Day 4

October 15 2009 Thursday

Woke up at 6am because we went to bed really early, and I’m still on FL time. Had a continental breakfast at the hotel – bagel and peppermint hot cocoa. Today we are driving across Missouri. Its rainy and wet with temperatures in the 40s. I dressed in lots of layers and when well dressed and warm the weather is actually quite nice. I’ve been layering on at least 3 shirts each day, plus my coat so I’m nice and snug. I will miss the sunshine, I heard Oregon is really rainy this time of year. The sun rarely makes an appearance. I have not seen the sun in the sky, or even a pretty sunset or sunrise. Does it still exist? During the day the landscape gradually becomes lighter and clear without any warmth or bright sunrays. The sky provides ambient light from the layers up above which is completely white - solid cloud cover. Some of the clouds come down low, providing some mist and thick fog in the distance. Today’s kind of weather is what I expect to see the rest of the trip.
The scenery is much the same as Illinois, spectacular fall colors with some cows and silos thrown in. We are crossing the state of Missouri then stopping in Kansas City, which is on the border, before continuing across Kansas. I have many Weird Al songs on my ipod. Still haven’t gone through my whole library yet, although some songs are starting to repeat already. Right before Kansas City is the town of Independence. We stopped there and went to the Harry Truman house – had a private tour with the ranger. Harry Truman was vice president to Roosevelt for only 82 days before becoming president. Perfect timing to view the house. Next week its being closed for repairs and renovations.
The GPS went crazy for a bit – had no idea where we were and left a crazy blue trail of the route we did not take. (Our car cannot jump sideways, and not once did we take a shortcut across the middle of a park.) We had our picnic outside in the cold because we weren’t sure where else to eat that didn’t cost extra money. We then tried to go see a hair museum that sounded interesting but couldn’t find it. Maybe it was closed; there was an empty lot with a bulldozed building near where it should have been. We went to the trails museum next. The Oregon, Santa Fe, and California trails all started in Independence Missouri, which today seems to have been eaten up by the larger Kansas City. The trail museum cost money that we didn’t feel like spending so we didn’t go inside. Instead we found a railroad station next door that had free tours. It was the old Independence railroad depot from the 1800s, the Chicago-Alton line and in operation until 1960. The guide was amazing and he showed us all kinds of cool stuff in the building. While on tour of the upstairs living quarters we saw a hair-wreath-thing. People used to save their hair and when they died, the dead person’s hair was used to make artwork as a sort of memento. So it was almost like we went to the hair museum, we got to see one of the exhibits. We are now headed to the toy and miniature museum - it was awesome! Spent the rest of the day wandering around admiring the amount of skill it takes to make such realistic miniatures. No photography allowed, but it gave me some ideas for my own miniature making with the wood elf army. We stayed there until they kicked us out because it was closing. Only saw half the museum, we will have to comeback another day and finish.
Now driving through Kansas. I-20 is apparently a toll-road. An expensive toll road and you pay after you exit, based on how far you drive. The gas station we stopped at had a storm shelter for tornadoes. I wonder when tornado season is? Maybe they are always in season? I hope we don’t get caught in one. We are staying in America’s Best off I-70 in Salina. Dinner was at Freddy’s Frozen Custard place – home of the freddy burger. It was almost identical to Steak N Shake, only with sundaes not milkshakes. Watching some TV before bed.