We were taking this route for two reasons.
First, it allowed Cherie and I to add Kansas to the visited states list and to visit the Dwight Eisenhower Presidential Library.
Earlier in the trip, we had considered day trip drives to the Truman Library on one day and the Eisenhower on another but we decided to do the Eisenhower version on the way home as it was a little farther away than the Truman Library.
This would be a fortunate decision as the path to the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas turned out to be one filled with two-lane highways and lonesome towns and I'm sure that I would not have enjoyed that trip a second time to return to the hotel!
Roughly three hours later, we arrived in Abilene and the Eisenhower Library.
The Eisenhower Library isn't a one-building unit as in the Truman version, rather it's like a college campus with separate buildings holding the library, museum, boyhood home, a building holding Mr. and Mrs. Eisenhower's graves, and the gift shop.
The gift shop is the first building that you see and is the closest to the parking lot, so after taking a look around there, we walked across the campus to the museum where we were greeted warmly by someone inside welcoming us.
As I moved around the museum, I recalled that there had been a few renovations through the years and even though the renovations were fairly recent, it felt a little dated which was odd since the Truman Library is actually a few years older.
The exhibits weren't old, the facility just had a dated feel to it and I couldn't shake why it did.
After the tour, we took the above photo of the statue located in the middle of campus and walked towards the front area, considering a tour of the boyhood home but we didn't want to wait for the tour and moved to the building with the President and First Lady's tomb.
This was where things really felt dated and the building had the smell that you sometimes have when you move into buildings that are filled with old items.
I found the musty smell a bit overwhelming and left quickly for the gift shop, where I bought a magnet and a few items for others and escaped back to the road.
I wouldn't go as far as to say that I was disappointed with the Eisenhower Library, that would be a stretch but while I would consider visiting the Truman (and maybe the Hoover) Library again in a few years, I'm not sure that I would need to return to Abilene to visit again.
We moved toward Kansas City, with our only stop at a rest area McDonald's for a box of Chicken McNuggets that Cherie and I split, passing by Topeka, Lawrence, and Manhattan ( home to the University of Kansas and Kansas State).
Traffic was a bit tight in Kansas City for a while, which stymied our plans to stop and eat but we did drive by Kemper Arena (the home of the old Kings and Scouts), Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the Chiefs, and Kaufman Stadium, the home of the Royals.
From the interstate, we could look directly into Kaufman and peer into the field.
Kansas City is reportedly moving toward a new facility in either downtown Kansas City (Ugh) or another interstate-friendly park across the state line into Kansas, so if I ever make this trip again, I have Kaufman marked down as a priority!
After we crossed over Kansas City, we stopped at our third Brass Armadillo and I found a Kansas basketball program from 1986 and a few things to put back for Christmas.
which not only is strange, but it's incredibly creepy looking!
It was about five feet tall and at $295.00 was quite a steal (sarcasm included)
We decided to hold off on eating again to get as far as possible before it got dark in an attempt to leave Missouri for the night and we managed to do that as we finished our day in Greenville, Illinois at a Comfort Inn with a takeout from a nearby Domino's.
We took our time the next day, moving across Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, before stopping in St. Clairsville Ohio for the night.
I might have been able to make it home with a little under four hours to go but the sun was starting to go down and as I would have been getting tired, we would have reached the longest, darkest, and most desolate part of the trip, so we decided to stop for the night.
We walked around the mall that is on-site with the hotel, ate lunch at Quaker Steak & Lube, and finished our trip in the afternoon arriving home with a waiting Rachel and Posey.
It was the longest trip that I had ever taken in miles and the second longest amount of time away from my house in my life and I'd like to thank Cherie for putting up with me and having such a good time together, Ryan and his family for welcoming us and all of their logistical help, and to Rachel for staying home and taking care of our Posey.
So, three months after it's over, I've noted everything for posterity.
My grandson is now over three months old and something might come as a surprise to you.
It's hard enough being away from your family in these times when communication is easier and cheaper than it has ever been since the beginning of time.
You can pick up the phone and pay the same amount to call anywhere in North America and it costs the same as calling your next-door neighbor.
With the internet getting better and faster daily, visual communication is also easier and cheaper than in any time known to man.
And I can only imagine the difficulties in timely communication at any other time, so I feel somewhat fortunate.
Yet, it feels somewhat strange to me.
It doesn't feel real.
I love getting Archie's pictures and updates and Ryan has been excellent at keeping us informed and as involved as we can be.
But it still doesn't quite feel different and maybe it shouldn't, I'm not sure.
It'll be an interesting journey and we are barely out of the starting gate.
Now that the Omaha series is completed, I'll try to write a bit over the next month or so on my two baseball trips of length (Ohio and Tennessee) and maybe my day trip to Somerset New Jersey for the AA Patriots.
Hope you enjoyed reading this series.
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