May 20, Wednesday: Abilene, Kansas

Today will be the third leg of my Presidential Tour.  The strong winds blew all night with occasional rain.  The rain stopped long enough for me to unplug the electric and I headed southwest to Abilene, Kansas -- Eisenhower's boyhood home, museum, library and gravesite.  I stopped at the visitor center to get my ticket for the house tour and watch a 20 minute film about Ike.  The museum was very large with the majority of exhibits about "General" Eisenhower and a very broad look at WWII.  The displays were traditional old-time museum, demanding a lot of reading.  It could use some updating and some better lighting!

Jack and I visited this room in Rhiems where Germany signed the WWII surrender.

While reviewing the WWII displays, especially about the D-Day Invasion, Battle of the Bulge, and the German surrender at Rheims, I couldn't help but remember that only a year ago we were actually touring these sites in person!

I spent a couple of hours in the museum, touring the home and visiting the gravesites in the small chapel.  The Abilene house was their home before he became President. They retired to a farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

old time stove in the kitchen

Eisenhower Graves

Afterwards, I drove due north to visit the Hollenberg pony Express Station.  The visitor center had a small museum that explained the building, still on its original foundation, had long been a stop on the Oregon Trail with limited sleeping quarters, a store, and tavern.  It was contracted as one of the Pony Express stops where the riders would change horses and continue their journey.  Even though the Pony Express is a favorite story of the Old West, it was only in existence 18 months before the telegraph and poor financials put it out of business.

They did not identify what this trap door was for -- cool storage or a place to hide during Indian attack like we used to see in the old Westerns?

Driving west, I found a place to stay just over the Nebraska line in a small city park for free!  The park is very nice with concrete pads, water and electricity that will come in handy as it will be getting cool tonight and I will need the space heater.  I backed into my site, centered on the concrete pad and didn't hit the electric post or water spigot.  Life is good.  No WiFi or television, but I do have that 1,000 page Truman book I bought at the book shop at the Truman Museum in Independence to keep me busy.