Following our April 2010 return from our
Big Bend trip, Joe and Karen visited us from Denver. We explored the nearby Rock Bridge State Park. The next day, we drove to Rocheport, walked
the Katy Trail (the country's longest recreational rail trail) and had lunch. In May I sold three of the five individual
stocks I still had in my Vanguard account.
I had held on to these stocks because they had sentimental value for me
related to my parents. However, when I
was investing for retirement, I knew I should make decisions objectively, not
subjectively. The greater length of time
from my parents’ deaths and more exposure to investing with Vanguard Mutual
Funds enabled me to move more confidently in that direction.
Me and Karen at Rock Bridge State Park
Big Muddy Missouri River as seen from the Katy
Trail near Rocheport
In mid-May we left on our first bite-sized
trip of the summer, a four-night journey in Missouri. We started by hiking up a
trail to the Clark’s Hill/Norton State Historic Site near Jefferson City overlooking
the Missouri River. There we treaded on
paths previously traversed by the Osage Indians and Captain William Clark of
Lewis and Clark fame. Our next stop was
supposed to be the Clifty Creek Conservation Area near Dixon where we could
view a natural bridge from a scenic hiking trail. However, there was so much mud and water
covering the dips in the trail that we passed up this hike. Our one reward was spotting a wild pheasant
pair along the side of the road. Our day
ended at St. Robert which is known for its location close to the Army base at
Ft. Leonard Wood.
It was raining the next morning as we
started our drive, but we were still able to view the amazing diversity of
Missouri. I saw forests, farmland,
meadows and valley pastures where cows and horses grazed. We passed wooded areas where the pine trees were
dying. They were being harvested as shown
by the trucks transporting the logs. Eventually,
we saw evidence of mining as we passed Doe Run Mining Company properties. I was glad we were not on the interstate so we
could slow down and see what was happening in our state.
Our first stop was Johnson’s Shut-Ins State
Park. The signature feature of the park
is the shut-ins with their spectacular chutes and waterfalls confined within
the canyonlike gorges of the East Fork of the Black River. The State Park had closed in 2005 after the
Taum Sauk reservoir failure led to a flood in the Black River. We were there a week before the official
reopening, but were still able to walk trails to scenic viewpoints.
Water flowing through a chute
Our next stop was at the Taum Sauk
reservoir whose purpose is to generate electricity. Generators are turned by water flowing from a
reservoir on top of Proffit Mountain into a lower reservoir on the East Fork of
the Black River. The generators and turbines at the lower river level are
reversed at night, and the excess electricity available on the power grid is
used to pump water back up to the mountaintop.
Our final stop of the day was Elephant
Rocks State Park. We walked on the
Braille Trail which we thought was an excellent feature. The paved path made it fully handicapped-accessible.
The elephant rocks, which were formed
from 1.5-billion-year-old granite, are giant boulders that stand end-to-end
like a train of circus elephants. The
granite from this site was used in many buildings in St. Louis and the MO State
Governor’s house. At the end of our
second day, we checked into our motel for the next three nights in Fenton, MO which
was near the Mississippi River.
Diane at Elephant Rocks State Park
We spent an entire day in Ste. Genevieve. The
town was settled around 1732 by French Canadians who shared their rich land
along the Mississippi River. We toured
the historic homes, three of which were owned by the State of Missouri. The architecture was interesting. The walls
were formed from hewn logs set upright into an earthen trench with rocks and
mud in-between. There are only five houses known to still exist in the U.S.
that use this type of architecture, three being in Ste. Genevieve.
Ste. Genevieve wall construction
On our last day, we visited the Mastodon State Historic Site. In the 1970s the Kimmswick Bone Bed
(containing the fossils on display in the museum) was saved after the original
path of I-55 was altered. A volunteer
gave us a personalized tour of the museum. He showed us mastodon teeth, explaining their
diet and differences from mammoths. Archeologists
found Clovis culture spear points on this site in direct association with
mastodon bones, documenting the presence of Native Americans much earlier than
previously believed.
Missouri Mastodon with Mammoth Bear in the
background
We planned to go on a hike before lunch and
choose The Limestone Trail, a two-mile loop trail on the Mastodon site which
was marked with green blazes. We started
the trail, crossed the road and found two green blazes, one pointing left and
one pointing right. There was no map so we wondered which way we should go. We decided to go right, and the trail took us
along the face of a limestone bluff. The
trail itself quickly achieved the designation as a double-R trail: roots and
rocks. For the second time on this trip,
I felt I could be walking on paths previously walked by Indians. The trail entered
a ravine, going up a hill and looping back toward the direction from which we
came. We again saw two green blazes, one pointing right and the other left. We
went to the right again but soon started questioning our decision. There were several trees down across the trail
that we had to walk over. We started seeing tire tracks and thought we had
intercepted a service trail. We then entered ATV (All-Terrain Vehicle) hell.
