Fun Facts At Presidential Library & Kansas City, Missouri

Travel Day: Laying in bed we were being lazy when Lucy (our niece; see last week’s blog) texted us at 8:28am asking if she and Sam could come over at 9:00am. They were making coffee. We FLEW out of bed and were ready as they came over. HA I had texted back to bring their coffee and we would serve them cinnamon rolls from Jamesport. 🙂 Had a nice visit and they left to get ready for church around 10:00am. Kevin reminded them to move their vehicle before they left, which was parked right in front of HOWE (footnote 1). Kevin said, “One way or another, the Explorer will be moved so we can hook up.” HA 

Full Hookup, Beautiful Place, Lakeview Campground & RV Park, Lawson, MO 10/23

We drove about 90 miles to Lawson, Missouri. The campground, owned by Lawson City, is just a few years old and very nice. The sites are huge! Lots of grass, fire pit, and wooden picnic tables with covers. We did have to add blocks under the wheels on one side of HOWE to level up but it worked out fine. This place has maybe 20 sites or less. The campground host and hostess (about our age) drove their golf cart over and introduced themselves and handed us the info paper. I heated up the pulled beef in bbq sauce that we got from Harvest Host Bass Farms (Iowa). Added the Amish dinner rolls from Jamesport, the queso and guacamole chips from Bass Farms. What a great eat!

35 years! That is how long it has been since we last saw several friends from college. We had the privilege of meeting up with them for dinner one night. Before we knew it, almost 1.5 hours has past. When we told our waiter it had been 35 years since we had seen each other, he said something about not remembering that far…he wasn’t even born. HA

Smoked Pork Chops From Friends, Lakeview Campground & RV Park, Lawson, MO 10/23

Friends of ours who live nearby brought dinner over to the campground. They are big into smoking all sorts of meat and they brought over the biggest pork chops (steaks) we have ever seen! Probably a foot long. Plus scalloped potatoes and green beans done in dutch oven. For dessert, dutch oven apple cobbler. The food was wonderful! I teased them they should open a restaurant or enter a contest and they said no way to both my ideas. We visited long into the evening.

We went to Harry S Truman Presidential Library & Museum in Independence, Missouri. After getting our tickets ($12.00 each) we ask the docents about closed captions. They asked someone and said no. But going through we saw the words are definitely integrated into the videos and worked good. Things I thought interesting:

* S is his middle name. Parents couldn’t decide should it be Shipp for his father or Solomon for hers? They picked S as a compromise.

* He joined Missouri National Guard in 1905, despite poor eyesight, and wore the blue uniform to the family farm to show it off. Grandma Young, with the memory of the blue uniforms of Union troops seared in her as they raided and burned the farm, said, “Harry, this is the first time since 1863 that a blue uniform has been in this house. Don’t bring it here again.” Harry never did.

* President Franklin D Roosevelt decided to run for an unprecedented 4th term in 1944. “Truman did not seek the 1944 Vice-Presidential nomination. He enjoyed the Senate…. Insiders knew the President was gravely ill, and many believed Vice President Henry Wallace was too liberal to assume the reins in wartime. In a backroom meeting, Roosevelt met with Democratic Party bosses. They discussed possible replacements for Wallace, knowing that whomever they chose might soon lead the nation.” Even at the convention, Roosevelt’s preference wasn’t clear. There is a picture of Truman’s shocked face when he was nominated as vice-president at the Democratic Convention. The sign said he didn’t know it was coming.

* First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to Harry Truman, April 12, 1945, the day President Roosevelt died,  “Is there anything we can do for you? For you are the one in trouble now.”

* May 14, 1948, Truman was the first world leader to officially recognize Israel as a legitimate Jewish state. He did that 11 minutes after it was created.

* After critic Paul Hume wrote a horrible review of Truman’s daughter Margaret’s singing, Truman wrote him a letter and included this; “Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you’ll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and a perhaps a supporter below!” HAHA  

The library recommends two hours to visit but seriously…we were there 4 hours and didn’t read everything! 🙂 So glad we went. Learned so much. 

National WW1 Museum & Memorial, Kansas City, MO 10/23

National WW1 Museum and Memorial is located in Kansas City, Missouri. This museum has compressive and in-depth information about WW1. The displays were huge and lots had computer programed lights and sounds. We walked to the Memorial outside. We learned, “In 1921, more than 100,000 people gathered to see the supreme Allied commanders dedicate the site of the Liberty Memorial. This was the first time in history these five leaders were together in one place.”  President Coolidge dedicated the Memorial in 1926. theworldwar.org

Kansas City, Missouri, 10/23

We met up with some of our longtime friends at Grinders. The place is a narrow and small business, featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives several times, and made delicious Kansas City pizza. I wanted more! Our visit with our friends was wonderful. Even though we keep up with each other and what is happening in our lives, it was wonderful to see them and give hugs.

One more thing: one morning driving through Liberty, Missouri, we saw a sign for Clay County Christian Church. We didn’t say anything and a second later we both said, “CCCC” at the exact time. It was so funny because we didn’t know the other person had seen the same sign. Good timing, good laughs.

Next stop: Branson, Missouri and Silver Dollar City.

1. “HOWE” is what we named our Alliance Avenue 36-ft 5th wheel. See: Home On WhEels and we pronounce it Howie. We live and travel in it full-time around the country.