Kansas City, Here I Come...

Well, Independence, Missouri, actually.  We drove exactly 150 miles north from Carthage to a site in the Campus RV Park in downtown Independence.  The park is within walking distance of Independence Square, and Old Town Independence, as well as a short drive to President Harry S Truman's Library and Museum.  We're planning to visit the library tomorrow if the #%*&!% Federal Government will actually do something productive and pass a reasonable funding proposal without all the *^&$@@! politics.  Sorry, I got carried away for a minute, there.  What a bunch of morons!  So if the budget thing is not passed, the library will not be open due to a lack of funding for the National Park Service, which runs the various presidential libraries.

When we slipped into the rv park, we saw this spire in the distance:

Independence is the world headquarters of the Community of Christ, a restorationist segment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon).  The center is open to the public, and we might take the tour if the Presidential Library is closed tomorrow.  The entire area that we are staying in appears to be the grounds for the church, as there are large grass areas as well as buildings that seem to be the infrastructure for the church. There are huge parking lots scattered about also.  The entire complex covers some 3-4 large city blocks.

We had time this afternoon to take a short drive around the historical area of Independence.  There are a number of museums in old town, most having to do with the cowtown days of the late 1800's, and one museum that is dedicated to westward expansion, because Independence Square was the departure point for thousands of pioneers in the mid 1800's.  We visited the National Frontier Trails Museum late in the day, so we didn't complete seeing the exhibits.  We may go back tomorrow, because the emphasis here is on the Oregon Trail and the Santa Fe Trail, with information on the Donner Pass route to California as well. The Donner Pass route over the Sierras is very near to our home, and we have visited the historical sites several times, so that will be interesting.

We cruised the beautiful historical district and saw this perfect example of the restored homes in the area:

On the way back to the rv, we saw this street sign. Say that name three times real fast!

I must say that Donna and I have remarked several times on the excellent roads, both Interstate and secondary, that Missouri has.  As usual for most of the mid-west cities that we've been in, the street signs are very small or nonexistent, but here in Independence the signs almost seem to be oversize.  Great for us oldsters with shakey eyes!

MoKanOk

It's an old Egyptian work meaning "we drove a long ways today, from Missouri to Kansas to Oklahoma".  In the 16th century translation, the root word was "MoKanOkMo", since it implied a return trip to the point of origin, but the modern interpretation is of a one way trip.  OK, OK, I digress.

Donna's father was born in a little town in Kansas named Baxter Springs, so we embarked this morning on a journey to find some trace of the family.  Several years before Charlie was born, the family lived in Galena, KS, a few miles north of Baxter Springs, and a bit west of Carthage, so we started there.  Donna has received an address from a special friend who had done some research on her behalf, so we plugged that into the GPS and off we went.

Galena is located on a portion of the Kansas section of Route 66, so it was a pleasure to drive. We were happy to see the last remaining "marsh bridge" on Route 66 just north of Galena.

In Galena, the address we had turned out to have disappeared over the years.  The street still remained, but the location of the house was buried in underbrush.

A neighbor came out to see what we were snooping, and told us that she had lived on the street for the last 60 years.  Turns out that a church and an old folks home had purchased the acreage where the 700 block of the street was, and demo'd all the old houses for a parking lot.  The trees were left as a sound barrier of sorts.  You can see that the street just ends.

So off we went to Baxter Springs, KS.  This is the town Charlie was born in, but we didn't have an address or any other information.  We did find out that BS, KS, has a lot of history beginning in the pre-Civil War days, when it was on a military road between Ft. Leavenworth, KS, and points south in Indian Territory (Oklahoma).  There was a good spring in the area, and grass for horses, so it was a natural stopping place.  BS was also the site of Quantrill's attack on Ft Blair. On Oct 6, 1863, William Quantrill, a Confederate general and his men attacked the new fort. When the day was done, some 88 casualties had been recorded, mostly Union soldiers.  The event has come to be known as The Battle of Baxter Springs, and referred to as a massacre.  Quantrill's Raiders were mostly a motley crew of ner' do-wells that plundered and stole as much as they could.  This has colored what may have been a legitimate military battle.  Next Saturday will mark the 150th anniversary of that battle, and many events are scheduled in town for the weekend.  There will be a full re-enactment and historical re-creations all over town.