The trail became a triple-R trail: roots, rocks, AND ruts. We walked uphill and
downhill, to the right and to the left, not seeing a way out.
Diane became very concerned about being
lost, and she was right, we were lost. We
finally went up a steep hill, down a gravel road and entered a modern
subdivision at the end of a suburban cul-de sac. Diane relaxed somewhat, knowing that at least
we were back in civilization. She even said we could just call a cab to take us
back to our car (even though we didn’t know how to describe where we were and
didn’t carry a phone). We started walking downhill which appeared to be a way out
of the subdivision.
Lo and behold, we saw a U.S. postal service
vehicle. The nice carrier informed us we were very far from where we wanted to
be and told us how to get out of the subdivision. She went on her way behind
us, and we kept walking. The carrier
caught up with us and asked if we would like a ride after she had finished her
deliveries in the subdivision. Of
course, we agreed (we must have looked pathetic because this was against
regulations). Wow, what a relief. We walked on while she delivered the rest of
her mail. When she caught up to us, we climbed
into the back of her truck and she drove us to our car.
We drove back to the museum and told the staff
about the confusion over the two markers that led us astray and about seeing
marks of ATVs in the park. The state does not allow ATVs on its trails. On the
way back to our car we noticed a camp adjacent to the state property. We must have wandered onto the grounds of
this private recreational facility. We
really slept well that night before driving home.
After two weeks at home, we left on our
next bite-sized trip. Heading toward
Springfield, Illinois we drove through the flat farming country north and east
of Columbia that was formed long ago by the glaciers that halted their progress
south half-way through the state. As we neared
the Mississippi River, the land started to roll and gain trees. We went through the lovely old river towns of
Louisiana on the Missouri side and Atlas on the Illinois side. Compared to the utilitarian appearance of so
many courthouses, we were astonished by the beauty of the Pike County courthouse
in Pittsfield, Illinois.
Pike County Courthouse
Our drive ended at a motel in Springfield,
Illinois which would be our base of operations for the next three nights. Our first day started with a 9:30 am tour of
the Illinois State Capitol (known to locals as the New State Capitol), built in
the 1870s. Much of the materials came
from Europe and the design was quite formal with a beautiful dome. We next visited the Illinois State Museum
which featured the changes in Illinois from the viewpoint of different
scientific disciplines. The exhibits used
methods that appealed to all ages. For
example, some exhibits were displayed at three different heights, starting at a
height of only two feet.
Dome of the Illinois State Capitol
After lunch we visited the Old State
Capitol in which Abraham Lincoln served and laid in state after his death. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum was
next. It was the only place we visited
that was quite busy. The level of
presentation assumed no knowledge of history, so most people (other than the
teenagers) probably related well. To us,
it seemed like a movie studio tour. In
fact at one of the movies being shown, there were loud sounds, bright lights,
and shaking benches: not our cup of tea.
We crossed the street to Union Station and the Union Square Park where we
joined the Pied Piper Downtown Architectural Walking Tour. We then left to drive to Washington Park for
the 7:00 pm Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon concert. I remembered with affection the sound of the carillon
at the University of Kansas.
Carillon in Washington Park
On our second day in Springfield our first
stop was the Illinois Executive Mansion for a tour that lasted about an
hour. Like Missouri, the governor
sometimes lives there full-time, part-time, or not at all. Next door we had our 2nd tour of the day,
this time of the Vachel Lindsay home. Lindsay,
known as the Prairie Troubadour, born in 1879, was not just a poet, but an
artist as well.
Me sitting in front of the Illinois Executive
Mansion
Our 3rd tour (less than ½ hour) was at the
Lincoln Home National Historic Site where he lived for 17 years when he
practiced law in Springfield. It was a
far cry from the log cabin in which he was born. It reflected that he was a poor boy who made
good, the classic Horatio Alger myth. We
had time for a 4th tour at the Dana-Thomas House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
in 1902 for Susan Lawrence Dana, a forward-thinking socialite living in
Springfield, Illinois. We saw many, many
features that reminded us of our Lake Ozark home (designed by a student of Wright). Our
final stop of the day was at Lincoln’s tomb in the Oakridge Cemetery.
