16 July 2020 National Park Quest Status

It’s been just a couple of weeks more than two years since we hit the road in 2018. We are making great progress on our quest to visit all the National Parks and National Monuments. So far we have visited 34 out of 62 of the National Parks and 39 of the 85 National Monuments. Not to mention the 32 other interesting sites we have visited in the 29 states we have visited so far. So, we are roughly half way through our quest. 

14 July 2020 Plan C

We learned that New York was adding Ohio to the list of states that would require a two week quarantine on entry. Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine extended their two week quarantine requirements for anyone entering their states who are not New England residents to the end of August. It does not make sense to go into a state and sit there for two weeks each time before we can do anything. So that pretty well wipes out the remainder of our plan B for this summer. Plan B was started after the initial COVID lockdown wiped out our initial summer plans. We have a rough idea to head west into the Midwestern states where they don’t have any current quarantines. There are three National Parks and three National Monuments we could visit in Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska and Arkansas before heading back to Texas. 

12 July 2020 Springfield to East Sparta OH

The drive from Springfield to East Sparta was easy, but the interstates are rough from the freezing/thaw cycle. We are staying at the Bear Creek resort ranch/Canton East Sparta KOA ($44 per night with KOA). We are trying this RV Park because we really did not like the last place we stayed at when we were in Canton. The roads off the interstate are not RV friendly, narrow, lots of low hanging tree branches and narrow turns. This KOA is built on a hillside. Our back-in site was situated so we had to climb a steep hill then back into the site. Luckily gravity was working with us instead of against us. 

11 July 2020 Charles Young Buffalo Soldier National Monument

Despite assurances from the NM Public Information Officer that someone from Charles Young Buffalo Soldier NM would contact us to arrange a time for a tour, we never received an email confirming our proposed time. We tried calling the NM and leaving messages on the voice mail, but were never contacted. So we decided to go to the NM and see if maybe someone would be there we could talk to. 

Charles Young was born in 1864 into slavery. His father escaped from the plantation and joined the Union Army. Following the end of the war and freedom for the slaves, Charles Young would go on to go to West Point and become the third Black American to graduate from West Point. It would turn out he was the last Black American to graduate from West Point until 1936. He served in the 9^thand 10^thbattalion Buffalo Soldiers. He commanded the 9^thinfantry battalion in the Philippines during the Spanish American War and troops in the Mexican Punitive Expedition. He became the first Black Superintendent of a National Park when he command troops in protection of Sequoia and General Grant (Later Kings Canyon) National Parks. He also served as Military Attaché to the Embassy in the Haiti and Liberia. He became a professor of Military Science at Wilberforce University which is when he bought the home which is now the NM. The house was built in 1839 and is rumored to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad.  He was promoted to Lt Col but was forced to “medically retire” rather than be allowed to go to Europe for the First World War. It was believed that White officers would not accept him as their commander.  Charles Young did not take his retirement lightly. He road his horse from Wilberforce Ohio to Washington DC (496 miles) to protest his retirement and show his medical fitness. He was later reinstated and promoted to Colonel, but not in time to command troops in WW1. He was assigned to the Embassy in Nigeria where he died in 1922. The home in Wilberforce was made a National Monument by President Obama, one of several cultural National Monument created under his administration. 

We arrived at the NM a bit afternoon and there was no one around. We walked around the grounds and peaked in the windows. But all the interior shutters were closed and the doors were blocked by National Park posters. But having read more on line, we were left with the impression that there was not much in the way of exhibits inside yet. Maybe in another 4-5 years it will be worth returning to.

 

We decided to explore the huge Heart of Ohio antique mall almost across the highway from us.  It was massive and we spent a few hours grazing the goods. Leslie found more dogs for her collection and wants to go back for more!  However, we leave tomorrow.   After returning to the Wanderer and having dinner, we took Etta for a nice walk around the park. The weather was warm with a nice breeze.  We rounded one corner and low and behold a black cat crossed the road from the park into a cornfield directly in front of us.  Time to turn around and find another route!!!!  We’re pulling out tomorrow morning and don’t need to buy any trouble!

