Beauty,
Time, Nature, Friends and Children
Saturday,
October 15, 2016
Kansas
City, Missouri, United States
Beauty, Time, Nature, Friends, and Children
Beauty Is
Consider the simplicity and
the complexity, and the beauty of this golden flower … It’s called the lollipop
… found only in Peru and Ecuador and in the hothouse of the Longwood Gardens Near Philadelphia in
Pennsylvania.
Time Is
October 8 -12, 2016. Months
and months ago, when we left home on August 16, we had thought that New England
would occupy a large portion of our time. However, we have enjoyed Canada and
the Maritimes so much that we have come close to using up all our fortunate yet
limited time on the road in the northeastern corner of the continent.
We stayed two nights of
October near Rockland, Maine where we also spent most of the day at the
Farnsworth Art Museum and Wyeth Center. Three galleries have some of the
impressive works of the artists/painters: N.C., Andrew and Jamie … they have
gifts of vision and true eyes for detail … we were suitably impressed. Sorry no
pictures allowed in the galleries.
Driving south from Maine, we
head to … and through ... Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and
Pennsylvania. Familiar with the craziness of the highways in the New England
area, our friends Tom and Kris chart a route for us to avoid the big cities,
avoid Connecticut altogether, and guide us along the most scenic routes.
So … south from Rockland, then
west through Maine to New Hampshire (only drove 15 miles through New
Hampshire), into Massachusetts and across it to New York … mostly on
interstates. The drive through Maine and New Hampshire and Massachusetts were
stormy and the winds and rain generated from the northern edge of Hurricane
Matthew accompanied us along the way.
Emerging into northern New
York, we left the soggy weather behind. Just into NY, we headed south into the
Hudson River Valley on route 22 and reveled in the autumn colors along this
way.
We stopped for the night
at a Cracker Barrel in Fishkill, NY and in the morning head out to the home,
museum and library of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Hyde Park.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
elected to four terms as President of the United States in 1933-1945, was a
figure we know from the history books … who he was, what he did, when he did
it. Then again, this place elucidated all that, filled in the gaps, and
revealed the whys and wherefores. We emerged from this historical spot
after five hours with our heads swimming with so much respect for
this man who responded to some of country’s darkest hours. We are sure we could
have stayed much longer. We learned about Eleanor, and Winston Churchill and
FDR’s mother; about the depression and its causes and effects; about WWII and
its widespread destruction; about Japan and Germany and England; and much, much
more. Moreover, we learned that FDR was truly the man of the hour. When
challenging and difficult times face individuals or peoples, there appears an
individual to respond in the most extraordinary way. It would be nice if
such a person appeared in this time. FDR was elected in the midst of the tragic
depression era. It is phenomenal what FDR accomplished in the first 100 days of
his first term as President of the United States.
With that in mind, please
forgive this political comment … just 23 days before the 2016 presidential
election … "I want Roosevelt again!"
Located at the FDR Library,
the figure of the man and woman in this picture were cut from a larger section
of the Berlin Wall. The larger section is located at the Winston Churchill
Memorial and Library in Fulton, Missouri. Edwina Sandys, granddaughter of Prime
Minister Winston S. Churchill, created both works, the one in Hyde Park and the
companion piece in Fulton.
Nature Is
Heading south still in NY, we
found a great campground in the Poconos … the Delaware Water Gap and Pocono
Mountain Campground. This fella welcomes us warmly.
The next day we visited
Bushkill Waterfalls. A great hike up and down boardwalks and stairs to walk
through this beautiful canyon filled with waterfalls both large and small. It
seems that … from Niagara to Newfoundland to New York … waterfalls seem to have
settled into another theme for this trip. Dan at the other end of this
trail in the picture, and we are at Bushkill Falls on the trail. 
Traveling around we visit with
many people. I have reported some of those encounters in this journal. Last
year, we befriended this little chap, Sully. Here, he has his own mind,
grabbing the leash to walk himself. His humans, Tom and Kris brought him
to Yellowstone … where we met them … then to Coeur d’Alene where we met again
and then to Albuquerque where we renewed our acquaintance. Our friendship
blossomed when we visited them near Philadelphia, enjoying their wonderful
hospitality. Our Roadtreks enjoyed each other also.
Together we visited Longwood
Gardens. Equal to the splendor of the Bouchart Gardens in Victoria, British
Columbia, this is indeed a beautiful place with many different gardens.
This picture is Dan and I,
Kris and Tom at the gardens. Then on to
the Brandywine River Art Museum. … even more Wyeth paintings. The Monhegan
Island … shared earlier … and the Brandywine Valley were favorite places of the
Wyeth Family to capture nature in their paintings.
Why the fascination with the
Wyeths? I am especially enthralled with the faces of his subjects and the birds
N.C. has captured in oils and bringing out the light. Google the images … and
you will realize the gifts they have shared with us.
Roads are
It is 1,000 miles between
Pennsylvania and Kansas City MO. As we are heading home westward to
Colorado, we decide to spend the next two days to just speed across the land to
see our grandchildren. The path leads us through West Virginia, Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois and into Missouri. We do stop occasionally. This is one such
stop. In a nation where more and more jobs have shifted to sitting, it makes
sense that America recognizes the necessity of big chairs as high profile
landmarks. This one, 54 feet tall, is in Casey,
Illinois. The city of Casey actually has 8 giant structures including
wooden shoes and a crochet hook.
Children Are
We post this last blog from
our daughter’s home in Kansas City, MO. We have traveled across the country
west to arrive here as our last stop before heading home. Two of our
grandchildren live here and capture our hearts over and over again. If we had
known grandchildren would be such delight, we would have had them first.
As we share bushels and pecks of love with them, we wind up our journey and
turn to home in Colorado. Thank you to all who have shared this adventure with
us. Writing about our trip has been great fun and it is a greater pleasure to
share it. This is the final map of our trip.
Comments
What a fabulous trip! So great to see you
and thanks again for all of your help with the boys, etc. Looking forward to
December! From Jennifer Benjamin,
on Oct 18, 2016 at 02:46AM
Come back and see us again. Or perhaps we
will meet up "on the road again". From Kristina Beckman,
on Oct 18, 2016 at 04:25PM
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