Back In Michigan

Saturday, May 6, 2023

We crossed into Lower Michigan going North on I-69 then turned East on US-12  Friday afternoon and spent our first night at a Walmart in Jonesville, MI. Saturday morning we continued traveling further North and East. The next couple of weeks we will be near our Son, our Daughter-in-law, and four of our Grandkids. It is going to be a busy time, and if I have my way, filled with hugs lots of hugs. 

The blog will be in Missouri one more day.

Monday, May 1, 2023

Today we decide to do a little exploring. Fingerscrossed the "Little Black Limo" gets us around and back. (It did just that...😎)

Outside our door, one wish and three future wishes.

Leaving the Pershing State Park we had two destination's planned: General John J. Pershing Boyhood Home Historic Site and The Locust Creek Covered Bridge. First we made a stop in a picnic area at the park to see the Mothers Memorial.

One of several redbuds in the park. 

The park's War Mothers Memorial was dedicated in 1940 by the Missouri chapter of the American War Mothers organization.

War Angel
“The sacrifice of the soldier will never exceed the sacrifice of his mother.”
General of the Armies of the United States, John J. Pershing.

The American War Mothers was founded in 1917 by Alice Moore French. September 29th 1917, became known as “Founders Day” of the American War Mothers. In the beginning membership only include Mother's whose son's and daughter served in World War I which made it a dying organization from day one. Over the years there were several amendments  to the congressional charter which included "verbiage to include any future American Wars". In 1929 the Missouri chapter of this organization commissioned an inmate John Schultz in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary to carve the marble statue that is at this location called the War Angel. It was to located in Kansas City, MO at the WWI Liberty Memorial but the new curator refused to take it because of its connection to an inmate and it wound up at the future site of the General Pershing's Museum at the Pershing State Park.

This statue has been in the elements during this time but there are plans from what I have read to restore her and redesign the base and she will be the centerpiece of eight gardens. The article mentioned eight canisters of  dirt from each of the eight WWI American cemeteries in Europe and that she will look over her sons and daughters forever.

Our next stop was at the General Pershing State Historical Site in Laclede, Missouri. The buildings themselves were not open but we did not expect them to be. Interestingly we spent time in Columbus, New Mexico at the Pancho Villa State Park in April of 2018  learning about the Battle of Columbus in 1916 and General John "Blackjack" Pershing's Punitive Expedition into Mexico in March of 1916. The Visitor Center at the Pancho Villa State Park has a museum and we were lucky enough to hear about what was on display from one of the most interesting and knowledgeable docents we have ever met. 

Gen. John J. Pershing Boyhood Home State Historic Site interprets the life of one of America's war heroes. His small town upbringing supplied him with a work ethic that earned him the highest military rank his country had to offer - General of the Armies of the United States.

A statue of "Black Jack," sculpted by Carl Mose in the 1950s, stands by the house and is surrounded by the Wall of Honor, a semicircle of granite tablets inscribed with names of war veterans.

The titles on the granite tablets.

“A ‘Wall of Honor’ was erected in the 1980s,” said Heaney, describing the marble blocks surrounding the Pershing statue. “The inner walls list the names of World War I veterans and the outer walls contain names of veterans from World War II to present,” he added. A brochure from the Pershing Park Memorial Association notes that veterans can have their name added to this memorial for a nominal fee.

John Joseph Pershing, throughout life known as "Jack," was born Sept. 13, 1860. The Pershing family moved into the house in Laclede when John was 6 and stayed there until 1885.

Clicking on the picture should open it in a new window 
to read the plaque which is in front of his boyhood home.

Pershing held a teaching position at Prairie Mound School and eventually saved enough money to attend Kirksville Normal School (now Truman State University), where he received his teaching degree in June 1880. He returned to Prairie Mound School until the fall of 1881. It was then that Pershing saw a newspaper article concerning the competitive exam for entrance into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Pershing took the test on Oct. 20, 1881, qualified and was nominated to West Point, where he graduated in 1886.

