More Random Thoughts & Shots

As I said a day or two ago, we're heading home. Except that things along the road seem to catch our eye (or more accurately it's usually MY eye), and we're off on an excursion because I never want to miss anything. Who knows what might turn out to be something really neat? Like that wildlife refuge we found back in Ohio where we saw the baby geese. I loved that. And so, here are some of the things we've seen over the last couple of days that have caused us to stop, look, and zig-zag.

Yesterday morning, as we were driving across Missouri, there was a sign for a covered bridge and we absolutely had to go check it out. I'm glad we did because we later found out there are only 4 covered bridges in the entire state of Missouri. And now we've seen 25% of them.

It took us awhile to figure out where the bridge was. We had to walk about 1/4 of a mile off the road on a very wet and muddy path to get to it . . .

But the bridge was great, and different from the ones we had seen in Indiana (which were also really neat and interesting, even if they did all look very similar to each other)




There used to be a creek running under the bridge - however, the creek has been re-routed so now the bridge sits over a field of prairie grass.

A nice lady happened along behind us, and snapped this photo for us . . .




She was another very interesting person. She lives alone in an RV full-time, and travels around the USA volunteering in various wildlife preserves. She will spend 3-4 months in a location, working at the preserve and then seeing whatever there is to see in that area on her days off. And then she moves on to another part of the country. I would guess she's about my age. I wouldn't be brave enough to do that all by myself, but I couldn't help but admire her - and maybe even envy her because what a great way to really learn about our country - not just a day here and a day there, but to really live in and experience each area.

Anyway, we learned more about why they covered the bridges back in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Not only was it to help protect and preserve the wood (as we had learned previously), but it was also because the covered bridges looked like barns and that helped to reassure the animals who were about to cross (no cars back in those days). The bridges also provided shelter in an emergency. And the covers added strength to the bridge and reduced sagging and creaking. Also, Gena, to answer your question about the "cross at a walk" warnings posted on the bridges in Indiana - that was for the riders crossing on horseback - they were to walk across and not gallop.

And check out the tolls for crossing . . .


I wonder how they handled all those 1/2 cents.

We got back on the highway again, but soon I made John pull over so I could get a good photo of the round bales of hay. These fascinate me because in California our hay bales are square. But everywhere else they seem to be round. However, we found out that the cows and horses don't really like the round bales, because they can't get a square meal. (I know . . . groan.)





And he had to pull over again so I could take this photo . . .



So many of the cemeteries in the mid-west are just along the side of the road (or right on the highway like this one), with no fences or anything around them. I'm used to seeing beautiful park-like, walled-in places like Forest Lawn or Rose Hills. But here, there are little "pocket cemeteries" everywhere. Sometimes right in the middle of a residential area. The one that really seemed super strange to me was right along Lake Erie in Ohio. The day we were driving a block off of Lake Erie passing what had to be million-dollar-plus houses that backed right up to the lake, right in the middle of the block was one of these cemeteries with a huge, gorgeous house on each side. Obviously, the cemetery was there first, but would you want to live next door? Just seems curious to me.

We took a little detour and headed North into Iowa a few miles to a town called Lamoni. John has a 1936 Ford firetruck that he plans to restore "someday". Anyway, it originally came from the town of Lamoni, Iowa, and since we were pretty close, he wanted to find out if anyone in the town might remember the firetruck being there, have photos of it, etc. So first we drove around until we found the firehouse, but it's all volunteer and no one was on duty. We then tried the City Hall. The clerk there made a phone call and in a few minutes the prior fire chief of the town showed up (this is a very small town - think Mayberry - and everyone knows everyone). He and John had a great time swapping fire stories, but no photos were readily available. The chief made a couple phone calls with no results, but promised to check around and see what he can come up with. We left him our address/phone/email and we'll see what happens. Can you even imagine getting such an immediate response in L.A.? Something has to be said for small towns! There are about 500 or so Amish people who live and work in and around Lamoni. There is an Amish store there, and they also have a big lumber yard - the fire chief told us they make railroad ties.

We drove the few miles back into Missouri and headed West again. It wasn't long before we ran into a major rain storm - complete with an amazing lightning show dancing all across the sky before us. Couldn't get a shot of the lighting, but this is the view through the windshield - with the wipers on full force. John did a great job of dodging all those cats and dogs . . .



We got as far as St. Joseph and called it quits for the night.

This morning we crossed over the Missouri River (St. Joe sits right on the river) and into Kansas. We were on Route 36 which is in the northern part of the state, and coincides with what was once the Pony Express route. We got as far as Marysville and decided to stop for lunch. When we were at The Henry Ford Museum, we had seen an old streetcar like diner from the 1940's . . .



In Marysville, we found this diner and absolutely had to eat there . . .




Inside it was very similar to the one at The Henry Ford, except it didn't have the juke boxes on the tables . . .



And the food was delicious! Fun!

Marysville was an important location back in the days of the Pony Express. The 1849 gold rush brought lots of people to California. When California became a state in 1850, it was the only state west of the Missouri River, with nothing in between except Indian territory, and the people felt cut off from the rest of the country. At that time, with no railroad yet, mail delivery could take from a month to 6 weeks. The citizens of California demanded a more rapid mail delivery, and three men in the Marysville, KS, area came up with the Pony Express, a way to get the mail from St. Joseph, MO to Sacramento, CA, a distance of 1966 miles, in only 10 days.

They purchased 500 horses and advertised for riders. The riders had to be small and wiry, and UNDER the age of 18! They built relay stations at 10-12 mile intervals where the riders would change horses. The riders had 2 minutes to move the mail bag from one horse to another and take off again. Every 60 to 70 miles were "home stations" where one rider would stop and the next rider would take over. The first rider would then stay at the home station, resting and waiting for about 8 to 9 days until a rider going the opposite direction arrived and changed places with him. Marysville, which is about 60 miles west of St. Joseph, was the location of the first home station, and the only one that is still standing.

A block or two away is this statue dedicated to the Pony Express Riders . . .

The Pony Express only existed from 1860-1861, until the telegraph wires were completed. During the 18 months of it's existence, and due to problems with the Indians who didn't like the riders crossing their territory, several of the relay stations were burned down, about 125 horses were lost and about 16 riders were killed.

Marysville was also a big hub in the western movement of the pioneers. There is a big river that runs through this area, the Big Blue River. The only way across the river back then was by ferry. About 8 of the westward trails, including the California Trail, the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, the Pony Express Trail and the Overland Stage Trail, all connected here. At times there would be hundreds of wagons and thousands of pioneers waiting for their turn to cross the river.

These monuments mark the spots where the various trails came together . . .

And this is what the ferry looked like. A rope crossed the river above the ferry which rode a pulley back and forth. By turning the wheel, another rope would shift the ferry into or away from the swift river current pushing the ferry across the river.

And this is the Big Blue River. It has been diverted away from it's original path and now runs under the highway.

See how much you can learn just by stopping to eat! We had no idea about any of this until we saw some signs along the highway!

Back on the road again, we continued driving along Route 36 which runs just below the northern edge of Kansas. In this area, there are gently rolling hills and a great patchwork quilt of farm lands. If you've ever flown across the country, you have no doubt seen this from the air. Seeing it at ground level is almost as amazing. You see the deep green of the corn, the gold of the wheat, the brown of the unplanted fields, and the soft green of the hay . . .

After awhile, we turned south until we were more in the center of the state, and then headed west again. The fields of wheat are more mature here and . . . . finally . . .

The Amber Waves of Grain!!!!!

Now I can check that off the Bucket List!!!