The End of the Road - The Best Things in Life are Friends

Aloha all,

this might be the last blog post for the year. I have a hard enough time putting in words how much fun roadtripping with Sandra is. It would be even harder to describe the mixed emotions after our return to Maui. It’s good to hug our friends again, but the extend of the tragedy and new reality in West Maui is still sinking in.

Sunset reflecting on Joy
as we reflect on another six month trip

Our last week of this year’s trip was dominated not by the sites we saw, but the people we met. We met friends we never knew and reconnected with old friends who don’t know us at all. We made our new instant friends only because we like beer and the old friends are rock legends I had not seen in 37 years. Yes, this written purposefully mysterious to make you read the last blog post of this trip. 

In Wichita with the Keeper of my Heart next to me
and the "Keeper of the Plains" in the background

The week started pleasantly, but with no big surprises: A nice lakeside campground, the National Tallgrass Prairie, an art museum with a fun little piano concert and a scooter ride along the Arkansas River in Wichita. But then we became hungry and thirsty, so we went to the next brewery and things quickly changed. 

Instant friends after a serendipitous meeting
of a West Maui neighbor in Wichita

One of the other guests was wearing a Maui t-shirt and of course I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. Next thing we know we are talking story with our new friend Renee, who lives just down the road from us on Maui and her mainland ohana, who are all long time frequent Maui visitors. Before we knew it, Joy was parked in their driveway, we sat around a campfire and enjoyed dinner together. There were even games, my kind of people!

Driveway campfire with our newest friends

New friends, great food & fun games

One of our old “friends” who doesn’t know us is Frank Lloyd Wright. We actually don’t really like him (apparently he was a bit of a dick), but we LOVE touring his buildings! The Allen House in Wichita and the Price Tower in Bartlesville were no exceptions. Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings are always timeless, aways beautiful and always leak. We have been to at least two dozen of his buildings now and have yet to find one that does not leak. But they are always full of fascinating details and interesting stories. 

Frank Lloyd Wright's
Price Tower in Bartlesville

The FLW tour in Bartlesville included the community center, which is not actual one of his buildings, but inspired by his legacy. It’s such an impressive theater that we put Bartlesville on the list of places to consider moving to when the volcano blows.

Architecturally, the "Little House on the Prairie" is not as impressive as the Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. In fact, it looked like any other cheaply reconstructed 19th century log cabin. But it was still interesting to learn where Laura Ingalls Wilder got her inspiration from. And the cabin did not seem to leak.

She almost made me want to read
'The Little House on the Prairie'

We did three things in Tulsa, Oklahoma. One was fun, one depressing and one inspiring: The Oklahoma Thunder played a pre-season NBA game in Tulsa. The game was very enjoyable, but I can’t wait until our nephew Hannes plays in the NBA so we know which team to root for.

Detroit Pistons vs. Oklahoma Thunder
at Tulsa's Bok Center

The second thing we did in Tulsa was “Greenwood Rising”, which is the museum that tells the story of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. I think this is one of the most important stories in American history, but often overlooked (and sometimes purposely ignored). During Jim Crow Era, where black people and business were discriminated against in most of the country, Greenwood Avenue was a business district where black entrepreneurs were able to thrive. And they were so successful that it was referred to as “Black Wall Street”. Unfortunately, the racism, fear and prejudice was so strong at that time that it only took a totally unrelated and probably made up incidence for a white mob to massacre black residence and burn down most of Black Wall Street. 

Black Wall Street in Tulsa
site of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

The fatalities and the property damage from the massacre were comparable to that of the recent Lahaina fire. But instead of the overall very generous help here, the only offer the displaced residents got was a half price bus ticket if they were willing to leave town. And the Tulsa mayor even blamed them for inciting the massacre. I know we have come a long way, but it is scary that it took until 2020 that the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre became mandatory in the curriculum of all Oklahoma schools. It’s not like Sandra and I try to ignore American history, but were somewhat blissfully unaware of the extend of this event until recently. I highly encourage you to read about it or better visit “Greenwood Rising” when you are in Tulsa.

