This is about our trip west for family gatherings in Kansas and Missouri, June 14 to June 30. It is also our first post composed entirely of iPhone photos. I had the big camera but never bothered to pull it out.
Our first camping spot on the way to the Kansas family gathering was Mark Twain State Park, MO. Becky was sewing quilt blocks and I was playing with watercolors. It was getting pretty warm out so we had fans going. I’m looking a little heat stroked…
Entry to Monroe School in Topeka, Kansas. Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site.
Got the passport stamp.
We stopped here on our way from Mark Twain State Park to the Kansas Family Gathering at Acorns Resort on Milford Lake in Kansas. On our many trips to Kansas over the last 40 years we have driven past Topeka and the signs for Brown v. Board of Education NHS. This is a thought provoking bit of historic preservation. Wish we had taken time to stop with the kids but we were always in a hurry to see family.
Becky checking out the information panel in front of Monroe Public School – Brown vs Board of Education National Historic Site. Monroe is the only remaining school of the four original buildings for black students in Topeka.
Plat drawing for Monroe School (on Monroe St). The schools for blacks and whites in Topeka were designed by the same Architect and while not exactly the same they were very similar in quality. Same windows, classroom sizes, finishes, etc. The issue in Topeka wasn’t regarding equal quality of educational facilities, it was equal access to education. The biggest issue (in Topeka) was that black students (even very young students like 3rd grader Linda Carol Brown) had to travel much longer distances, crossing busy streets and riding buses to get to one of the 4 black schools instead of attending a nearby school.
Brown v. Board of Education originated as a class action lawsuit in Topeka in 1951 and was ruled by the Kansas District Court in favor of the Board of Education. The case that later went to the Supreme Court was a combination of 5 different lawsuits (all of which had failed to the local Boards of Education). They were from Topeka-Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, and Washington DC. The combined case was brought to the Supreme Court by the NAACP. Thurgood Marshall at that time was chief counsel for the NAACP and argued the case for the plaintiffs. Thurgood Marshall would later be appointed to the Supreme Court in 1967.
South Carolina did have a quality issue… top photo is the one room shanty black school and below is the white students school. The photos make them look similar size so below is a photo of scale models of the buildings.
It is hard for me to wrap my head around some of the things happening around the time I was born… I know I’m old but I tend to think of stuff like this happening back in my grandparents day.
Monroe School from the parking lot looking across the playing field. The mural in photo below is to the right of where this was taken.
Mural on an adjacent building. Colorful, but so much going on it’s hard to tell what it all means.
Rainbow at Acorns Resort on Milford Lake. Jennie and Roni’s RV is the one on the left. Deanne’s and ours were just to the right out of this picture. We enjoyed three nights visiting and eating together. Wish we had taken a family photo with most everyone being there but didn’t think of it at the time.
Sunset at Milford Lake, Acorns Resort.
Traveling to our next stop we visited two places to get National Passport stamps. First stop was Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve near Strong City, KS. We visited the barn and the house but did not hike out to the prairie pasture where the bison roam (it was too hot).
Got the passport stamp and enjoyed the nice Visitors Center.
Beautiful stone fence and wide open Kansas Flint Hills.
The property is known as the old Spring Hill Farm. The huge stone barn and impressive house still stand on the property but much of what is shown on this old lithograph is now back to prairie and pasture for a herd of Bison. The house cost $25K and the barn cost $15K to build back in 1880’s
The limestone barn. Wall at base are 20″ thick.
This view makes me feel better about the ramp into my yard barn…
The Chicken House with a sod roof. The backside is built into a hillside. The building kept the chickens cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Approaching Spring Hill Farm House.
View from from the front entry steps of Spring Hill Farm House.
Crazy massive walnut newel post at bottom of entry stairway.
Bedroom at Spring Hill Farm.
One last photo of the amazing stone fence. From here we headed to Fort Scott.
We had been to Fort Scott previously and by the time we got there it was getting really hot so we just got the passport stamp. Advice for others – do not blindly trust your Garmin to lead you to the RV parking lot.
This is the only photo I took at Crawford State Park where we stayed for one night. I should have taken a video instead of a photo. All those white spots are a swarm of flying bugs (not mosquitoes fortunately). It was really hot and really buggy so we didn’t see much of the park but from our windows we watched the local fire department play with fire hoses on the Crawford Lake Dam.
