Arkansas

We made it to Arkansas today, after a very tree-filled drive through the Ozarks. We stayed off the interstates for the most part, on the back roads, like we did a lot of in the Dakotas on our last road trip. We managed to avoid stopping in Branson for a little (very little?) entertainment; I was really lobbying to see the Yakov Smirnov show, but Blythe and Allegra stayed the course and got us thru Missouri.

Our drive through nature let us see the World Wonder of the Natural Bridge, bit of sandstone deep in a valley outside Clinton (yes, it seems like every state has a town named "Clinton", I'm surprised there's only one in Arkansas). They also had a replica whiskey still, guarded by a fierce looking gentleman. At $15 for the three of us, that may have been the most expensive, measured by the minute, tourist trap we've ever been to. The guy who worked there was nice, though, made some barbecue recommendations for Memphis (tomorrow's destination).

Not exactly sure why they built this bridge...

Old Jeb, still guarding his still from the Revenue Men

When we got into Little Rock, we really knew we were in the South because it was hotter than hell!

like 97 degrees today, in June - Texas next week is going to be a blast...furnace, I'm sure. Our first stop in the city was, you guessed it, the state capitol building. For the first time, there was no construction going on! A very nice building, thought they could use some gold leaf or something on the dome.

no scaffolding in sight

Next was Little Rock Central High School, a National Historic Site. It commemorates the conflict (understatement) over the attempted integration of the school by 9 black students in September 1957, three years after Brown v Board of Education. We've all seen the photos of soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division escorting the Little Rock Nine through a crowd of literally bloodthirsty white folks. The museum across the street from the high school (which is still active today) has a very powerful exhibit about the 1) events that led up to and of September 1957, including video interviews of the Little Rock Nine, and 2) descriptions of other actions, both protest and positive, in the fight over civil rights for minorities. 

The exhibit was not as shocking as the Brown v Board site (see yesterday's post here), but is very emotionally evocative. This crisis was one of the first times people throughout the US, even the world, could watch the personal battles over racial discrimination in real time with the television coverage of the day. They say that 100 million people watched President Eisenhower's address on September 24, 1957. Part of the site is a preserved Mobil gas station, restored to how it looked in 1957. It's directly across the street from the high school, and because it had a pay phone it was an important meeting place and was the main connection the throngs of media had to their varied headquarters in the pre-cell phone era.

Little Rock Central HS itself is a very imposing building. At the front, around the reflecting pool, are nine marble benches, each inscribed with the name of one of the Little Rock Nine. 

One of the benches

This trip has been unexpectedly educational so far, as the two sites we've seen so far, in Topeka and Little Rock, have really driven home personal stories of the fight for civil rights. Hopefully we will find more as we continue on our journey.

Tomorrow morning we are off to the Clinton Library, then quick drive (for us) to Memphis. Talk to you later!

We're just wild about Harry (S Truman)!

Finally a day with a short drive! We only had 200 miles to cover today, from Salina, Kansas to Independence, Missouri.

We stopped Topeka, the capital of Kansas, for a quick photo of the capitol building (under repair, again).

We also saw a sign for "Brown v Board of Education Historical Site". This was unexpected, so we had to see it. We followed the signs and came to Monroe Elementary School, which has been preserved by the National Park Service, and has a couple small but powerful exhibits about the conflict and violence that resulted from attempts to desegregate schools like Little Rock Central High School and the University of Mississippi. We're glad that we got to see an important landmark like this on our trip; Allegra felt it was historic as well (she's never seen an elementary school that was just one building before).

Brown v Board of Ed National Historic Site

Our next stop was at the University of Kansas to see the campus and get a t-shirt or two. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!!

"Allegra, can you see going to school here?" "Nope."

Lunch was at the world famous Gates & Sons Bar-B-Q in Independence. Delicious BBQ, delicious french fries, and ENORMOUS drinks - yikes! Geoff DiBello, thank you for the tip!

Before

After - is that lemonade big enough?

The Harry Truman Presidential Library and Museum was very impressive. The first Presidential Library built (1957), President Truman kept an office there until the late 1960's. It was also the first time that a former president gave all of his papers and state gifts to the National Archives for research and public access, and he was very active in making the library happen.

The (obligatory) introductory film, describing his life up until becoming president, was less aggrandizing than the Eisenhower film yesterday, and it led into the exhibits of Truman's presidency and associated world events in the post-war era. Rooms depicting the economic problems in the US and in Europe immediately after WWII were especially striking, as these aren't things often highlighted in how we learn about that time. There was also extensive coverage of the campaign of 1948 (of course), with very little equal time given to Governor Dewey - oh well, to the winners go the spoils!