That same evening we went to see Billy Ocean. I had no idea how many die hard Billy Ocean fans are still out there, 40 years after he released his biggest hits (“Caribbean Queen”, “When the Going Gets Tough”,…). His concert was such a love fest; the perfect way to restore faith in humanity after learning about the massacre. 

Billy Ocean in Concert - Love was in the air

We decided on Oklahoma City as a winter home for Joy this year. I’ve said it before and will say it again, I think OKC is one of the most underrated cities in America. It seems to have all the amenities of a big city, without the usual side effect of traffic, noise, stress and crazy prices. 

Bricktown district
in Oklahoma City

We enjoyed a fun night at a dueling piano bar, a cocktail on the top of Devon Tower, a boat ride through Bricktown, a stroll through Scissor Tail Park and along the river and a movie. We highly recommend “The Killers of the Harvest Moon”, the new Martin Scorsese movie with Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio about the targeted killing of members of the Osage tribe. That’s another dark chapter of history. You might want to plan on seeing Billy Ocean after you watch that movie.

Oklahoma City skyline,
easy on the eyes, easy on the nerves

It’s always a little sad to put Joy in storage. We know how much she enjoys roaming the open roads. But we had one more highlight to look forward to while cleaning, packing and winterizing: Our little detour to see Queen in Nashville. No, we did not fly 700 miles just to see a concert, we also toured a historical home, had a drink on a rooftop bar and had some great BBQ!

Belmont Mansion in Nashville,
our last historical home tour for a while

Teenager don’t always make the best decisions. I was no exception. But I am glad that when I was 16, I decided to go all the way up to Cologne to see Queen, not knowing that it was three weeks before Freddie Mercury performed his last concert and five years before he passed away. 37 years later, I’m glad we got to see Queen as a truly royal ending to this trip.

Queen and Adam Lambert concert in Nashville

Obviously, a Queen concert without Freddie is not the same, but with Adam Lambert, they might have found the guy most suited to try fill his shoes. He doesn’t try to be Freddie, but Freddie was definitely there in spirit. The show must go on (and it was bombastic).  

Friendly, familiar face at LAX, we met Ron
even before we made it to Maui

Now we are back on Maui. Our hometown is gone, so is probably my little business. But our friends are still here, the ocean is still here, Maui is still here and we are grateful for that. It will be a long, slow, messy recovery for Lahaina, but it is still home.

A hui hou, Joy!

Chris & Sandra

Treasures of the Heartland with Walt, Harry, Ike & Lori

Aloha all,

what do Walt Disney, Harry Truman, David Hawley, Lori Moore and Dwight Eisenhower all have in common? In case you don’t know them all: Walt is my former boss, Harry and Ike are presidents, David is an AC technician & treasure hunter and Lori is Lori. What they have in common is that all of them enriched our last week on the road. So much so that I already feel compelled writing another blog post; before most of you had a chance to even look at the pictures of the last one. So let me tell you about these hometown heroes:

Even as a former ‘cast member’ of Walt Disney World, I wasn’t aware that Disney was from Missouri. But I can tell you, anyone who lives in or even just comes through Marceline, MO knows that this is Walt’s hometown. They converted their train station into the very informative “Walt Disney Hometown Museum” and named half of all places in and around town after him. If you have ever been to any of the Disney theme parks, you have walked down an idealized version of the Main Street in Marceline. Walt had such fond memories of his hometown that he wanted every guest at Disneyland to have the same happy, friendly experience. But while it’s easy to see the inspiration, the “Original Main Street USA” (as they call it in Marceline) is no theme park: Modern cars ruin any attempt to take a decent picture, several buildings are in disrepair, there is no music, no mice or ducks walking around and the lunch at the diner cost us about as much as a soda would cost at Disneyland.

