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Published: August 6th 2013
The one about catching up.
You might have noticed I took a few days break. Part of my therapy of a long drive is thinking about what I am seeing and writing all about it. These past few days have been just surviving the drive. By the time I completed my 300+ miles per day I was wiped out and couldn’t think about doing anything but plugging in electricity and water and relaxing, and that’s what I did. Now I am itching to write again, so I will play catch up. Yes, some of that relaxation time was spent at casinos, but more on that later.
I have decided to break the drive down by state rather than day, as even only after this short time, the days are starting to blend together. I will need to refer to my pictures and to my iPhone app Foursquare to see where I have been. I use Siri and the Notes app on my iPhone to leave myself messages of things to remember to write about, and it works. Something about that short term memory in this senior lady – CRS disease (can’t remember shit).
Here
goes.
Kansas. I think there are as many corn stalks in Kansas as there are grains of sand on the earth. Just miles and miles and miles of corn and pretty much all of it seems to be at the same stage of growth. The barbed wire as all but disappeared, no need to keep corn contained, I guess. I only saw barbed wire when there was cattle or horses . Occasionally there is a hay field, and jelly roll shaped types of large balls, but mostly corn. Surprisingly, I did not see any farm stands along those back roads. I saw some of the hugest sprinkler irrigations I ever knew existed. They seem to be a mile long, and they either rotate and drop the water as they move along, or they shoot it out from jets at the end. Amazing structures.
Abilene, Kansas. Who knew there was an Abilene, Kansas. I have heard of Abilene, Texas, but never Abilene, Kansas. Now I know. Dwight Eisenhower grew up in Abilene. He was born in 1890 in Denison, TX. For economic reasons, his family relocated to Abilene, KS where there house was bordered by
the train station and public school I could tell it was a modest house because of the architectural detailing- no fancy door/window moldings, inexpensive wood banisters. 6 boys grew up in the house that in reality was smaller than my NJ house. His family was pacifists, and did not believe in college nor soldiering; despite his upbringing, he wanted to go to college. He failed to get into Annapolis, he was too old, then applied to and went to West Point. His career was magnificent, and he ended up as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe. He was responsible for planning and supervising the invasions of North Africa, France and Germany (from the west). He became the first supreme commander of NATO. He served as Army chief of staff under Harry Truman and then assumed the post of President of Columbia University. It slammed me in the face that this man was a born leader; fascinating, without any previous political offices held, he became the 34
th US President. He entered the Republican race on a crusade against communism, Korea, and corruption, defeating Adlai Stevenson by a landslide. Among his notable accomplishments for me was the innovation of the
Interstate Highway System, and you might have noticed signs on Interstates with the 5 stars, “Part of the Eisenhower Interstate Highway system.” (As an aside, my new friend, I70 was the first completed portion of this system. There is a in both section in Missouri and Kansas that claim to be the first section and I drove on the MO section; I saw the sign.) On the grounds, the train station now relocated and the school gone, were a library I did not go into, a meditation chapel I did not go into where Mamie and Ike are interred, and a museum. (It was very hot. I had Winston in the RV with the generator and a/c running, but I really don’t like to leave him that long.) I did tour the museum quickly. The main corridor which twisted around was laid out as one big long timeline of WWII. Off the main aisle were smaller ‘rooms’ with exhibits from each branch of the service (including women and Tuskegee Airmen) etc. I searched for an event near my birth date, even though I was born after the war, and found a Nuremberg Trial event that was close, PICTURE. The museum
was an all day event with way too much reading. I did enjoy Mamie’s clothing exhibit, reminiscent of Hilary’s so many weeks ago, and took a couple of PICTURES. I stayed there longer than I wanted, but it was an enjoyable place. Abilene is one of those farming towns with a large train stop and a grain silo, of course. My SAC friends in ILM will love the picture of the local hardware store displaying their Adirondack chairs! Billboards enticed me to stop at the OZ gift store, and I was tempted. PICTURE (Please remember, most of my pictures are thru the now very dirty windshield. No matter how many times I clean it, being the bug magnet it is, something is sure to splatter right up front within the hour) . I ended the afternoon at the Prairie Band Casino RV Park. Yes, I know, it seems to be a pattern, but they are cheap places, nice facilities, with the added feature of gambling!! This Native American owned casino formerly was managed by the Harrah’s organization, but now is operated as an independent casino by the Prairie Band of the Potawatomi Nation. This is a tribal unit that originated
in the Great Lakes where they prospered on fishing, hunting, and trade. Of course, you know what happened. The forced migration by the US Government moved the tribe in 1846 to Kansas to a 30 square mile tract near Topeka in the 1840s. If you want a really good and heartbreaking story of what happened to this tribe, read
www.pbpindiantribe.com It sure made me sad. Rain was threatening but never happened. It seems like the clouds are right on top of me when actually they are very far off and never make it overhead. Lucky. A shower, a shuttle ride to the very lovely casino, no food – the buffet was $28 - and I was happy. I made a contribution. As I left Prairie Band the next morning, the grain silos dominated the skyline of the approaching Topeka. I really don’t know what a grain elevator is or does, will look that up. PICTURES. I also saw the largest farm machinery I ever knew existed. Some of it standing idle in the fields (it is growing season, not harvesting or planting. Some I saw on flatbeds obviously being relocated somewhere. Ingersoll Rand. I should own some stock, as the
machinery all seemed brand new).
