Oklahoma City, OK to Abilene, KS – Eisenhower Presidential Museum – 5/2/2017

May 2, 2017 (Tuesday)

Slept really well, even with a bunch of “kids” checking in late and deciding to visit (loudly) in the hallway for an hour. The bed was really comfortable. Michael woke up with a touch of gout. Guess we’ll have to stop eating so often at the Cheesecake Factory. Bummer.

We got up and didn’t leave until around 10:00 AM. The drive today was from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Abilene, Kansas – a little over 250 miles on mostly highways, toll roads, and one stretch of a two lane road that wasn’t that bad. The weather started out beautiful in Oklahoma City, but by the time we got to Abilene, Kansas it was colder (low 60’s) and looked like rain.

We heard on the news later that there’s going to be a big storm. Oh, yea, a big storm in Kansas. Just what we wanted. NOT!

We stopped in Perry, Oklahoma to mail a check I had forgotten about that needed to be dropped off at the post office. We also went to the Perry, Oklahoma McDonald’s for our usual travel breakfast. Then it was all about the drive.

An exceptionally long load coming around the corner.

Oklahoma is so lush and green. Just lovely. Kansas, on the other hand, from what we’ve seen, doesn’t have a whole lot of big hills. We got into Abilene, Kansas at around 2:30 PM and went to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Museum ($9.00 per person for old person discount). The Library is across the way from the Museum, with the Eisenhower family home on the grounds, as well as some other lovely buildings. You could easily spend a full day exploring the grounds. We knew our time was limited so we went straight to the Museum.

Edie was singing at this point…”Prettiest little town I’ve ever seen.”

Beautiful grounds, Library on the right.

Possibly in the center of the property, directly between the library and the museum.

The Great Seal of the United States of America

As we were paying our entrance, we got to talking to a couple who are also on a quest to see all the Presidential Libraries and Museums. Their names were Ken and Rita from Texas. They have visited all the Presidential Libraries. We were talking about all the Libraries and which ones we liked most.

Ken and Rita, they have been to all the Presidential Libraries. Nice meeting them and comparing notes. We have one left and will be there tomorrow.

The Museum was so different than what I was expecting. It had so much on his life as a military man and how things came to be. Fascinating stuff. There was also fun and interesting things on Mamie Eisenhower. They showed a lot of her clothing, hats, jewelry, and dishes. (I love that sort of stuff about the first ladies.) It was hard to read everything, however, because the lighting was poor in most areas (or at least for these old eyes).

There is a huge section on the Chisholm Trail. Its creation and development, the cattle drives and wildness at the end of the drives.

John Chisholm, half Scot, half Cherokee. He was a trail builder, marker and promoter. A diplomat between the US and several different tribes. He was a trading post owner and operator.

There were many of these illustrated how to rope a cow, horse, etc. at the neck, feet, etc.

Abilene is believed to be the birth place of the cowboy boot. A migration from civil war boots to a stirrup friendly pointed toe and high heel design. Pointed toe easy to hit the stirrup and high heel to rest and hold in the stirrup.

If you have a touch screen you can un-pinch it and read. Bottom continued in next photograph.

Wild Bill Hickok. True spelling found here.

Ike was a product of the history of Abilene.

A renovation and expansion is coming and these photos represent future displays in the works.

So many moments in the World War II story.

One of several cross country trips Ike would take in his lifetime.

A major influence on Ike, two star General Fox Conner.

You get to walk through a mock landing craft while looking ahead at what so many would have seen.

So many medals, awards, gifts and accolades were laid upon him.

He served as President of Columbia University for a time.

There was just so much information to read, listen to, and view that I went into brain overload after about an hour and a half. I could not contain anything else. I was done so I just sat down and waited for Michael to get his fill. Guess what – he didn’t get his fill but the Museum closed and we had to leave. I’m sure he’d still be there reading everything if they would have let him.

He decided to run and had a great Hero record from which to launch.

Another cross country trip. He was indefatigable.

This is a victory – 55 % of the popular vote and 442 electoral votes to 89.

We were running out of time, this museum is reading intense. There was not a section that well covered the Interstate Highway system created in his administration.

“All the dreams of my youth have been fulfilled.” DDE

Though there are screens, mostly it is reading information, allow extra time to go through this museum.

We walked outside and both said we were hungry. We got on our handy dandy phone and looked what was nearby and decided on a Mexican restaurant not too far away called “La Fiesta.” Michael won the food contest today as his chicken burrito was delicious. I got rice, beans and a cheese enchilada. Wasn’t thrilled with the taste but it was okay. The place was very festive, colorful, and fun and we both enjoyed the atmosphere.

Our home for the night (booking.com for under $50.00) was down the street from the restaurant but we decided to just take a little drive around before we settled in for the night. We saw some mansion (another very colorful place), and lovely neighborhoods. The motel room is small but very clean and nice.

The inside pictures did not turn out. sorry, it was small, clean and okay for a night.

That was our day. Hope yours was great!