The Buck Stops Here – Truman Library

At Blue Springs Lake Campground, Lee’s Summit, MO

Arriving in the Kansas City / Independence area yesterday, and with plans to visit with my Aunt (and other relatives) tomorrow, we decided to take some time today to visit the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence.  I have been here at least 3 or 4 times before, but Marcia had never visited it before.  Above and below is a re-creation of the Oval Office during Harry Truman’s administration.

   

As you stand at the entrance, you hear Harry Truman’s talking about the items in the oval office, such as…

…“The globe, in front of the mantel, replaces the one which was given to me by General Eisenhower at his headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, in Nineteen Hundred and Forty-Five. When General Eisenhower succeeded me in the Presidency, I returned the original globe to him.”

   

One thing not found in the oval office re-creation is “The Buck Stops Here” sign, which has its own display just as you enter the Oval Office re-creation area.  If you click on the right picture (above) you can read about the famous desk sign.

Harry S. Truman was born in Lamar Missouri, May 8, 1884.  While the "S" did not stand for any one name, it was chosen as his middle initial to honor both of his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young.  After fighting in WW1, and after a few shots at running and owning a business, in 1922 he was elected as County Court Judge of Jackson County's eastern district (like a County Administrator), his first shot at politics.  In 1934 he was elected as a US Senator, and in November 1944 elected Vice President, taking office in January 1945, and then taking over as President with the death of Roosevelt just 82 days later.

As with all of the Presidential Libraries I have been in, the Truman Library is full of historical displays, lots of information (one could feel an information overload at times), and on this day…a small crowd.  We took the 45 minutes to watch a movie about Truman’s life, narrated by whom I think is David McCullough, and it was very interesting…and the 45 minutes flew by.  Well worth seeing.

   

In the outer courtyard, the graves of Harry and Bess lay in peace…with an eternal flame, and flags from the 48 states that he was President over (Hawaii and Alaska were granted statehood after his Presidency)  It has been raining off and on here today, and we were able to get out there during a slight break in the drizzly weather.

The Library (museum) is open daily, except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.  It is open from 9-5, except on Sunday when it opens at noon.  There are so many exhibits that I just can’t decide which ones to show…so I will let you, the reader, come to the Library and see it for yourself.  Well worth the $8, $7 if you are over 65, $3 for children between the ages of 6 to 15, and free for children 5 and under.  Their website is also full of information.  They just don’t make politicians like Harry anymore…

Drab Kansas, Cracker Barrel Layover

At Cracker Barrel, Junction City, Kansas

Yep, we did make it to Cracker Barrel, Junction City Kansas…all 357 miles!  The last time we drove that far in a day was back in June when we drove from Citrus Heights to Crescent City on our way to Oregon.  We were just under that twice on our way from Citrus Heights to Lake Jordanelle back in August when we left California.  For the most part lately, we have been keeping under 250.

  

Today, the entire day, the weather was very drab…turn on wipers, turn off wipers, looks like the sun is going to pop out, the sun does not pop out.

After being surrounded by the Rocky Mountains for so many weeks, it was strange that the tallest thing we saw was windmills.  With around 15% of the windmills standing idle, despite a constant 10-20 mph wind from the North-Northwest, it made me think….   What if only 85% of the cell towers actually worked, would people care?  What if only 85% of the hydroelectric generators worked?  What if only 85% of the new cars actually ran??  What if your electricity was only available 85% of the time???  It seems that so many times when I pass windmills like these, that 15% of them are sitting idle despite a good wind.  Makes me wonder why…

Had a nice sleep at Flagger Reservoir, although a third RV came into the area around 10 pm.  We were the first of the group to leave, after feeding the dogs at 7:30 (now it will be 8:30 since we crossed into Central Time).  Arrived at Cracker Barrel about 5:15, about nine and a half hours later…stopping for coffee at the first gas station we could get into, at the Kansas Welcome Center to cook breakfast, at the first Pilot/Flying J in Kansas to get some real coffee, at a few rest areas, and at a Flying J in Salina for gas.  Had a good dinner, and scored a Blake Shelton and a Brad Paisley CD, each for $3.99!   As far as I can tell, we are one of two RVs staying the night in Cracker Barrel, and I re-hooked up the HHR just before writing this blog so we can just pull out and go in the morning.  Hope the coffee at the nearby truck stop is better than the Conaco we stopped at first thing this morning.  And we will probably stay at the first rest area along the way for a much longer so that by the time we pass through Kansas City…the traffic will be light.  We only have 150 miles to go tomorrow…