Really the End of the Trail!

So much for promises and good intentions! I apologize for being so tardy in letting everyone know how the adventure ends. But...we are all safe and sound back in our familiar lives! Did this adventure ever happen???? It almost seems to me that it happened to someone else and WOW! did they have a good time! I have puzzled over this feeling and perhaps it is so overwhelming because it is almost more than my poor limited brain can take in.

As I read back over the blog, I am astounded at the ground we covered, meals we ate, sights we saw. A number of people I have talked to were tired and worn out just reading about our adventures. We had plenty of adrenalin pumping but I am surprised we kept it going for 80 days. Even though my granddaughter says we went around the world it was only the United States, but what a place and we got to see a lot of it!

Other than a my cold that held on for too long and Lee's which came and went in short order we maintained our health. Now since we have been home that is another thing! But on the road we held up amazingly well. Lee often commented that she was surprised she didn't feel tired. I on the other hand who pride myself on my endless energy felt it flagging a bit towards the end. Judi steered clear of our colds so kudos to her immune system!

Several people have commented on our sleeping arrangements and lack of privacy. This was never an issue proving that three women can share one bathroom. Lee was up first, Judi usually was second, and I was last. System worked well for us and then it was down for breakfast and ready for the day! We can congratulate ourselves on that!

One surprise was how we spent the evenings. Judi and Lee read and when laundry was called for took care of that. I worked on the blog, we got into bed eventually and read. Often we were reading things we had picked up or reading about things we were going to see down the road. Lights being on never seemed to bother those sleeping and most of the time we agreed on the temperature of the room. We finally sent the card games home that we thought we would be playing in the evenings. When we have spent time together in LaVerne or Watsonville that is one of our greatest pleasures.

When I got to my daughter's I had the task of unpacking all the things I had sent to San Diego and getting my mail. The boxes were a bigger chore than I imagined because some things I left for Christmas, some I brought home, and some I handed out then. Seemed like I did a lot of shopping but didn't have much to show for it. I do have quite a collection of tiles which I was going to put on my patio. That idea has been re-examined and am soliciting opinions on what to do with them. Stay tuned. Last week when I talked to Lee she hadn't unpacked her boxes. But she and Judi do know that they have a lot of their Christmas shopping done. I on the other hand have a bunch of souvenir tiles. There is something wrong with this picture.

Thank you to all who followed along on our adventure, kept in touch on the road, and let us know you enjoyed hanging out with us. It was the adventure or our lifetime!

Love from the Gotta Go Girls--Judi, Lee, and Gerry

"End of the Trail" sort of

Now here is an interesting group of pictures. The first ones are all from the Route 66 Museum that we came across in Clinton, Oklahoma. There are several of these museums along the old route which ran from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California, but this was the premier one devoted just to the road. There is a diner on the property that was moved from a little town along the highway. This road was crucial to many little towns and large cities that the road connected. It really got America out on the road and on the move. With the advent of the interstate system which began in the 1950's many of the little towns died on the vine or found the going really rough and Rt. 66 was replaced mostly by Interstate 40. There are still small sections of road you can drive on, but most have been torn up, blocked off, or allowed to return to nature. All the exhibits reflected a time that is gone. We zip along in air conditioned comfort covering several hundred miles in a day and perhaps we have Bobby Troop on a CD singing about getting "your kicks on Route 66". If you ever find yourself in Clinton, Texas be sure to stop at the Route 66 Museum!

We drove on over a hundred miles through flat, flat, flat, land. When we crossed into Texas the ranches seemed to get bigger and cotton fields more extensive. Found the Extended Day America Suites which Lee had been wanting to try since they were recommended by a friend. It is very comfortable and the price is great. If we were so inclined we could have cooked our dinner but that isn't our style, remember! Instead we ate at a near by roadhouse and had ribs and chicken fried steak. We enjoyed another hearty meal, Texas style!

