Appreciation and Thanksgiving

During our trip to Boone, Iowa, we stopped in front of Mamie Doud Eisenhower's birthplace to take a few pictures.  The small beautiful home is open to the public by appointment only.  The public high school is nearby, and the students were walking and driving home, not taking a moment to glance at the historical site, while we "tourists" snapped photos.  

I guess after walking by the First Lady's birthplace for the past 10 years every day, the students must have lost some of their excitement.  

Over time, many of us lose our excitement about and appreciation of the things we see every day. When we lived in Portland, it seldom snowed; so each snow storm was greatly anticipated and greeted with mittened hands creating snowmen, tongues outstretched to lick the falling snowflakes, and sleds rocketing down nearby hills.   Here the first snow can fall in October and the last 6 inches can fall in May, so to say the least, I don't spend all year looking forward to it.  

It's not necessary for us to appreciate what we don't like--be it snowstorms, okra, or beets--just because others who don't have them would love to have them.  But we should refrain from taking all the good things in life for granted.  

We should thank God for heat instead of waiting until a power outage to tell him how much we enjoyed it.  

We should thank our mothers for a nice warm meal instead of waiting till someday when we have cold cereal for supper to reminisce about how good Mother's cooking is.

And we should let our friends know how much we appreciate them instead of waiting until we miss them so much we have to post an ad on Craigslist looking for anyone who will talk with us.*

Be grateful for the little things; be grateful for all of God's blessings.  Take a moment to notice beautiful surroundings, small conveniences, and the people who love and care for you.  Life will be much happier.

"Give thanks unto the Lord: for He is good!"

Boone County Historical Museum

Boone County Historical Museum was our last stop on our tour of Boone, Iowa.  It was starting to get late, and we had a long trip home; but since we were there we decided to visit the museum anyway.  The admission was $3 per adult and free for anyone under 18--very reasonable!  As soon as we walked in, a smiling museum curator greeted us, gave us a brief introduction to the museum, turned on the lights in various rooms, and told us to let her know if we had any questions. 

The first room we visited was dedicated solely to Kate Shelley, a local heroine who saved the lives of many.  She risked her life crawling across the Honey Creek railroad bridge in the middle of a stormy night brightened with flashes of lightning.  She then ran a half mile to the railroad depot at Moingona to warn an incoming passenger train carrying 200 people that the storm had washed out trestles on the bridge and notify rescue workers that a pusher locomotive had just plunged into the creek.

  

The museum features the lantern she carried on that stormy night, her sewing machine, and awards she received.  The story is presented in very readable format in posters on the walls.  Kate Shelley was the first woman in the United States to have a bridge named after her.  A train, the Kate Shelley 500, was also her namesake.  

In the front room was what looked like a large chest of very small drawers.  Each drawer was labeled and contained a glass display.  In these displays were presidential campaign buttons from the election of 1896 to the present.

McKinley vs Bryan, 1896

F.D.R. vs Landon

Reagan vs Carter, 1980

In other drawers were coin collections and various medals.  

These tools are barbed wire makers.  Between them is a sample of the barbed wire.   Imagine how much work it must have been to make enough barbed wire to fence a pasture!  

The next room we visited contained a selection of animals native to Iowa.

On display there were pheasants, Canadian geese, a badger, red fox, chipmunk, coyote, a woodchuck, and several other species.

The mountain lion looked like it had seen better days, but the Snowy Owl was beautiful.  There was a selection of birds, a wooly mammoth tusk found in Boone County in 1905 and arrow heads.  

Northern Pike and Paddlefish, like these, are supposedly fish of the Des Moines River; I was a bit shocked considering I have never caught anything more interesting than a catfish in Iowa--and I have a sad feeling I may never reel in any beauties like this.   

Old hunting guns, a few uniforms, and an autographed picture of Abraham Lincoln completed our tour of the downstairs, and we proceeded to the next floor.

Since the museum is currently under renovation, not everything was perfectly ordered, but I thought the format for the upstairs was fascinating.  The large open room featured a display on each decade of the 20th century, complete with period dress, political slogans, popular devices and inventions, and a historical summary of the time.

1900-1909

1910-1919

Here are a few interesting pieces from the other displays.  I'll let you guess the years.

This is what a washing machine used to look like.

