The Highlights of My Dream Vacation

I wanted my final post to be a listing of the most memorable moments of my cross-country trip.
Here are the moments which truly left me with my heart in my throat...

12.  PRAIRIE DOG TOWN.  It's always great to see something you've never seen before, but what made this really special is that I was able to call my niece while I was watching the prairie dogs to tell her what I was seeing.

11.  TWO SUMMITS and OTHER SNOW CAPPED PEAKS.  I don't like driving in the mountains, but their beauty is enchanting.  I will always remember driving white-knuckled to the top of the two highest points in my trip at Sherman's Summit in Wyoming and at Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevadas.  At other times, just the sight of distant snow capped mountains (in JUNE!) was amazing!

10.  PRAYER at the ORAL ROBERTS UNIVERSITY TOWER.  This beautiful place is perfect for talking to God.

9.  TEMPLE SQUARE in SALT LAKE CITY.  This is such a clean, pretty city.  No matter what you believe about the Mormon faith, it is astounding what they have built in the place they consider their "Zion" on Earth.

8.  SEEING NEW YORK CITY FOR THE FIRST TIME.  I remember driving into Liberty State Park in New Jersey and taking my first looks at the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty.  The view through the "Empty Sky" 9/11 Memorial at the new Freedom Tower was also unforgettable.

7.  RIDING A SAN FRANCISCO CABLE CAR.  What an experience!

6.  FATHER FLANIGAN'S BOYS TOWN.  Driving and walking through this beautifully kept town with its history and purpose reminded me of all that is good in America.

5.  ALL THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY SITES.  To follow the Lincoln Highway (as best I could) was the most memorable vacation I have ever had.  Just being a part of the LH is so important to many communities; so much so that it truly becomes a drive down "Main Street USA."

4.  GETTYSBURG.  I was so thrilled to visit the sites of Pickett's Charge and the battle at Little Round Top.  I had heard so much about the Battle of Gettysburg, and it made me feel closer to history to see the places where the tide of the war turned toward its ultimate outcome.

3.  FLIGHT 93 and OKLAHOMA CITY MEMORIALS.  I was choked up beyond words at both places.  The senseless deaths of innocent people make one value his own life more; it also reminds us about the forces in this world who would destroy what our ancestors worked and died for in America.

2.  PRESIDENTIAL GRAVESITES.  If you count Jefferson Davis, I stood by the graves of ten Presidents on this trip.  By far, the most touching for me were Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln.  My personal admiration for Reagan made visiting his grave, with its breathtaking view of the California hills, a special solemn moment.  After all of the tributes I had seen to Lincoln during this trip, to finally stand at the place where his earthly remains rested and to sense the nation's awe and appreciation of this man was a special moment as well.

1.  THE GRAND CANYON AND PAINTED DESERT.  To examine God's handiwork in Arizona, one just has to step back and say, "Oh My!!!"  These places are among the most beautiful things I have ever seen, and the amazement they inspire is a wonderful reminder of the goodness and constancy of our God.  My greatest regret about the trip is that I did not visit Yosemite, where I'm sure more such wonders await.  But there will be other vacations...

Thanks to all who followed this blog.  I especially want to thank my family members and friends who sent me messages along the way.  Also, I met several new friends through connections with the Lincoln Highway Association who spoke to me along the way and followed my travels.  Thank you, one and all!!!

My Top 12 Pics from the Trip

It's taken me a couple of days to get my pictures organized.  If it weren't for the modern technology of cell phone cameras, Google, etc., I probably would have given up.  But, here are what I consider the most memorable of some 2500 pictures I took along the way...




12. Footprints on the shore of the Great Salt Lake.  This was a somewhat unpleasant memory, as this salty sand was sticky and gooey and smelled bad because of dead birds nearby.  But the pic gives you an idea of how far the water has receded over the years.







11. The Cross at the Crossroads.  I thought the contrast of this HUGE cross and Interstate 55 behind it near Effingham, Illinois, was remarkable.  And to think, people did this with money out of their own pockets as a ministry!









10. Prairie Dog.  I made a special trip to see these creatures in their natural environment.  While I'm sure the natives see them as I see squirrels in Georgia, I was thrilled to watch them.  They're pretty elusive!







9. Arizona sandstorm.  I didn't take many pics from the car, but I couldn't resist that sandstorm making its way across the desert toward the highway.  I'm glad I didn't get caught in a BIG one!






