Day 5 - St Louis and SUNSHINE!

As we began the day, we were, again, in the gloom of fog and rain.  It has been over 1300 miles with NO SUNSHINE!

But wait..... what's this?  1350 miles of rain and our first glimpse of blue sky!  Hooray!

We drove from Nashville to St Louis and arrived in time to do some shopping and stop at the RV dealer where Dad bought the RV (to investigate selling it)

After that, we checked into our hotel and went over to Wayne and Carol's to meet them and Nancy and Skip.  We had a little time before going out to dinner, so I asked if we could please return to Del Norte one more time in the sunshine.  I wanted to go there with Nancy, because she was born and raised in the house across the street from ours.  We went and I decided to walk up to the door of our old house and introduce myself  (armed with the picture of 5 year old me on the steps)

Well, the new owner is a delightful young woman who welcomed me in to look around!  WOW!  Much of it is still the same - 50 years later!!

Here we are with new owner, Leslie (her husband is an avid Ohio State fan, hence the "O")

I remember when Dad carried me up these stairs when I had the measles.

I think the flooring is original.

The back yard - I used to go through the back and across one street to school and right through the bushes to Miss Moline's for piano lessons! 

Nancy and Me in front of "MawGaw's" house, where she grew up.  (that's Gruendler's house next door!)

This house, down the street, was Mrs. Woolston's, where Mom rented a room right after they were married when Dad went overseas.  That's when she met Nancy.

 We went out to dinner and then back to Wayne and Carol's for a little more time with good friends.  What a wonderful visit!

Tomorrow we head for central Missouri - Rolla, Lebanon, and the Lake of the Ozarks on the way back up to Sedalia.

Day 4 - Sewanee Tennessee

We have not seen the sun since we left Omaha last Friday!  Sheesh!

Despite the gloom, our trip is going beautifully!  We got up Monday morning, had one more DELICIOUS leisurely breakfast at the Westin, then set out across the river on our journey to SEWANEE, TN and the University of the South.  The 7 hour drive was smooth and uneventful - except for a 45 minute traffic stoppage due to an accident.

   

When we arrived at Sewanee, the rain decided to take a break and we were able to enjoy the campus.  We stopped at the bookstore for directions and to buy a U of the South shirt for dad. We then began looking for Johnson Hall, which was home to Hal during 1943-1945 - after enlisting in the Navy.  It was part of the Navy's officer training program and the influx of Navy men probably saved the struggling all male University back in the early 40s.  There were only about 28 non-Navy students and the 700 - 800 Navy men filled the campus.

The campus is a beautiful and thriving coed campus today, set atop a mountain and nestled in lush woods.  There are many new buildings, but they have matched the old stone from the original buildings.

We asked a student for directions to Johnson Hall, where Dad lived on the campus. It looks much the same as it did 68 years ago, but it is now an ALL GIRLS dorm.  There are also many more huge trees.

Boy, if those stone walls could talk.........

We enjoyed the campus and had a nice dinner in a little restaurant there.  When we left, it was beginning to sprinkle and we had torrential rain most of the way back to Nashville, where we spent the night in Opryland.  (all we saw was the inside of room 321 at the Hampton Inn, but that was about all we had energy for by that time!)  Maybe we will see the sun tomorrow!

Then and Now - Richmond Heights

The house on Del Norte when we moved there in the Summer of 1959

The house on Del Norte today

Richmond Heights Presbyterian Church in the 1950s

The Church in 2011

Day 3 - ST LOUIS!

ST LOUIS!
We started out the day with a wonderful breakfast at our lovely Westin hotel downtown.  Shortly afterwards, Wayne and Carol arrived to take us on our memory tour of our St Louis past.
It was miserable and rainy, but we managed to see everything we'd planned!
First stop - St Louis University, where Hal received his PhD. 

OK, get the idea of the weather?

We drove to where we used to live on Caroline Street right next to the University.  The University has gobbled up the block,
so our home is gone.  :o(

We had better luck when we drove North to 5011 Queen, where we lived when I was born.  Our hosts were a little reluctant to journey into that neighborhood, which has changed a lot in the last 57 years, but we were all quite impressed with how lovely it remains.

ON TO RICHMOND HEIGHTS!

1710 DEL NORTE!!

This was the place I was most excited about!  We lived in this home from 1959 to 1962.

This was the street that we used to chase the fogger trucks and play in the insecticide fog!  Sheesh, it's a wonder I have a brain left.....   :o)

A new school in the old location.  Used to be Richmond Heights Elementary.

Richmond Heights Presbyterian - Our church and the heart of mom's social life while Dad was in the service.

Went to Wayne and Carol's for the afternoon.   Nancy joined us and we enjoyed Skyping with Bob, Clay and Peter.  We will go out to dinner and turn in early tonight.

Tomorrow we head for Tennessee!

:o)

Day 2 - Oak Grove, Lexington (again), St. Charles

Well, despite continued crummy weather, we had a much more fruitful day today!
Our first stop was  OAK GROVE, MO, which was a stop I was really looking forward to!
I have many childhood memories of visiting Grandma and Grandpa Lankford at their little farm.  Gilbert and Halcy actually lived here twice; the first time they rented it for a short time when Marion was a baby.  (Hal and Bob would have been 3+ and 6+)  They returned to Oak Grove after Gilbert retired and bought the house where they would live for 22 years, until Halcy died and Gilbert moved to Marion's home in Virginia Beach.

Gilbert and Halcy around 1960 in Oak Grove

The back yard.  The walk through that gate to the barn and the pasture always meant fun!  Remember the gooseberries?

Winter on the farm was just fun in the cold.

Grandpa in his garden.  My favorite?   Strawberries!!!!!