At Walt Disney's Hometown Museum
in Marceline, MO

The Disney’s farmhouse, where Walt grew up, is outside of town. Someone still lives there, but Disney pilgrims like us can visit the reconstructed barn in the back, where Walt started his very first attempts at entertainment with shows for family and neighbors. His legendary “Dreaming Tree” has since died, but they were able to plant a sapling from the same tree, now known as “The Son of a Dreaming Tree”. We met a local showing his visiting friends the barn that he helped reconstruct. We talked to them for about an hour about all kinds of things, but most intriguing was their account of the Steamboat Arabia Museum, so we had to go there when we got to Kansas City. 

The “Treasures of the Steamboat Arabia Museum” tells two stories: The first story is that of the steamboat that sank in the Missouri river in 1856. All passengers were rescued, but all cargo was lost and so quickly covered in mud that is was soon forgotten by most. The second story is that of 5 regular guys who set out in the 1980’s to find the very same steamboat. None of them had ever done anything remotely like this. They knew the Missouri river had shifted since 1856, but when they started criss crossing the nearby fields with a magnetometer, they were surprised to find it half a mile from the river! They received good news and bad news from their first drilling samples. They confirmed that this was indeed the Arabia, but it was 45 feet underground and even worse, 30 feet below the groundwater table. They had to install 20 pumps to pump out water 24/7 while digging, spending 100’s of thousands of dollars, not knowing what they would actually find.

Just a few of the shoes they recovered
from the Steamboat Arabia

But when they reached the wreck, they say it was like Christmas every day: They opened one box after another, with no idea what they were going to find next. It just kept coming. When they were done, they had the largest collection of pre-Civil War goods in the world. Instead of selling it, they decided to keep the collection together and open a museum. We were in awe looking at the things they discovered. The Arabia had the orders from 14 different stores out west on board. Basically the 1856 equivalent of a Walmart store….a time capsule of merchandise, perfectly preserved under 45 feet of mud. Boxes full of still edible pickled fruits and vegetables, even bottles full of liquor and champagne. Where else in the world would you have hundreds of unused shoes from 167 years ago? Clothing, housewares, tools, even cans with a label “Fresh Oysters”, which I doubt is still accurate.

Amazing how well 45 feet of Missouri mud
will preserve stuff, isn't it?

There was a very nice guy at the museum who seemed very knowledgeable about every aspect of the history, the collection and the discovery. At some point, he mentioned that he was David Hawley, the guy who started the whole thing. I thought that was about as cool as if we had met Walt Disney at his hometown museum. What a cool adventure. I was glad that we were able to thank him personally for sharing it with the world rather than selling it off to the highest bidder. 

AC technician turned Treasure Hunter David Hawley

Instead of 1856 oysters, we ate some Kansas City BBQ with our friend Lori from the good old Royal Lahaina days and her boyfriend Rich. I even met another expat Hawaiian in the restrooms. They join us for a little while at our table, so it turned into a little, bitter sweet Hawaii Reunion.

Kansas City BBQ with a side of Aloha
Mahalo, Lori & Rich!

We also spent a day at the World War I Museum in Kansas City. I think I learned more from the excellent introductory film than I remember from all of my high school history classes. I probably paid more attention, too. Now we finally feel like we have at least a vague idea what that was all about. 

View from the WW I Museum to Kansas City

To cheer us up after reading all day about the war, we wanted to take one of our beloved historical tours at the Corinthian Mansion. Unbeknownst to us, there was also a fun concert by piano virtuoso and local celebrity Bram Wijnands scheduled at the mansion, which we got to attend for free as a bonus to our tour.

Corinthian Mansion (and concert hall)

We have been fans of Harry S Truman and members of his Presidential Library in Independence, MO since our first visit 5 years ago. They have just finished a complete update of the exhibits, so of course we went back for another visit. Especially as a German, there are so many reasons to be thankful for Truman. He was responsible for the generous Marshal Plan to rebuild Europe after the war and the Berlin Airlift. I just learned on this trip that when he served in WW1, he actually fought 40 miles from my hometown in Germany. For better or for worse, he is also the first guy who decided to use the atomic bomb. They had a special exhibit with pictures of trees in Hiroshima and Nagasaki that survived the blasts. Of course that made me think of our hometown Lahaina and our Banyan Tree, which is also fighting back after the fire. A somber, but hopeful reminder that life goes on, even after the worst disasters.