8. Prayer Tower at Oral Roberts University.  I had always heard what a beautiful campus this was, so I wanted to see.  Whether or not you subscribe to all of Roberts' beliefs or methods, you have to recognize what a special place this is.  As a student, to be able to go up into this tower to pray at any time must be an inspiring experience!

7. Orville and me.  I had read about the Orville Redenbacher statue in Valparaiso, Indiana, but I didn't realize there would be room for ME to sit with him on the park bench!  It's pretty touristy, but I love this pic!




6. Oklahoma City Memorial.  It's not possible, short of an airplane, to get a complete picture of the memorial where the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building once stood in OKC.  I think this picture does the best job of capturing most of the memorial.  The survivors are honored on the left; the dead on the right; and the spot where the bombing took place is now the reflecting pool in the middle.  The wall blocks the street from ever being accessed as it once was.





5. Sunset in Winnemucca.  I'm not a great photographer by any means, but I wanted to try to capture this sunset behind the mountains in Winnemucca, Nevada.  It turned out pretty well!










4. San Francisco from a Cable Car.  This is the downtown end of the cable car line that runs from Fisherman's Wharf to the shopping district.  I wouldn't give anything for this experience!







3. Abe watching over Newark.  The Abraham Lincoln statue in Newark, New Jersey, looks down the main street of the downtown area from the courthouse lawn.  It gives the impression of Lincoln watching over the events of downtown.  Love this view from the rear!  This is my favorite picture out of the dozens of Lincoln statue pictures I took.






2. Veteran at the Korean Memorial.  As it began to rain that day in Washington, I saw this veteran in a wheelchair looking at some of the flowers and other memorials left at the Korean War Monument.  I could only imagine what memories they brought back for him!



1. The Western Terminus of the Lincoln Highway, Lincoln Park in San Francisco.  When I decided to drive the Lincoln Highway, this was the moment I was anticipating.  Finally, here it was!  From Lincoln Park, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, the Bay, and look out to the Pacific.  In the midst of this is the Legion of Honor Museum with the Terminus Marker beside the bus stop across the street.  It marked a great accomplishment, but it was the JOURNEY that was the thrill!

I'm going to return once more to list my Favorite Memories of my vacation....Talk to you then...

James K. Polk and Home at Last!

On Thursday, I drove from Murfreesboro to Columbia, Tennessee, to see the ancestral home of President James K. Polk.  Polk, one of three Chief Executives from Tennessee (Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson were the others), was a Congressman and Governor before he was elected President in the 1840s.  This is the home his father built, and he lived here for about 5 years when he was around 16 to 21 years old.  None of the homes where he and his wife lived are still in existence, except for the White House of course.  So, some of the rooms in this home are kept as his parents would have kept them, and some have been decorated with furnishings from his other homes.  I read a book about Polk last year, and greatly respect him as the President who basically expanded the U.S. from the area of the Louisiana Purchase all the way to the Pacific Ocean.  He worked hard for four years, and died less than a year after leaving office in his early 50s.

After leaving Tennessee, I spent part of a day in Atlanta then headed home.  Here I am at the back door.

I'm going to come back to the blog tomorrow and add some final thoughts.  Thanks for following my trip!!!

Shakers and Country Music

While still in Kentucky yesterday, I made my way to a village called South Union where the religious group known as the Shakers had a community from the early 1800s til about 1920.  They were celibate, strictly religious, hard working, and wanted to keep life simple and free of sin.  They utilized technology to the extent that it allowed them to make a good living in the world of their day, and they tried to leave peacefully with all people.  The Civil War caused their community great economic hardship from which it never really recovered.  The need to constantly recruit members became a problem as the frontier moved farther west and people saw greater adventure and fulfillment there.  They are credited with inventing the modern flat broom, and some of the furniture they built is considered priceless today.  There are six buildings open to the public, beautifully preserved and interpreted.

I drove to Nashville, Tennessee, to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame museum.  On the way, I stopped at a small community called Lutons to visit Grandpa Jones' gravesite.  I saw him on Hee Haw for many years, but I bought an album of his banjo music and mountain harmonies a few years ago and greatly enjoyed it.  It's a small Methodist church cemetery.