 

General John Joseph “Black Jack” Pershing began his rise through the ranks of the U.S. Army with distinguished service in the Spanish-American War and the Philippines. After leading U.S. forces in pursuit of the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, Pershing served as commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) during World War I.

The Pershing Park Memorial Association  purchased the Prairie Mound School House in 1982—the building where Pershing taught classes prior to his military service. Once located several miles outside of Laclede, the school house was moved to the Gen. John J. Pershing Boyhood Home State Historic Site in 1983, renovated in the 1990s and now serves as a museum.

Our last stop was to see the Locust Creek Covered Bridge a State Historic Site.

There was a small parking area, the walking bridge, and a
sign that said it was 1/4 of a mile to the Locust Covered Bridge.

Locust Creek Covered Bridge trail is an out and back trail that leads to one of only four historic covered bridges left in the State of Missouri. It follows a historic roadbed that consists of loose 1-inch gravel. The Locust Creek Covered Bridge was built in 1868. The nation's first transcontinental road, Route 8, passed over the bridge.

The completion of U.S. Route 36 in 1930 bypassed the bridge, and decreased its use. The course of Locust Creek was changed sometime after World War II, causing the bridge to span a dry creek bed. When the creek bed filled with silt, it left the bridge sitting in mud a lot of the time.

After the state acquired the bridge in 1968, the Locust Creek Covered Bridge State Historic Site was created. They repaired the bridge, replacing much of its structure. In 1991, the Missouri Department of Conservation raised the bridge by six feet to protect the wooden frame and flooring from the muddy, wet ground.

Also called the Linn County Bridge, it is the longest of the four remaining Missouri covered bridges. It is 151 feet long, and 16 feet 8 inches wide. It is located about three miles west of Laclede.

Setting out and walking over the bridge looking
down at the creek below.

The view out the other end.

Walking back through the entrance.

One last picture as we head back down the trail.

It was a good day and we enjoyed checking out all three places. 

The sites at the Pershing State Park are pretty much surrounded
by trees. Tonight's sunset peeking through those trees.

The sunlight hitting the forest floor.

Looking out our front window.
This is a 1995 Ford still pulling a 5th wheel.

The last of today's light on our view. Not many campers
on the week days. It was very quiet Sunday and Monday.

Did we enjoy our time at Pershing State Park? The answer would be, yes with no reservations. Would we come back? That answer would probably be not with the Stinger "B".  It was a tight squeeze into the camping area itself and then the sites like so many state parks were built for smaller rigs. If in the future we downsize and we were on this route the answer would be never say never. 

We are glad you stopped by!

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.

Two Travel Days

Friday, April 28, 2023

When we got up Friday morning the rain was coming down at a nice steady pace another words it was pouring. We sat and had our coffee and contemplated staying one more day. Then the rain stopped and we got our act together and pulled out later then we planned. It was 10:40 and a not so warm 45 degrees. The Stinger "B" is heading south today hoping for warmer weather but not expecting to actually find it. There is a rest area just past Council Bluffs, Iowa in 199 miles and that is today's destination.

Going by Tea, South Dakota

I did nothing to enhance this picture.
The sky may be grey but this field is "sunny"

I was pleasantly surprised the camera pretty much 
picked up the colors I was looking at.

"Whitwam's Wigwams."
This one is near Vermillon, SD and is where we stopped for lunch.

Missouri River

This is the first train we have seen in over a week
and it is moving.

It is raining.

Lewis and Clark Trail

Since August 2010, the 24th Street Bridge in Council Bluffs
 has been home to the artist Albert Paley's "Odyssey." 

As Tom and I travel down the roads in this wonderful country of ours every once and a while we pass by something that prompts me to say out loud,  I wonder what the heck that was about? Most times when I try to research what it is I find nothing and I am left with the mystery of what it was. Then there are the times a picture pops up that matches the one I took and there is an explanation of what it is. Today was my lucky day.

