On To Missouri

Well after “educational, traumatic, thought-provoking, and emotional” it was time to move on to more mundane travel, but first an addendum.  Before we left Oklahoma, we heard a news report that cuttings from the “Survivor Tree” had been taken.  The cuttings would be planted in areas throughout Oklahoma with messages of reconciliation, peace and survival and to ensure that the Survivor Tree’s offspring would live for a very long time into the future.

Bonnie’s deeply involved in her 50^th college reunion so this chapter of the blog falls to me (Lew).  

That means that I get to gripe about Oklahoma roads – Their toll road toll booths are often unstaffed and a major pain for someone in a large vehicle, like a motorhome.  OK, use your imagination on the details.  And their signage is really poor.  However, their lousy signage led to an abrupt change of plans taking us into Arkansas, to Witherow Springs State Park.  There in northern Arkansas we enjoyed seeing early spring taking over the countryside.  Our visit to the park included two hikes along the banks of War Eagle Creek and through the awakening forest. 

 

Carnegie Library (Bonnie on the Balcony)

We took the short trip to historic Eureka Springs where we wandered among old buildings, some of which had been updated and others that had obviously been restored to their historic original purposes.  And yes, there were several springs; some in unexpected places in the middle of old neighborhoods.  Eureka Springs is known for its pubs and historic restaurants, but we were too late (they roll up the sidewalks early there).  So, we celebrated my seventy-fourth birthday by having an excellent dinner in a biker bar.  Yes, the local craft beer was very good, as well.

Haygoods concert

And off to Branson, MO. We were told many times that “everybody has GOT to go to Branson at least once.”  So, we did.  Branson is known for its shows, so in four days we enjoyed four great shows – and some musical foolishness.    Two of them were major extravaganzas with lots of flashing lights and movement (performers ziplining above the audience, etc.), the other two were performances by extremely talented folks singing and playing musical instruments in amazing ways.  Is Branson a big “come on” to get you to buy into timeshare deals?  OH YEAH, but is was a fun time.

I also visited the Veterans’ Memorial Museum.  They use stories of the lives and service of veterans from all the major US military conflicts to tell us about individual routine service and heroism.  Moving!  Well worth a visit.

Also in Branson, we visited the College of the Ozarks.  There students pay no tuition, they work for the college to sustain the institution in about every way possible.  We ate in their restaurant, seated by students, served by students, ate food cooked by students, watched students directing visitors in their very interesting museum, …. You get idea.  

Vacuum Cleaner Museum

And on to St James.  Why would someone stop in St James?  To tour the Vacuum Cleaner Museum, of course.  Really there is such a museum and we enjoyed seeing vacuum cleaners we had used way back when, and even the ones that our grandparents had used. Do you recognize the one in the picture?  But we also sampled wines (no, not at the vacuum cleaner museum) at the St James Winery.  Yes of course, we bought a couple of bottles.

In Lake St Louis we spent a great two weeks with old friends, Rich and Mari, some reminiscing, but mostly joining them doing the things that they do, like going to a show in their retirement community with an “illusionist” and going to an outstanding jazz performance.  We celebrated Easter with them at their church followed by Mari’s wonderful lamb dinner.  Their church congregation welcomed us warmly and we helped members of the congregation with their workday, making the church property look sharp for spring.

Great Frozen Custard

Oh yes, Rich insisted that we participate in a St Louis tradition, determining which frozen custard shop had the best, smoothest, tastiest frozen custard in the area (apparently a St Louis custom).  I endured several (well, five, actually) samples on the Frozen Custard “tour.”  Apparently my “best” selection agreed with his choice.

Oops, we missed one sad incident in our earlier travels.   One of our bikes slipped off its rack on the back of the car and was seriously damaged as it was dragged down the freeway.  So, in St Louis, Bonnie got a new bike.  She loves it.

Since St Louis is where Lewis and Clark started their cross-the-continent trek, we visited the L&C Boathouse and Museum in St Charles.  That’s the place where they headed out into the wilderness. We know that they used the rivers as they headed west, but the museum’s proximity to the Missouri river was demonstrated by the flooding of the museum’s first floor the week after we left.  Fortunately all the artifacts are on the second floor.

No trip to St Louis would be complete without checking out the new museum at the Arch.   The Arch is great, but I was content to look at it from the ground.  The little cars that take one to the top looked a bit too claustrophobic for my sensibilities.  Yes, the Arch is amazing.

Yes, he actually played "music" with this "instrument"

Enough for now.  Watch for Bonnie’s thoughts about her 50^th college reunion.  She’s assured me that it will be along soon.

Museum Musings

     In the span of just over a week, after leaving Big Bend, our mental toughness was challenged. We visited 3 Presidential Museums, 3 memorials, and 1 native American cultural center. All of them brought back memories, challenged assumptions, and give us pause to think about what we believe.

