July 24, 2021. Abilene KS

Statue of Ike. He was in the army for 32 years and never spent one day under fire in combat. The closest he came was when he stood with MacArthur when the army rousted the Bonus Marchers out of D.C. in 1932.

The building where Ike and Mamie are buried.

Ike’s boyhood home.

I have been collecting President’s graves for many years now. JFK was my first; Labor Day Weekend 1966. At the start of this trip to Texas, I had nine to go. I have a chance to get three on this trip, the first being Eisenhower, who is buried in a building on the grounds of his library and museum in Abilene, KS. The buildings opened up after being closed for the virus for over a year. I was in luck. The just d few days before our trip, they closed them again. So all Ruth and I got to do was walk around the grounds and take pictures of the monuments to Ike and the buildings. I’m going to count it.

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Smithsonian

There is so much to see in the museums on both sides of the National Mall I cannot possibly mention everything. I will list that which stands out. Mueum of Natural History: a huge stuffed elephant that dominates the rotunda, dozens of dinosaur skeletons, the Hope diamond, gemstones galore, and Egyptian mummies. Museum of American History: the section on civil rights from 1863 to 1963, the stories of Medal of Honor winners, the section on America at War, the section on Thomas Edison. Air and Space Museum: the Wright brother's plane, all the Apollo space stuff about how we went to the moon, the section on telescopes, the section on aircraft carriers, the section on taking photographs from the air. This last sectio n covered everything from the first pictures taken from the air in baloons and from cameras strapped to the bellies of birds to pictures taken from modern satellites. Of all the museums...

The Battle of New Orleans

The Battle of New Orleans was fought in late December, 1814 and early January, 1815, culminating in the final battle on January 8. The Americans, a ragtag bunch, made up of some regulars and some militia, plus volunteer free Blacks, Creoles, Natives, and s few French pirates We’re led byAndrew Jackson. The British had more soldiers and they were better armed and better trained. However when the final battle was over the British had suffered 2000 casualties and the Americans less than fifty. It was one of the most lopsided battles in the history of warfare. Ironically the battle was fought after the Treaty if Ghent had ended the War of 1812. The Americans victory ensured that the British would honor the terms. It also propelled Andrew Jackson into the awhite house. The pictures above were taken at the battlefield. A tell oblisk monument marks the center of the battlefield. The other picture is if the rai...

New Orleans and the Mississippi River

I had a hard time getting my head around the fact that the Mississippi flows through New Orleans from west to east rather than north to south. The river dominates the city. It actually winds through the city in a “u” shape. The right side of the “u” actually flows south to north. They don’t use the cardinal directions: north south east west. Instead they say up river downriver toward the river and away from the river. They also talk about before aKatrina and after Katrina. I took a riverboat down riverfive mikes to where the Battle of New Orleans was fought in 1815. I took some pictures along the way including the dukes that are supposed to keep the river under control.

Pastor Skar

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