Harry Truman Presidential Library

As members we get e-mails from the Truman Library every week, telling us about events happening there. Now we were finally able to attend one of their “Cocktails and Politics” events. This one was organized by American Public Square, which seems to be a wonderful organization, trying to improve the tone and quality of the public discourse. You know, kind of like the Anti-Facebook. Yay, civility! The featured guests was the current governor of Indiana Eric Holcomb. Now I am pretty sure that I disagree with him on many issues, but boy do we agree with him on the need for civility and bipartisanship. Oh, and we met some really nice people over wine and pupus at the event.

"Cocktails & Politics" with Governor Holcomb

Dwight D Eisenhower grew up in a modest home on what used to be the ‘wrong side of the tracks’ in the small town of Abilene, Kansas. First we toured his boyhood home where the Eisenhowers lived with six sons. The house still stands there, exactly as it was when his mom passed away in 1946, but is now surrounded by his Presidential Library and Museum. We just happened to arrive there on Ike’s 133rd birthday. Eisenhower was so respected after leading the Allied troops to victory in Europe that both parties wanted him as their candidate. Supposedly, President Truman even offered to run as Eisenhower’s Vice President in 1948, had Ike accepted the Democratic nomination. But instead, Eisenhower ran as a Republican in 1952 and won easily. It probably helped that he advocated a middle way. I wish there would be someone this respected and this ‘middle of the road’ running today, ideally slightly younger than 133…

Boyhood Home of Dwight D Eisenhower

Today, we took a day off on a nice campground by a lake. We used that time to change up our plans for the remaining days. On our way to Maui next week, we will fly via Nashville to see Queen. They were my favorite band growing up. I haven’t seen them in 37 years and Sandra never saw them, so it’s about time. And then, on Oct 26th, we will come home, that’s about time, too!

A hui hou,

Chris & Sandra

Back in Joy Enjoying Illinois

Aloha all,

a lunch with a sailor, spectacular canyons just outside of Chicago, a green river when it’s not even St. Patrick’s Day, the best place to learn about Mormons, a Swedish commune, Ronald Reagan’s boyhood home and a Moorish castle….Illinois is full of surprises!

We got to spend two fun days with my brother and family in Switzerland before it was time to return to the US. It was the first time for us to go through customs as US citizens. So it was only befitting that we flew back to that same old place: Sweet Home Chicago. Well, technically in our case it’s more what we once intended to become our home, before we took that 4,000+ mile, 27+ year long detour to Hawaii.

Joy was getting inpatient to hit the road again so we only spent two days in Chicago. “The Bean” is currently closed and they also closed our favorite bar on top of the Hancock building, so there would not have been much else to do in Chicago anyway…other than 74 museums, 250 theaters, about 77 distinct neighborhoods and some 7,300 restaurants, a lake and a river. When I think about that, it shows me how much we love Hawaii that we “forgot” to move to Chicago. 

The Marina Towers on the right is
where we might move if we were to
move to Chicago, which we are not.

We were honored to be amongst the first to see
our friend fresh out of the Navy Boot Camp! 

At the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, 
we will leave the other 73 museums for future visits.

We should know better, but we had no idea what natural beauty awaited us not even 100 miles outside of the city of Chicago. What a good start to the last leg of this year’s road trip. The “Starved Rock” and “Matthiessen” state parks were surprisingly spectacular. Not what I would have expected Central Illinois to look like. Granted, there are a lot of corn fields, but there is also stuff like this:

Did you expect Illinois to look like this?
At the Matthiessen State Park

Starved Rock State Park
Not even 100 miles from the concrete canyons of Chicago

We took a mule towed boat trip on the I&M Canal. This replica of a historic canal boat has no sail or motor, it gets pulled by a mule, just like it was 170 years ago. Today, this is the only boat on that little remaining stretch of the canal, which is totally covered by duckweed, turning it just as green as the Chicago River on St. Patrick’s Day. Considering how quiet the place is today, it’s surprising how busy and important this canal was when it opened in 1848. It opened an inland waterway from New York to New Orleans. It was so important for the city of Chicago that the population grew more than tenfold in the 20 years after the canal’s completion.

