Jesse James Bank Museum

The folks visited Liberty, MO last Saturday.  Mama wanted to tour the Jesse James Bank Museum.  This is the site of the nation’s first successful daylight peacetime bank robbery.  The robbers were never actually caught but the robbery was attributed to the James Gang. Jesse James was not involved, but his brother, Frank was.  It is misleading to call it the Jesse James Bank Museum since he was not involved.

The robbery took place on February 13, 1866.  The bank teller was completely taken by surprise since banks had not been robbed in daylight before this one.  He and his son were locked in the safe after the robbers took all the money.  Unfortunately, they shot and killed a young man who was on the street as they were leaving.  They wanted to create a distraction, but Mama thinks they brought more attention to themselves by doing that.  They escaped easily.  The bank never re-opened after the robbery. Money was not insured back in that day and they were unable to pay back the people who had put their money in the bank.

Jesse James Bank Museum

The bank counter.  The white bars were not originally in the bank, but the person who turned it into a museum thought it made it look more like a bank.

Another view of the bank - definitely looks different from the banks we see today.

Desk located behind the counter.

Original stove which was in bank.

A rare Seth Thomas clock, set for the exact time and date of the robbery.

 

Bank vault

Mama said the museum was interesting and the tour guide made the events of that day come to life.  There is also another room that has a lot of photographs of the James' family.

The price of the tour is $6 a person.  Mama enjoyed it.  Dad said he did too, but we are not sure if he really did.  BOL!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Was Told He Looks Like A Small Horse ~ Shakes His Head At That Comment

Roaching Squirrel

Sunday, Scout and I were walking with Mama.  We got off the road for a car and that is when we saw the roaching squirrel.  We about pulled Mama down the hill because we were so excited.  The squirrel was doing the perfect roach.  His feet were all up in the air and his mouth was opened just like Scout's when she is sleeping.  Mama told us he was not roaching, he was dead.   Ewwww!  We do not know what killed him, but he looked to be shocked.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Really Hopes Santa Brings Us A New Computer Because This Keyboard Is Getting Harder And Harder To Use

Santa Doesn't Wear A Hoodie, DAD!

We set out for our first walk of the morning this morning.  It was still dark as it was 5:30 a.m.  We started down the hill when we saw a man with a hoodie and a bag on his shoulder behind us.  He didn't look right to me, so I growled at him. That's right, I growled.  I really wanted to bark, but Mama told me not to do that because she didn't want me to wake up people.  My growl made the man stop.  Yep, I scared him good.  I growled again just to let him know not to mess with us.  I kept turning around to check on him.  Scout decided the best thing to do was to jump in a big pile of leaves. The only thing we could see was her head.  Mama laughed at her, but I couldn't laugh because I was still worried about that man.  Mama told me the man wasn't a bad man and that he was just on his way to do laundry.  I don't know about that, he looked suspicious to me.  Who does laundry at 5:30 a.m.?   When we got home, I told Dad all about it.  He told me that Santa carries a sack like that and what if it was Santa that I scared  Seriously Dad, Santa doesn't wear a hoodie!

Yesterday, the folks took us to Weston Bend State Park for a hike.  It was a nice day.  The hike was fun.  The hardest part was climbing up a big hill.

This is the lookout point.  It was probably prettier a few weeks ago.  Mama hates when the leaves are off the trees.

I am admiring the view.

Scout is ready to keep walking. She loves walking in the cooler weather.

Me and Dad

Trying to catch up to Mama and Scout.

We are tired after our walk.

The weather is going to turn cold tonight.  Brrr!  We are going to have to use our propane heater tonight and tomorrow.  Mama has been saving our propane until we really need it and tonight we will need as it will be in the teens.  We have a heat pump and space heaters that we use when it is not seriously cold.  Mama hates being cold and is counting the days until we are in Texas and warm again.  We just wish Dad could be with us.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Showed Mama That He Can Protect Her From Bad People Today

Cows?

We enjoy hiking through the woods here.  We try to do it every day because with all the leaves falling, there are new smells and the landscape is starting to look different.  Yesterday, we had a big surprise when we came down the hill.  There were cows! 

Mama told us to move along and not stare at them too long. 

We enjoy playing at the dog park.  We really like it when there are other dogs there.  Mama doesn't let us "play" with the other dogs, but since there are two fenced areas, we go into the empty one and run along the fence with the other dogs.  It's fun, but I think making actual contact would be better. Mama is scared we will get hurt.  The other dogs do seem to be pretty mouthy.  There was this one little dog that tried to get to me through the fence.  Do you know what I did?  I peed on him through the fence!  BOL!   There was a guy there this week who didn't want his dogs to "play" with us.  He yelled at them and told them they were not there to play.  He scared Scout.  They didn't stay long and Scout and I were confused as to why their Dad was so mean.  We are glad he is not our Dad.

 The other day there we saw a lady and her husband watching us play.  She said "Oh look, they are best friends!"  Us, best friends?  I am not sure about that.  I guess I don't have any other friends, so does that mean that Scout is my best friend?   The lady asked Mama if we are obedient.  Obedient?  Mama had to laugh at that.  She had never thought about it.  Mama said "Well, they don't get into anything.  Does that make them obedient?  The biggest problem is walking them.  There are times when they want to go their own way and my arms are only so long.  One on one, they are great at walking, but together, they can be a challenge at times."  Yep, that sounds like us.  BOL!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Wonders If Scout Is His Bestie

A Trip To The WWI Museum

Dad has been wanting to see the WWI Museum for a very long time. The folks decided to visit this past Saturday.

Liberty Memorial Tower at WWI Museum

Visitors can go to the top.

View from the top of the tower.

The admission price to tour the WWI Museum is $14 a person.  Mama did her best to find a coupon, but didn't have any luck.  It is half price on Wednesdays, but that was not an option for the folks.

Mama's favorite part of the museum was a glass bridge that you cross to enter the exhibits.  Under the bridge are 9,000 red poppies.  Each poppy represents 1,000 soldiers that died during the war.  It was hard to get a good picture since the glass had a lot of glare.  The windows you see are actually the ceiling reflecting on the bridge.

Volunteers offer tours of the museum and the folks decided to go that route instead of exploring on their own.  Mama said they learned a lot more from the tour guide than they would have on their own.

Propaganda trench. The tour guide said that it was used to convince mothers to allow their boys to join the service.  The real trenches were nothing like this.

German gas bell which was used to warn people of gas attacks.

Gas masks

Trench - see the floors are mud and not wood like the propaganda one.

German machine gun

Part of film that shows America preparing for war.

The model for this poster didn't show up, so the artist painted himself.  Mama always thought it was "Uncle Sam". No matter where you move in the room, his eyes and finger follow you.  It is strange.

Dog collar used during war to send messages.  Bell let soldiers know where the dog was.

Tank

Motorcycle used during war

The folks enjoyed the museum. They were there for four hours and Mama said they probably could have stayed longer. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Glad He Has A Bed To Sleep In And Not A Trench