• That was a fun and informative stop – and Glenda met another Glenda in the gift shop.  Wow!!!  Back on the road we notice the flat, open land we expected.  No more Rocky Mountains or any mountains-in fact there’s hardly a hill at all.  We found a few more sites en route.  The DAR installed 12 statues of pioneer women all across the country from Bethesda MD to Upland CA and we found one in Lamar CO.  This one is the Madonna of the Trail.  We also passes through Holcomb, KS site of the Truman Capote “In Cold Blood” murders.

• Now in KS we see a lot of feed lots–full of cows packed in at the troughs.  Roll down the window and breathe deep.  Take a good whiff of manure of a million cows.  Ugh.  Reminds us of Jersey on the turnpike.  P.U.

• Dodge City is a pretty tired town with not much happening for tourists especially.  The fake western museum/town was closed when we arrived so we walked around town and shopped a little in the primarily Mexican downtown.  Dinner at a local Mexican joint.  Pretty good!!

 

Jersey Junction

No people junction today, but outside of La Junta, CO (which means the junction) at Old Bent’s Fort, we learn that Colt revolvers were traded regularly at the fort and were manufactured in…yes…Paterson, NJ.

 

Theme of the Day: It’s Mexican Day (our book on tape is also set in Mexico)

Up next: The Flying W Ranch Strong City, KS

• We stopped at a National Historic Site (yes, another stamportunity) – Fort Larned in Larned, KS. This was a military fort, protecting the frontier and trade routes. Glenda and Sue were really into the whole history here during the mid-1800’s. Shout out to cousin Bob Allison – U.S. History Professor – we have questions!

• On the road, we saw field after field of crops we didn’t recognize along with grain elevators we don’t understand. Shout out to Mary and Roger Blanken or anyone with farm/western knowledge – please explain. We also saw unfamiliar equipment and structures.

• Our hosts, Josh and Gwen, couldn’t be nicer. Josh cooked us a great steak and potatoes meal, brought to our bunkhouse.  Shout out to Bob Mallow who set us up at the Flying W and more to come. Yay, Bob!

Fort Larned – we checked out the 1870 Census to find 2 NJ-born residents. Alfred Woodhall, post surgeon (we assume a Princeton grad – or UMDNJ?) and Patrick Kelley, a Private with Company K in the army. Long ago Jersey people.

We asked the hags if they’d ever been to New Jersey and 3 of the 7 in our carriage had been!

Theme of the Day: Farmers and cowboys are friends

Up Next: Overland Park, KS

• Next up – Tall Grass Prairie National Preserve with 3–really–stamps.  The prairie (french word for meadow) used to cover 170 million acres of North America, today less than 4% remains.  It is basically 3 types of grass rolling out over hills.  Because of the drought here the grass didn’t reach its usual height potential so it was easier to hike through and see where we were going.

• Still on our way to Overland Park, KS.  Next stop Topeka for a visit to the Brown v. Board of Ed National Historic Site.  We landed in Topeka but we were hungry!!  Shout out to Papp for the Diners, Drive-ins and Dives book for directing us to Bobos Drive-in.  Yummy.  A vintage drive-in for the burgers and onion rings.

• We arrived in Overland Park, KS to the home of Glenda’s friends Bob and Nema and dog Cooper.  They have a beautiful house and welcomed us, our bedraggled selves and overloaded car, warmly.  Fabulous dinner on the patio in 80 degree Kansas October weather?  We go to our separate but equal bedrooms. Ahhhh 🙂

Jersey Junction

Nothing really strong today–a mention or 2 in the Brown v. Board museum about Newark’s several African American Mayors since the civil rights movement. Nema and Bob have both been to NJ many times.  Nema has decided that the Princeton U campus is the prettiest campus she has ever seen.  Nema, a Texan who knows her way around a sweet potato pie, recalls over 20 years ago she bought the best sweet potato pie she has ever tasted from some guy in the Trenton train station. She still remembers it.  So there!!

Theme of the Day: From the mountains, to the prairies….

Up next: Overland Park, KS

• For the home tour we meet Ranger Mike, our guide.  Glenda, an aspiring park ranger, is secretly thrilled when Nema asks Ranger Mike to remove his hat to let Glenda try it on.  She needs to get a good feel for the uniform she may be wearing in her future employ.

A few facts about Harry S. Truman:

-His middle name is only the initial S.  for both of his grandfathers

-He is the last president to not have attended college

-He was nominated as FDR’s VP to replace the previous VP and became VP in Jan ’45 and FDR died in April ’45 so he became our 33rd President.

