museum

THE famous desk doodad

replica of Truman Oval Office

copy of a famous prematurely-published newpaper

After retirement, President Truman was known for taking daily walks around Independence.

This statue is in front of the courthouse.

We crossed the Missouri River from St. Joseph and headed to Abilene, Kansas for another Presidential Library visit – Dwight D. Eisenhower. On the tour of his boyhood home we learned that he was one of six boys in the family and all of them were taught to cook and sew on a Singer machine by their mother and she made them come and go through the back door at all times. A heroic looking statue of Ike dominates the outdoor plaza. The museum was closed for renovation and we were able to see a limited display of exhibits in the library building so didn't take many photos.

General Eisenhower

President Eisenhower's boyhood home

From Abilene we headed south to Hutchinson to visit a very unique place – Strataca Underground Salt Museum. 650 feet underground in a no longer used section of the salt mine are museum exhibits related to salt mining and some of the items stored in the underground vaults. Disney film reels, movie costumes, and important documents are stored in the ideal conditions of the mine area.

in front of a wall of salt - the hardhat didn't fit Brian very well

A block of salt weighing 6,000 pounds - you could see light on the sides and back coming

through the opaque rock

The salt was mined here using the "room and pillar" method.

movie costumes stored underground

Another National Park Service site we wanted to see was Fort Larned National Historic Site in Kansas. We have now visited 220+ NPS sites out of the current 417 parks, monuments, historic sites, seashores, lakeshores, memorials, etc. 60 of the sites are full-fledged national parks and we have visited 45 of them over the years.

Kris looking through the stagecoach from the other side

Fort Larned was used by the U. S. Army in the 1860s and 1870,

primarily to protect the Santa Fe Trail.

historic graffiti on the stone walls of the fort buildings

Our last night to camp was at Canton Lake in Oklahoma where we hoped to view the peak of the annual Perseids meteor shower away from city lights. Cloudy skies and rain foiled our plans. We returned to Texas in some much-needed rain that resulted in a minor leak in our camper. By the time we pulled into our driveway, my air mattress was going flat – good timing. (I always carry a spare one, but have a new one on my shopping list.)