A monumental gateway commissioned by Iowa West Foundation, Odyssey is sited over Iowa Interstate 80 at the S. 24th St. Bridge in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Consisting of four massive mixed-metal sculptures Paley’s Odyssey is a gateway for both the State of Iowa and the City of Council Bluffs. It creates a destination . that can be seen from miles away. For drivers passing under the bridge, the sculptures tower up to 100 feet above the interstate, establishing a true sense of place.

Bringing "Odyssey" to Council Bluffs was a partnership between the Iowa West Foundation and Iowa DOT. The Iowa West Foundation commissioned and purchased the artwork, and Iowa DOT engineers designed sculpture platforms and made sure the sculptures were structurally sound and able to withstand the wind, ice and snow common in Iowa winters.

Albert Paley (born 1944) is an American modernist metal sculptor. Initially starting out as a jeweler, Paley has become one of the most distinguished and influential metalsmiths in the world. Within each of his works, three foundational elements stay true: the natural environment, the built environment, and the human presence. Paley is the first metal sculptor to have received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Institute of Architects. 

Four sculptures, created with three different metals
 (stainless steel, weathering steel and bronze plate) make up "Odyssey."

I really like when the name of the highway
is painted on the highway.

We are parked for the night at a Rest Area just passed
Council Bluffs. This was today's destination.
Mission accomplished.

The wind was with us all day but as luck would have it it was coming our of the north and so we had a tail wind. Stopped for the day the parking was east/west and we could feel the wind hitting on the driver's side of the rig. It really was not that bad nor was the noise from the highway. We both had a good nights sleep.

Saturday, April 29, 2023

When we pulled out of the rest area Saturday morning we had no idea where we would be stopping for the night. I had  called a couple of Walmarts and both had told me no overnight parking allowed. Checking the route we had planned on taking there were no rest areas listed. I had done some research on City and County Parks along the route and I could not find any information about what size rigs would fit in their sites so that option was out. So in the end we made the decision to continue south to the Missouri Welcome Center to see if they would be able to give us some help.

Sitting having my coffee this morning this little guy 
landed in the tree out our front window.

Walking back to check our lights and roll
I decided to snap this picture.

Pretty much the whole ride today on I-29 we could see the green.

Then in the sky I could see a coffee pot.

Missouri 
The Show-Me-State

Then we spotted the Welcome Center and pulled in. Going inside to check for information we lucked out, the two woman working were both welcoming and helpful. Armed with the information they gave us we went back out to the Stinger "B" and looked at our options. The decision was to turn east at St. Joseph and take US-36 across to Hannibal where we would cross into Illinois. If you are wondering, the answer is yes, we are farther south then we planned but sometimes things work out better then you think they will. Before we left the Welcome Center we made some calls, did some checking, and decided to stop at the Pershing State Park for two nights which stretched to three. More about that in the next post

First Lilac spotting.

A dandelion and a "wish".

I spotted this guy across the way at the Welcome Center.

We passed by several Redbuds today.

Almost to our exit where we will turn east.

We were coming up a hill and this guy looked like he
was heading for a landing on our right.

Tom drove us down and up several times today.

This would be a first.
We have never seen anyone working up on a water tower before.

It has been a while but today we passed a vehicle.
It was interesting, to say the least, the way whatever 
this was, was tied down. They had a sun roof and the
ropes did go down in through it.

We have turned on to MO-30 which will take us to our stop
Pershing State Park.

Pershing State Park is a public recreation area covering more than 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) off U.S. Route 36, three miles west of Laclede in Linn County, Missouri. The state park was named in honor of General of the Armies John J. Pershing, who led the United States forces in Europe in World War I and who grew up in Laclede.

Looking out our front window, Saturday afternoon 
just after we pulled in. What we can see are
families and children enjoying their weekend.

When we stopped Friday for the night the wind was still blowing strong coming out of the north. Parked we were looking towards the east out the front window of the Stinger "B". I saw this little guy land way out on this branch facing north. I mentioned to Tom in this wind he must be holding on for dear life. A quote I have in my collection came to mind and it is under the picture below.

“A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking,
 because her trust is not on the branch but on it’s own wings.
 Always believe in yourself” – Unknown

We are glad you stopped by!

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.