Missouri. Another new state. I70 all the way across until I64 just east of St. Louis. Corn, soybeans, scattered oil wells, and lots of Colleges and Universities. I got the camera organized too late, but the PICTURE of the Z O and U billboards are the end of a strip of signs spelling MIZZOU. Lots of signs intriguing me to go to the University store to buy my T shirt, and I was tempted. My mind was a blur this day, I just wanted to get my 300 miles done and be at my next stop. I only stopped in MO when I needed gas or at a rest stop to nap for 5 minutes or jump up and down and stretch. The Missouri River was a sight to see. So wide and brown – like the Mississippi. At the KS/MO border there are tall palisades on the eastern shore. Impressive. I saw these different signs, PICTURE with just letters on them, and I have no idea what they are for. Anyone have a clue? There are no rivers like these I have seen in the east. They are just so long
and wide! I did pass a sign for the Harry Truman home near Independence, but I had to pass by, it was too far out of my way. I travelled on until I crossed the mighty Misssisip at St. Louis. I opted to drive thru downtown St. Louis just to say I saw it, and it was a lovely town, but the road frankly sucked due to construction. I was glad I did it on Sunday when there was surely less traffic. Lots of orange cones to negotiate. And bumps and ruts and holes. Ugh. I waved to HS classmate Frank Sutera as I passed thru. Change here to I64 East.
Illinois. My final destination of the night was at Casino Queen Casino, East St. Louis, IL. Just across the river from St. Louis, and with a view of the Arch! Another great casino campground, nice wide sites, but short, I hung over, but it was so empty it didn’t matter. Beautiful mini mart, trees, laundry and bathhouse (which I didn’t use) full hookups, and a shuttle to the casino. I walked Winston for a long walk and got several PICTURES of the Arch, showered and off
to dinner at the casino. Their buffet was only $20, PICTURE (yes, I had veggies on another plate fill up) and it was pretty good, except for deserts. I ate until I had my fill, gambled a little and played even for about 2 hours. When I quickly lost $40 I left and slept like a baby. No need for a/c overnight, it really cools down. The next morning I was up and out early. More rolling green hills, fewer grain elevators, more cows and horses, more soybeans, still lots of corn. Blown out tire debris, and dead brownish orange animal roadkill. Still traveling east and south on I64 I saw many antique automobiles out for their Sunday drive. These included trucks as well as cars. The trucks were mostly restored with flat black paint. The predominant color on the autos was glossy red. I saw so many I wondered if they were just out for a Sunday drive or on their way to or from a car show. The mind wanders……More corn fields, more soy beans, more horse farms. I64 is a great road, no construction, and the only real bumps are at the overpasses. I just don’t understand
why the surface of the road on overpasses is always so bumpy. Bone rattling bumpy sometimes. Ugh.
Indiana. Still lots of blown out tire debris along the road. No dead animals. Into Indiana mid day Sunday, only a 250 mile planned. I was tired. I needed a break. 1700 miles since Tuesday. My RVing app, AllStays, showed me Hoosier National Forrest. I called and they had plenty of electric sites and I made it there by 2:00 pm.
Now back to real time: Sunday. The manager in the ranger station told me to drive around and select a site, there were quite a few open. She said she would call the host and have them meet me. One site was prettier than the next so I opted to look for a level one. The host came up to me in his golf cart and suggested site 4 and led me on the way. We got to site 4 and he stopped me from going back, his wife said site 22 was a better site. Around the loop again to site 22 and it is a gem. Wide, level (I thought) picnic table, fire ring,
and electricity, no water. I could see the host, Bill, puffing himself up to help this old lady back up into the site. I asked him to stand in one particular spot, and I pivoted around him and landed perfectly in the center of the site. He told me he had never seen a girl do that before. I am woman, hear me roar, again. The site isn’t as level as I thought, when I extended my levelers it took the front wheels off the ground, quite a sight! Bill’s wife, Barb, came with paperwork for me to fill out, $22 for 2 nights, love the Golden Age Pass!! They left, then she came back with heirloom tomatoes and cucumbers from her garden. I turned down the cucumbers, I have never liked them and they make me burp for hours, but the yellow tomatoes were awesome. A little salt added, there is nothing like a warm tomato from the garden. I set up camp and put out my chair and dug out my mini Weber grill and made a baked potato and London broil and red wine and fruit juice combination. Heaven. There is absolutely no noise here except cicadas
and birds and the occasional mosquito in my ear. I am going to catch up on my expense spreadsheet, blogging, and crocheting and stay here until Tuesday morning.
I met my neighbors, barely visible thru the trees (and poison ivy oh no!!) Their home is in Beverly, MA, but they are selling it to move to their loft in Lowell, what do they as empty nesters need their 5 bedroom Beverly house for anymore) and go on the road 6 to 8 months a year in either their Van RV or trailer and see the country. They are westbound on their trip to Idaho for his dad’s 90
th birthday 9/1. I directed them to Minooka Lake and we exchanged RVing war stories and funny people stories and had a pleasant evening.
Kat Out
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Kathy Everett
non-member comment
Lettered signs
The roads out there are so few (guess) they use letters to name them instead of numbers.