Mule towed boat ride on the very green I&M Canal

The slogan of the state of Illinois is “The Land of Lincoln”. We have been to several Lincoln sites in the state before. But even though I had heard it before, I was still surprised to find another president’s birthplace and boyhood home on our Illinois state map. Ronald Reagan was born and raised in Illinois, so of course we took a little detour for ‘the Gipper’. According to local legend, his proudest achievement in life was that he saved 77 people while life guarding at a river outside of Dixon, IL. His father struggled with alcoholism and they moved around a lot, but one of his boyhood homes has been restored and honors our 40th president. You got to like the guy, regardless of whether you like his politics or whether you are one of the 77 people he rescued. 

Ronald Reagan's Boyhood Home in Dixon, IL

Bishop Hill is a sleepy little town in rural Illinois. With only about 100 residents, we were surprised they even had an open bar, let alone one with a really popular taco night. If anything, they should have a popular Swedish Meatball night: Bishop Hill was founded in 1846 by Eric Jansson and 1,000 of his “Janssonite” followers. He left Sweden after being jailed for splitting from the state church. This seems ironic, because today Sweden is one of the most religiously tolerant places I know. The commune was very successful at first, but disbanded a few years after Eric Jansson was killed. We visited a few of the historical buildings and museums. The history and heritage of this Swedish commune is still being preserved, but apparently not enough to compete with Taco Night.

Tack för gästfriheten, Bishop Hill!

There was a time when everybody knew who Carl Sandburg was. But I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t know about his three Pulitzer Prizes for his poetry and his Lincoln biography. Neither did we until we came across him first at his home in North Carolina and now at his birthplace in Galesburg, Illinois. The little museum only takes 15 minutes to visit, the cottage where he was born another 5 minutes. So including a little chat with the enthusiastic docent, we were in and out of there in just under three hours. We love not being rushed on our road trips. 

Our Minnie Winnie seems big compared to the cabin
where the literary giant Carl Sandberg was born

We saw Agatha Christie's "A Murder is Announced"
at the Prairie Players Civic Theater in Galesburg, IL

Nauvoo is a fascinating place if you are at least a little bit curious about the history of the Mormon Church or better “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” as they are actually called. Fleeing from persecution, they thought they had found a new home in Western Illinois, but in 1846, before they had even finished their temple, they had to flee again and finally settled in Utah. I have to admit, I am somewhat fascinated by the Mormons:

Historic Nauvoo

On the one hand, I find it one of the weirdest religions out there. I’m not even talking about the polygamy (which has been banned for over 130 years) or their underwear (which is none of my business). The part that I find most peculiar is that they believe that humans came from Jerusalem to the Americas 2600 years ago, supposedly had a thriving society with millions of followers here, but left no trace that any archeologist or historian could find.

One of many interesting tours in Nauvoo...
 ...and how can they all be so nice?

On the other hand, every Mormon place that I have ever visited is fabulous: The Polynesian Cultural Center on Oahu is run by the Mormons and I think it’s the best and most fun place anywhere to learn about Polynesia.The state capitol in Salt Lake City is one of our favorites and was built without going in debt. Nauvoo is a fascinating place to visit and doesn’t cost a penny. And even more impressive: Every Mormon I have ever met was extremely nice and pleasant to talk to, including the dozen or so guides we had at the various sites in Nauvoo. It’s probably good we had to move on before they could convert us. 

Villa Kathrine, a Moorish castle, surprised us almost as much as the canyons in Starved Rock State Park. What is a place like this doing in Quincy, Illinois? The original owner must have been quite the character. Supposedly, he also had the largest dog in America. But mostly he loved to travel, including to Hawaii before that was really a thing. And apparently he loved Moorish architecture, even when (or in particular when) it’s a little out of place.

Villa Katherine in Quincy, IL

And that’s the news from Lake Illinois, where all the sites are interesting, all the canyons are good looking and all the people are nicer than average.

A hui hou,

Chris & Sandra