2022 Camp Cowling - Day 1 St. Louis

Our annual grandkid fest started with a  big disappointment!  Austin and Nolan’s flight scheduled for 8:30 out of Houston was changed to 5:30 am and I wasn’t notified. SWA said it was a system glitch. Lauren (taking 100% after her momma) threw a fit and Mark complained. The boys got the last seats on a late afternoon flight and we are all together. Southwest is giving us a free ticket- but Austin and Nolan missed one of their treats. The Cardinals baseball game. Owen, Meme and Papa cheered them on to a win!

They finally arrived. 

Dinner at The Sliced Pint. 

And we capped off the evening at Union Station and the St. Louis Ferris Wheel. Austin doesn’t like heights but he was a trooper!  

Here’s hoping day 2 goes smoother!  

The Home of President Lincoln #16

The last time we passed through Springfield, Illinois, we didn’t take time to be a tourist. This trip through, we set aside a day and there is much more to see. What a great little capitol city. Route 66 runs directly through downtown and in front of the state capitol. 

And what a gorgeous capitol building it is… we try to visit the capitol building in each state we visit. This has to be in the top 3 so far. Tour guide said Pennsylvania may top this one. We will compare someday! 

The chandeliers in the House of Representatives chamber were gorgeous. 

The Senate, for being the upper house, was much less impressive but still beautiful. 

 

Every nock and cranny is ornate. 

The Old State Capitol building was an educational stop. 

Abe Lincoln laid in state following his assassination in this room - the House of Representatives chamber. It took his body 15 days to arrive from DC. 

Lots of great antiques in the old state capitol. 

Lincoln worked out of this office before his inauguration. 

The Abraham Lincoln presidential library was very well done. Told a great story. Not many artifacts but really shows how fast Lincoln aged during war. It also highlighted while Lincoln was intelligent and hard working - he wasn’t exactly “honest Abe” in his handling of the civil war. 

My fathers mother once told me a fable that our Owen’s family was related to Mary Owens who was once engaged to Lincoln. I did a report in elementary school on our families brush with ole Abe. It was all BS.  No ancestry proof exists. I wonder her motive for the tall tale. 

Our daily selfie!  Smile….

We passed the governors mansion built in 1855. 

And Union Station built in 1898 and closed in 1971. Building is not currently occupied. 

Alliance RV Rally

This was our first organized RV Rally. It is pretty fun when 230 RV’s from one company gather. It does make it a bit hard to find yours, however. 

The county fairgrounds- is also a Standardbred harness racing training facility. It has been interesting to watch them practice. Our full hook up campsite is in the infield of the training track. We can sit and watch them run. 

The biggest benefit was the on-site repair service. We had four fairly minor issues and they have all been repaired. 

We have had meals at different tables and have enjoyed getting to know people from all over the country. 

An impromptu bourbon tasting was coordinated by some of the rally participants. People brought bottles and everyone was invited to sample. We just planned to be there for a few minutes. We came home two hours later… tasting way too many!  Smile. 

We went on a plant tour to see how the Alliance fifth wheels are built and Mark went to a bunch of seminars on maintaining the different systems - brakes, electrical etc. 

We ended the day doing a thing we enjoy on every trip, visiting a local craft brewery. Very yummy. 

Amish in Elkhart, Indiana

I am fascinated by the Amish culture. When I was in college, I did my largest research paper on the religious, family and community dynamics of the Amish. 

We arrived in Elkhart, Indiana and immediately started seeing Amish families and horse drawn carriages. Children playing with horses or playing baseball outside. 

Elkhart has the largest Amish population in the state and 3rd largest in the country with about 20,000 individuals. 

Then the next head scratcher was that every other beautiful home and farm had solar panels. Seemed so odd to me - so I started asking questions and learned that the Amish don’t believe electricity is bad; they believe having access to it will create temptation that can lead to television and other electrical luxuries that could hurt their values. 

Their culture values hard work and while they may appreciate appliances and tools that can make their jobs easier, the general consensus in their community is that reliance on the electric grid will make them dependent on the “English”. It will compromise their children’s work ethic and could lead to a tarnished version of their way of life over generations. With solar, they feel there less risk of mainstream culture. They also feel it is safer than oil or gas power in the home. 

We did see several women out mowing with gas lawnmowers. We saw a team of horses working a farm and then a young Amish mother loading up her car. Large gaps between progressive and conservative. 

The majority of Amish household heads here find employment in the local recreational vehicle industry.

Most RV companies are headquartered in the area, and employ a heavily Amish workforce. 

Yellow Springs, Ohio

We started our day at the Clifton Mill for breakfast- this is for you Mike Lawrence- a picture of the vittles— a pancake that covers the whole plate. You get one free if you can eat two!  

National Museum of the Air Force was incredible and definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. Several hundred planes on display. They start with Wright brothers planes and early aviation. Canvas planes made of wood and wire. 

Then the museum covers WWI and WWII and the exhibit has the plane that ended World War II - The Bockscar

The Memphis Belle- 

I love the art work on the planes. I especially love the command decision plane with Disney characters flipping a coin! 

Then on to more modern aviation with Korean and Vietnam wars and dessert storm. 

Stealth bomber-

We found the bomb Mark worked on when he was employed by Texas Instruments - the Paveway III. 

Mark in the cockpit of a F 4 Phantom 

Check out the missile room. 

They also had 4 Air Force One presidential planes. Which all had names like the “Independence.” They were definitely not fancy. Presidential seal on the tables is the only indication of the presidents office. 

This was Kennedy’s  plane and the one that Johnson was sworn in as president (1963). 


Yellow Springs is a little colorful artsy town.    Notice the rain collection system - and trash cans for normal and recycling made from tile mosaics. 

Our final stop for the day was with miss Ruby. There is a working dairy farm six miles from the state park campground. 

We visited Young’s Jersey Farms milking barn, some babies and finished it off with delicious ice cream…. And had to bring back some super fresh cheese curds and of course some homemade buckeyes!