-Moved back to Independence after his turn as President and lived there until his death.

-We stopped back in town for ice cream.  Sundae and shakes for all (Harry worked here as youth when it was a pharmacy).

• We arrived at the Harry S. Truman Library. Take in the movie and go through the exhibits. This is a really well-organized museum. So much happened in Truman’s watch and he had so many big decisions to make. We took it all in. And then Glenda’s new working life re-emerged as a PR woman asked Glenda if she would pose for some still shots for a potential brochure and website. She’s back in front of the camera – all body parts were represented! Bob, Nema and Sue all barged in for their own stints at modeling. We think Nema will be picked as she played her role writing something out so very well.

• We toured a bit of downtown KC and capped off the day with fabulous, true, KC barbecue at Oklahoma Joe’s – a BBQ joint in a gas station – rated #1for ribs in the country by some. Best BBQ we’ve ever had!

Jersey Junction

In our quest to get Glenda a new camera, we met Zach, our Best Buy sales associate. He’s never been to New Jersey but revealed that the first thing that comes to mind when asked about our fair state is the basketball team. He was a NJ Nets fan because of Vince Carter and knew all about the recent move of the Nets to Brooklyn. He also made us smile when he told us he would NOT mention Jersey Shore in answer to our question. Good man!

Theme of the Day: The buck stops in Independence, MO

Up Next: St. Louis, MO

Back to the doctor–yes the arm is broken–and now Glenda gets to pick out a cast–now called a clamshell splint made of Aquaplast (a low temperature plastic).  She selects Jayhawk blue. Why not?  When in Kansas…..

• So once she is all fixed up, we say goodbye to Nema and head out east on Rte 70 to St. Louis.  Nothing to report on the way, just highway and we land at our hotel across from the Arch.  The Arch looks really cool, beautiful and huge!  We will explore it further tomorrow.

• Dinner tonight we decide to try the “Little Italy” of St. Louis — “the Hill”.  We take a cab which takes forever…through the city streets, highways, crossing rivers, on main avenues etc and we finally arrive at one restaurant.  No sign of a “village” like the little Italy we were expecting.  Oh well.  We eat at the restaurant and find out that Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola grew up across the street from each other on Elizabeth Street here.  We walk over to find the street now named Hall of Fame Street.  Wow!!  The cab ride home takes half the time, half the cost and such a pleasant driver.  He advises us against taking the rickety capsule ride up the Arch to the top describing the awful ride.  We agree wholeheartedly and thank him for his wise counsel.  No Arch ride for us.

Jersey Junket

Today we have 2 junctions.  First, Carla, of hand therapy fame, announced that she was so impressed with customs at EWR.  She loved it.  So much better that London, apparently.  Second, Yogi Berra, a long time Jersey resident, of Montclair and late maybe of Caldwell, an icon…was raised here in “the hill” in St Louis.  5447 Elizabeth St.  Here is his house:

Theme of the Day: Arms.  Broken arms, great throwing arms, catching the great pitching arms etc.

Up next: Lexington, KY

• We can’t believe it’s winding down. What a trip. This morning we go to the Historic Old Courthouse – scene of the Dred Scott trial. This is also part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial which includes the Arch and the Museum of Western Expansion underneath the Arch. The courthouse is beautiful – the Arch is elegant, simple, soaring and beautiful, really. We  enjoyed the museum also. It lays out the Lewis & Clark expedition and a whole timeline organized around the westward exploration and expansion. We find that Lewis & Clark are the original travel bloggers – we read their journal in the museum and find a lot of similarities to this very blog.

• Time to get on the road, ultimately to Lexington, KY. We first hope to stop at the Abe Lincoln boyhood home near Evansville, Indiana. We arrive there at 4:30 only to find it closed at 4. Bummer. But all is not lost as we find we are 2 miles from Santa Claus, Indiana. So we still get some photo opps.

• Glenda, Sue and Jane went off to a bourbon distillery – Woodford Reserve – a part of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.  We take a tour of the the distillery.  Our guide is excellent and we learn a lot about making bourbon including: the law and rules; the ingredients, rye, corn, barley; the mash; the distilling and storing in toasted and charred barrels and the aging.  We learn about bung and the sour mash.  We end the tour with a shot of bourbon and a bourbon ball!

• On the road, we passed convoys of tree-trimming trucks heading north in anticipation of work from the hurricane. About 30 from Virginia, 10 from Texas and 3 from Florida.

• We finally returned to the land of full-service gas and happily filled up.