Day #4 - A DAY OF REST :)

Okay, so these pictures are from DAY #2 but I finally found the camera cord so I'm catching up :) The washtubs were on the lawn with the goats at a house in front of our hotel in Warrenton, MO and THE HIDE OUT....Beer Food & Fun! was our next door neighbor. We admit to being tempted to find out what the "fun" was all about, but our good sense got the better of us!

Today I was up at 2 am - don't ask me why - and we had to leave for the airport at 4:30 am. I was back in the hotel by 7:30 and tried to catch up on some sleep, which never works - at least not for me. So....I settled for a swim in the pool and relaxing in the hot tub for about an hour, then getting set up for tomorrow's presentations. Went to the mall in town to visit with Sara and Tina and then drove to find tomorrow's schools which, as it turns out, are quite close to the hotel. Tomorrow I will have three school visits and my talk at the Eaglecrest Retirement Community. Freddy....if you're reading this....I still remember your advice and will take it to heart at Eaglecrest!

See you tomorrow :) p.s. HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY to my "little" brother Brian!

SAFELY IN SALINA!

We arrived in Salina Kansas after a six hour drive from Warrenton, MO to the much appreciated news that we had been upgraded to a roomy suite with a sitting area, office area, bar, bath and separate bedroom. I am unpacked and can see that I will be very comfortable here for the next two weeks. The suite is on the ground floor with a nice view and the added bonus of windows that actually open. It is sunny with a cool breeze blowing in through the window as we relax for a few hours before heading out to dinner with our hosts for the week.

Many thanks to Sara Gault and the Salina Arts and Humanities Commission for sponsoring this book tour as well as all the hard work that went into the planning and publicity for the various speaking events.

Having visited the very north of Kansas in 2006, I was a bit surprised to find that the scenery in Central Kansas is quite different. Where in the flat north you would see mile after mile of various farm crops growing, interspersed with gorgeous fields of sunflowers, the central part of Kansas is a little more hilly with cattle grazing on prairie grasses. We saw many controlled burns in circular formation which we will ask our hosts about this evening at dinner.

We will be leaving at 5:00 am for the Wichita airport, an hour and a half away so that my travel companion, Donna Brown, can board her flight back to her family in Delaware. I am so grateful for her willingness to give up three days of her otherwise very exciting life to drive 1/2 way across the country with a control freak behind the wheel! .....her words, not mine :)

Enjoy your day!!!

Day #2 - FREAKY FRIDAY!

Today's drive was a bit tougher due to the endless stream of bugs colliding with the windshield, rain that hit right as we got to a congested St. Louis at lunch time on a Friday, and a one hour back up in traffic as we waited for what ended up being a horrific tractor trailer collison to be cleaned up. Feeling a bit rammy, we both passed the time jamming to The Sugarhill Gang and flirting with every truck driver we inched past....in our defense, "they started it, mom!"

Did you know that the fine for speeding in Indiana is $1000 and can be penalized with 8 years in prison? In THEIR defense, they do set the speed limit at 70 so I was okay since I always abide by the speed limit (right?), but the other Donna seemed hell bent on driving like the New Jersian she is; tailgating trucks, weaving in and out, going 80-90 mph and attempting to text while driving! I think she thought I owned a hummer instead of a zippy little volvo wagon. She might be taking that steel cage thing a little too much for granted. Needless to say, I had to take the keys from her - doesn't she know I have to get to Kansas in one piece-lol! I have hundreds of school kids waiting to hear about the orphan trains, not to mention a fancy dinner waiting for me in Abilene (thanks to Sara!) But....all kidding aside, I do admit to control issues, and I did in fact take the keys. And, I am happy to say, we are safely in Warrenton, MO for the night.

Now, the goats, log cabin and "The Hide Out Bar" across the street are another story. "Beer, Food, and Fun" was not really my idea of what our choices would be for dinner in Missouri so instead, I am going to bed hungry and praying that nothing knocks on the window in the night. We are the only guests here at the hotel (can't figure out why....the goats are kinda cute when you get up close). Oh, and did you know that transporting chickens in the back one's SUV with the hatch open is perfectly normal......in Missouri??

So...let's recap. 8 years for speeding.....chickens hanging out of the back of the car and goats grazing in the yard...perfectly fine. Can I leave now????

