First thing in the morning, Charlie looked out the door and saw that our neighbors had been very busy last night! Usually, we cut through the trees to get to Peg & Tom's site ... but after seeing this monster ... never again!
Tom & Peg left Binder Campground a couple hours ahead of
us. I forgot to capture a picture on the road, so we grabbed a picture of them
departing through the trees! Look close and you can see their rig! We had a late check-in time at our next stop.
We
traveled east on US 50, back toward the capitol of Jefferson City. We passed a massive flag flying. It reminds me that Jefferson
City is a very patriotic city. Where we turned onto US 54 and US 63.
We crossed the Missouri River on the Jefferson City Bridge.
That is the name for two continuous through arch truss bridges over the Missouri
River, over which US 54 and US 63 travel between Cole County and Callaway
County. We walked on the pedestrian bridge portion of this bridge yesterday.
We turned off US 54 and US 63 and turned onto US 63 N, where
we captured our last view of the capitol.
We are traveling north on US 63 all day today. It looks an
expressway, but it has many at grade intersections. So far, it is a real good
road to travel on!
Ashland was founded in 1853. It was named for the Ashland Estate
of Kentucky Congressman Henry Clay. Clay was instrumental in the Missouri
Compromise of 1820, which allowed Missouri's admission as the 24th state.
The first humans, who entered
the Columbia Missouri area at least twelve thousand years ago, were nomadic
hunters. Later, woodland tribes lived in villages along waterways and built
mounds in high places. The Osage and Missouria nations were expelled by the
exploration of French traders and the rapid settlement of American pioneers.
The latter arrived by the Boone's Lick Road and hailed from the slave-owning
culture of the Upland South, especially Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee,
giving Boonslick the name "Little Dixie" during the American Civil
War. German, Irish, and other European immigrants soon joined. The current Columbia
was founded in 1821, it is home to the University of Missouri. It is Missouri's
fourth most-populous and fastest growing city, with an estimated 125,000
residents in 2017.
I saw Finger Lakes State Park on our atlas and it immediately
made me think of home … the Finger Lakes region of New York. Finger Lakes State
Park is one of two ATV parks in the Missouri State Parks system. You can hear the
roar of ATVs and off-road motorcycles combined with the peacefulness of rolling
hills at Finger Lakes State Park. Built in a former coal mining area, Finger
Lakes’ trails and motocross track are popular with users who come for the day,
but often fall under the spell of the spacious campground, leafy trees and
hilly terrain. The park is also the site of the challenging 2.75-mile Kelley
Branch Mountain Bike Trail and a 4.5-mile water trail.
I came across this ornate entrance, and I had to figure out
what it was to. E A D S … I racked my brain for that acronym, but it’s not an acronym.
It’s Eads Ranch. It is a grand sprawling home along US 63, about 2 miles north
of Moberly. Trees block the mansion in
this picture but it appears to be huge! Wencil Eugene Eads passed away in 2011.
He is the one who built this large and unusual home. It still garners lots of
attention from people passing by on US 63. Wencil always wanted to get his home
on the National Register of Historic Places.
On our travels today, we saw ample representation of America’s
Heartland … farmlands, red barns, white barns and old barns.
We passed through Macon Missouri in the heart of mid-America
and the historical crossroads of US 63 and 36. Macon is a city with a rich
cultural heritage. It was named after Nathaniel Macon, soldier and legislator. Macon
is known as the "City of Maples" with over 275,000 maple trees.
Kirkville Missouri is
home to Truman University. This is the second time we have seen Truman
University on our trip. While on our guided tour of the Jefferson City Capitol,
the group on the tour with us are part of the Taiwan at Truman program. Taiwan
at Truman is a program developed in partnership with Zen Del High School in
Chunghua, Taiwan. Students from the
school visit Truman’s campus and surrounding Missouri sites for five weeks each
summer in annually alternating groups of young men and women.
When we came into Greentop Missouri, there was a large sign
that told us this was the hometown of Rhonda Vincent. She is an American
bluegrass singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Almost 20 years ago,
The Wall Street Journal proclaimed Vincent "the new Queen of
Bluegrass". Her musical career began when she was a child in her family's
band The Sally Mountain Show, and has spanned more than four decades. Vincent and
her band has even filmed a live all-gospel DVD at a church in her hometown of
Greentop, Missouri.
We crossed from Missouri into Iowa. We have officially entered
a state I have never been in before. I have to say, I did not think that Iowa
would be this hilly. There are just as many crops as I thought there would be.
I was surprised that this area was home to Amish. We saw buggies, wagons and an Amish crossing sign!
Bloomfield Iowa welcome sign, announces home of Kevin Ritz,
Major League pitcher. He is a former Major League Baseball right-handed
pitcher. He grew up in Bloomfield and he is an alumni of William Penn
University. He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 4th round of the 1985
MLB amateur draft. He pitched for the Detroit Tigers and the Colorado Rockies.
His big break was when he joined the Rockies in 1994. He was a member of the
first Colorado Rockies team to reach the playoffs.
South of Ottumwa, along the roadside I caught a glimpse of
these three crosses, and open tomb and Jesus standing outside. I did not see
any sign, nor could I find any information about the roadside display on line.
Just another one of God’s wonders.
In Ottumwa Iowa we crossed the Des Moines River.
We arrived in Oskaloosa Iowa. We are staying at Lake Keomah
State Park Campground for 3 nights.
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