Entrance Sign

Charles Young Home in Wilberforce

Plaque

10 July 2020 National Museum of the Air Force

We were happy to see that the National Museum of the Air Force opened back up on 6 July. Which made our visit today possible. We started the day with some local Mexican Food in Springfield. It was ok, but definitely not Southwest Mexican food. When we entered the new entrance to the Museum we were questioned about possession of knifes and other items. Of course David had his Swiss Army Knife in his pocket, so he had to walk back to the Behemoth to drop it off. After passing our entrance exam, we talked with one of the volunteers to figure out what had changed since the last time David had been there. We decided to head to the back of the museum where the new experimental aircraft and space display was located. Then we worked our way to the front. It was sad for David to see some of the aircraft he had worked on in a museum, but also exciting to see some of the new additions. We also saw aircraft that David’s Dad had worked on (B-58 Hustler). The highlight was the Memphis Belle. A B-17E bomber that underwent 8 years of restoration and went on display in 2018. It was the first bomber and crew to survive 25 missions over Europe. They did an incredible job of restoring her to almost factory new condition. We think this was Leslie’s second visit to the museum but we were only able to do the front portion of the museum on that trip.

Entrance Sign

B-58 Hustler

Missile Room

SR-71

YF-23

XB-70

F-16 in Blue Angles colors

B-2 Spirit

B-36

F-22

B-17E Memphis Belle

6 July 2020 Cave City KY to Springfield OH

We left the caverns behind and headed for Ohio. We are staying at Tomorrows Stars RV Resort in Springfield ($42 with GSC), which is just east of Dayton. We have been trying to arrange a tour of Charles Young Buffalo Soldier National Monument by email. We also plan to visit the National Museum of the Air Force and maybe some antique shops we have noticed in the past. It was a bit of a hilly drive, and with temperatures in the mid 90s, the transmission temperature was a bit higher than normal (218F verses 210F), but it never got really hot. Were hoping the temperatures and humidity will go down as we move further north.

2 July 2020 Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Site

Abraham Lincoln was born in February 1809 in a one room cabin on the Sinking Spring farm. They only lived on this farm for two years before a land dispute forced them to move. This was the wild frontier in those days. The road that went past their cabin was called the Cumberland Highway, a wagon road that began on the east side of the Cumberland Gap.  It is now US-31. They moved to a farm they were leasing in Knob Valley while they worked through the legal system on the claim to Sinking Springs. Then years later they were again forced to move by another legal dispute to the land ownership. They also lost their court case on the Sinking Springs land. So they pulled up stakes and moved to what is now Indiana where they lived for 14 years. The memorial by Sinking Springs was created as the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. The monument was paid for with funding from average everyday Americans with donation from pennies to $25. The building was built between 1909 and 1911 and a single room cabin, using what was believed to be logs from the cabin Abraham Lincoln was born in (later research proved this to be false), was reassembled inside the building (Now referred to as the “Symbolic Cabin”). President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone for the memorial on Feb 12, 1909. President Taft dedicated the memorial in 1911. The Memorial and the 110 acres around it were turned over to the federal government in 1916. The Memorial transitioned to the park service in 1933. The ceiling of the building has 16 stars to represent he was the 16^thpresident and there are 56 steps leading up to the memorial, one for each year of his life. 

 

We decided to drive over to the Memorial this afternoon to avoid the 4^thof July crowd. We drove over by US-31, the old Cumberland Highway, and were surprised to find we crossed back over to the Eastern Time zone. This meant we had an hour less time than we had expected. It’s a pretty drive through the rolling green countryside of Kentucky. We were pleasantly surprised to find the Visitor Center open, so we were able to tour the exhibits and view the park film. Only the back entrance to the Memorial Building was open so all we could see was the back wall of the “Symbolic Cabin”. We explored the Sinking Spring and hiked one of the side trails through the woods. It was so hot and humid, even the walk through the woods left us sweating. 

 

Back at the Wander, Etta saw her first Firefly. This light suddenly appearing in front of her startled her, but she quickly figured out they were harmless and she now ignores them. 

Entrance Sign

Memorial Building

Sinking Springs

Symbolic Cabin in the memorial building