But before we had dinner we drove out to the Cadillac Ranch which is a field on I40 outside Amarillo. In the 1970's a quirky millionaire hired a bunch of artists from San Francisco to come and design this piece of public art alongside the road. They buried 10 old Cadillacs from the junk yard and over the years it has become quite a tourist stop. When they were first erected/buried they were headed west and still are but had the original colors. Over the years, with the approval of the quirky millionaire, they have been vandalized and the graffitti artists have been at work. Count me in on that score. There were all kinds of people out in that cow pasture with their spray cans so who was I to turn down the offer of a couple of sprays myself. Wonder what the cows think about all the crazy people out in their pasture.

Well it is almost bed time. We will be taking a hiatus from the blog but tune in next week when we wrap up this incredible adventure. Nighty night from the Gotta Go Girls, Lee, Judi, and Gerry

"Oklahoma, O-K-LA-HO-MA, Oklahoma!!!!"

This has been a very interesting day from cowboys to memorials. Let's start at the beginning and you can first refer to the first nine pictures. We arrived in Oklahoma City from Selina, Kansas about 1:00. Lee had read about the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. We thought we would drive by and take a look. Well! We drove up to this gorgeous building on Persimmon Hill above Oklahoma City and spent the next four hours dashing from one spectacular exhibit to another. The most interesting Native American drawings I couldn't photograph as well as scores of bronze sculptures. The paintings were magnificent and the whole genre of Western art unfolded before us. The place is huge and I tried to mark off the galleries I had seen to keep going in one direction. We wandered on into a lifelike rodeo arena, rooms of saddles, movies, guns, Western military, John Wayne collections, ropes, riatas, and wranglers. It was breathtaking. There was even a 1900 Western cattle town built in the middle of the museum. The picture of the shoes belonged to a rodeo clown. The marble sculpture of the cougar was titled Canyon Princess and was 18 feet tall. The huge white statue of Fraser's "End of the Trail" greeted us as we entered the building and a fabulous gift shop was our last stop as we were leaving. We were a bit breathless but so glad we had stopped.

From there we traveled on downtown to the Oklahoma City National Memorial which was built after the terrible bombing in 1995. That acounts for the rest of the pictures. This was a very sobering experience. You enter through a huge gate with the time of 9:01. The opposite end of the reflecting pool has the time of 9:03. The reflecting pool between the two gates represents the time of 9:02 which marks the moment of destruction. Beside the pool the field of empty chairs remind you of the 168 lives that were lost and they fill the area where the Murrah building stood. The smaller of the chairs represent the children and it really tugs at your heart to see them. We walked around the entire area as it was getting dark and the lights were coming on. It was a very quiet place and you couldn't help but wonder about people who will do such horrible evil things. Our thoughts are with all those who were affected by this tragedy.

By this time it was dark and Judi is our driver when the sun goes down. We were heading towards our hotel and needed to get on the freeway. We found the right highway but took three passes to find the unmarked on-ramp. There were some choice words for those road workers who have not installed a sign! But we made it and checked into the hotel and scurried back out to a great Italian restaurant a few doors down the road. No more unmarked on-ramps for us, thank you!

Tomorrow we drive on to Amarillo, Texas. This is sort of a semi-momentous day as the next morning (Saturday) I will hop a plane and fly to San Diego. Lee and Judi had offered to drive me to San Diego but I have made the decision to leave a couple of days early so I can join the festivities for Zoe's 7th birthday. Lee and Judi will drive on to Santa Fe, Sedona, Flagstaff, Prescott, Kingman before arriving home in La Verne on Wednesday. The Gotta Go Girls have pretty much gone and went! What a time this has been and will try to check in to let everyone know we are all home safe and sound. Wonder what we will do not working on the blog, using a coin operated washing machine, eating all our meals in restaurants, packing up a suitcase every day, unpacking some things from a suitcase every night, writing postcards, paying our bills by phone, shopping in museum stores, deciding who is driving, deciding who gets to sit in the back seat, pouring over maps, getting lost, getting found, laughing hysterically over little things, jogging one another's memories on where we were yesterday, wondering where the time got away to, ooohing and aaaahing over leaves turning colors, and the list goes on and on. Now we get to see what adventure awaits on the road to Amarillo. Nighty night.

