And the Winner Is .....

We looked at a lot of possible history spots to stop at today. Wes, Nancie & Jon told us about a place called Garden of Eden where a man spent years creating statues and art work to honor his wife. We thought about it until we found we were driving right past Abilene - do you know what is special about Abilene?

Many miles were spent on country roads until we hit I-70 again. Along the way we were following the Oregon and California Pioneer Trails, even on the country roads. Had we known the right place to stop we might have been able to see the wagon ruts left by the Conestoga wagons. I tried to imagine how the pioneers could travel in the prairies if it was as hot as it was today. I think the temperature without the heat index was 102. At least the humidity was lower so I think we only needed to add 2 or 3 degrees to the temperature.

Okay, here is the winner. We decided to stop at the Eisenhower Center to learn a little about Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower, our 34th president.

The boyhood home of Pres. Eisenhower as well as the Library, Museum and Chapel where he, his wife and young son are laid to rest are all on this one piece of property in the middle of Abilene.

We were able to see the rooms on the first floor of the Eisenhower home. Everything in it was original furnishings of the Eisenhowers.

The family bible was under glass but if you double click on this picture and see it enlarged you will see where the family recorded the birth of D. Dwight Eisenhower. When Ike signed into the armed services he wrote his name as Dwight D. instead of D. Dwight and was known by this signature for the rest of his life. By the way, the D stood for David.

Ike was the 3rd of 7 sons and all grew up to have responsible, important jobs with the exception of one that died as a small child. This picture in the family home shows the boys in the same positions both years - as young boys and as grown men.

This clock was in the original kitchen of the Eisenhower home - it is almost identical to the one we have that belonged to Gary's grandmother or great-grandmother. Ours isn't running right now because it needs a new gear but I would love to think we had something similar to the Eisenhowers!
After walking through the home we returned to the visitor center to see a video which highlighted the life of Pres. Eisenhower.

We were able to visit the chapel where President Eisenhower, his wife Mamie and their young son were encrypted. I took several pictures but decided only to post this one.

This picture of the President is in the Eisenhower Library. Gary and I thought we would see more documents and pictures than we did but found out those would be in the Museum and not in the Library. Another trip we will have to stop in Abilene again.

The statue of "General Eisenhower" is on the grounds of the Eisenhower Complex. I had to lighten it up a little so you could see his face as the shadows of the day were not on the right side!

We had a constant crosswind/headwind while we drove the interstate today so were not surprised when we saw a wind farm among the corn crops. There were easily 100+ windmills along side the road.

Quite a few pictures were taken through the windows as we traveled today. That does cause some problems with reflections but I just had to put this one in the blog. We saw many old farmsteads that were very simple and remind us that life does not have to be so complicated. Sorry to be so 'philosophical' but I really do think we get caught up in so many 'wants' that we don't realize that we can get by with just a few 'needs.' I hope I can keep that perspective better than I do as it is easy to get caught up in the "world."

Well, I need to call my cousin Donna and make sure we are okay with dropping in on them for a few days, probably beginning on Friday. Tomorrow we will be in Colorado and set our clocks to Mountain Time. As much as I love traveling I am looking forward to seeing our friends and family - we will probably be home the middle to end of next week!