Overnight stop at Pilot
After spending most of a day visiting the USAF Museum in Dayton, I did a short drive west on I-70 to a truck stop in Spiceland, IN. I quit early so I could take a nap and catch up on some sleep. The Pilot truck stop was just outside of Indianapolis in a fairly rural area.
As is typical in the spring time, there was a threat of strong thunderstorms so I kept checking the sky, weather radar, and NOAA radio. All we had were some off and on showers, which was ok with me. There was a lot of traffic in and out of the truck stop with lots of RV’s filling up and dumping out on their way home from the long week-end. I was the only RV in the lot to spend the night.
Missouri Farm Land
I-70 Westbound
After getting a good nights rest, I headed west bound for Missouri. My route took me across IN and IL, around St. Louis and partway across the state on I-70. It’s been said that if you don’t want to see much on your travels then take the Interstate. It’s great for cranking out miles, but no much for different or interesting scenery. Missouri has some pretty flat sections and lots of cultivated farm land. But it looked like it could have been IN, IL, OH or VA.
I made it to Warrentown by mid afternoon, which was my planned destination for the day. I was feeling pretty good, so I grabbed a shower at the truck stop, refueled the RV, and kept going towards Independence. By late afternoon, I had had enough highway driving, so I pulled off about 40 miles away from Independence and spent the night at another truck stop. I did about 565 miles which was enough for one day.
There was a tornado watch posted for my area until 10 pm and luckily it passed with nothing to report. I’m not sure how the locals in “tornado alley” handle all these warning for severe storms, localized flooding, hail, or tornado’s. It made me super vigilant, listening to the radio, looking at the sky, and thinking about contingency plans, like where would I go to protect the RV and me?
One of the bloggers I follow suggested looking for a bank drive thru or gas station canopy to avoid the hail. But the locals just seem to go about their business and not even discuss it. I figure the odds are like the lottery; you know something is going to get hit, it’s just probably not you. I guess there’s not a lot you can do if your number gets called and a tornado is going to sprout up on top of you or pass over your location. Pray and take shelter is about all you can do.
Independence, Missouri
The next day brought me to Independence and my plan was to visit the Truman Library and Museum as well as Truman’s home. Last year, I had read David McCullough’s biography on Truman and so I was well versed in his background, issues, and accomplishments.
It was interesting to see where he was from. Although Independence is now just a suburb of Kansas City, it has a small town feel to it. And it looks like not much has changed since Truman lived there.
The library / museum is small and chronicles the issues that the country faced along with how Truman dealt with them. The museum had lots of his notes and correspondence (e.g. letter to MacArthur firing him, note to Eisenhower on how and when to submit the federal budget, notes from cabinet meetings, notes on his daily agenda). It looks like Truman was very organized and kept a lot of detailed records. He wasn‘t that great of a public speaker and when he took office after FDR died, the country hardly knew who he was.
J. Dawg with Harry
But Truman was a man of action, not of words or fancy speeches. At the Potsdam Conference with Stalin and Churchill, when they discussed the agenda, Churchill quipped to Truman “It looks like you actually want to get something done!”
And he sure did get a lot done; ending WWII, deciding to keep atomic weapons out of the hands of the military, enacting the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, the Berlin airlift, starting NATO, personally solving major wage and labor strikes, desegregating the military, recognizing Israel, and establishing the Truman Doctrine for foreign policy.
Quite a lot for a guy who never went to college, never wanted to be the VP, and was a reluctant President.
Replica of Truman’s Oval Office
When he left office, his approval rating were very low down in the 30 percentile due to the country’s weariness with Korean war. But time has looked favorably on Truman and in my opinion he is one the best Presidents that we‘ve had.
Harry S. Truman National Historic Site
The Truman house, which is a few blocks from downtown Independence, is as it was when Bess died in 1982. The house was originally owned by Bess Truman’s parents (the Wallace’s) and was willed to Bess and Harry. It’s a modest Victorian house and still has all the original furnishings. It’s eery to see Truman’s hat, coat, and cane hanging by the back door. The way the house it decorated, it’s like he could walk in the door at any time. The house can be viewed by signing up for a tour with the National Park Service.
Truman house in Independence, MO
Truman grave site in the Library courtyard
Truman’s office at his Library
I enjoyed my visit to the Truman Library. After reading McCullough’s biography, is was nice to see and learn more about Harry Truman. Truman left the Presidency broke. He didn’t come from a wealthy family and was a dirt poor farmer before he entered politics. When he left Washington, all he had for income was a small pension from his service as an officer in WWI. The only hope for money was from his future memoirs. He had to borrow money, using that hope as collateral, for living expenses when he left office.
There were no Presidential pensions, no money for office expenses, and no Secret Service protection for ex-Presidents when he left office. As ex-President, he refused all offers for employment or board membership because in his words, “the office of the President was not for sale”. He did make money from his memoirs and later, in 1958, Presidential pensions and funding for office expenses were approved by the Congress.
I’ve learned to admire President Harry Truman. He was the last common man to serve as President who didn’t care about politics or money .