P.S. Melody, we are sending good thoughts your way.

From Kansas

Haven't the energy to try to mess with the pictures so it is back to the list. .

1. Our trunk. Notice that it is loaded like a jigsaw puzzle. We are good and can get loaded up in just a couple of minutes.

2. -5. Pictures from the Greyhound Museum which is across the street from the Eisenhower Center. It is like a museum devoted to horse racing only this is dogs. Since dog racing is not legal in California this seemed rather odd to us.

6. Gift to President Eisenhower. A carved elephant tusk from Thailand (I think)

7. Gift of a Grandma Moses painting of the Eisenhower farm in Gettysburg

8. The stove Ike cooked on at the White House. He had an apron which said "Hail to the Chef"

9. One of the many displays of the Eisenhower military career

10. A gift of a complete set of first lady dolls made by one person

11. A parachute dummy which was dropped behind the German lines during the invasion of Normandy. When they would land they would bark out some orders and then explode leaving only the parachute with the idea if it was found by the Germans that the paratrooper had landed and gotten away.

12. A couple of Mamie's bed jackets. She conducted much of her business in the mornings from her bed.

13. The Eisenhower house in Abilene Kansas where Ike and his 5 brothers were raised

14. His parents' bed room. Notice the beautiful quilts made by Mother Eisenhower

15. Chapel where Ike and Mamie are buried

16. The Kirby House where we feasted on a Kansas raised beef. Here I go again. Yummm-O!

As we loaded up the car in Belleville this morning I insisted that we have a record of how we do this. Considering we have been repeating this process since the 25th of August, I felt we needed a photographic record. Of course I chose the coldest morning to do this so I snapped quickly and we finished the job in record time and record cold (about 30 degrees--Brrrrr!) When we looked at the pictures tonight I had the progression from empty trunk to fully packed. We were screaming with laughter at how ridiculous it looks as a rather fast moving slide show. Sorry to only include the finale.

We drove a little over a hundred miles to Abilene, Kansas and arrived at the Eisenhower Center about 10:30 and we left about 4:15. It was a full day starting with the house which is on the original site where Ike and his 5 brothers grew up. The Eisenhower Foundation bought up the surrounding area to build the Center. The house is very modest and hard to see how 6 boys grew up in such cramped quarters and go on to success for each of them. Mother Eisenhower lived there until her death when the property was turned over to the National Archives who administer it now. Ike and Mamie are buried on the property in a small meditation chapel that is very serene and the research library is also on the grounds.

The museum is chock-a-block with stuff and the pictures are only the tip of the iceberg. The Eisenhower war years are a major part of the exhibits, and there is very little sign of Richard Nixon. Whether this is intentional or not I don't know. This is the last presidential library for the trip. The most impressive I guess would be the Clinton Library, but I loved the Carter and we all three agree that the Roosevelt Library was a big favorite also. Will look forward to going to the Reagan Library when we get home.

We hadn't eaten since a very sparse breakfast and were famished. Since it was a bit early for the place that was recommended to us, we stopped at the Greyhound Museum. Guess we just aren't into Greyhound racing as it seemed a bit odd to us. But it killed a little time and then we proceeded on to the Kirby House for a fabulous steak with all the trimmings. As our days of denying ourselves nothing is coming to an end we intend to make the most of our last meals and tonight was one of those occasions. As we were enjoying our coffee after dinner we had a discussion on how we could get to the motel and sleep in our clothes so we wouldn't have to unpack anything from the car. The other patrons must have thought we were a little crazy.

We drove the 35 miles from Abilene to Selina and checked into another Hampton Inn. We did unpack a little but got to the room in record time and threw on our night clothes and now Judi and Lee are asleep and I'm not far behind. On to Oklahoma, City tomorrow to see the memorial and perhaps a couple of other stops. Next is Amarillo and then Albequerque.

