#27 Repair RV and leave Topeka, KS

While driving through Zion National Park in Utah, a very narrow bridge jumped out and tried to block the RV from making the turn!! The RV pushed back at the bridge, but the bridge won. Poor RV had two smashed bay doors and multiple scratches and dents. It was a good thing we didn't need to get into the propane tank--the door was smashed shut. The other doors would open, but they looked so sad. Frank made many phone calls to insurance company and Holiday Rambler Parts and Service. While in Moab, Utah, we had an insurance adjuster come out and take pictures of the damage. They were forwarded on to our insurance carrier. Then we moved! Thank goodness for internet and cell phones. We were able to get our claim taken care of, filled out all the forms and located a shop in Topeka, KS where we would meet up with the new bay doors and have the body work done. This is just some of the damage. This is the worst door, and the only one we couldn't open. Behind this door is the propane tank. Good thing it's summer, and we don't use it for heat.

We are in Topeka, KS at Yingling Auto Body. They put our coach and us inside a wonderful, big, airy shop to work on the doors. There wasn't any damage to any of the living area, so the owner of the shop told us we could stay in the RV while we were there. He gave us a key to the door, the security code to the building and hooked us up to 50 amps of power. We are both so impressed with this shop and with the people who took care of us. The picture above is the final sanding of the finish after the doors were installed and painted. This was our home base for five days. While the guys worked on the doors we would take off and do our sight seeing and chores. You know, grocery shopping, laundry and oh yes, we even made a stop at a local veterinerian to have Gidget checked. Almost the entire time we were in Topeka we had rain, or clouds. The first night it even hailed. The last day we were in the shop, it really rained steady all day. The weather report had it raining all weekend, so we found a campground in Topeka and spent the weekend hunkered down awaiting good weather. We went to church at the Presbyterian church with the Tiffany windows. Very nice service and we enjoyed talking to a couple who invited us to coffee and cookies after services.
All fixed!! Yea, the RV is pretty and straight again. They did an excellent job and we'd recommend this shop to anyone, for any kind of body shop repair!
We are on the road. We stayed at a KOA kamp on our way to the Rally at the Rock in North Little Rock, AR. This will be an interesting rally, with lots of new people to meet.

We had to purchase fuel again. The price is going down. We paid $3.92.9 at a Phillips 66 station in Mountianburg, AR. Nice to have it down under $4.00 per gallon.

#26 Topeka, Tiffany windows, motorcycles 9-9-08

Inside the sanctuary of the First Presbyterian Church are all matching Tiffany stained glass windows. This is the most beautiful display of stained glass I have ever seen. All the windows were done at the same time, which is unusual for any church because of the expense. Usually churches will have one at a time done. The benefactor of these windows only wanted the best and wanted to have them done all put in at the same time. All of the procedures and formulas used to produce these windows and other Tiffany glass were destroyed upon the death of Mr. Tiffany's assistant. This was stipulated in his will when he passed away. There are folds in the glass, stippling, coloring and faceting that have never been duplicated.
The light from outside is the only light that illuminates these windows. Mr. Tiffany came to the church and designed the windows to take advantage of the light on each side of the church. There are layers of glass where you can actually see through to the next layer, such as where Christ's foot in in the water. You can see his toes through the glass that is the color of the water.

Each window has a bible verse and under each verse, in each pane is the Tiffany Studio signature. Even though in the 1960's there was a tornado that did some damage to the Capitol Building right across the street, these windows were spared.
There are two windows that are "jeweled" with insets of hand faceted glass. Each is unique in design, but complimentary in order to keep the symmetry on either side of the sanctuary.

From churches with millions of dollars worth of windows to more modern collections. We visited the Harley Davidson Museum. This is a small collection of bikes that all have histories. The above one caught my eye because of the side car.This is a very early edition of a Harley. The seat doesn't look too comfortable to me.
Frank liked this one. He reminisced about owning an old Harley.AH, one that would go slow and park easily. As long as it didn't tip over, maybe Dixie could manage something like this.
Now we seen it all. A Harley Davidson juke box. Just what every Harley owner needs!