     We spent three days in Fredericksburg, TX, soaking up the life and times of LBJ, the wineries of the Texas hill country, and the National Museum of the Pacific War (this area being the home to Admiral Chester Nimitz). The Museum was astoundingly detailed, so our heads swam with more information about this battle or that than we cared to remember. It was also a sobering experience - so many lives lost, so many heroes, so many decisions that had to be made, so many people's lives changed. The cruelty, the hardship, the intensity of battle, the mind of the enemy, the home front - all of it chronicled in this excellent museum. "Uncommon valor was a common virtue,"  said Admiral Nimitz. We felt that.

      And if that wasn't mind boggling enough, attached to the museum were three another poignant reminders of the sacrifice that war demands: first, a memorial courtyard honoring individuals, ships, and units that fought in the Pacific Theater; second, The Plaza of the Presidents, a striking outdoor tribute to the ten Presidents who served in WWII in some capacity - from Franklin Roosevelt thru George H.W. Bush; and third, but most emotionally moving of all, a Japanese Garden of  Peace, a tranquil respite from the reminders of war and death all around us, a gift from the people of Japan to the people of the United States, in honor of Admiral Nimitz.

Peace Garden

Part of the Plaza of the Presidents

     The LBJ Library/Museum in Austin was the first of the three we visited. It was a good experience, in most regards, and I came away with the following thoughts: The museum was definitely about what he DID, his legislative accomplishments; Johnson was an energetic, intelligent, "in-your-face" public servant, who was influenced by his own economic struggles and determined to help his constituents get their due; He was the consummate politician who knew everyone and knew how to get things done; He cared deeply about this country, especially those who were left behind; He accomplished a great deal during his years in congress and as president, passing legislation on such important domestic issues as education, health care, civil rights, poverty, conservation, and transportation; And, sadly, all of the good he tried to do was completely overshadowed by his failures in foreign affairs, most notably the Vietnam War. It was hard to walk through this part of the museum - all the social unrest, the protests, the assassinations, the escalation of the war, his decision not to seek reelection in 1968. We lived through all of that and I had forgotten how much he had accomplished before it all fell apart. I came away with a better appreciation for him as a person and a better understanding of how much he did to move this country forward, but saddened by what the war cost this country.

Vast collection of paper at the LBJ Library is first impression

LBJ Ranch

         Next it was on to College Station and the George H. W. Bush Museum/Library. I really had no idea what to expect. I didn't vote for him, but I had no bad feelings about him either. His museum was much more about the man, his values, his family, his hopes for America, his vision of a "kinder, gentler nation." Of course there was information about his background in foreign affairs and the CIA, and a special exhibit on "Spies, Traitors, Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America" that was an excellent look at terror on American soil.There was quite a bit on the first Iraq war, even giving us a glimpse into how decisions were made and how the war was managed and what was really different was the sense that we knew why we were there, what needed to be done, and a clear exit strategy was in place. What I came away with mostly was what a good, civil, kind person President Bush was. And, regrettably, how much our country has regressed: how "un-civil" we have become. In that respect, it was depressing. How I long for a president who stands on high moral ground.

     Leaving the Texas A & M campus, we headed to Dallas. I was not looking forward to this museum at all. George Bush was not my favorite president and his decision to start the Iraq War has had, in my opinion,  long-lasting (debilitating) consequences. But I also recognized that his presidency got off to a horrible start with 9-11 (and I wasn't looking forward to reliving THAT, either, as I knew we must in this museum). I was pleasantly surprised by the library and came away with some empathy for how difficult it is to be president, to have to make incredibly difficult decisions, and to try to keep a nation positive in the most difficult of times. Like his father's museum, this one painted a picture of a good human being who cared about all people in this country and about what's best for the nation. We will never agree on many fundamental issues and how to solve them, but I have more respect for him as a person and as president than I had before. This library/museum was very much geared to educating (especially young) people with interactive displays, which I very much appreciated. The difficult thing about this museum is that everything that happened was just too real, too current for me, and so much of it was disconcerting. Emotionally, it was tough.

     But not as tough as the next place we visited - The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza  - in Dallas, located within the infamous (former) Texas School Book Depository. Talk about bringing back (bad) memories. Nearly everyone of my generation can tell you where they were on the morning JFK was assassinated. This museum chronicles all of JFK's trip to Texas that fateful day in November, hour by hour - the preparations, the anticipation, the crowds, the security. Everything. Through displays and film the whole morning and the aftermath is set out; the smooth transition of power from Kennedy to Johnson, the arrest and murder of Oswald, the Warren Commission and the painstaking way in which information was gathered, the (continued) controversy over its findings, and, at long last, a film about the legacy of JFK. It was all such heady stuff - by the end, we were both physically and emotionally exhausted. And then we walked out to gaze upon the actually site of the assassination. By the time we left Dallas that afternoon, we were more than ready for wine tasting at the Caudalie Winery where we were staying!