How did this time pass so quickly? We are sick of our clothes, I hate my black hang up bag with toiletries, we're cold but have virtually nothing warm enough, so we just don't care any more what people think of or appearance, we put on all the layers we have and then get in a warm car and sweat, and continue to marvel at all the things we have seen and experienced. Today during the movie at the Eisenhower museum, pictures of West Point came on the screen and Lee and I both leaned toward Judi who was sitting in the middle and said, "We've been there!"

Off to dreamland. Love and hugs from the Gotta Go Girls

Still Chilly!!!!

The farm land which belonged to Judi and Lee's ancestors













Republic County Historical Association

And then we went to lunch on the town square!

It has been a crisp fall day here in Belleville Kansas. We are pulling out all the clothes we have to try to stay warm. At 9:00 this morning we met Vicki at the Historical Society. She welcomed us and helped find as much information as possible about Lee and Judi's family. Their father and grandmother left in the 1930's and came to California but they were able to find the address of the family home. But unfortunately it had been torn down to make way for some new residences. There is still confusion about where the family restaurant was but it was a wonderful experience trying to fit the pieces together with Vicki's help. Their curator who is about to retire dropped by and turns out she and her husband bought about 300 acres from descendants of the Davis family. They gave us directions on how to get to the property and, though there are no structures left, it was fun to see where it all started for Lee and Judi here in Belleville.

The Historical Association building was built specifically for this county museum and they have worked hard to preserve the history of Republic County. The exhibits at the museum were very well done and the Tool Shed was amazing! I particularly like the barbed wire display. Who knew there were so many types of barbed wire. Not a big item in Los Angeles, or even Watsonville, these days but critical to the Plains! Enjoy the pictures of their museum, parlor display, the tool shed, and Vicki.

She also gave us an idea of the town of Belleville. They are beset with many of the problems of urban areas, an aging population, drugs, high cost of fuel, but on the other hand they don't lock their doors, know everyone in town, generally have a lower cost of living, and live at a slower pace. The problems of the small farmer are certainly true here and unless someone inherits land it is virtually impossible to get a start. I also picked up some ideas to use at our own historical association. We spent a very informative morning and they sent us on our way with good wishes and directions for the Purple Splash for lunch (see the picture of the 2 GGG's) and the Bar and Grill for dinner. The Purple Splash is an old drug store and the tile floor and tin ceiling are pure late 1800's. Dinner tonight at the Bar and Grill and I might add pool parlor was deliscious. A no nonsense kind of meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and coleslaw. To use our favorite food phrase--Yumm-O!

Our accomodations here in Belleville have been comfortable and affordable, the people have been very friendly and helpful, and the GGG's have wondered if we would make good farm girls! The jury is still out on that question.

Nighty night

Pictures from Monday

Now that Blogger has healed itself and is over its little tantrum, these were the pictures I wanted to share last night. Hope you enjoy.
These pictures are from the Truman home in Independence where Bess was born and she and Harry lived all their married life. It was such a peaceful place and you could really imagine this no-nonsense guy spending his time here. Notice the picture of the back yard. This is the lawn he had the Secret Service mow for him.

These were some of the many exhibits in the Truman Library. From Harry's car, safety plug on the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, the pen used to sign the document ending the fighting in Europe, a loaner from the George Bush Library showing Millie the dog's gift of satin pajamas, to a case filled with items from a number of presidents and their wives. (Mamie's and Jackie's hats, Johnson boots, Reagan jacket) Since there were case after case of this kind of exhibit, perhaps you can understand why we can't rush. We want to see everything!

Along the route of the Pony Express! Makes us appreciate our loyal steed, The Green Avalon

These are some of the 1000 trees residents planted in Marysville, Kansas!

Lee and Judi with Vonda Cooper, their distant "cousin" by marriage. She is has worked for Leonard for 30 years. This is Leonard! A true Kansas character. He is proudly showing us his refurbished very early Maytag washing machine. The other picture shows some of his collection of antique washing machines, and notice the tin ceiling. To die for!!!