Next stop was Roaring River State Park near Cassville, MO. We stayed here for three nights. Dale and Gwen (and their dogs KC and Mason) also came and stayed with us in their RV. Linda, Dan, and Charlene drove down to visit from Monett and took us to the nearby Roaring River Spring and Fish Hatchery.
Video of Rainbow Trout in the spring.
Lots of people fishing below the spring and hatchery created this unique bit of Missouri folk art of line and lure…
Brother Dan welcomed us with this puzzle he found at the very popular Monett “Bin Barn”. First puzzle I’ve completed in decades.
Gwen painted this cool watercolor of our RV from the vantage point of the picnic table at their site.
Watercolor dabble started at Mark Twain State Park and finished at Roaring River. Credit to brother Dale for motivating me to loosen up the pine tree that was more symmetrical until he described it as a “very happy little Bob Ross tree” after which I got sloppier with it and liked it much more. Thanks Dale!
Becky and Gwen played with various quilt block pattern ideas.
My first attempt (not finished) at landscape watercolor with expert guidance from Gwen Campbell (and editorial comment from Dale)
After Roaring River we headed to Monett for a few more days of visiting but discovered a front tire was wearing unevenly. With help from nephew Chris we made an early morning dash to Joplin to get an alignment and tires rotated.
We visited the new Monett Historical Museum and enjoyed their quality exhibits. Theodore Roosevelt made a “whistle stop” here in 1928.
1908 downtown Monett street scene.
Closeup of woman apparently astonished by meals for 25 cents at the “Indiana House”. Haven’t figured out what connection Monett, MO had with Indiana to warrant an establishment named “Indiana House” but I’m curious.
Terrifying 120volt apparatus for hair curling.
We visited “Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art” in Bentonville, Arkansas. This is a gleaming stainless steel tree sculpture near the entry. Bentonville is home of Walmart headquarters. The museum is free, envisioned, and funded by Walmart heiress Alice Walton, daughter of Sam Walton.
Beautifully landscaped grounds include sculptures like this giant spider.
Robert Indiana sculpture.
Dale Chihuly glass “snakes” sculpture.
After walking the grounds we headed inside to escape the heat. This is a huge exhibit of Arkansas quartz crystals with Chihuly floating glass orbs and the “Great Hall” in background.
Interior of the “Great Hall” meeting space. I was more impressed with the Architecture, structure, and quality of construction than the art exhibits. The building housing the art exhibits is intentionally a work of art itself.
Albert Bierstadt 1870. Sierra Nevada-Morning.
George Inness. An Old Roadway ca. 1880. Seeing the original paintings and being able to get right up close to them was a real treat.
This Frank Lloyd Wright home was moved from it’s original site along the Millstone River in New Jersey to Crystal Bridges because of repeated flooding. Another example of the Art of Architecture being preserved and made accessible to the public at Crystal Bridges. Tickets are required to tour the house but they are free.
On our way to Crystal Bridges we stopped at Pea Ridge National Military Park to see the new Visitors Center and get the passport stamp (it was under construction on our last visit). On our way back to Monett, after Crystal Bridges, we drove the auto trail around the battlefield. The battlefield is 4,300 acres; it’s a long drive.
Once again we forgot to take a family photo with everyone gathered together in Monett. Leaving Monett to head home we stopped at Alley Spring. A picturesque mill powered by a beautiful blue water spring.
Alley Mill and water from the spring.
National Parks Passport Stamp for Ozark National Scenic Riverways from Alley Spring Visitors Center.
Continuing on through some very winding roads through the Ozarks we camped one night at Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park near Middle Brook, MO. We had reservations for two nights but the next day was forecast to be over 100 degrees so we did a quick morning walk to the “Shut-Ins” then headed for home.
The “Shut-Ins” is an interesting geological area where the East Fork of the Black River narrows as it cuts though harder volcanic rock. We were there early in the morning but later in the heat of the day the pools of water are filled with bathers. The Black River is part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
Interesting hole formations.
It had not rained in awhile so there was not much water flowing.
Driving through Illinois and southern Indiana we encountered dense Canadian wildfire smoke. Happy to be home after a long hot day of driving.
Wrap-up: 1,845 Miles total. 16 days. 10.11 MPG avg. $3.16/gal avg. $576 for gas. $130 for alignment and tire rotation in Joplin. We drove some really hot days with the RV (gasoline) generator running so we could run the house air conditioning and the engine AC. Running the generator seems to reduce MPG by about .3 MPG. We now have over 20,000 miles in the RV and will add another 6K this fall with trip to Canadian Rockies.
DADart Photography 