One last stop - Renfro Valley, KY

Visitor's Center - Battle of Richmond KY

Pleasant Hill Shaker Village, KY

We left Lexington, KY and went south on I-75 to the Renfo Valley KOA in Mt. Vernon, KY.   IT was only about 60 miles south of Lexington, but what a wonderful change in the weather!   The campground was decorated for Halloween, and the campers were streaming in.   There were lots of activities for the kids -- hay rides, costume parade, and on Saturday night a party in the barn with apple cider and pumpkin pie.   The adults took decorating their sites to new levels of ingenuity.

 On Saturday we drove to Richmond, KY to see the battlefield.   The second largest Civil War battle in KY, the Battle of Richmond was one of the most decisive and complete Confederate victories of the entire war, with the Union army retreating in disarray and chaos.   Of the 6500 Union troops who went into the battle, 4300 were taken prisoner, and more than 1000 were either killed or wounded.  Of the 6600 Confederates, only 128 men were lost - 118 killed  and 10 were MIA.  This battlefield was listed by the Civil War Preservation Trust as one of the 10 most endangered battlefields.  In 2001 citizens united to save their historic battlefield.   The first land saved was 62 acres, and since that time the group has saved a total of 600 acres.   The Visitor's center rivals some National battlefield sites, and is totally financed and preserved by the Battle of Richmond Association and the COUNTY!    Definitely a site to be visited!

Sunday was a beautiful day, so we ventured about 60 miles northwest to Pleasant Hill, which is about 6 miles north of Harrodsburg, KY.   The Shaker community called Pleasant Hill was established in 1805.  They flourished for the first half of the 19th century,  and were known for their flat brooms, garden seeds, herbs and preserves which they sold in KY and neighboring states.   In 1910 the village closed, and the last Shaker died in 1923.   The buildings and furnishings were auctioned off, and many were destroyed or fell into disrepair.      In 1961 a group of private citizens created an organization to preserve the remaining Shaker structures and farmland,   and the restored village reopened in 1968.   Restoration continues, and the currently restored buildings are open for tours and exhibits.   There are costumed interpreters to explain the use of the buildings, and in the meeting hall a talented singer offers concerts of some of the Shaker hymns and explains their method of prayer.   I believe this is the third or fourth Shaker village we have enjoyed in our travels.  

We left Renfo Valley KOA on Tuesday and enjoyed the beautiful fall foliage in the mountains of KY, TN and NC on our way home.   Our overnight stop was in the parking lot of the Cracker Barrel in Hickory, NC, and we arrived back home at 1:00 Wednesday afternoon.

We have 5 western states left to visit, and will hopefully visit them next summer....   California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada.

Lexington, KY

Ashland, Henry Clay Home

Jean at rear of Todd Home

We arrived in Lexington, KY on October 19 in the rain and had planned to stay four nights.   However, when we arrived, we learned we could only stay the 19th and 20th, and must leave on the 21st because the campground was full due to Halloween festivities :-(    That called for a careful decision as to which sites we would be able to visit with our one day.   We decided that the girlhood home of Mary Todd Lincoln was a must see, as well as Ashland, the home of Henry Clay.   

Thursday was a miserable day as you can likely see from the way I'm bundled up in the picture at the Todd home.   It was 43 degrees, rainy, and with a brisk wind with gusts to 40 mph the wind chill was in the 30's!   The Todd home was the first we visited and we were not disappointed!  

The home opened in 1977, after being saved from the wrecking ball by Mrs. Beula Nunn, a First Lady of Kentucky.  The fourteen room home contains period furniture, family portraits and items belonging to both the Lincolns and the Todds.   Mary was born in Lexington in 1818 and spent many of her teen years in the house.   It was the family home from 1832 until 1849.  After Mary's marriage to Lincoln in 1842 the Lincolns visited Lexington on several occasions.   Unfortunately only the house remains.   The kitchen and other buildings were no longer on the property when Mrs. Nunn fought to save the home.   The Todd Lincoln House is the first house museum in America to honor a First Lady.