The museum also has a replica of President Truman's Oval Office (furniture replicas, most actual accessories), with some narration recorded by President Truman himself. The (figurative) centerpiece is a huge globe that was given to President Truman by General Eisenhower (Eisenhower kept it when he became president).

Excellent words to live by

We also did a drive-by of the Truman House, where Harry and Bess lived before he was elected to the Senate in 1934. Bess Truman came from a prominent local family, so Harry had to marry into money to get this sweet house!

Harry Truman's house on Truman Street (what're the odds?)

Time to sign off, we have a long drive through the wilds of Missouri and Arkansas tomorrow. We'll talk to you later!

We Like Ike!

After 6 days and almost 1,800 miles, we finally got our Presidential Library Tour "officially" underway today, with the understated but impressive, Dwight Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, in the throwback town of Abilene, Kansas.

The day started with some confusion - what was this UFO hovering over the freeway?

A little while on, we were disappointed by the Hastings Museum in Hastings, Nebraska. We were led to believe there was an awesome exhibit about the origins of Kool-Aid, but it turned out they just had Kool-Aid stuff in the gift shop. Kool-Aid was invented in Hastings by one Edwin Perkins, who wanted to call it Fruit Smack.We got as few items there, but it was not all we were expecting.

In case you were wondering, it is CRAZY windy in Kansas. I think they shot the Kansas scenes in The Wizard of Oz on location along US-81. No gunshots in the stateline sign this time.

What, no bullet holes?

Crossing into Kansas, we saw another massive transition in the landscape - they added shades of brown!

Fun Facts about Dwight Eisenhower (according to the film they show you):
Dwight Eisenhower cured polio.
Dwight Eisenhower ended racial strife in the US by signing the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
Dwight Eisenhower convinced Sen. Joseph McCarthy to tone down his rhetoric.
Dwight Eisenhower kept the cold war "cold."

We started with a short tour of Eisenhower's boyhood home (where it always stood), that seemed much too small to have had parents and 6 boys living in it.

The Museum was very impressive, with an excellent timeline exhibit of his military and political, and post-political careers. The architecture of the whole site was very cool, very modern.

The Museum

The Library (duh!)

They had a few WWII vintage vehicles on display, and it was very telling that the staff car Cadillac was larger (and probably heavier) than a troop mover. One item on display we found interesting was a paratrooper's uniform - the uniform of the #23 guy in this picture, from D-Day minus 1, talking to General Eisenhower! They preserved it pretty well.

The political career displays were also neat, especially this sign that was on the Eisenhower's campaign train from 1952.

Why don't they use trains anymore?

DDE's final resting place

Tomorrow, Gates & Sons BBQ and the Truman Library! Talk to you later!

we made it at last!

After 6 days, our 1st library

From the mountains to the prairies...

Day 5 was nonstop action driving from Colorado Springs to North Platte, NEBRASKA!

We started our day with a tour of US Olympic Training Center, where we were entertained by Mike Prout, a 2004 and 2008 Paralympian swimmer - he won gold in 400 freestyle at 2004 Paralympics in Athens.



Allegra prepares for Rio 2016

 We were able to see weightlifters, wrestlers, and swimmers in training, and we picked up a little US Olympic Team merchandise, of course. We learned that 1/3 of the athletes living at the Training Center are paralympic athletes. We didn't get to see any team handball practice, but that is sure to be the next sport the US dominates in the Olympics - they've started by putting up a sign on the campus, to let folks know the sport exists (though Allan Kingston is ahead of the curve on that). We also realized why the US is so weak at table tennis - we should try tables with tops...it couldn't hurt.



Why isn't the ball bouncing?

 We managed to switch our (slightly) damaged Prius for a new one, at a local Enterprise office in Denver. Then we stopped by the Colorado State Capitol to snap a picture - I sense a trend here, as we will be passing through at least 4 more state capitals on our journey.

Also, after just 5 days, we have heard the entire 70's channel playlist on XM/Sirius, so we will need to find another channel to fill the time in the car. Unfortunately, wall-to-wall Ira Glass is not ideal for driving long distances. Let's hope the Real Jazz channel has a longer playlist!
　
The drive out of the Rockies brought us into the prairies, where we will be for a few days. But it was an especially huge transition when we crossed the state line from Colorado into Nebraska. See if you can spot 10 differences between these two photos.

Colorado



Nebraska - or is it Colorado?

We'd hoped that the 'Welcome to Nebraska' sign would have some bullet holes in it, like the North Dakota sign from a view years ago. Oh well, the sketchy dudes with the emergency gas can and beatdown pickup truck would have to suffice.

Just like our last road trip, we just seem to find interesting and/or giant sculpture. The giraffes and the butterfly-thing were done in wood, then bronzed - they are in several sites around Sterling, Colorado. Then, as we pulled into North Platte, we were struck by the awesomeness of Fort Cody, complete with the 50 foot statue of Buffalo Bill Cody.

the butterfly thing

And definite props to the Canteen Grille of North Platte and Chef Lalanne - excellent steaks!

