Sioux City was really cold, around 12 degress last night. When we started down the road in the RWH, we kept hearing this thumping sound -- we finally realized it was our fresh water tank with a chunk of ice in it!! It had actually frozen last night! Hope it doesn't break a hole in the tank with its banging around in there!
We did a drive by on Omaha - still quite cold, and we didn't see anything to inspire us to get out of the Van! A cute historic district, but other than that, a medium size city in the middle of the prairie and we decided to head on down the road towards the Capital, Lincoln.
Lincoln is also the home to the Nebraska Cornhuskers, so, of course, we were off to the stadium for a picture. Visited their historic Haymarket district. Nice restoration of the old warehouse district around the train station. The capitol building is undergoing renovation, so we passed on seeing the inside.
Headed down the road for Abilene, KS, the home of Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Sure would like to see some leaves on the trees. Haven't seen leaves since last October-November, except for Palm trees in Florida. The landscape is so barren without leaves on the trees. Hardly any evergreen trees in this part of the country, so it makes it very bleak. It really is making me homesick for Spring. So many of you have mentioned the flowers, tress budding out and the beautiful sunny weather we've had back in Oregon.
(Sing along now!) "Abilene, Abilene, prettiest little town that I've ever seen" -- remember that one? It is a pretty little town at the end of the Chisolm Trail where the Texans brought their cattle to the railroad for several years until the railroad was connected farther south, and that ended Abilene's tenure as a bawdy cowtown! Agriculture took over, and has been their economic base ever since. But, of course, their real claim to fame is "Ike".
The Eisenhower Center contains his Library, a Chapel where he and Mamie are buried, his boyhood home, and an extensive museum chronicling his life in the military, as a College President, as well as his life as President. Definately worth spending most of an afternoon exploring.
Off for Topeka. Spent some time driving around checking out the town. Another "driveby". Another town in decline. A beautiful capital dominates the skyline, but that seems to be the end of it. We planned to spend the night there, but couldn't even find a decent motel in town. The college town of Lawrence is only 30 miles away, so headed there. Phil wants to see the U of Kansas campus anyway.
Kansas City is another 30 miles away, and we headed there after a brief tour of the campus. Dinner tonight with another of Phil's stepsisters, and a few sights to take in before heading south again.
We had decided which part of KC we wanted to stay in, and the low prices seemed to be in the $80-$120 range -- more than we usually spend, but decided it would be worth it to be in the Plaza area, close to everything. We were going to check out a Best Western that was on the low end of the scale, and found they were no longer a Best Western, but they WERE running a special of $59 a night. A lovely place right where we wanted to be. A nice spanish flair to the common areas, and quite large room. Another real find!
Enjoyed a nice afternoon at the Union Station -- the 2nd largest train station in the country. Either NY or Washington DC must be the largest. Beautifully restored and part of it taken up with something called Science City. Since it was a rainy, ugly afternoon, we decided to explore it ourselves. A real treat. Over 50 hands on exhibits ranging from doing your own medical checkup to being a weather reporter in the middle of a tornado, to being the curator in a butterfly farm, to troubleshooting and fixing the city underground systems -- sewer, plumbing, electrical. We could have spent longer, didn't get to see everything before closing time. It was really fun seeing kids and adults interacting together.
Enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Fairmount Hotel with Tolly and enjoyed seeing her glorious condo adjoining the hotel. She also has a view out over the Country Club Plaza shopping area. All done in a moorish/spanish style and quite nice. Looks like an European Village.
Decided to explore the Plaza area awhile before leaving town. Saw a nice looking hair salon and popped in to see about a haircut. I haven't had one since I was home at Christmas, and really looking loke a shaggy dog! The gal did a great job -- a really cute cut that Phil likes too! I feel like a new woman! After lunch at one of the local restaurants, we looked around a few stores, then headed out of town.
We knew Tulsa was probably a stretch for tonight since we had gotten my haircut and not gotten on the road as early as we expected. Made it to the border and a little town called Coffeyville, KS. Found out the next day that their claim to fame was the demise of the Dalton Gang at the hand of locals when they tried to rob a local bank! They have preserved the bank building, the jail, and the alley where they had the get away horses! Cute.
Tulsa just had a couple of things we wanted to look at. A downtown that is under reconstruction with lots of art deco buildings. We wanted to get a gander at Southern Hills Golf Club where the US Open will be held this year -- found it pretty easily, and got a pretty good look at it from various vantage points on the roads around the perimiter. The Bermuda grass is still dormant, so it looks pretty sad right now -- it will be interesting to see it on TV in June!
Our last stop was Oral Roberts University where my friend Joyce Hall went to school, and her daughter is there now. A beautiful campus in a nice area.
Off to experience Route 66 on our way to Oklahoma City. Supposed to be one of the best preserved parts of the route. There were quite a few old 1960's kitsch left, but surrounded by lots of 1990's schlock! It was more difficult to find the old among the new.
We are both really tired -- we feel like we have been continually on the go this month. I just looked it up on the itinerary and we have been in 11 different states this month -- and we've been in and out of several of them (MS, TN, & MO) more than one time!! We need a rest!!
Today was quite a day. We expected to be able to cover the 4 things we wanted to see in Oklahoma City in one day, but the Oklahoma City National Memorial was so compelling that we spent most of the day there. They have done a fabulous job of telling the story. The outdoor memorial is stirring with the 168 empty chairs lined up in 9 rows, representing the 9 stories of the building and the probable location of the victims, along with the survival tree -- an elm that was within 250' of the blast that was felt 30-50 miles away, but survived the bomb and fires. A beautiful pool of water fills the area that was once the street running in front of the Alfred J. Murrah Center. Granite saved from the building outlines the former structure, and survivors names are emblazoned on a wall that endured the blast. People still come to leave memorials on a portion of the fence that has been preserved.
But that was nothing compared to the memorial museum that has been carefully built with input from families, survivors, rescue workers, and ordinary citzens. It is done in a dramatic timeline starting with "any other day" that shows the ordinary nature of this momentus day, then takes you through sitting in a water board meeting as the blast occurs, the pandemonium and confusion that ensued, through the rescue days, and all the aftermath up to building this museum. It was heartbreaking, sobering and encouraging. The way everyone pulled together in this city was incredible. The man who gave the boots off his feet to a fireman who needed them, the school children who gave 168 pennies in classes all over the country to eventually raise $450,000 towards the museum, to the outpourings of emotion written on buildings and attached to the fences. The exhibit ended with a beautiful fountain with children singing "let their be peace on earth, and let it begin with me". An incredible experience. An absolute must see for every American. Nothing could be horrible enough for Timothy McVeigh to endure. His execution next month in Indiana is no where near a fitting punishment for the havoc he created upon this city. After seeing this exhibit, all American citizens will be committed to peace and the end of terrorism.
We did leave there with a lump in our throat in time to pay a visit to the State Capital. A wedding was in progress, and it really brought home that life does go on and people are resiliant. The capital is well done, but like many we have seen around the country.