Our second tour was at Ashland, home of the Henry Clay family.   The house was built by Mr. Clay and remained in the family until 1950, when it was given to the Henry Clay foundation for its preservation.   Henry Clay was a great statesman and was known for his ability to forge compromises between faction in the Congress.    Besides his Congressional responsibilities,  Henry Clay was also a lawyer, a slave holder, a farmer who was an authority on cattle and thoroughbred horses.   His horses sired 11 Kentucky Derby winners over the years.   Henry Clay imported 15 different species of trees and various breeds of cattle.   His farm grew hemp and after the war tobacco.   The house has a two story central area and two wings added by his son after his death.  

Tomorrow we will camp 60 miles south of Lexington in the Renfro Valley area.  

Springfield, MO

Wilson Creek Civil War Battlefield

Laura Ingalls Wilder Home

I have always loved the Little House books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and have visited DeSmet SD and wanted to see where she and Almanzo moved when they left South Dakota.   The first touring we did was to travel to Mansfield, MO, about 50 miles east of Springfield to her Rocky Ridge Farm where she and Almanzo moved in 1894.   She lived there until her death in the 1950's.   It was at the farm at the age of 65 that she started writing her Little House books, at the urging of her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane.   Rose was also an author, and also holds the title as the oldest war correspondent as she was in Viet Nam as a war correspondent at the age of 70.   We visited the farm home and the "rock house" given them by Rose.   The farm also has a nice museum which includes clippings and belongings of Laura, Almanzo, and Rose.   The piece that I personally loved seeing was Pa's fiddle, which Laura talked about so often in the Little House books.

Since Jack and I are history buffs, we couldn't be 12 miles from the Wilson Creek Battlefield and not go to see it!    Saturday was a beautiful fall day, so we packed a picnic lunch to take along, visited the visitor's center to see the introductory film and get a map of the battlefield.   The Civil War in Missouri started with this battle in 1861.   The house at Wilson Creek belonged to the Ray family and it is the original structure.   Mr. Ray watched the battle from his front porch, while his wife and nine children huddled in their cellar with a slave and her four children and a mail carrier.   The Ray house was a Confederate field hospital for the battle.   Union General Nathaniel Lyon's body was brought here at the fighting's end.   The only major fighting on this side of Wilson's Creek was in the cornfield.  
By the Civil War's end, Missouri had seen so many battles and skirmishes that it ranked as the third most fought-over state in the nation!

Our final sightseeing excursion was to the Fabulous Caves.   This cave has the ONLY Jeep-driven tour in the US.   In fact, there are only three in the world (or so they say).   It was an interesting tour, and for once I didn't have to squeeze through narrow crevices, crawl on my hands and knees, or worry about tripping over unforseen rocks!   I rode in a trailer, pulled by the Jeep as I enjoyed the beautiful formations within the cave.  It's interesting to note that this cave was initially explored by 10 women of a local garden club!  

We delayed our departure by one day, so that we could attend the Grand Opening of Springfield's HyVee super market!   For those of you who know us well, know we go out of our way to shop and eat at HyVee.   It was fun to be there on it's opening day.   I do have to admit I was envious that it was in Springfield, and not in North Carolina~!!!!    From here we started our 500 mile drive to Lexington, KY.

Topeka, KS

The trip from Tulsa to Topeka on Thursday was a short one, and the road was quite good.   We arrived at 2:30 and were thrilled to have a box of mail from home.   As the afternoon progressed the wind picked up and by evening the vents were slapping and the trailer was rocking as though we were on the ocean.  The wind didn't improve on Friday, but at least the vent wasn't flapping and the trailer wasn't rocking.   After lunch we went downtown and took a tour of the state capitol.   It has a beautiful senate and representatives areas with 18 carat gold trim on ceiling and columns.  The capitol is in the process of being refurbished, so it will be even nicer in 2013 when the work is finished!