Diane in front of Lincoln residence
Dana-Thomas home
Lincoln’s tomb
After breakfast, we headed for Hannibal,
Missouri and toured the Mark Twain Boyhood Museum and Home which we found to be
very superficial. Then we drove back
across the Mississippi to Quincy, IL to spend the night. We toured Villa Kathrine, a unique example of
Mediterranean and Moroccan architecture in the Midwest. The Islamic-style residence was located on a
bluff with a breath-taking view of the Mississippi River. We looked forward to returning home the next
day after our last stop at the Mark Twain Birthplace (1835) State Historic Site
in Florida, Missouri.
Villa Kathrine
The day of our next mini-trip started with
a breakfast meeting in Columbia where we were told about the latest advances in
stem cell research. It was sponsored by
the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures.
President Obama had signed an executive order allowing federal funding
for the use of stem cells, but that was about to be overturned by a
conservative Supreme Court. The principal
speaker was our next-door neighbor, Rob Duncan, Vice Chancellor for Research at
the University of Missouri. It was
interesting to hear a physicist explaining biological research.
We then drove to Topeka, where we first
visited the Brown vs. Board of Education National Historic Site in an old,
previously “colored-only” elementary school.
When we went in for our tour of the
Kansas State Capitol, we found it in the midst of renovation work inside and
out, so we couldn’t take the dome tour.
In the west wing, the murals were not of Thomas Hart Benton
quality. We rode the vintage Otis
elevator cage up to the next floor. On
the walls outside the elevator exit was the famous mural of John Brown by John Stuart
Curry.
Otis elevator
John Brown mural
Next, we drove to the Kansas Museum of
History. Some of the more interesting displays
showed how the various Indian tribes came and went, as the government made and
broke treaties. The civil war and slavery
issues were described in a balanced fashion, telling of the raids by both Missourians
into Kansas and Kansans into Missouri.
The rivalry continues.
Amazing sculpture of Indian on horse
attacking the buffalo
Display about Indian tribe which had lived
near my hometown
The next morning, we drove to Abilene,
passing by Chapman, where I lived while getting my Ph.D. at Kansas State
University. During that time, I never visited
the attractions in Abilene. First on our
list for this visit was the Eisenhower Presidential Museum. While most of the exhibits were about World
War II, what we enjoyed the most was the story of how Ike rose to become the
Allied Supreme Commander in the European Front and then to the Presidency of the
USA. He grew up poor on the “wrong” side
of the tracks, and graduated from West Point toward the bottom of his
class. He had a chance to go to the War
College in Leavenworth and fulfilled his mentor’s prophecy “You will graduate
first in your class.” He did this in his
class of over 200 students. He was truly a “late bloomer.” The Presidential
Library was really a research facility.
The most art work we saw was in a special exhibit containing several
murals about the Holocaust which were created by students in Topeka.
Picture indicating Eisenhower as Supreme
Commander
Holocaust mural
We had lunch at the Kirby House, a beautiful
Victorian home in Abilene and then toured the Seelye Mansion built in the
Georgian style. The Seelyes visited the 1904
St. Louis World’s Fair, and after seeing Thomas Edison’s electric lighting,
they had their new home wired with the outdoor 220 amp wires buried. There was an amazing variety of antiques, including
a lot of leaded crystal and Tiffany glass.
After spending the night in Salina, we
drove to Lawrence (where I spent four years at the University of Kansas). Our first objective was the Natural History
Museum in Dyche Hall. We saw the assembled skeleton of a Mosasaur, the largest
known lizard ever to have lived, AND it was discovered in Kansas! We particularly enjoyed the Explore Evolution
exhibit that featured the work of scientists who were making leading
discoveries about the evolution of life using common patterns and principles in
the evolution of all organisms as the central theme. There were also displays that gave
misconceptions about evolution and provided “SMACK DOWNS” that restated the
issue in a logical fashion.
Dyche Hall with Mosasaur
Me with KU Jayhawk
After lunch, we returned to campus for a
visit to the Spencer Art Museum. If I
say that we enjoyed the special exhibit of quilts the most, you can tell that
we didn’t find the Museum all that interesting.
We then drove on to Olathe to spend the night.
The next morning, it was a short drive to
the campus of Johnson County Community College (JCCC). Before this campus even existed, I began
teaching evening classes which were held in a rented building. Later, I became a full-time Data Processing
Instructor and taught there for 3 years.
It was an amazing campus for a community college. JCCC is the third largest institution of
higher education in Kansas and is one of the region’s major venues for the
visual and performing arts. The Nerman
Museum of Contemporary Art which opened in 2007 is the largest contemporary art
museum in the area. We enjoyed the
special exhibit by Nari Ward and found his work very evocative, particularly
concerning military and racial issues.
After lunch we proceeded to the Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio State
Historic Site in the residential Roanoke subdivision of Kansas City, MO.
Thomas Hart Benton Home
Reading
about a restaurant in a small town of Missouri in the NY Times doesn’t happen
every day, so for our last night before returning home, we made dinner
reservations at the Justus Drugstore in Smithville, MO. I could write paragraphs about the food and
drink we were served. We actually had a visit with Chef Justus at
our table. Extrovert Diane saw him
speaking to locals at the bar, went over to him, introduced herself and
complimented his food and staff.
Shameless name-dropper that she was, she mentioned the name of the
culinary arts instructor at the Columbia Area Career Center, Brook Harlan. The next thing we knew Chef Justus joined us
at our table and began talking about his chef friends in Columbia and the
recent wins by Brook Harlan’s Rock Bridge female students in a national cooking
contest: 1st place overall and 2nd place in commercial baking. Chef Justus said that Brook had invited him
to speak to his new class in September.
It was a wonderful 2 ½ hour experience for under $200. After we had so much excellent fare to eat
and drink, we were happy that we had booked a motel near the Kansas City
International Airport that was only a short drive away.
The summer was coming to a busy end. In July, we purchased tickets for a Farmer’s
Market Dinner that was being held in a building that had recently been
renovated and was among the first in Columbia to have a green roof of grass. We attended the Mizzou International
Composers Festival (MICF) sponsored by the Sinquefields, primarily the wife who
was a bass player. This was the first
time it was being held, but thereafter it would be an annual July event. The music was performed by the musical group “Alarm
Will Sound.” On the last evening we
heard “Eight World Premieres of New Music.”
In August, I prepared letters for myself and my neighbors on either side
to read at a City Council meeting about a sewer line that the city was
proposing to run from a subdivision near us and then connect to our sewer
line. We had received no detailed
information about this and wanted to know more.
In August and November, Diane and I again
worked the primary and general elections.
That year, I was promoted to be the head Democratic judge. I loved being able to assign people the
duties I felt best suited them. There
were long checklists for setting up and taking down the equipment that I monitored
closely. We had to tally the number of
ballots taken and the number of votes cast on both the paper ballots and the
electronic touch screen machine. My math
background was quite useful.
During the school year, I continued meeting
with the Student Performance Committee but I was not enjoying it. My group was looking at the objectives for
different aspects of math learning at each grade level. These objectives are proscribed by the State
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Were we going to make different objectives
than they had already defined, or just provide more detail? As the students progressed from
grade-to-grade, the objectives advanced in complexity. We were supposed to specify the percentage of
students that were expected to meet each objective. Reality informed most of us that it was
unreasonable to expect all of the students to meet them. The student might have just transferred to
the school, have English language issues, or had a bad test day. The school board member on my committee would
not budge from saying 100% of the students should be expected to meet all of
the objectives. I felt like this was
just going to make the schools look bad since it was unachievable. After a few years of working with the
district administrators and school board members, I was getting the picture
that having citizens on these committees was just window dressing and that the
administrators would actually be the ones to make all the final decisions. I would finish this commitment, but I was
through.
Early in September, Diane and I left for
Princeton for a “Celebration of Life” for my brother-in-law Vince’s 80th
birthday. His family and friends from
all parts of the country were there to celebrate. He gave an amazing after-dinner speech which
detailed aspects of his life and how the people in attendance were
involved. It was a great surprise that
he died in his sleep that night. He had
not been sick, but must have thrown up in his sleep and choked to death. Diane and I found out when my sister called
us at our motel as we were packing up and getting ready to go back home. We rapidly changed our plans and stayed with
Earlene for several more days to help her through this difficult time. I was so glad we were there to help Earlene
deal with his death.
Vince with Diane and me before birthday
party
In late September, Diane had our last and
greatest fund-raiser for Robin Carnahan who was running against Roy Blunt for
the U.S. Senate. It was very
stressful. Diane was having trouble getting
the food ready on time. I was setting up
the furniture and tending to everything else.
Craig and Mary F. volunteered to step in and help as they saw the
need. We had good weather and a large turnout. Our house’s open floor plan was just perfect
for this event. Robin worked the crowd
well. Using the marble sitting ledge on
either side of the fireplace as their stage, Diane introduced Roger Wilson, our
popular local-boy-made-good and former Governor who gave a very moving speech
introducing Robin. She then delivered
her stump speech urging everyone to take someone to the polls with them.
In November, we went to Kansas City for
Robin’s watch party and saw her face grow more and more grim as the election results
came in. She only garnered 40.6% of the
vote, that is, she was buried. She
didn’t even carry Boone County where we lived.
Republicans won the State Auditor and six of nine US Representative
seats. It was a bad year for Democrats
in Missouri.