Made it to Ann Arbor

We had a nice drive from Champaign IL to Ann Arbor MI yesterday.  The only thing that was a little nerve racking was once we were in Michigan the interstate has a speed limit of 60 for trucks and 70 for cars which really creates a dangerous situation with all the passing and lane changes.  We were able to bypass the Chicago area by taking some smaller roads around the city and rejoining the main interstate near Gary IL.  We are now at the Hell Creek Campground north west of Ann Arbor.  It is a really nice park and we are only the second visitor this season.  We are the only ones here so it is really quiet.  The weather is really nice with the temps in the upper 60’s so not sure why people are not out camping.  Suspect this park would be really busy in the summer.  Seems like we are finding parks with strange fee structures this trip.  The park changes $25 for a site with electric but if you want to hook up to water at the site it is an extra $5!  On the way to the park we drove through Dexter MI which is the town that was hit by a tornado last month.  There are still in the mist of clean up and rebuilding.

Our daughter came out to meet us and later she took us in to see her work location.  She works for a high tech company which was a small startup that was acquired by a a larger company a few years ago.  They have a very interesting work environment…. very much like the Google environment.  A much more relaxed and productive environment then the old school defense industry we are familiar with. 

Today we took a tour of Ann Arbor and spent most of the day visiting with our daughter.  Tomorrow we plan to visit the Henry Ford Museum and take a tour of the plant that makes the Ford F150 truck which should be really interesting.  We have had a little rain today and it has cooled off but still not bad for this time of the year.

The Lincoln Museum

Today we visited the Lincoln Museum and Tomb.  We found the museum to be simply outstanding and very well presented.  They have two major exhibits areas.  One deals with Lincoln’s life from a child until he was a candidate for President and the second exhibit area was about his life as President.  All through out the museum were life like figures of various people and the quality was unbelievable.  The skin tones and eyes looked life like and at times it almost seemed like they were alive.  According to one of the guides the figures are made out of silicon using a new process.  We found the slave exhibit and the civil war exhibit to be the most memorable.  Unfortunately they did not allow photos in the exhibit area so no photos.  The attention to detail in the exhibits was unbelievable.  For example, they had an exhibit of the white house kitchen and you could feel heat coming from the stove!  Another thing we found interesting is the political environment of Lincoln’s presidency which is really no different from today.  The names and issues are different but the level of fighting between the two parties is really no different.

Abe as a boy

The Lincoln family

Gen Grant

At the Lincoln tomb

Lincoln’s tomb

Grave

After leaving the museum and tomb we decided to head on down the road and ended up D & W RV Park north of Champaign IL.  The park is relatively small and very nice.  It is located on the banks of a small fishing lake and we would recommend it if you are in the area. 

Tomorrow it is on to Ann Arbor.

A Travel Day

Today we were on the road early heading from Eastern Kansas to Springfield IL to visit the Lincoln Museum.  The roads were great and the weather was perfect which made for a fine travel day even if it was a long day.  This evening we are at the Riverside Park campground in Springfield.  This is a city campground on the northwest part of the city.  The only real thing this park has going for it is the location.  It is relatively close to the Lincoln Museum.  Beyond that it is nothing special.  The park is fairly old and is located near a major road so there is a lot of road noise.  The park has the most unusual layout that we have ever encountered.  At most of the sites the water hook up is at one end of the site and the electrical is at the other.  There is not physical way to connect to both without an extra cord or hose.  Obviously whoever designed the layout wasn’t an RV’er.  The rate is $25 per night regardless if you have no hookup or full hookups!  We haven’t decided if we will stay here tomorrow night or head on up the road and it will all depend on how long we are at the Museum.

Sorry for not photos tonight but we will have a lot hopefully tomorrow about our 16th President.

Miles driven:  464

A Beautiful Driving Day

Today we left Greensburg KS heading for Toronto Lake in the eastern part of Kansas.  Unlike the previous days the weather was simply beautiful with clear blue skies and no wind.  The drive was through gentle rolling hills that we stunningly green.  We had never stayed at the Toronto State Lake before but were pleasantly surprised.  The campsites are tucked back into the woods and are very quiet.  Tonight the place is nearly vacant with the nearest neighbors about 300 ft away.  Suspect it is that way except on holidays.  We would highly recommend this campground for those in the area.  The cost was $14 for a water and electric site.  A sewer connection is an additional $3.50.

This afternoon we drive over to a very small town called Virgil where Dean’s Dad and immediate family grew up.  We visited the cemetery and were lucky to connect with a local resident who knew the family from way back.  Tomorrow it is up early to head to Springfield MO.

Miles driven 235.

Greensburg … the town that didn’t die

Today we are staying in Greensburg KS which was hit by a nearly 2 mile wide EF5 tornado in May 2007.  This was the town that was featured in the Planet Green TV program titled “Greensburg”.  This town was basically wiped off the map by the tornado which damaged something like 95% of the town.  Greensburg was not the first town in the mid-west to experience this but the unique thing about Greensburg is that the community decided to rebuilt the town in a sustainable “green” fashion.  Almost all the public and several of the private buildings are certified as LEED platinum buildings which means they are built to the highest standards for energy efficiency. 

The town also installed 10 wind generators that generate enough power for 4000 homes which is more then enough to power the complete city plus sell power to the grid.   Several individuals and businesses have also installed wind generators.  This is a photo of the city wind farm.

 

This building has three small wind generators plus solar panels.  For those who watched the program this is the 547 Arts Center.

This is one of the tornado shelters installed in the temporary trailer city that FEMA built to house the city residence until the rebuilding was complete (Fema’ville on the TV program) .

There is still a lot of evidence of the damage around town even after 5 years.

This is a photo of some metal debris wrapped around a tree limb at the small lake just outside of town where we are camped at this evening.  We were walking in the fields around the lake and there was debris all over the ground.

All in all we were a little surprised at how must damage and debris still remains in the town even after 5 years and how much work still remains.  We were also surprised at the number of people that obviously decided not to rebuild as evidenced by the numerous empty lots many still containing the old foundations and driveways/walks from the old houses.

More information can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensburg,_Kansas

A Winter Wonderland

Today we drove in rain, snow, and through a dust storm.  When we left home this morning it was lightly raining and as soon as came up out of the valley the rain turned into snow.  The snow continued fairly steady until we reached I40 in northern AZ.  Once we got into New Mexico the snow returned until almost Albuquerque at which point the dust started blowing.  The winds must have been in the 50-60 mph range.  It only takes a few minutes in blowing cold snow to remind us of why we love living in the AZ desert.  Yup it gets hot but we will take the heat any day over the cold!

This evening we are at Santa Rosa Lake State Park which is about 10 miles north of Santa Rosa NM.  The lake is very low but the campground is nice and you can’t complain about the $14 rate.  All total we drove 566 miles today.  Tomorrow the goal is Greensburg KS.  Hopefully the storms that they had there today (2” hail) will have calmed down a little.

The following photos were from south of Show Low AZ

Ready to Head Out–well maybe

Tomorrow morning we are ready to head out on a 3-4 week trip to the mid-west, that is assuming the weather cooperates.  They are forecasting snow for the AZ high country so time will tell if we will be able to go or what the route will be.  Our plan for this trip is to visit the following places…

Greensburg, KS – site of the devastating tornado a few years ago

Springfield, IL – visit the Lincoln museum

Ann Arbor, MI – to visit our daughter

Indiana – genealogy research

Central Kansas – Dean’s home town

If all things work out tomorrow we will be in Santa Rosa NM.