The Chicken Coop - I remember gathering eggs with Grandpa and steering clear of the mean rooster.  (Bob and the rooster had a special relationship.)   ;o)

Lankford Oak Grove Home 1960

Oak Grove Home 2011

It is really nice to see that it is such a lovely home for someone new.


OAK GROVE CEMETERY
We visited the Oak Grove Cemetery, where we found Gilbert and Halcy's stone, as well as Uncle Bob's.  We also found Lesta George and the Johnsons, who lived next door, too.

We were unable to find Halcy's parents, Willam Marion Johnson and Susan Catherine Majors Johnson.  Dad says there was something funny about Susan Johnson's burial location.  She died at Gilbert and Halcy's home in Sweet Springs and when the got her to the cemetery to be buried, there was already someone in her plot?? so they couldn't bury her there.  Wish there was someone still around to shed some light on THAT one!


LEXINGTON CEMETERY - THE RIGHT ONE!
We were really rather disheartened yesterday - to think of our ancestors amid the rubble of the cemetery we visited.  I did some more research after dad went to bed last night and found that we were in the wrong cemetery, so we decided to return today to the Machpelah Cemetery in Lexington to search for the Lankford, Gordon, and Green burial sites.  Wouldn't you know, this weekend was the weekend for the celebrated reenactment of the Battle of Lexington, so we were lucky to escape the crossfire!!
Our search, however, yielded no results.  This cemetery is HUGE and we are going to try to find a plot map and revisit on the trip home.  We do have a MUCH better feeling about our ancestors' resting place!

We left Lexington and headed off towards our next destination, St Louis.  We made a lunch stop in Columbia.  (wouldn't you know we would pick Stadium Blvd as our exit on a Missou Game day!!)


ST CHARLES, MO
Next stop, St Charles and a visit to Lindenwood College (now Lindenwood University) where my parents met on a double date (and not with each other!)

ST LOUIS
Arrived in downtown St Louis, checked into the lovely Westin Hotel (across the street from Busch Stadium, home of the St Louis Cardinals (sorry Brewers fans at home!)
Had a lovely dinner with old friends, Wayne and Carol Black, Nancy Mitchell, and Skip, who was actually celebrating his 87th Birthday!! (just found out that Wayne's birthday was the same day!  Happy Birthday Friends!

Tomorrow I will visit my old homes in St. Louis!  Can't wait!
:o)
Kathi
 

Day 1 - Bethany, Lexington, Mayview and Odessa

Today was a long day!  We covered 350 miles in 9 1/2 hours.  
We drove through Glenwood and Red Oak, Iowa over to Osceola, where we picked up I35 and headed south to our first stop, BETHANY, MO.  
Dad lived in Bethany for three years.  He moved there as a freshman in high school, attending Bethany HS (which is now mostly gone, but the gym remains as a Community Gym)  His father was half owner of a dime store called L & O, right on the town square.  The building is still there, but houses the Chamber of Commerce or a video game store.  (we weren't sure which building it was).   Dad worked as a soda jerk in the drugstore on the square.  (building is still there, drug store is not.)  We drove around the town for quite awhile trying to find any of the houses that they lived in, but things have changed too much in 70 years and nothing looked familiar.   To give you an idea of what Bethany looked like when he lived there, I found this picture taken about 4 years before they moved there.

We decided that Bethany was best left as a memory of what was, because there's not much there now.


Next stop was LEXINGTON, MO, where we planned to visit the cemetery where Dad's Grandparents, Robert and Jane Lee Lankford are buried, along with Dr Alvin Peter Lankford and others.
We found the cemetery - or what we assume is the cemetery, but it was horribly neglected and untended.  Grass was waste high and ground was choppy and overturned in many areas.  Headstones were toppled and many were unreadable or half buried.  We walked around the whole place, soaking our shoes and pants, trying to find a name we recognized - to no avail.
Very disappointing, but it has been at least 50 years since dad was there.  There is another cemetery there and we may go back to try again later.
So, on to Mayview.
We took some very scenic and rustic roads on that journey - and saw some beautiful Missouri countryside, as well.

WELCOME TO MAYVIEW, MISSOURI

We arrived in Mayview, where Dad's father, Gilbert, was born and raised, and where Gilbert took his young family to live after his mother died in 1933.  They lived on the family farm and dad attended the country school there for three years.  They had no running water or electricity, but while they were there, their family did purchase their first automobile.

SITE OF MAYVIEW COUNTRY SCHOOL - REMAINING BUILDING IS WHERE THEY WOULD LEAVE HORSES, IF THEY RODE TO SCHOOL.

SITE OF MAYVIEW FARM.  CORNER OF HWY E AND OLD HWY 40

After Mayview, we drove through Odessa on our way to our motel in Blue Springs.  Dad lived there for a year or so, before moving to Bethany.  We drove to the highest point of town, near the water tower.  We tried for a LONG time to find the old house - such a beautiful location. 

 Despite covering every street on the hill, we could not find the house and finally gave up.  While we were at dinner, I happened to read in Auntie Marion's autobiography that the Odessa house had burned sometime after they left.  sigh....
I am plum tuckered out and dad has been snoring away for quite awhile now.  Big day, with more big days to come.  Really a fun trip!
Stay tuned.
:o)
Kathi

Day 0 - Omaha. Ready to Roll

I arrived in Omaha this morning.  Spent the day enjoying lunch at Elk Ridge Village with Dad and putting the finishing touches on packing, planning, and getting the truck all set for the road.
Tonight, we had a wonderful Road Trip Eve, enjoying a five course New England themed dinner with Kristi and Ryan, Kinzy and Tom, and mom's cousin Shirley and her husband George.
What a great way to start the adventure!

George and Shirley, Tom and Kinzy, Kathi, Hal, Kristi and Ryan