Time to sign off - talk to you later!

Welcome from the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee

On Day 4 we drove from Durango to Colorado Springs, putting us well over 1,100 miles so far. We even got to drag this piece of underbody cover all that way. We'll be out for 14 more days, so there are many more miles to go. 

fine Toyota workmanship

Today we got a good fill of beautiful alpine scenery, which is very difficult to capture on a cell phone camera at 65 mph, sorry for lack of photos. We crossed two passes, Wolf Creek Pass at 10,550 feet, the very top of the Continental Divide, and La Veta Pass (9,415 feet)

The high prairie between the passes, at about 8,000 feet,  was all potato farms and boarded up shops, different from our 2008 trip across Montana and Idaho, where there were plenty of potato farms but not so many closed up stores. We are seeing definite signs of tough economic times.

When we were leaving Durango this morning we saw some vehicles with “Race Across America” signs on them. For those of you who don’t know, the Race Across America is just that, a nonstop bicycle race, this year from  Oceanside to Annapolis, 2,989 miles. The vehicles are necessary to support and protect the riders, especially on climbs like the Wolf Creek Pass, where we passed this guy and his support crew. If you ride, you might think you’re hardcore, but until you can ride 2,000 miles in 5 days, like this year’s race leader, Christoph Strasser (who is already in Illinois), you’re not really hardcore.

hardcore climb up the Wolf Creek Pass

We got into Colorado Springs in time to visit the Air Force Academy, checking out the Visitor Center and gift shop (passed on any merch, we’re a Navy family). I guess our Prius tagged us as "unreliable", since the guard at the gate insisted on searching the car after letting an RV pass unmolested. 

off we go...

We also saw the famous Air Force Academy chapel, quite striking, and got a little sneek peak at the dorms, which seem just as sloppy as at  a normal college.

into the wild blue yonder

Air Force Academy dorms - so modern

Talk to you later!

Wolf Creek Pass

Quick post as we got over the infamous Wolf Creek Pass at 10,550 feet earlier. A little nippy up there, just 46 degrees!

Happy Father's Day from Durango!!!

First off, Happy Fathers Day! We could only make this one post today, because between 9 this morning and 6 tonite, when we got to the hotel, there was zero cell service. We had an eventful drive from the Grand Canyon to Durango today. The transition from the mountain forest (a lot more trees around the Grand Canyon than we expected) to the deserts of the Hopi and Navajo Reservations to the mesas and meadows of Colorado was quite striking. The rock formations on Hopi Reservation were a sight to see, especially the structure below.

We stopped at the Four Corners Monument, of course, so that we could include 4 states in our itinerary at once. The site is on the Navajo reservation, and very popular with the road-tripping tourist set - we had to wait at least 15 minutes for the 4 Corners to open for this photo op. It was a little windy out there, too - Allegra's FULL water bottle almost got carried away in a gust!

Entering Colorado, the landscape changed almost immediately, getting green and colder right away. We arrived at Mesa Verde National Park. It's not Yosemite, but it is pretty cool. The winding road up from the park entrance would be a favorite of Jeremy and Richard from Top Gear, except for the 35 MPH speed limit.

Mesa Verde NP is worth the work to get there, because the restored and preserved pueblo cliff dwellings are amazing. After the climb up the mesa (up to 8,000 feet!) we walked to the Spruce Tree House, one of the largest sites in the park. 

Of course, I had to point out a few things to Allegra, as I am an expert on 13th Century masonry construction. Legs is such an attentive student!

Wisely, Allegra escaped the lecture by hiding in a kiva, an underground chamber used for spiritual and worship ceremonies. Eventually she had to climb out, so we could get to the main event of the day, a tour of Cliff Palace, the largest pueblo cliff dwelling in the park.

The Cliff Palace was massive, in a chamber more than 60 feet high and 400 feet wide, but apparently it wasn't a "palace" in the traditional sense. It was more of a government center than a residence, as the archaeologists who have studied the site found very few hearths (indicating residents) but 23 kivas, showing that many ceremonies were held there. 

The climb down to Cliff House was kind of treacherous, thru some narrow passages and on non-OSHA compliant stairs (according to the park ranger, anyway - no lawsuits resulted from our tour group). We all made it up and down OK.

We got to Durango just in time for dinner, and we found a great, if understaffed, pizza place, Home Slice Pizza.  The pizza was the bomb, so be patient as the rastafarian staff messes up your order once or twice, because it is worth it.

Tomorrow we will be crossing two 10,000 foot mountain passes, including Wolf Creek Pass (a special place to all you folks from the Lair!), so we hope to survive to post another day! Talk to you later!