Saturday, the folks decided to visit Fort Leavenworth. It is the oldest continuously active fort west of the Appalachian Mountains. Since it is an active military site, visitors are subject to vehicle inspections. When they arrived, the folks had to give security their driver licenses to be sure they were not wanted for anything. They also had to open the hood to the Jeep and all the doors and stand away from the vehicle. Dad said our vehicle really looked suspicious because of the quilts in the back that we use. Mama was embarrassed because the Jeep is really dirty. The soldier found a dollar bill and handed it to Dad. BOL! The folks passed the inspection and were allowed inside the fort.
The first stop on their tour was the Frontier Army Museum. It contained items dating back to 1804.
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| Frontier Army Museum |
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| Stained glass window that was once in the church here. |
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| Before electric, a bugle was played into this to wake soldiers. |
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| President Lincoln rode in this carriage when he visited here. See the white pitcher? Beer that President Lincoln drank was poured from it. There was nothing saying that he actually touched it. |
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| Sleigh that was used by Colonel Leavenworth. |
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| Horse drawn ambulance |
After the folks left the museum, they took the driving tour. There were several stops.
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| Lewis and Clark passed through the bluffs here. |
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| One of the oldest cannons in the fort. |
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| The stone at the bottom marks the starting point for the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails. |
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| Old Military Prison |
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| Clock Tower |
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| Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. One of the oldest in the country. |
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| Buffalo Soldiers Monument |
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| Another view of the Buffalo Soldiers Monument. It is probably really pretty when this is filled with water. |
The grounds are really nice and it was extremely quiet. They have a golf course, car wash, schools, restaurants and other things to make it a real community. The housing looks really nice. There are older homes as well as new homes. The single men live in a housing unit that looked like dorms. We have several soldiers who live in our campground. I guess they like the freedom of living off base, but Mama said the base is really nice. We really scared one of the soldiers the other morning. He was jogging at 5 a.m. and didn't expect to see us out and about. BOL!
Mama said she was happy to leave the fort. She was nervous that they would get stuck inside if something happened. There is a barrier that comes up in an emergency and that made her nervous. BOL!
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| This is what I did while the folks were away. |
Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Glad He Didn't Have To Go Through An Inspection
