Chocolate Domes

Yesterday, the 29th, was another lazy day.... About noon we took off to explore the local Greenfield area. US 40, a major highway in the day, passes through the middle of Greenfield, going right by the courthouse and several civic buildings.

There are many quaint shops along US 40, Main Street, and we checked out a few. One of the required stops was Greenfield Chocolatiers! Owned and operated by a very nice lady who loves chocolate, this shop has something for everyone, from Turtles to drops! We peeked into the spotless kitchen and watched a young lady drizzling chocolate over s batch of toffee treats! Of course, we had to sample (and purchase) a few things....

Today, our destination was the Indiana State House.

With it's colorful rotunda.

Oddly enough, the glass was last cleaned in 1984, when each piece was painstakingly removed and cleaned by hand. I can understand why it's not cleaned very often!

From the rotunda we were drawn to flanking atriums, which are periodically used as venues for special events.

The ceilings and walls are adorned with ornate stenciling on the walls and ceilings and fancy wood moldings around the doors.

The carved wood rails are painted in gold leaf.

Original gas/electric chandeliers hang from the ceiling on the third floor. They have been cleaned and polished and fitted with modern lamps. They glow with a special light!

Passing a couple of the world's oldest telephone booths,

we came upon a representative of the Hoosier State's agricultural economy.

The House of Representatives, with it's "flying saucer" ceiling, was impressive!

"Abe" was commissioned to represent the state in it's Bicentennial last year. It was named in a contest for school children, then placed on display in the Capitol. Donna was a bit disconcerted when Abe moved as she put her hands on his head!

The Senate Chamber was also impressive in a unique way. The office windows around the chamber gave it a very business-like feel.

Getting one last look at the Rotunda, we stepped out into the mid afternoon heat.

And caught a glimpse of the famous Indianapolis War Memorial, a tribute to all who have fought to preserve our freedom.

Leaving the excitement of downtown Indianapolis, we cruised out to the Speedway, drove through the visitor's parking area, and shot on down the street to the Mug 'N Bun for lunch. This is Indy's oldest and finest drive-in, with home-made root beer, burgers and sandwiches. Great lunch!

Indianapolis, Indiana

After negotiating a narrow, tree lined track out of the Jonesburg Gardens RV Park this morning, collecting some new scratches and a lot of mud on the way, we climbed back onto our friend, Interstate 70, and continued our journey east. Frankly, we couldn't get out of that park fast enough, and so were anxious also to exit Missouri!

Zipping through St Louis, crossing the Mississippi River, we soon found ourselves in Illinois and settled in for a long boring drive east. Three hundred miles from our starting point, having passed through Effingham and Terra Haute, we crawled into Indianapolis....literally. We had the bad luck to hit the metro right at the evening commute time; throw in a couple of accidents and some really stupid drivers, and it took us an hour to navigate our way through town!

We finally reached our destination, a KOA park in Greenfield, IN. This park is remarkably superior to most KOA parks; we have stayed here in the past and noticed several improvements. Our friends Roger and Mary and Donna and I are located in a couple of "buddy" sites where we can enjoy a door to door location with a large concrete patio in the center! Nice!

A long, three hundred forty seven mile, eight hour drive brought us to a comfortable park. We are planning to stay for three nights to check out a couple of local sights.

We were greeted by this wonderful evening sky, so we have confidence that it will be a great visit!

Jonesburg, MO. Can you say Deliverance?

Two hundred forty two miles east of Topeka is the struggling hamlet of Jonesburg, MO. It was nice to have reserved sites at a rated four star resort waiting for us with the added benefit of only traveling about two hundred miles in a day. We pulled into Jonesburg Gardens RV Park in the afternoon, and should have been suspicious when we stopped near the office.

The older gentleman, Bob, who answered the bell on the door was a bit rustic, could have used a shower and clean clothes, but very nice, and showed us the site that he had available for our stay. Again I should have been alerted by the large puddle of water and the backhoe in the next site over. But, oh no, I said hey, that's cool, and we signed up for two nights.

Not bad, huh? Well, later on, with Sasha in tow, we walked the perimeter of the park, stopping at the lake to check out the advertised paddle boats...

As the evening progressed, we began to notice that Roger and Mary, along with Donna and I, were the only two "guests" in the park. And it got really, really dark...