Where it happened November 22, 1963

     Of course, we weren't finished with the museums. Our next stop took us to the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Oklahoma. We knew nothing about this native American tribe, but like our experience in Arizona, we were both saddened by the treatment they received at the hands of the white European interlopers and the perseverance they display in the face of adversity. They, too, experienced the Trail of Tears as they left their ancestral homelands in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee and settled in "Indian Territory" in Oklahoma during the era of Indian removal in the 1830s. They, like those tribes we visited in Arizona, have kept many of their traditions alive and have hope for their future.

Bronze statue at center of the people leaving homeland

Eternal flame - sacred fires of Green Corn Ceremony

      We had one more memorial/museum to visit on this leg of the trip - the site of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. It was yet another moving experience as we "relived" that horrible morning when over 800 people were either killed or injured (including 19 children) in a senseless, home-grown terrorist attack. We were also uplifted by the tremendous outpouring of love and sense of togetherness that such a tragedy brings forth in a community and a country. Of course, we all saw the same thing in New York after 9-11 and in too many places where such atrocities have taken place. It's a real tribute to the strength and goodness of most people despite any differences. It's a shame that it takes a tragedy to bring people together.

Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial - chairs on right represent individual deaths

100 year old "survivor tree"

     So much for my museum musings! This has been an educational, traumatic, thought-provoking, and emotional few weeks of our journey.

Big Bend National Park

          Big Bend National Park, located in west Texas where the Rio Grande takes a 90 degree turn along the border between Mexico and the US,  is an intriguing place, with great scenery, excellent hiking trails, and many geological, biological, and archeological wonders. It was a terrific place to spend four days! What makes this park so interesting is that it comprises three geographic features, which come together in one large ecosystem – Chihuahuan desert, high (sky island) mountains, and rivers. All around you find evidence of erosion, volcanism, and tectonic plate movement, and because of this diversity of geography, Big Bend also has an incredibly diverse array of flora and fauna – representing the furthest north and south ranges of some animal and plant species. It is not that different than what we saw in Arizona and Utah and Death Valley, but it is compacted into a single park, which gives Big Bend its singular appeal.

 

                Before we could begin our exploration of the park, we had some house-keeping to take care of. Our bedroom slide wouldn’t open, so Lew had to climb up on the RV and cut off the “roller-thingy” on top of the slide that protects it from leaves, rain, etc. Now, whenever we have to pull in the slide, he needs to climb up and sweep debris off the top first! Oh, the joys of RVing…

 

That done and settled in, we took off for our first of four hikes in Big Bend National Park – Boquillas Canyon, not far from our campground at Rio Grande Village. It’s the longest (33 miles) and deepest (7000 ft at one point) canyon in the park, best seen from a boat, unfortunately. We took a short 1.4 mile hike to the entrance to the canyon and the water’s edge, but could only imagine what it looked like further down river.

 

The next day, as the weather warmed, we took to the mountains, hoping to hike the popular Lost Mine Trail. Unfortunately, it is so popular and there are so few parking spots, even at 9:45 am we were too late. Instead we thought we’d hike a 2 mile trail near the Chisos Basis Visitor Center. We then took a “short” detour on another interesting sounding trail (Laguna Meadows) that ended up being much longer and much harder than we had expected. By the time we got to the saddle, I was too tired to continue, so Lew went on, hoping to get to the south rim, while I waited an hour, and then headed back down the trail. I ended up hiking about 6.5 miles and Lew went nearly 13 before we were both down to the visitor center again. The scenery was fabulous, but I wasn’t prepared for how strenuous the hike turned out to be. We slept well that night!

 

Our next adventure was to one of the most popular spots in Big Bend, way on the other side - Santa Elena Canyon. Just driving there was amazing, along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, which skirts the western slopes of the Chisos Mountains. We saw  evidence of repetitive volcanic activity and erosion, making for very interesting landscapes. 

Santa Elena Canyon itself is a 1500 ft vertical chasm carved by the Rio Grande through pure limestone. Again, we took a short 1.7 mile hike down to the entrance to the canyon, but would have needed a raft to really appreciate the majesty of the canyon itself.

           On our last day at Big Bend we headed back up to the mountains to avoid the extreme heat along the river. This time we took the 5.5 mile Window Trail out of the Chisos Basin campground. Hiking through some surprisingly lush areas along Oak Creek, we arrived at a V shaped slickrock notch where Oak Creek falls over the cliff to the desert below. All the while we were surrounded by the soaring Chisos Mountains. It was a glorious morning.

                We left Big Bend half a day earlier than expected because we didn’t want to deal with the 95 degree temperatures that were predicted the next day. But we will continue to have fond memories of our time there.