Baxter Springs has a well stocked Historical Center and Museum that was open this afternoon.  We visited and met with the volunteer who allowed us to go into the archives and look through files and old newspapers for news of Donnas family.  We looked at and were able to touch the crumbling pages of the town newspaper from the days just after Charlies birth.  While we didn't find an announcement of his birth, we did see that one of the local ladies had "held forth at last nights town meeting, and very little other business was conducted".  She must have been on a mission! It was fascinating to turn the pages of a newspaper that had been printed 110 years ago!

We left Baxter Springs heading south toward Commerce, Oklahoma.

The hometown of Mickey Mantle, and also on the original route of Route 66. This sign just inside the state border reminded us of the extensive native american influence in this area.

This must have been something like the settlers saw when they crossed the border into new lands.  The Quapaw, Shawnee and other tribes still own much of northeastern Oklahoma, and have several large gambling casinos on or near Interstate 44.  The reason for our visit to Commerce was to check out the area for Donnas cousins.  On a Sunday afternoon we weren't likely to see anyone walking down Main Street with a name tag, but we did do a bit of investigation, however without much success.

The original Conoco Gas Station from route 66 days is still standing, but no longer sells gas.

Across the street, another of the vintage buildings now sells cookies and ice cream!

Back on I44 East, it was 40 odd miles back to Carthage, MO.  We traveled on the Oklahoma Toll Road for a few miles, one of the only toll roads we've had to use.  75 cents for a 30 mile stretch wasn't too bad, but we saw on the sign that if we had been driving Nessie and towing James, the tariff would have been $13.75! The Toll Road goes all the way to Tulsa, OK, and is a fast way to travel.

Tomorrow we leave Carthage for parts unknown....We'll keep you posted.

From Big City to Small Town

We left St. Louis this morning about 10:00 am, thinking that we had a nice 275 mile drive southwest toward southwest Missouri.  The weather was clear, bright and warm, so we were looking forward to an easy day. The country had changed rapidly as we left St. Louis from the flatland in Illinois to rolling wooded hills with some fairly steep grades in Missouri. Interstate 44 is in good shape, considering the number of trucks that use it, so we made good time for the first 150 miles or so.

Somewhere around Springfield, MO, we stopped at a roadside rest for lunch.

It was huge!  There was parking for about 100 OTR trucks, and the picnic area was all done up in a Route 66 theme.  Each table had a structure decorated to represent a building that might have been seen on the Mother Road. Interstate 44 roughly follows the route of the original Hwy 66.

As soon as we got back on the road, the skies opened up.  We were in the middle of an honest-to-goodness storm.  Traffic speeds dropped to about 45, and all we could think about was the tornado that hit Joplin some time ago....The trucks didn't slow down very much, though, and whenever they passed, the spray just about killed what little visibility was left.

We finally made it to the rv park we had called earlier in the day, the Red Barn RV Park in Carthage, Missouri.  We had intended to stay in another park that was associated with an rv dealer, but as we thought about it, we decided against getting too close to a bunch of brand new motorhomes just now.  In any case, the Red Barn is a bit off the highway, so it's quiet.  The rain has been coming down in buckets all afternoon, so we haven't gone out other than a quick dog walk.  

Donna's family has history in this area, so we'll stay a couple of days and do some exploring. Her father and his family lived in several small towns in southeastern Kansas in the early 1900's, and she understandably wants to go see what the area looks like.  Carthage, Missouri, where we are staying, is a small town, about 14,100 people, and somewhat depressed, as the median income is about $32,000 and an average house costs $87,000. It's about 30 miles from the towns in Kansas that we want to see, and those towns only have about 4,000 population.  Should be quite a contrast. 

St. Louis Ribs

We started our day with a list of chores that needed to be done.  After a few weeks on the road without much TLC, Nessie was beginning to get a little shabby, so Donna jumped into a major housecleaning, floor mopping, dusting, and laundry operation, and I began to do the "outside" stuff: clean the windshield, check air pressure and oil levels, etc, etc. A few hours of that was enough, so we decided to go to Pappy's Smokehouse for an early dinner/late lunch.

The building was rather nondescript, in a well-worn neighborhood of midtown St Louis.  We had intended to take the Metro, but Pappy's is about 8 blocks from the nearest station, and the bus line didn't run very close, so we decided to drive.  Our GPS's preferred route took us out onto some confusing interstate highways, so we elected to stay on surface streets and hope for the best.  It actually was much better except for one section where construction has narrowed the road down to one lane.  That's ONE LANE for BOTH DIRECTIONS!  Which meant that we had to muscle our way through with only inches to spare.  But we made it!

