Day 3 - Harry and the Oregon Trail

We awoke in Independence, Missouri, and since local museums did not open until 9 a.m. we were able to sleep in a bit and have a relaxed breakfast. Independence is famous for two things: Harry Truman and being a jumping off point for the westward wagon trains. Phil stopped to say hello to the former President at the town square, and then we drove by the Truman home. Harry was a farm boy who married Bess Wallace and her in-town money. It took him nine proposals but she finally said yes,  to her parents' chagrin, and Harry got to live in a fine home until his death.

 

Phil and Harry

 

Home of Harry and Bess Truman

The Trails Museum in Independence has a number of informative displays about the Santa Fe, Oregon and Mormon Trails that began in Independence and other nearby Missouri towns. Mary and I never had thought about how brief a period of time was involved with the wagon trips west - really only about 25 years until the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1869. And, these trips involved only about 400,000 people. Knowing how difficult the journey was, we wondered what the people who set out in 1867 or 1868 would have said. Perhaps, why were we so stupid not to wait a year and take the train? Next door to the museum was a restored 1879 train depot of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, which ran from Chicago to Independence.

Independence Train Depot

Our museum tour complete, we set off on the Oregon Trail ourselves. However, the trail is now four to six paved lanes each way and is called Interstate 70 - much easier travel than walking alongside a wagon, especially with air conditioning. We stopped for lunch in the Flint Hills region west of Topeka. I recalled reading of William Heat Least-Moon's travels about this rolling countryside in "PrairieErth." The Warbling Vireo singing near our picnic table added a nice touch.

A few miles further west the hills give way to the flat, dry plains that we always associate with Kansas. With the wind blowing 20-25 mph, we felt for the plains folk who lived out here, especially during the Dust Bowl of the thirties. In central Kansas, we saw our first wind turbines. We did not see any more until we reached Colorado the next day and wondered why there are not more out here.

 

Kansas Wind Turbines

However, we also wondered about the impact of these turbines on bird migration through the central flyway, as the Kansas field was only about 40 miles from Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area. We stopped a few miles down the road in dry and dusty Hays, Kansas, and turned in early in anticipation of our visit to Cheyenne Bottoms the next morning.

Day 2 - Goin' to Kansas City

From Louisville, our objective for Day 2 was to put some miles behind us and reach a destination that would be completely new for us - Independence and Kansas City, Missouri. After our hearty breakfast we drove across southern Indiana and Illinois. Not much to see there, but the scenery was pleasant enough on a sunny morning and gave Phil an opportunity to do some road birding. Best birds of the morning - Brewer's Blackbird and about a dozen Great Egrets in a marsh just east of St. Louis. We encountered a bird mystery, though - why not a single crow between Louisville and Independence during 7+ hours of driving? West Nile virus?

Just after lunch we drove over the Mississippi River into Missouri and by the St. Louis Gateway Arch. This is a new state for Phil, and Mary's only visit was a train stop 45 years ago on the way to Mexico. By the time we reached our motel in Independence, the temperature had reached the mid-90s, and we were pretty tired. However, we were not too tired for those Kansas City specialties - steak and BBQ. We discovered that Smokehouse BBQ, one of the three local BBQ meccas was just around the corner, so off we went.

Mary at Smokehouse BBQ

We certainly were not disappointed. Mary's K.C. strip steak was outstanding, tender, tasty and cooked to perfection, and the baby back ribs were top notch as well. When in Rome . . . Don't bother ordering the fish.

Kansas City Steak - Yum!

The ladies below were doing BBQ and caused us to think of David's mom down in Clearwater. Dolores - the "Kansas City Kittens" say hello.

Our plan for tomorrow is some local museum touring in the morning before heading off to central Kansas and some prairie wetland birding.

Day 1 - Louisville, Kentucky

On June 11, Mary and I began a month long journey by car from North Carolina through the western United States. With stops along the way to see family members, we will tour Arches, Grand Canyon and Zion National Parks in the Southwest, visit Melissa and David in Oregon and Washington, and then return along a northern route with a stop at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.

The first leg of our trip took us to Louisville, Kentucky, and an overnight stay with Mary's sister, Liz Curtis Higgs and her husband Bill. We arrived safely after sitting for over an hour on I-64 ten minutes from their home because of a serious accident involving a school bus just a half mile ahead of us. Several children were injured, but the word we got was no fatalities. Arriving at the Higgs estate, we were thrilled to also get their children, Lillian and Matthew and Matthew's wife Beth. It was wonder ful for us and Beth to sit and get to know each other a bit after pretty much just seeing her from afar at the wedding of Matt and Beth four years ago. And, our visit included a belated family birthday celebration for Beth, although I don't think her age was ever actually revealed.

  Matthew, Beth and Lillian

Beth's Birthday Celebration

We also were excited for Bill and his news that he has agent interest in publishing a novel that he has been working on for many years, plus Matt's news that he has just been accepted in the entrepreneurial program at the University of Louisville School of Business. Of course, Liz is still writing, speaking and touring Scotland, putting to bed yet another book the night before we arrived. We also got to meet Jack the cat, and we were spoiled rotten with homemade lasagna for dinner and a full Scottish Breakfast Louavul style.

"I'm alright," said Jack