The Long Road Home: Day 3 and 4

Topeka

I started off Day 3 at the Kansas State Capital. I always make a point on my road trips to check out the state capitals along the way. They all start to look the same after awhile though. I headed over to Independence, MO and the Harry S Truman National Historical Park.

Truman House

You have to purchase tickets to tour the home and I was the only one there so I got a private tour. The home was turned over to the Park Service after the Truman's left so it was a really well preserved example of a 1950s home. I never knew much about Truman but he seemed like a really humble, down to earth person. I really enjoyed learning more about him, especially his love story with his wife. Across the street from the Truman Home is the Noland Home which is where Truman's cousins lived and where he would stay when he was courting his wife. Across town is the Truman Farm Home. It is preserved on a few acres but its surrounded by development so it's hard to imagine it as a farm. I headed down the border of Kansas and Missouri and arrived at Fort Scott National Historic Site.

Fort Scott

It is also surrounded by the town of Fort Scott but its really well preserved and interpreted. There are 20 historic structures and each has a lot of information to absorb. There is also a little tallgrass prairie preserved but I've been to the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve (which is much more expansive) so it just looked like an unmowed patch of lawn. I stayed for a couple hours to absorb everything.

Fort Scott

My last stop of the day was at George Washington Carver's National Park Site. I had been there last year with Mom and Dad but we got there late and I felt rushed. This time I decided to focus on the inside exhibits because they were pretty extensive. George was a very inspiring man and it was great to learn even more about him. I turned south and continued on to spend the night in Arkansas. The next day, my destination in Arkansas was the Buffalo National Scenic River. It's more of a summer destination but I wanted to check another NPS site off my list. My first stop was the Tyler Bend Visitor Center.

You can hike the River View trail but the fog was so thick that you couldn't see the river. In all the fog I did see some deer which made for some neat pictures. I decided to loop around to the Collier Homestead.

Collier Homestead

As I was approaching the homestead I saw a dog in the mist. It was a little white terrier and he ran right up to me and jumped in my arms. He was so adorable that I figured his owner was around somewhere. I walked up to the homestead and there was a guy smoking on the porch. It was his dog and he made small talk as I was walking around the homestead. As I walked inside though I noticed a backpack and bedroll in the corner. Apparently this guy was "knapsacking" around and had been across 4 states so far and he just squatted in a NPS cabin for the night! I immediately decided to get out of there. On the one hand, I figured anyone with a dog that sweet had to be okay but then I thought, maybe that's his ploy is to use a cute dog to lure people in. He was perfectly nice but I still got the hell out of there. I drove over to another overlook of the river and the fog had lifted by then. The river was pretty low though.

Buffalo River