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       We started making plans for this lifestyle 3 years ago.  We looked at all the options for travel- including trikes, hotels and a RV. ...

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Travel from Rapid City SD to San Antonio, TX

Travel from Rapid City, SD to San Antonio, TX 

We left Rapid City, SD to make a direct run to San Antonio, TX.  Direct for us is driving every other day (we never travel two days in a row) and never over 300 miles in a day. Driving 300 miles in a car versus a 45 foot RV towing a car are vastly different experiences.  We still had plans to do some sight seeing despite our limited time. We have learned to balance our time exploring while still having some down time. We were exhausting ourselves being in a perpetual state of go, go, go. Normal life has some balance and time at "home" compared to cramming all you can into a week's vacation. Our home just happens to be on wheels. This is more than just an extended vacation for us and the need for normalcy is real. I think I enjoy the role of playing tourist more now since we don't spend all day, every day on the go. Some days we have projects that keep us busy all day and other days...well... sometimes it is nice to just be lazy. An afternoon nap is very underrated. We have this new couch with recliners that make a perfect place to nap. We might have retired years ago had we realized the value and joy of an afternoon nap. Rainy (or snowy) days are perfect days to nap.

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After leaving Rapid City, we drove to Brule, NE.  We managed to do some hiking around a local lake to get outside and enjoy this gorgeous day.  We typically eat out on travel days, so we stopped for dinner then headed back to the campground. We took the rest of the day off because the next leg of our journey actually exceeded our preferred limit of miles to travel in one day, plus we added an unplanned stop.

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On our way to Minooka State Park in Sylvan Grove, KS, we stopped in Hays, KS to see our second Gratitude Train Box car. A month ago we had never heard of these, but now we are making an effort to seek out these along our journey. Mark has each one's location denoted in our atlas.

    

Karma was patiently waiting in the heat for mom to assume the photo op position. He knew what he was supposed to do, but where is that woman.... He was ready to get back in the AC, out of this hot sun and get a treat for being a good boy. "dad.... make her hurry up.... its hot...." He is not especially fond of these insanely hot days, he much prefers cooler/cold days. After we got our customary picture, he headed back to the RV. He was obviously ready to go and get out of this sauna. He frequently tells us what he wants/expects. When his water bowl is empty, he drops a ball into the bowl.  We are learning to read his "tells" as much as he is learning ours.   







 As we travelled through Kansas, we spotted this type of fence posts repeatedly. The fencepost is limestone, squared similar to a 6x6, and resistant to weather and rot. It is from a recognizable bed of stone that forms abundantly in the middle range of bluffs in the Smoky Hills region of Kansas.  This plentiful rock is often incorporated as a building material in both farms and cities locally.

The fencepost limestone is unique for its contribution to the cultural landscape of Kansas. There are many miles of farms where the limestone is used for stone fence posts which border and outline the farming community.  The drier climate coupled with the grazing habits of buffalo and the prairie burning practices of the Plains Indians meant that the first European settlers to the region did not have enough local timber for both construction and fencing. However, a suitable, easy to quarry stone was widely available. No other "area of the world has used a single rock formation so extensively for fencing.”

The source of this tough, chalky limestone is the widespread and persistent topmost bed of the Greenhorn Limestone.

Reporting on the "Fence-Post Horizon" in 1897, W. N. Logan noted some fifty thousand stone posts in Mitchell and Lincoln counties alone. Since then, the informal name "Fencepost limestone bed" has become widely accepted throughout the area. The greatest use of the Fencepost limestone, for fencing and building, was from 1884 to 1920.

Effective July 2018, Kansas Legislation HB 2650 designated Greenhorn Limestone formation to be the state rock of Kansas. We were not aware state rocks were even a thing. We learn at least one tidbit of trivia every day during our journey.


Sunrises like this are our gift for waking up early enough to appreciate them. Lisa rarely sees this gift. The "waking up early enough" part is typically the part she struggles with, but she agrees this one is splendid and worth the cost. There is something about a sunrise that instills a bit a hope and promise of things to come. When you seek joy, it is amazing how much joy can come from something as simple and common as a sunrise.


