May 19, Tuesday: Truman and Independence

Stayed at a local RV park last night in Independence, Missouri so I could return to see the historic downtown and the Truman house.

Although Independence literally runs nonstop into Kansas City, the historic downtown still has a great small-town feel.

 I stopped at the visitor center and watched a movie about his life and then walked the half mile to the Truman Home.  It was originally his wife, Bess' family home where Harry and Bess stayed when they were in town.  After his mother-in-law passed away, Harry bought the home from the other heirs, making it the first time he had owned a home.  The home was built in the 1860's and added on in the 1880's -- an old, comfortable, modest home.  Everything in the home is original just as it was left by the Truman's.  They had retired to this home and lived out the rest of their lives here.

Across the street was Harry's cousin's home were he stayed when courting Bess as he was living 20 miles south helping his family out on their farm.  This house was turned into a mini-museum with a lot of photos and posters tracing Harry Truman's life.  Also across the street was a small brick home where the Secret Service lived and, according to stories, were bored out of their minds.

There was a walking trail through the downtown area, highlighting places that were part of the Trumans' life, but I was running out of time and so left down about 11:30, heading west.  Just a few blocks from the historic downtown, I spotted this unusual church spire, so I detoured to find out a bit more about it - it is a non-denominational Christian church that had a huge campus.  To me, it looked like the church steeple belonged in the munchkin land of the Wizard of Oz.

I took Interstate 70 just to get around downtown Kansas City, but got off onto US 24 that parallels the interstate just north, going through rolling farmland and a few small farm towns, each centered around a huge grain elevator.  Stopped outside Topeka for lunch, and then continued west through Kansas.  I stopped at an army corps of engineer campground on Milford Lake - the largest lake in Kansas.  Unfortunately, it clouded up and started raining and the wind picked up, so getting a great campsite right on the lake wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been.  Very proud of myself for backing into the campsite, staying in the designated driveway area and not putting the RV into the Lake!

May 18, Monday - Across Missouri and the Truman Library & Museum

Yesterday, Sunday, I spent a long, boring day driving through western Tennesse, western Kentucky, and north through central Illinois and then west into Missouri.  I tried to get a photo of the Arch in St. Louis, but driving and photo taking is not a good combination....

I stopped for the night about 20 miles west of St. Louis - almost 400 miles.  Spent the night in an upscale casino parking lot.  Of course, I visited the casino (I make a habit of visiting them once every two or three years) and lost $20 on the slot machines.  It was fun because they had lots of 1 cent machines to keep me busy and it took almost two hours to lose my $20.  I am not the kind of RV customer they hope to attract with their free overnight parking.

The lot had other RVs and lots of tractor trailers with security patrolling regularly.  Not very scenic, but safe and convenient.

Today I drove an hour or so on I70 before dropping south to travel US 50 along the Missouri River - pretty farm country.  I traveled the the state east or west with my destination for the day the second part of my Presidential tour being Independence, Missouri to visit Truman's home and museum/library.

 The museum made me realize just how many world crises Truman faced.  He, like Andrew Johnson, was vice president to a president who died in office, although Roosevelt was not expected to live out his full fourth term and the democratic party considered Truman a compromise candidate that wings of the party could live with as President.

Truman's famous desk sign.

Truman's Oval Office

Truman inherited the problem of dropping the bomb on Japan, negotiating with Russia the end of WWII and getting Europe and our country back on solid economic footing in peacetime.  It was a huge task to turn our economy from a war production machine to a peactime economy serving all of the returning servicemen coming home, getting married, looking for housing and starting families.

As part of the return to peacetime, they had this display.  I am really old -- I remember the TV console, we had the exact same kitchen table and icebox....

Truman also had to deal with the growing Communist threat in Russia and China, the development of the Cold War, deciding whether to recognize the new state of Israel and jeopardize our oil supplies from Arab countries, the initiation of the Korean War in response to Russian and Chinese support of North Korea's invasion of South Korea (the Truman Doctrine), and early civil rights movements that splintered the Democratic party.  Although his approval rating when he left office after the end of his second (first elected) term was in the low 30's, current reviewers and critics have given him much higher marks.

Truman had a lot on his plate....

Truman and his wife, Bess as well as his daughter and her husband all buried here.