#25 Tuttle Creek Pond and Topeka, KS 9-4-2008

Driving through Kansas you see miles of limestone fence posts. There aren't a lot of trees on the prairie and not far beneath the topsoil is this layer of limestone. So the pioneers took advantage of the limestone and started building fence posts, and then quarrying it for building blocks. The posts never rot, and they look pretty, too.We pulled into a Kansas State Park at Tuttle Creek Pond on a Thursday afternoon. We were able to get a space overlooking the pond. This is backwater from Tuttle Creek. It is full of fish. Below is the view out our front window.Out the dining room window we could see the lake as we ate our meals. The weather was cloudy and it rained a couple of times. But we were able, between the rain storms, to meet some of our neighbor campers. One fellow was an avid cat fisherman, and full of funny jokes and stories. We spent a few happy hours visiting with him and a bunch of his friends that came up over the weekend to fish. We were amazed at how full the campgrounds get over the weekends. People love the camping and fishing experience and Kansas has many parks and camping sights.After we left Tuttle Creek we drove about 50 miles to Topeka. While getting some work done on the coach at Yingling Auto Body Shop we toured a few places in Topeka. Topeka is the state capitol, so of course we had to visit the Capitol building, which is one of the three highest domed capitol buildings in the US. Below is a view of the glass part of the dome from the inside viewing landing. We were on the Dome Tour when we took this picture.We are now above the glass dome in the roof dome. The lights that you see in the above picture coming through the glass are from those round windows at the bottom of the picture. See the spiral staircase? Dixie climbed up those stairs. The entire trip from the bottom where we started the Dome tour to the top of those spiral stairs is 296 steps! I can't believe I did it!!!
Below is the view from the landing surrounding the dome on the outside. After climbing up the spiral stairs you go through a door and stand on a landing (with a very high railing around it!) to view the city. As you can see Kansas is flat! You can actually see 35 miles away from this view point. Oh yea, this was the only day in Topeka that the sun was shining! We had clouds and mist and rain all the rest of the time. The first night we arrived in Topeka we were awakened at 5 a.m. by a LOUD thunderstorm. Thunder, lightning, rain and even some hail welcomed us to Topeka. We both were very happy that it didn't do that again! After we finished the Dome tour we toured the capitol building itself. This is a very old building and it is in the process of being refurbished. They are restoring it to it's original splendor as much as they can. Of course they have to have some of the modern equipment to function (see the telephones at each of the Senator's desks), but the furnishings and decor are as authentic as they can be kept. Below is Frank, at a Senator's desk.
When this part of the ceiling in the congressional hall was restored, they found four original fresco's painted on the ceiling. They had been painted over and forgotten. The lighting had been changed to fluorescent. Now with the restoration in progress, it is being returned to its original grandeur with chandeliers reminiscent of the period.
In the hall of murals you can see the workman repairing and refinishing the wooden banister. When this is restored the archway you see blocked up with sheet rock and the area where he is standing will both be opened up again. This is a 10 year project with completion supposed to happen in 2010.
Below is the Governor's office. Her temporary office until the restoration is complete. The desk and the mantel are all original.

#24 Abilene the prosperous and historical 9-2 thru 9-4-2008

We arrived in Abilene on Tuesday, Sept 2. The day after Labor Day. We thought we would only stay a couple of days. HA! I was amazed at all the things there were to see and do. Abilene is the boyhood home of Dwight D. Eisenhower. We spent all morning one day just going through his museum and home. He had an amazing life. In the afternoon we went through a museum dedicated to Greyhound racing dogs. It was very interesting and even had a resident Greyhound to greet us.The picture above is the old switchboard that was in Abilene. The museum of Thelephony is dedicated to telephones and equipment through the years. It is one of the best done displays of telephones and their use we've ever seen.
This is typical of the displays. Very authentic and people friendly. Don't you just want to sit down and make a call?At the same place is the old wooden carved carosel. This carosel traveled around the country and was set up at fairs and carnivals. It is still working and you can take a ride on it for $2.00. It is displayed inside a building to preserve it and keep it authentic. We took a tour of the Lebold Mansion, which was built by the banker of Abilene. He built the mansion so that when you went up to the tower you could see the trains arrive in Abilene. The mansion was built before the turn of the century and was decorated with frescos on the cielings and beautiful lighting. The lights were all gas--no electricity when the house was built.This is the cieling in the guest parlor. I was amazed at the restoration and all the details. A couple of men from San Francisco that specialize in restoring Victorian homes now own and work on the mansion. The restoration was started by a 64 year old widow who took it on as her retirement project. The two men bought it from her estate when she died at 89. She was still working on the home at the time. It had been a rooming house for the telephone operators who worked at the switchboards we saw at the Telephony Museum. Walls had been added and even stoves and refrigerators in those beautiful old rooms. After the telephone operators left, it was used as apartments, and then used to house an orphanage. Some of the town people wanted it torn down as it had become an eyesore. But now, it is a beautiful victorian mansion which you can tour.This is the Kirby House. It is another of Abilene's mansions. Only it has been turned into a restaurant. Look closely at the very top of the tower. It is a the very small room that you can see at the top of the house with only one window showing.The inside front doors as you enter into the Kirby Mansion. Everything is just beautiful and elegant.These are the steps to get to the tower room. The last set of steps. It is four flight up. No elevator. The steps are narrow, but they have been decorated so nice I just had to take a picture of them.Guess who's coming to dinner? Just two of us. What a very cool place to celebrate a special occasion. This room has to be reserved in advance, but it seemed ready for us! (We actually ate dinner downstairs in one of the dining rooms)On to the Seely Mansion. What an interesting story. Our tour guide was the present owner and only the second owner of the home. He purchased it from two spinster sisters and lived with them for five years before they passed away. All the furnishings and dishes and carpets are original. This fireplace is all mosiac. All the woodwork was painted white by their father when he built the home. The girls were small children and white was easier to keep clean and germ free. Their father was a Dr. He patented medicine and it was sold all over the country. He had the house built in 1905 and had all the latest inventions installed. The family attended the worlds fair in 1905 and purchased all the furniture, equipment, dishes, etc. at this fair. They spent as much on that as it cost to build the home. This is the stairwell up to the bedrooms. There are 11 bedrooms and 25 rooms in the house. The family entertained almost nightly. On the third floor there is a ballroom where the family had an orchestra on retainer so they could have music and dances at any time. The dining room table had 12 leaves, so when the family had lots of guests the table could be extended out into the foyer. All the china is spode and there are 12 complete sets, plus extra pieces to space out so dishes didn't have to be passed around. There were always servants around to take care of the serving and cleaning. The girls were well educated and believed themselves above the population of Abilene at the time. They did know Dwight and his brothers, because they went to schools with them. The Eisenhower boys delivered ice to their home when they were teenagers, but they were from the wrong side of the tracks and were never invited to any of the dances in the ballroom.
In the basement is one of the first all wood, five pin bowling alleys ever installed in a private home. This was the game room and also housed pin ball machines. The walls and ceilings are insulated with wood shavings to keep the noise from bothering the ladies and gentlemen upstairs being entertained. The present owner, Terry, went to the original manufactuer of the bowling alley and obtained the original paper work. He has it hanging on the wall. Because this mansion was never owned by any other people, it is an amazing historical landmark. We really enjoyed learning all about this home.