The sign was a little scary, but they knew what they were doing, and this is what we saw inside:

A long line waiting to order.  About half way through the line, a young lady came walking down the line asking for the number of people in each party....she was checking to see how much BBQ they had left, and how many they could serve before the meat ran out.  Just outside the table we chose, a young fellow was tending the smokers.  There were two giant mobile smokers that used Apple and Cherry wood for fuel, and so we thought "hey, no problem, there's plenty of meat", but it turns out he was smokin' for tomorrow already 'cause the meat has to smoke for a long time. In any case, we were lucky, and got our order:

Donna had an order of "Burnt Ends", which is the crisper edges of the meat, with green beans and sweet potatoe fries, and I ordered a half slab of ribs with fried corn on the cob and slaw.  What a treat!  The ribs were done St. Louis/Memphis style, with a dry rub, and various sauces on the side.  The Burnt Ends were like pulled pork and were scrumptious.  We ate the veggies and part of the meat and came home with lunch for tomorrow!

After the food and a nap, it was back to the cleaning.  Moppin' the floor, dustin' the cabinets, and finishin' the laundry took us into the evening.  But now we're ready to see what the 'morrow will bring.

Glad I Didn't Buy the Jersey

Our day began with a trip to south St. Louis to visit the Budweiser Brewery.  The beer wasn't a great interest, although this is the largest brewery in the world, with can line #60 producing 1,950 cans per minute.  We wanted to see the home of the Clydesdales and we weren't disappointed.

The chandelier in the center of the "Stable" was purchased from the 1904 Worlds Fair here in St Louis, and gives a hint of the opulence that these horses enjoy.  The building dates from the 1800's and is brick on the exterior and polished brass and wood on the interior, with stained glass windows! Several of the horses were in residence, but most were at their home on Grants Farm, farther south, or at a ranch some 2 hours west of St Louis, where most of the care and raising of the young horses is done.

We stopped at the Biergarten for a lunch of sliders and brats and enjoyed talking to a couple from Moline, IL, that happened to be in town for a Cardinals baseball game.  They invited us to visit Moline and the home of John Deere, sometime, and to call them.  The missus is employed by Fastenal, a supplier of commercial fasteners that I have done a great deal of business with over the years.  Small world!

After returning to Nessie, we spent a few hours preparing for our evening

with pro football!  The St Louis Rams were hosting the San Francisco 49ers at Edward Jones Stadium just across the river.  The casino ran a free shuttle to the stadium, the weather was in the 70's both inside the stadium and out, the nachos were delicious, and.....the Rams lost. I'm just glad I didn't pay $90 for the jersey at the fan store on the way to our seats.  I know we should be SF fans, living as we do in NorCal, but old habits die hard, and we remember when we were kids in SoCal and the Rams played ball there. Where's Deacon Jones when we need him...

We had been able to score a couple tix a week or so ago on the second tier (at the top of the upper red area in the pic above), right on the Rams 50 yard line.  We had an excellent view of one of the sloppiest games I've had the pleasure to watch, and finally left about 1/2 way through the fourth quarter, along with most of the rest of the fans.  BTW, the pic above was taken well before game time, and it looks like the stadium is empty, but look below, and you'll see what it was like when the Rams took the field.

But it's all about the experience, right?  The noise, the crowds, the lights were all super, and we'll not soon forget it.

My compliments to the event organizers, who managed the crowd control very well.  Moving 70 odd thousand people in various states of chemical impairment smoothly in and out of a confined downtown city space is a tall order, and it was carried off without a hitch that we could see.  Kudos to Security and law enforcement.

Another great day in St. Louis.  Our to-do list is getting smaller, and we think that tomorrow will be our last in the area. But about those barbecued ribs.....

TJ is the Man!

As soon as we finished breakfast, we took a casino shuttle to the nearest Metro station and talked to a wonderful attendant who walked us through the ticket options, the routes, and the times of the trains.  Thanks, John! We bought two all day tickets allowing unlimited travel on the entire system.  Wow!

Our first stop was Gateway Park, just across the Mississippi.

Under the Arch is the Museum of Westward Expansion, a tremendous display of the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804, and the Thomas Jefferson Louisiana Purchase era.  Thomas Jefferson was truly a man of vision with regard to expansion of the United States.

