When we got there we saw that Sam’s Club was adjacent to it so we pulled in there. Sam’s Club isn’t open all night so it’s a bit quieter. Besides, there were three other motorhomes and four or five trucks that had already checked in. On more coach on the parking lot wouldn’t matter. We did have to run the generator for a while to get the motorhome comfortable. But, once our heads hit our pillows, we might as well have been at a four-star resort.
We pulled out on Tuesday morning about 9:00 and headed to Kansas City. We were still on I-29 driving in the relatively flat valley of the Missouri River. That is, until driving through the Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge. Suddenly the we were in rolling hills with trees, shrubs, grass, and weeds on the boundaries of the corn fields. The right of way narrowed even as we approached Missouri. Suddenly, we had left the wider spaces and the broader view of the sky. Though we had been seeing corn fields amid the pastures since Mitchell, SD, we were now in farm country where there were smaller fields and fewer cattle. How quickly the landscape changed.
We called ahead to find out where to park so we could visit the Hallmark Visitor Center in Kansas City. Byron has long been a fan of the artwork done by Hallmark and he wanted to visit “The Card Vatican”. Though the directions given weren’t clear, we did park a few blocks away on the west side of the Liberty Memorial. Finding this 200-foot structure was a total surprise to us. Neither of us had read or heard of it.
The Liberty Memorial rises high from a hill in Penn Valley Park
in downtown Kansas City just a few blocks to the west
of Crown Center and Union Station.
At the top, the memorial features four stone guardian spirits – representing
courage, patriotism, sacrifice, and honor. They were sculpted by Robert Aitken
who better known for his “Equal Justice Under the Law”
sculpture above the entrance to the
U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington.
The Liberty Memorial is a memorial to the soldiers who died in World War I and houses The National World War I Museum directly beneath the circular shaft. The memorial was completed and dedicated on November 11, 1926. By the time World War I ended on November 11, 1918, many citizens of Kansas and Missouri had lost their lives and a movement to build a monument for their sacrifices and the surviving veterans arose. A group of 40 prominent citizens formed a Memorial Association to raise funds to build the monument. It is said that one in four citizens of both states contributed to the fund which completely paid for construction without the use of government funds.
Union Station as viewed from the Liberty Memorial.
Train service has been restored to the station
which is now a multi-use building with
museums, a theater, and shops.
After our trek across the park, we finally came to the Hallmark Visitor Center which is not far from Union Station, the largest remaining Renaissance-style train station in the United States, and home to the interactive Science City museum. Byron passed through this station twice in 1962. He has a story to tell about the second time through the station. To keep it short, we’ll just say he did find his parents after they contacted the authorities with Santa Fe to help in finding him.
Once inside the Visitor Center, guests are welcome to take the self-guided tour. Everything it displayed behind glass walls. There is no “hand-on” exhibit here. There is information and artifacts about the history of Hallmark (founded by an 18-year-old), varieties of cards and printers, all kinds of Christmas ornaments as well as a display of a dozen themed Christmas trees, information about the Hallmark Channel and the special presentations that have been presented on network television over the years, and a special area where the ”artist of the day” is working. The artists include graphic designers, photographers, painters, and sculptors. On the day we visited an ornament sculptor answered question and displayed samples of her work. Amazingly, the first half of her career was spent in design and drawing. When asked if she had ever sculpted, she replied that she hadn’t but was willing to give it a try. For the last half of her career at Hallmark, 15 years, she’s been sculpting ornaments.
Some of the many themed Christmas trees on
display in the Hallmark Visitor Center. There’s a
tree made of wreaths, a Santa Clause tree,
a twelve days of Christmas tree, etc.
After leaving Kansas City he continued on east to the Lazy Day Campground in Montgomery City, about 80 miles west of St. Louis. The campground is an independent campground (not a franchise) and has to be one of the hidden gems of campgrounds in Missouri. It is over a mile from the Interstate on a hillside with trees and small ponds. All of the sites are large and terraced and held in place by decorative block retaining walls. Everywhere we went we could see perennials, trimmed shrubs, and freshly-mown grass. It is obvious that the owners take pride in making this seem resort-like. We’ve put this on our short list of spectacular campgrounds.
Wide gravel pads, grass medians, fire pits, picnic tables,
trees, flowers, decorative block walls, 50-amp electric,
water, and sewer all for under $35; what more
would an RVer ask for? Nothing. Did we say
it was also quiet?
Tomorrow we head to Fairfield, Illinois, Byron’s hometown, to visit with cousins before returning to Louisville on Thursday. We’ve been glad to be home but it’ll feel nice to be home — we think.
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