the Grabers: Homes of famous people

After a good night's rest, we began our trip home. The hotel coffee was not the best, so we decided we would stop in Hannibal at the Java Jive. It is only an hours drive from Jacksonville to Hannibal but in that distance, we counted 8 police cars! And by the end of the day - 18! Not sure why they were so thick.

Sort of a blurry picture. I took it as we crossed the Mississippi. Look how high the water is to the railroad tracks!

We climbed the dikes to see how the flooding was since we'd been here last week.

The tracks and the playground still under water.

We enjoyed getting good coffee to get us going on the road.

A unique lamp in the restroom.

Shortly after Brookfield, I had Al turn north so we could see the Locust Creek Covered Bridge. I discovered this when I went to Wisconsin on my own.

There were bats inside!

It began to sprinkle while we were walking back to the car, and then the rain began in ernest. We timed that good!

As we continued west on 36, I saw a sign for J. C. Penney's boyhood home! Of course, we had to stop! He grew up in Hamilton, Mo. It is just a small town of about 1800.

There are Amish around here.

He grew up in a little bitty house!

I read about his life and was really impressed! It is worth the read!

At Cameron, we stopped for gas.

We continued on 36, west to St. Joseph, where we stopped to see the home where Jesse James lived.

As long as we were looking at famous people's homes, we of course would have to stop to see Amelia Earhart's home in Atchison. It was not out of the way - or so we thought.

The bridge across the river was closed due to flooding, so we had to go back up to St. Joseph and go west a few more miles on 36 and south on highway 7, coming in from the north.

And here is the home she grew up in. We were going to take a tour but it was 10 minutes to closing and we'd still have to pay full price. We'll come another time.

The tour guide came out and we chatted for quite a while. She said in the olden days, the wagon trains would stop here and purchase supplies. The store keepers in Atchison got rich, selling things at high prices to those crossing west.

Fancy homes

We could see the river flooded to the east. The guide told us her daughter works in KC and it is usually a short drive over the bridge, but since it is closed now, it takes her an hour to get to work.

A neighbor lady came out to talk too and we found out she is originally from Hutch, our go-to town where we did shopping! And where Al and I went to college. Small world!

Well, on this trip, we had seen the homes

of General John J. Pershing and Mark Twain,

Wyatt Earp and Ronald Reagan,

Abraham Lincoln,

and today J. C. Penney's, Jesse James' and Amelia Earhart.

Allen said, "There's one more home I want to see."

"MINE!"

Continuing on home...