Saturday we went to the Charles Curtis House.   Curtis was the VP under Herbert Hoover.   The house was saved from the wrecking ball by a farm couple who couldn't believe that no one in town was saving it.   They bought it and have done all the work themselves, with the exception of replacing the roof ($60K) which was partially funded by a grant.  From the Curtis home we visited the refurbished Great Overland station.  It has been turned into an events center and so did not have the furnishings of a train station.    That was disappointing.   

Being history buffs, it was logical that we would visit the Kansas Museum of History on Sunday.   We arrived when it opened at 1:00 p.m. and closed it at 5:00!   So much to see, and so little time!

On Monday we stopped at the Brown vs. Board of Education National Historic Site.   The site is one of 5 elementary schools that was segregated in Topeka.   The families filed suit and theirs was one of 5 cases heard by the Supreme Court.   On May 17, 1954 as a result of the cases, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown vs. Board of Education that segregation is unconstitutional.  Chief Justice Earl Warren commented in his opinion:  "We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place.   Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

We left on Wednesday, October 12 and headed to Springfield, MO.

Tulsa, OK Oct. 1 - 5, 2011

We arrived in Tulsa on Saturday, October 1.   Our campground was the Mingo Creek RV Park on the NE side of Tulsa.   Since we got in late in the afternoon on Saturday, we just set up the trailer and acquainted ourselves with the maps and tourist info for the area.   Sunday we stayed in camp until around 3 p.m. and then explored the neighborhood flea market.   It was not as orderly and as clean as the Raleigh flea market.   Many of the stalls were already starting to take down their tarps and close up.   I also made an apple crisp from the last free apples we had picked in Utah at Capitol Reef National Park.  

As luck would have it, on our way back in from our flea market excursion we stopped at the office to inquire about the Tulsa State Fair which was being advertised on the news.   One of the ladies in the office said she lived two blocks from the fairground, and if we'd like, we could park in her driveway FREE.   Took her up on her offer the next morning and headed out to the fair.  The fair reminded me of a smaller version of the Minnesota State Fair with several commercial buildings filled with exhibiters.   The sidewalks were cement, and there were many barns for the farm animals and of course the midway!   We totally enjoyed our day, and left with tired legs!  

Tuesday we drove about 20 miles to Claremore, OK to visit the Will Rogers Museum.   This 1/4 Cherokee native son was a cowboy, a trick roper, vaudvillian, radio and movie star, as well as a journalist.   He was loved for his witty comments.    He was killed in an airplane accident on 8/15/1935 in Alaska with his pilot and friend, Wiley Post.   In the 1930's, his death was as much of an impact as John F. Kennedy's was in later years.  The museum was built in 1938 and an extension was added in 1982.   His birthplace was about 15 miles from the museum in Oologah, OK.   The ranch is called Dog Iron Ranch, and the house and a period style barn are still located on Rogers land.   There is a home on the acreage for the caretaker.   It was definitely an enjoyable day and tour.

Wednesday we Toured the Tulsa Air and Space Museum which included the history of Tulsa and it's place in the history of Aviation.   It was very interesting.   At noon we went next door to the planetarium to see a show on the search for livable planets.    Then we went back to the museum to finish our tour and back to camp to begin preparations for leaving on Thursday.     On to Topeka, KS!!!!

Pictures - Colorado Springs, CO

Air Force Academy Cadets at noon formation and review

Air Force Academy Chapel

Jack and Jean - Seven Falls

Garden of the Gods - Pike's Peak with snow

Garden of the Gods

Pictures - Denver Colorado Area

Coors from above

Brew Kettles - Coors

 Here are some pictures of the Coors Brewery in Golden, CO and Rocky Mountain National Park.

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park is a National Historic Site built by Mr. Stanley in 1906.   It was the scene of the movie The Shining by Stephen King.

Here's to you!

Stanley Hotel - Estes Park, CO

Snow on the Mountains -Rocky Mountain National Park

Fall - Rocky Mountain NP

Looking down into the valley - Rocky Mountain National Park