The next morning we contemplated leaving a days worth of $$ on the table and leaving, but reason prevailed a bit, and we decided to take a day trip to take our minds off our perceived problems. Just down the road, the town of New Florence is home to the Wood Hat Distillery. Now, don't get the wrong idea here, we visited to see the wood hat collection that the owner, Gary, had crafted over the years.

We ended up agreeing with the saying on wall art:

Roughly twenty miles south of New Florence is the German community of Hermann, so we decided to check it out. We didn't expect much on a Sunday afternoon, but were pleasantly surprised by what we found. Our first stop was at the Hermann Wurst Haus, a German butcher shop and deli, where Donna and I shared a couple of bratwurst with sauerkraut!

Hermann is located on the Missouri River, and was a thriving shipping port for many years. Now it's a tourist destination.

These days the Southern Pacific train roars through town on a regular schedule, as well as the Amtrac passenger trains. Just as we parked to get a good look at the river, a train came into town, so we had to check that out first.

We were so close to the tracks that Donna got a couple of train horn blasts in response to a wave! We stood and watched the railroad rails and ties rhythmically move up and down as each car passed over them.

As the afternoon wound down, we stopped at the Downtown Deli for a bit of custard ice cream. Very rich and flavorful! Donna is holding my Super Malt while I take the picture; made with extra malt and double chocolate, it was delicious!

Driving out of town we found a couple of nicely kept homes from the 1830's original German settlement.

Back to the "Garden", we spent a sleepless night wondering if we were going to be able to get out the next morning! Or, for that matter, if we were going to survive the night!

Old Prairie Town, Topeka, KS

Our last full day in Topeka was spent at the Old Prairie Town historic location. This collection of historical buildings commemorates 1870's Topeka through the eyes of the Ward-Meade families who at one time owned 240 acres of prairie land overlooking the Kansas River.

The site has grown smaller and smaller over the years as parts and pieces have been sold, mostly to satisfy outstanding tax burdens. Today this location is an amazing collection of buildings, along with a large botanical garden. We were greeted by this lovely Hibiscus flower at the entrance.

Then we wandered into the historical section, where an old wooden windmill slowly creaked in a gentle breeze.

From there into the general store, which has been restored with original shelving and fixtures. Where once tobacco, sugar, and flour filled the shelves, now artifacts from the period are on display. The docent, a gentle and humorous lady of eighty-three years kept us interested as we toured the store.

The Ward and Meade families were wealthy for the time, providing much needed supplies, repairs, and services to the many travelers on the Oregon Trail. The Ward family began life in the area in a log cabin, having returned to the area from a disappointing journey to Oregon. Eventually, through hard work, luck, and a good business sense, they were able to build "The Mansion".

As time passed, the mansion passed to the Meade family through marriage. The Meade's were quite the socialites, and virtually created the social scene in what was by now a very young town of Topeka.

The Botanical Garden is located just adjacent to the mansion.

We were greeted by a profusion of flowers and trees, well kept, but just reaching the end of their season, it being nearly the end of August in the midwest.

Several Koi Ponds dot the garden. Mary checked out the largest pond, a series of three smaller ponds interconnected, and of course, inhabited by colorful fish.

After enjoying a wonderful tour of the historical buildings that have been collected here, we stopped for a glass of refreshment in the Drug Store. Back in the day, medicines were ofttimes hard to swallow, particularly for children, so a drink was prepared that incorporated large amounts of sugar, soda water, and lemon lime flavoring to mask the taste. We all thought that it was wonderful, even if it didn't have any medicine in it!

On the way back to the rv park, we stopped for lunch at a pizza parlor voted number one in the city for years running. The reputation was deserved! A vegetarian pizza fit the lunch bill precisely, and even left us with enough for lunch tomorrow!

We've thoroughly enjoyed our short stay in Topeka, at the Deer Creek Valley RV Park. The park was built by the owner of a large road construction firm, and it definitely shows in the workmanship. Concrete roads and sites, with well kept grass lawns between widely spaced sites; all surrounded by woodlands kept at bay by a brown colored chain link fence and late night gates. While the cell signal on the ATT network is shaky, and the wifi definitely slows when a large number of people are using it, the overall impression of the park is five star! We will miss it as we continue on our journey.