And yes......we have pictures. Haven't found the cord yet...

Day #1 - PIECE OF CAKE!

Well, we got a little bit of a late start but were on the road by 7:30 this morning. West Chester, PA proved to be a bit of a bear but once we made it to the PA turnpike the traffic was light and the sun was shining! I have a great travel companion - although that's about all I can tell you because....what happens on the road to Kansas, stays on the road to Kansas.... :)

The mountains of western PA did not disappoint although things are not as green yet as they are at home in Delaware, and we even got to breath the polluted air of West Virginia-lol! Crossing into Ohio, we couldn't help but notice that the state animal must be "road kill" (of all sorts). Arrived in Columbus Ohio ahead of schedule only to drive right past the hotel. Once settled in, we enjoyed a dip in the indoor pool and hot tub then a light dinner at Panera Bread.

Yes, we are taking pictures, but the cord to connect the camera to the laptop must be in a different bag so I'll post some once I find it. If you're following this blog tour, please take a minute and sign in as a follower and then post any comments or questions that come to mind. I'd love to hear from you!

Back on the road tomorrow - next stop, Warrenton, MO. Enjoy your day!

READY TO GO!

The house is clean, there are casseroles in the freezer, laundry all caught up, 5 page list of instructions given to Bob to keep things running smoothly around here, books signed, car loaded up.....I think I'm ready! Donna Brown and I will be leaving tomorrow morning at 7:00 am. We'll be headed for the PA turnpike then settling in for the long drive across the keystone state. It's a bit of a boring drive until you get to the western part of the state where the mountains add a bit to the scenery. Our first stop will be in East Columbus, Ohio - Reynoldsburg to be exact. The weather looks to be gorgeous - sunny and 70 degrees! Enjoy your day :)

I have the BEST FRIENDS!

It's so true! I have the best friends a girl could ask for. When I was first planning my book tour to central Kansas, I knew that I would need to drive as opposed to flying due to the number of books that I would need to bring, as well as other display items, promotional materials and equipment. Right away my friend Donna Brown offered up her services as a travel companion pointing out that it is not safe for a woman traveling alone by car for three days half way across the country! (Unfortunately I do not have a picture of Donna - she is extremely camera shy and avoids pictures at all cost!) That left me with the task of finding someone to ride home with me since Donna informed me right away that, "I will be flying home as soon as I get you there safely. What am I going to do in Kansas for two weeks??"

Step in my sister-in-law Dru Nordmark. She decided she would like to fly out for the second week and then drive home with me. That plan was going along nicely until some unforseen family things got in the way and sadly she had to back out. NO PROBLEM! My oldest son, Carlo, who is a history teacher said that he would gladly take Friday April 30th off and fly out to Kansas and help me drive home. GREAT! Problem solved. Until......yesterday when he informed me that since the school system was going to be changing their "No Child Left Behind" testing methods, all staff would need to attend a three day training from April 29th - May 2nd. Ut-oh!

What to do? No way was I up for driving across the country by myself. It would take twice as long and be twice as stressful! With fingers crossed and wishful thinking, I sent an email to my best friend from high school, Karen Williams (that's her in the picture on the left) who - even though we had been out of touch with one another for 30 years - I had recently reconnected with and found that we hadn't missed a beat in our friendship. I knew she was between jobs, by choice, so there was a chance.....

I am pleased to say that the answer was an immediate YES! and Karen has already booked her flight. Problem solved, book tour ready to get underway, I am a LUCKY GIRL! Looking forward to meeting lots of wonderful people in and around Salina, Kansas!

WELCOME ABOARD!

Many, many thanks to Joany Erickson of "Yaya's World" http://yayashome.blogspot.com/ for her enthusiasm about my books and her clever way of bringing some attention to my newly started Blog.

WELCOME to all those who are now following ORPHAN TRAIN HISTORY from Joany's blog and GOOD LUCK on the contest to win a set of my books!

I hope you enjoy reading my posts and that you will learn about part of our country's history that has, for too long, been in the shadows.

And now..... the teacher/presenter in me can't help but give you a homework assignment! After reading the posts here on my blog (best to start at the beginning to understand the entire story), go out and find one person who has never heard of the Orphan Trains and tell them all you know about the era! Feel free to report back about the amazed reactions you encounter upon "teaching" a friend or relative about this missing 75 year social experiment!