A radio and a couple toasters

Isn't the dress beautiful?

What people used to *rake* their carpets.

What lovely ladies wore in another era

And this, my dear friends, is what a portable computer (laptop?) used to look like.

The Boone County Historical Museum was fascinating!  I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to learn more about United States History while visiting Boone, Iowa.

The Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad Museum

With renewed strength for the journey, we drove to our next stop, the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad Museum.  Admission was $8 per person which seemed quite pricey to me, considering the State Historical Museum has more than 3 times as much interesting content and is "free"--though I guess we pay for that sooner or later in taxes (few things in life are really free).  The museum workers seemed bored, sitting around talking to each other and offering no guidance, interesting stories, or information on the museum.  So we were on our own!

In the photo above, you can see part of the layout of the museum.  The first items we looked at were the conductors' uniforms.  The manikin modeling one of the uniforms was so life-like both my sister and I did double-takes more than once.  

There was a lot of telegraph equipment, lanterns, and assorted paraphernalia.

Some of the railroad advertisements and promotional materials are show above.  Various train companies promoted their businesses with pocket knives, First Aid Kits, insect repellent, and rulers.  

Railroad Badges

Have you ever seen a Bible "Read and Return" rack on a train?  

The above Bible rack was a courtesy provided on Pullman Cars.

The 4 Wheel Velocipede or Railroad Bicycle  was built for railroad inspectors to ride while inspecting the tracks.  Also featured at the museum is a 3 Wheel Velocipede used by inspectors, and various other vehicles used when making repairs or inspecting.

There were throw switches like the ones shown above, and a large collection of insulators.

Railroad china and silver were on display.

Toward the back of the building there was a telegraph office/train station replica.

Railroad pocket watches are pictured above.  Railroad companies agreed on a standardized time in the United States after several trains collided because watches were not synchronized; ultimately "railroad time" became official in spite of resistance by locals who wanted to keep their own local time, resenting the idea of having to "eat, sleep, work...and marry by railroad time."

Railroad Signal Lights

A Fairmont Motor Car

There were also model trains, old telephones and typewriters, and surveyor tools.  In a separate room there was a small library filled with books about the railroad.

The Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad still operates, giving visitors a chance to ride through the scenic countryside and over the Kate Shelley Bridge.  Outside, we could see the tracks and various locomotives and cars.

One of the working trains.

An old steam engine on display in front of the museum.

The Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad Museum was interesting.  A true railroad buff might consider it fascinating, but I was personally more impressed by our next stop, the Boone County Historical Museum.

Part 3: Boone County Historical Museum is coming soon!

Treasures of Boone, Iowa: The Whistle Stop Cafe

Last Friday we took another trip to the Des Moines area to deliver concrete pads for propane tanks.  We visited a couple peaceful cemeteries on the way (including one where my great great great grandfather is buried), took a shortcut that was actually a dead end, noticed a pretty little country church, and eventually delivered the concrete pads.  We took the scenic route home, stopping to tour the town of Boone, Iowa, a city of 12, 546 people and numerous attractions

We were very hungry, so we drove down the main street of the town until we came to a small restaurant called the Whistle-Stop Cafe.  We are used to eating at franchised restaurants and weren't sure what to expect, but extreme hunger gave us the bravery to march our famished bodies into the cafe.

We took our seats on stools at the counter, and the waitress handed us menus.  Papa ordered a tenderloin and onion rings, Charity ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and I ordered a fish fillet.    While we waited for our orders we admired the paintings of trains and interior decoration.  Soon our food was ready and we commenced eating.

The onion rings were very good!  We had eaten a to-go order of onion rings from Applebees the day before, but these were much better.  The fish sandwich was also delicious (mmm....loved the sauce!).  And the service was way better than at McDonalds or Burger King--if your glass even started to look empty it would be whisked away for a quick refill.  In addition, the restaurant was spotlessly clean and the atmosphere was cheerful and friendly!  The waitress, Heather, made us feel right at home, and she and fellow customers gave us directions to various historical attractions throughout the town

Heather (our waitress) and John (who runs the cafe).

 If you ever find yourself suffering from hunger in Boone, Iowa; Whistle Stop Cafe is the place to find a cure!

Part 2 of our Trip: Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad Museum --will be posted soon!