We could have spent hours in the museum, which charges no admission and is cleverly tucked into the space between the legs of the Arch, and about 20 feet underground.  Time started to get away from us, so we headed for the tram to the top of the Arch.  Zip and zap, and we were at the top!

Donna was very happy to get out of the little tram car, and so was the nice lady she was hanging onto!  But at 630 feet high, the view was tremendous.

Looking out the windows to the west, Busch Stadium was on the left (the Cardinals were playing a home game today), the Old Courthouse is in the center, and Edward Jones Stadium where the Rams play is on the right (the white domed structure).

The little cars that one rides in to go up (or down) in the Gateway Arch are about the size of a coffee mug.  Five people squeeze in, and the whole works shakes and rattles its way up or down.  Donna was none to happy about that, I can tell you.  This is a woman that once attempted to exit a roller coaster at the top of the first tall "hill".  The only thing that prevented a horrible headline on the evening news was the fact that her boyfriend had a firm grip on her pants.  So we were both happy to be back on Terra Firma.  A shot of where we "just was" became necessary, taken from the ground under the center of the arch on full magnification (should have seen us on the ground like a couple of kids):

Then it was off across the street and then the next street, and then the next street, to the Old Courthouse:

Where we took a picture of the interior of the dome.  Then it was off to Union Station, and old train station that we were told was newly refurbished with upscale restaurants and shops. Not! I suppose it was a train station at one time, at least that's what the signs said:

But the shops did not exist, the only food was the typical mall fast food, and there were about 15 people in the entire place. It will be a nice place someday...I'm sure.  We did find a Laundry's, so we had seafood for lunch, fish tacos and crab cake sliders.  Pretty good food!

Our last stop on the Metro line was at Forest Park, the seventh largest city park in the US. The site was the location of the 1904 Exposition and Worlds Fair, and is a huge expanse of grass, bike and walking paths, as well as the Missouri History Museum, a planetarium and Science Center, a 27 hole golf course, skating rink, and on and on.  We stopped at the History Museum first.

In the entrance, a large sculpture of Thomas Jefferson dominated.  Just behind him was the actual sister ship to Lindberg's famous Spirit of St. Louis.  The sister ship was prepared just like the one Mr. Lindberg flew in case anything went wrong with the first plane.

In a wing to the side of the museum, an exhibit of artifacts from the 1904 Exposition was available to view.  This Chinese writing desk was one of the most interesting items.  In the background, you can see a photo of the actual exhibit from the exposition.  The desk is rosewood, intricately inlaid with whitewood:

Another wing held an exhibit detailing Thomas Jefferson's conflicts with his "all men are created equal" belief and his ownership of slaves at Montecello.  TJ tusseled with this all his life, but never quite came to an equitable solution. One of his quotes about the struggle summed up his conflict:

We never fail to be amazed at how the words of our forefathers continues to apply today!

St Louis, Mo

After 100 miles of uneventful travel on I70, we're at the Queen Casino in East St Louis, MO.  The word on the street is that East St Louis is not a nice place to be, but we're finding that the RV park that is part of the casino property is well patrolled 24 hours a day, has shuttle service to the casino as needed, and is surrounded by chain link fencing.  We have a nice spot right in front of the office, about 30 feet away from a large street light, so I believe we're ok.  Besides, we're about 200 yards from the Mississippi River and within sight of the Gateway Arch.  Gateway Park is within walking distance across the Eads Bridge, and if we want to go farther into St Louis, the Metro station is within walking distance also, or the casino runs a free shuttle to it.  Can't miss!

This is the view west from our site when we first arrived:

A little later, we walked out onto the bridge crossing the Mississippi and got a shot of the Arch as the afternoon clouds were starting to gather:

Later in the evening, after our walk, we watched the sunset from the front windows of the RV:

This could be a great place to visit!  The young lady in the park office was so helpful this afternoon with places to see and advice on how to navigate around the city, that we've planned out a full agenda for the next few days.  St Louis is known far and wide for its dry-rub ribs, so we have a place for that.  The AB Brewery is here, so we want to go see the Clydesdales, and of course, the famous Arch and the park that surrounds it. The famous Union Station is only a couple of stops over on the Metro, so we'll check that out, and we can almost throw a rock to Edward Jones Stadium where the Rams play football, so we may go look at that. We may find other things to do as well, but for now it seems we'll be busy, busy, busy! It's a good thing we picked up one of those hours that we lost going east, so now we have more time to be tourists!

And, finally, just as the lights came on in St Louis: