We're Off to See the Wizard

Mom baked muffins to send us on our way this morning – blueberry for us, chocolate chip for the kids. Oh yeah! And we got to take the leftovers with us on the road! Dad had a tee time in Pekin, so he escorted us out of town on his way to the golf course.

We basically spent the morning just driving… I-155 south to Lincoln, I-55 to Springfield (we have already been to Lincoln Home NHS more than once, so we didn’t stop again), then I-72 to Hannibal, MO. The water levels on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers are still pretty high. (When we came back to IL for our visit last July, we came to see Hannibal and all of the Mark Twain sites with my parents – M especially liked it since he had just finished reading “Tom Sawyer”.) Once in Missouri, I-72 ends and turns into US-36, which we took west across the state to I-35. We ate sandwiches in the car for lunch as we drove towards Independence, MO, just outside of Kansas City.

Why stop in Independence, MO? For the Harry S Truman National Historic Site, of course! Mrs. Truman willed their family home to the people of the United States upon her death, so the NPS administers the site. We were able to take a tour of the home, kept just as the Trumans left it, down to President Truman’s signature hat and walking stick hanging in the entry.

Did you know that the “S” in the president’s middle name doesn’t stand for anything? M remembered that little piece of trivia from one of the biographies I bribed checked out for him to read. And the ranger confirmed it, pointing out that the NPS doesn’t use a period after the S for that very reason. Glad to know something actually came out of that educational exercise!

Yes, there are passport stamps here!

The other reason to visit Independence is for the significant role it played in the great westward migration during the 1800s. Because of its location along the Missouri River, after the Lewis and Clark expedition it served as a major “jumping off” point for the Santa Fe, Oregon, California, and Mormon Pioneer Trails. We stopped by the National Frontier Trails Museum to check it out.

Loading up the wagon is kind of like loading up the minivan!

From Independence, we continued on past Kansas City to Topeka, KS, where my aunt and uncle live. They graciously opened their home to us for the night. They took us out to dinner at Bobo’s Drive-In, which was featured on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives”. They come here often enough that the waitress knew exactly what my uncle likes to order!

The boys decided to get corn dogs, R and my aunt had steakburgers, while my uncle and I enjoyed pork tenderloin sandwiches with hand-battered onion rings. Yum-my!

And after we finished dinner, we hit Baskin-Robbins because J has been dying to try the new Captain America ice cream flavor…

There's always room for ice cream!