The grounds of the Seely mansion had been neglected by the ladies as they aged, but the present owner is restoring them back to original elegance. They can be rented and used for weddings and other special occasions. Very beautiful.

#23 Lucas, Wilson Lake & Abilene, Ks 8-28 thru 31-2008

We decided that we would camp somewhere for the holiday and not be on the road. We ended up at Wilson Lake at a Corp of Engineers campground. Because I made our reservations so late, all that was available was dry camping. But what a nice dry camp it was. We had our own designated campsite complete with picnic table, fire ring and lantern holder. It was all gravel and we could see the lake from our front window. All the sites had lots of open space between them, so running our generator was not a problem. We had very nice weather and spent quite a few hours just sitting in the sun being lazy.

The first afternoon we were at Wilson Lake we took a drive to the town of Lucas. This is a one main street town, very small with lots of "art" work. We went to visit "The Garden of Eden" a cabin built just for tourists by Mr. Dinsmore. He started this cabin and artwork when he was in his 60's and worked on it until he died in his late 80's. The style of artwork is called grassroots. Everything is made using concrete. He even built his own coffin with a glass lid which is on display in the mausoleum he built in back of the cabin. All of the artwork is either political or biblicial. The house is all made of Kansas Limestone, and some of the "blocks" are 20 feet long. It is amazing and kinda weird.Mr. Dinsmore was a survivor of the Civil War and his home and it's artwork are registered as a historic place. After we left Wilson Lake we headed to Abilene. As you can see, you cannot take the train any longer. The train station is closed, but remains as a reminder of travel after the Civil War and in the early part of the 1900's. The train station is also an historic place. Hopefully you can make out some of the history of old Abilene.
Both of us were surprised to see a two story log house. The upstairs was only accessible by a set of stairs on the outside, which are no longer there. There wasn't any heat upstairs, and it was only used for sleeping.

The inside of the bottom story of the cabin. Pretty primitive, but livable for the pioneers of Abilene.

The old town of Abilene is falling down. There is some talk of restoring it as a tourist attraction, but as you can see, it needs a lot of work.

We liked looking through the old buildings and imagining the town as a rip roaring cow town during the cattle drives.

#22 Kansas, Goodland and Hayes 8-26 thru 8-30-2008

When we left Denver we were told that there wasn't much to see in Kansas, but we have found a lot of wonderful things to see and do.

Our first stop was in Goodland, KS where there is a giant copy of Van Gogh's painting of sunflowers. The town is very small and the streets in downtown are paved with red bricks.

We spent a couple of nights in Goodland and then drove on to Hayes, KS. We went to Fort Hayes and toured what remains of the old fort.

This is an actual 36 star flag, such as those that flew over the old Fort when it was used by the Union Calvery. It is flown during the day and retired at night just like in the old days.

These are two of the Jr. Officer quarters. They were each shared with two families. Each family had two bedrooms and a sitting room. The kitchen and dining room were shared. The laundry was done by wives of the enlisted men and were paid about $1.00 per day.

This is the block house where the men who were sentenced to serve time were sent. It consisted of four solitary cells for violent offenders, and then one big room where the other prisoners slept.

I am standing in one of the solitary cells. Not much but a 4 x 6 room with stone floor and walls.

This is the round house, or blockade. There were gaps in the stone work fo the guns to point out that have been filled in. The windows were added later and it was used as a store house and commisary. All the buildings are being restored and the area is kept up very nicely. There is a little museum at the visitor center that has some of the artifacts that have been excavated during the restoration.