The sunset could not compare to the vibrant sunrise we were blessed with this morning.  We love camping on these Corp of Engineer (COE) parks because most of them are on water like this, the sites are typically huge and sheltered by shade trees. The price is always another plus for COE parks. Our "America the Beautiful" senior pass lets us stay half price. We have paid less than $20 for every night we have stayed on COE land. We would stay in COE parks every day if we could.
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Presidential libraries are another thing we have added to our must do list as we travel. Prior to the start of our lives as nomads, neither of us had ever really thought much about the presidential museums and libraries, much less visited one. Experiencing these things together when they are a first for both of us has been a real bonding experience. There is no competition from past memories when it is a new experience for both. 
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home honors the 34th president of the United States (1953–1961), located in his hometown of Abilene, Kansas. The museum includes Eisenhower's boyhood home, where he lived from 1898 until being appointed to West Point in 1911, and is also the president's final resting place. It is one of the thirteen presidential libraries under the auspices of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

The Eisenhower Presidential complex is only one of two (G. W. Bush is the second} whose creation preceded the close of a presidency, and while this is obviously the case with his boyhood home, construction of the library itself began in 1958, and the museum portion before he even took office, coinciding with the then-General's announcement of his presidential candidacy in June 1952.

As World War II came to an end, local admirers of the Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe, such as Charles L. Brainard, decided to honor Eisenhower with a museum. In 1945, a non-profit foundation in his name was created to purchase his boyhood home and build the museum on the same property. It was to house artifacts from veterans, and the honors of Eisenhower in particular. At the time, the General's mother Ida was still alive and refused to sell the property. When she died in 1946, another purchase attempt was made. However, the fund-raising tactics of the foundation offended Eisenhower, and this almost scuttled the project. New fundraising rules were established for the Foundation after its discussion with Ike's youngest brother Milton, and agreement by all the Eisenhower brothers. They ultimately donated the house to the Foundation, and the entire site, in south Abilene, later became the Eisenhower Presidential Center. 


The President's Prayer was written by Ike the day before his first inaugural address.




Ike and Mamie were entombed inside the visitor center at his Presidential Library.


The Eisenhower childhood home has been maintained and remains part of the tour. The artifacts were all previously part of the Eisenhower estate.








This letter of recommendation for Dwight's USMA appointment was written by G.C. Sterl and is display.





Mamie's parent's, the Douds, were considered wealthy at the time.






Marks father was at the Maneuvers as a Private with the 32nd Division, also known as the Red Arrow Division.  The 32nd was made up of enlistee's from Michigan and Wisconsin.  The 32nd ended up serving in the Pacific theater under General MacArthur. The Red Arrow Division went on to fight in 4 Campaigns, involving 654 days of combat, which is more than any other American Division in WWII.














Eisenhower was very afraid that as time went on, people would stop acknowledging the Holocaust.  When we were young, it seemed a very foolish idea that it would ever be denied. Now in 2023, we are starting to see our political leaders push to deny it happened.  It is hard to believe that we are getting to the point that we want to deny history instead of learning FROM history.




This is a list of awards Eisenhower received from foreign countries for his leadership.



By the Republican convention of 1952, Ike had decided to run for President.  He won the nomination for President at the Convention in Chicago.


Lisa travels with more shoes and purses that that!!!!!!!!!!!


These murals adorned the walls at the entrance to the presidential museum.


Lisa was standing with Ike for her second picture with him. She previously stood with him at Gettysburg. 











The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum was interesting and very educational.  We are finding the information we learn as we visit these Libraries to be very amazing- especially in cases when it involves a President that was in office before we were born.

Cedar Valley RV Park  Guthrie, OK 



The World War II Memorial honors those who gave all from Texas.  We try to stop and show our respect whenever we stumble across veteran memorials and museums. We seek out veteran owned businesses to support whenever possible. The media has increased recognition for various charities that support our military vets. This has brought more awareness to the needs of our vets for sacrifices they made during their service to the country. The majority of our charitable contributions are given to various veteran charities.

Bear Creek Benbrook, TX


We got our book (yes, we have a special book for this) stamped for visiting the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. These have proven to be much more interesting than we expected.


Lisa was meeting George W. Bush. Most of the statues are life sized, but this one obviously is not.


Lisa was standing with George H. and George W. Bush.  They were the first Father-Son presidents since the Adams.




The National Park Passport book (we have not one, but TWO of these!) kept by George W. Bush. They have a special bag in our car so we won't forget them when we visit. You get special "stamps" at each national park. We recently purchased the bigger and expanded version of the passport because we had already filled up most of the allotted spots in the one we got last year.



An original copy of the Magna Carta from 1305, the Magna Carta itself was written in 1215.  The Magna Carta is the basis of the Declaration of Independence- two of the greatest documents ever written by man with no Divine Intervention.










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