Leigh and Laurie

Sunday, June 6th We drive to the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge at Prairie City, Iowa. The Learning Center at the refuge explains how the natural prairie is being restored through controlled fires, the re-introduction of native species, and the eradication of invasive plant species. We follow a self-guided driving tour which shows specific techniques being used to restore the prairie. A herd of bison and other animals have been brought to the refuge as part of the prairie restoration. As we have traveled through the Midwest, we have stopped at several sites where the prairie ecosystems are being restored. Only about one percent of the natural prairie still remains, but many universities, wildlife refuges, national parks and nonprofits such as Nature Conservancy and the Audubon Society have stepped in to preserve what remains and to ... read more

Friday, June 4th We visit the Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch, Iowa and find out about Herbert Hoover’s Shaker heritage and his early career as a mining engineer and businessman and his later career as President and as a humanitarian in two world wars. We visit the very modest Hoover family home and the Shaker meeting house preserved on the grounds of the Library. We then drive to the nearby Amana colonies which were established in 1855 by German immigrants with the utopian ideal of a cooperative religious community. They selected this area for its rich farmland and became well known for their craftsmanship. They lived the communal life until 1932 when disastrous economic conditions forced them to disband. Many of their buildings and craft work still remain. We drive east through the Iowa countryside ... read more

Monday, May 31st and Tuesday, June 1st. We head for Independence, Missouri, on the outskirts of Kansas City, where the Harry Truman Presidential Library is located. Great film and exhibit of how Truman became President and the decisions he faced while in office. We enjoy the replica of the Oval Office and the murals by Thomas Hart Benton. We travel east through the Missouri countryside toward Paris, where Laurie’s ancestors (the McGees) settled in 1826. We camp at nearby Mark Twain Lake Campground located near the birthplace of Mark Twain. The next morning we head into the town of Paris, first stopping at Pleasant Hill Cemetery where we locate the grave of Mary McCoun McGee, who lead the overland trek with her family and other pioneers to Paris from Kentucky when she was 75. We visit ... read more

Monday, May 24th and Tuesday, May 25th. After we break camp, we take the scenic byway through the heart of the Flint Hills area of Kansas. We stop at the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve, a National Park site that is restoring the native grasslands which covered much of the Midwest before the area was settled by farmers.This area is relatively untouched because of the thick layer of flint lying just below the surface of the grass, making the ground impractical for plowing. We take a ride far out in the prairie, where no human habitation can be seen. A small herd of buffalo, recently established as part of the natural ecosystem, graze near the road, indifferent to our passing bus. We enjoy seeing the vistas and the wide variety of grasses, birds and wildflowers. On the ... read more

May 21st. We find a beautiful campsite at Lake Pueblo along a reservoir. The lighting is beautiful and there are many wildflowers in bloom. As we drive east, we move into cattle country and see many cattle on the range--and many in muddy, smelly feedlots or cattle trucks. We stop for the night at an RV camp named Gunsmoke just outside of Dodge City. The tent area is nice--and deserted. We have our area of the park to ourselves. The next morning we decide to skip the cowboy tourist stuff in Dodge City and head for Quivira Wildlife Refuge, a large marsh area that is an important stopping point for thousands of birds during the spring and fall migrations. We are there too late for the big flocks but see many birds and other critters and ... read more