Road Trip Map

 Here is an approximate map of the road trip. On, Jan. 3, I started in Duluth. I stayed in Des Moines, Iowa. January 5 and 6th I stayed in Independence, Kansas. I stayed in San Leon, Texas from Jan. 7 to Feb. 7th. Feb. 7th I moved to Lake Jackson, Texas for 2 nights. Feb. 8 to Feb. 13 I stayed in Austin, Texas. Feb. 14 to Feb. 27 I stayed on a Longhorn ranch in San Antonio. Feb. 28 until March 1st I stayed in Little Rock, Arkansas. March 1st to 3rd I stayed in Tulsa, Oklahoma. March 3rd to March 5th I stayed in Topeka, Kansas. March 5 to March 7th I stayed in Kearney, Nebraska. March 7th to March 11 I stayed in Minneapolis. Now I am home. A winter storm warning advises me to stay off the roads until Monday morning. Overall I would say it was a successful road trip. I had fun. I learned. I adapted. I solved problems. I figured things out. I saw lots of nature and birds. I met many fascinating people.

Home

 

Brown Versus The Board Of Education

This morning I hit the highway in Tulsa at 7:15 a.m. Traffic was heading south into town so I was lucky. Rain fell steadily until almost 11. I stopped to buy gas in Altoona when I saw this big rooster. Today I didn't count the skunks on the road but I did count 13 hawks, 3 Northern Harrier and 10 red-tailed hawks.

I arrived at Brown Versus The Board of Education National Park at 11:15. Two school buses full of children were here with their teachers. Having students of color see the exhibits at the same time I did made for a better experience.

We were watching a movie of a lynching. The teacher said one person hanging in the rope was a doll and one was an actual person. One black young man, taller than me, said "I can't watch this anymore." I silently agreed and left with him.

This artwork was located in the Colored Kindergarten room.

After I checked into my hotel I went to a local park for a walk. Mallards floated in the water.

This was also in the Colored Kindergarten room.

I went to the store to buy two postcards. The ranger asked if I was a teacher. I admitted I used to be a teacher. He gave me the teacher's discount.

This prairie was burned recently. I could still smell the smoke. I heard fox sparrows and tufted titmouse and red bellied woodpeckers and robins singing in here.

This kitchen was in the Colored Kindergarten room. When I got to my hotel it was sketchy. I saw my room and went back to the desk to ask for a lamp, the ice machine and the WIFI code. The man gave me the Wi-Fi code and said he thought I would cancel the booking as soon as I saw the room. He said the ice machine hasn't worked for 7 years. He carried a nice lamp to my room. I went to turn on the television and the batteries had been removed from the remote. Wow. Then I read the reviews on my next place, cancelled that stay, and rebooked another nicer hotel. Live and learn! I definitely need to get back in here tomorrow before sunset or my Honda Fit will turn into a pumpkin and my four new tires will turn into mice.

 

More Pictures Near The Skate Park On Riverside Drive

Such a majestic tree.

Mallards are quacking away.

I walked over this creek that flows into the Arkansas river.

Quack!

Mussel shells

 

Forsythia

 This morning I was up before dawn. I puttered around the hotel room and then I thought I should get fresh air before the rains began. I drove to the dam on Riverside Drive here in Tulsa. Forsythia is in bloom. I walked toward the dam and watched the machinery pick up boulders and set them down. Dump trucks were unloading rocks. Even though this was a noisy place I could hear the Carolina warbler and the Northern Cardinals singing. A blue jay went by. I saw 2 great blue herons, a tern, a gull, and dozens of Mallard ducks. I talked to two guys and asked what is happening. I figured they were installing a path for migrating fish to get over the dam. Turns out that is on the other side of the drought stricken river. This side is for kayaks and white water rafters. The Arkansas River is very low. That should change tonight. We have flood warnings this evening. I spent a couple of hours exploring the river bank. I was going to go to the library but decided against it. Once the rain started I drove over to Trader Joe's for my favorite half salted roasted almonds. Once my date was confirmed for tonight I drove back to the sketchy hotel to get packed up for tomorrow's ride to Topeka. I cannot wait to see my dates tonight at the Flame Broiler-Korean Inspired, Charbroiled to Perfection. I haven't had kim-chi for several months now.

Arkansas Highway 7

Today I left Hot Springs and drove north The road between Hot Springs and Y City was stunning. Y City? Why did they name the city Y? Why? I don't know why. This road was winding and hilly and forested and twisty. I had so much fun driving this road. Here I was stopped to wait for a lead car to show us the way past the construction. This is my view to the right.

This is my view to the left. Guess how many skunks I counted dead on the road? I counted 15 dead skunks. Phew! My friend always says the smell of a dead skunk of the way the skunks give us the final middle finger. I saw vultures and 3 hawks and two dead raccoons. I stopped in Alma, Arkansas to have lunch and visit the bank. The bank teller said tornadoes are expected today. I said I would be in Tulsa so I didn't need to worry. He said there will be tornadoes in Tulsa too. He must be one of those weather worriers. There are storms in Arkansas but here in Tulsa rain in expected the next two days. Good think I went for a walk tonight.

The sunset was pretty when I left my hotel to visit the Mexican food truck next door. Yum, I never ate an empanada before.

This was the sky as I waited for my food to be cooked.

 

W

Last night I bought a ticket to the George W. Bush presidential library. I chose the last available time which was 3 p.m. I figured if I left Independence, Kansas by 9 I could make it to the library by 3.

Lucky for me I got up early and left at 8 a.m. I booked it through Kansas right quick.

I missed my chance to pay for a toll road in Oklahoma so  now I have to call them and pay over the phone. I got my first insect on my windshield over a river in Oklahoma.

I counted seeing 15 vultures, a handful of hawks, ducks and geese and other small birds. I saw horses, cows, sheep, goats and 3 deer carcasses on the road.

I ate lunch while driving. Some of the roads were 80 mph which is faster than I like to go.

Sometimes the highway had 8 lanes going in one direction. There was frequent road construction.

My knuckles were white!

This is a metal portion of the twin towers.

I got to the library at 2:30. I couldn't find a place to park. I stopped a young man of color for help. He offered me directions and said he was going there himself. So I offered him a ride. He is an engineering intern on campus and the Southern Methodist University is closed to students right now. He was very helpful. After that it was a six minute walk to the library and I got there 2 minutes early.

George W. is not my favorite president. I thought he was unnecessarily pugilistic and in favor of the big oil companies. I liked his father better.

But he wasn't all bad.

He had a sense of humor and I liked his self-deprecating style.

He appeared to be a good family man. He loved his daughters.

This is the view from the Rose Garden.

He tried to do things for the environment. He saved a big chunk of islands in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.

He tried to help education but I am not sure that he did.

He could have been more helpful after Hurricane Katrina!

I liked Laura Bush.

She seems like a fine woman.

I liked his way of respecting tradition.

I thought trickle down economics was a bunch of malarky.

Living in the White House is difficult. They spent all their winter holidays at Camp David. George W. enjoys exercise as a way to blow off steam. Me too.

I think he did a fine job creating this library.

The staff were helpful and friendly.

I am glad I visited.

I think I will like the LBJ library better. My cousin says the LBJ library is good.

I read in a book about the hospital in New Orleans that George W.'s plane ride delayed the Coast Guard from rescuing people.

I enjoyed this 10 minute video about the oceans.

My hotel is on Airport Boulevard and there is construction all around here so I ordered Chinese food to be delivered. That broccoli and garlic dish was hot and spicy and every so good. I have two more meals of fried rice in the fridge plus another fortune cookie. Now I am super thirsty!