On the Road again and be in Ogalalla tomorrow!

Patt and I have been on the road for a few days, driving northwest out of Raleigh toward Indianapolis, then west toward Denver to meet Matt & Laura and the kids. But first a little tourism.  Tour starts here in Springfield, Illinois at the Abraham Lincoln National Monument and Home in the historic old section of Springfield.  

That is the house Abe and his family lived in for several years and from which he left to go the White House.  It has remained the same with many of the original furnishings from the Lincoln family occupancy.

Then on to Hannibal, Missouri and a visit to the house and the downtown neighborhood where Samuel Clemens grew up and which was the inspiration for Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn and several other of books written by Mark Twain.  The house of Becky Thatcher is still there across the street from the Clemens' home and the nearby home where Huck Finn grew up has been rebuilt.

The crossing Missouri trip on US 36 included a stop in Chillicothe, "Home of Sliced Bread".  There had to be such a place and there it was. The first ever bread slicing and wrapping machine was put in use in Chillicothe and well… talk about a better mousetrap.

We got to St. Joseph and a stop by the house where that dirty rat Robert Ford shot Jesse James.

and next door is the Patee House Hotel Museum, an excellent museum which in 1860 was the office and starting point for the Pony Express.

and had time for a nice walk along the Missouri River.

Tonight we are next to the Platte River — yes the Platte River in Nebraska!!  That makes 49 - forty-nine states that I have been in.  Alaska to go.  Patt has been in Nebraska before so she was less excited than I to cross from Iowa into the Cornhusker state.  (she still has Oregon to go to get to 49, and we'll be there in June to visit Mary and Bob).  We both need Alaska to get the 50.

On the way we also stopped at the Archway Museum and visited Fort Kearney in Kearney, NE.

And tomorrow is Ogallala as featured in 'Lonesome Dove' (best book and tv series movie ever) —then on to Denver to greet the grandkids at the airport on Saturday around noon! We are excited!!