At the Hall in Nashville, what a joy to see all the stars I have enjoyed for so many years!  Their instruments, stage clothes, and other memorabilia are all over the place in the three-story modern museum, and the Hall of Fame Rotunda has the plaques with the names and likenesses of all of those who have been elected to the hall.  Whether you like old-time music like the Carter Family or the newest stuff from Taylor Swift and Jason Aldean, there's something for every music lover.

John Hartford's banjo.  The yellow pages
are his original copy of the lyrics of Glen
Campbell's "Gentle on my Mind"

Jim Reeves' red blazer

Bill Monroe's mandolin

Spent the night in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the home of Middle Tennessee State University.

Indiana and Kentucky

On Monday, I toured the Toyota assembly plant in Princeton, Indiana.  Over 4700 people and a lot of robots put together Toyota Highlanders, Sequoias, and Sienna vans.  It was very educational and enjoyable.  They only allowed pictures in the visitors center.

Abraham Lincoln was born near Hodgenville, Kentucky.  The site has a neoclassical memorial building with a log cabin from the original site.  It's probably not the cabin in which he was born, but it comes from the same property in the same era.  A nearby spring was the reason his dad wanted this particular farm, and that is located right at the foot of the hill which houses the memorial.

I spent the night in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  The Lincoln birthplace was in the Eastern Time Zone, but Bowling Green is Central.  I'm right on the line here, but I think I'll be in Central Time for one more day.

St. Louis, Springfield, and beyond

I spent most of Saturday in St. Louis as I had a few errands to run.  On the way out of town, I stopped at the beautiful Gateway Arch, also known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.  Its outer covering is steel, and it's over 600 feet high.  At the base, I'm sure a football field would fit between the two footings.  The "legs" are about 50 feet wide at the bottom, but they narrow down to about 20 feet wide at the top.  I didn't ride the internal tram to the top or take a helicopter tour; those sorts of high adventures just didn't appeal to me that day.  The arch sits right by the Mississippi River with the city of St. Louis on the other side.  It symbolizes a gateway to the American West.  It's hard to imagine how big it is (or how hard it is to take a good picture of it) unless you visit.

I then traveled east back into Illinois.  I had crossed the northern part of this state, near Chicago, on the Lincoln Highway.  I spent Saturday night in Springfield, Illinois, the state capital.

Yesterday, I visited the Abraham Lincoln Home in Springfield.  His house and neighborhood have been restored, and you can tour the house where he lived before he went to Washington.  Some of the other houses have exhibits about the Lincolns and about archaeology and restoration.  It's a nice place to spend a couple of hours.

Then I traveled about 2 miles to the Lincoln Tomb state historic site.  It's in the Oak Ridge Cemetery, and it's very impressive.  All of the Lincolns are buried there, except for one son in Arlington National Cemetery.  There is a series of small statues of Lincoln at different stages of his career along the passageway inside the tomb that leads to the burial chamber.  Lincoln's monument is made of Arkansas granite and is a rust color.  He has flags around him representing states where he lived, states where his ancestors came from, and the presidential flag.

In Effingham, Illinois, there is a HUGE cross by the interstate highway.  It's called the "Cross at the Crossroads."  Christians in the area paid for it to be constructed as a ministry.  If you stop underneath it, there are 10 stations with recorded messages which represent the 10 Commandments.  I saw another one of these a few days ago in Texas, but the one in Effingham claims to be the biggest monument of this type.

Before stopping in Evansville, Indiana, for the night, I made a quick detour to Olney, Illinois.  They are supposed to be the home of the "white squirrels."  They are seriously supposed to have albino squirrels living in the trees of their city park, but my wanderings in their park produced no sightings.  A minor disappointment in an otherwise tremendous vacation!

George Washington Carver

My only sightseeing stop today was at the George Washington Carver National Monument.  This is in Diamond, Missouri, and is the location of his childhood home.  There is a nice museum, which includes a model of his classroom and lab at Tuskegee Institute.  They have a good film, which explains his accomplishments but helps you to understand his faith and motivation most of all.  Carver was the man who found so many uses for peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans, and did pioneering exploration of plastics.  Finally, you can walk about a mile round trip to see the woods where he explored as a youth, the remnants of the farm where he grew up, and the plants he related to so well.  It was an out-of-the-way site that was well worth the time.

I crossed Missouri and got to St. Louis by nightfall.  There were several Independence Day fireworks displays visible from the hotel.