Friday, October 11 - This is our last night in an r.v. park for this trip. After 67 days away from home, perhaps it's time to reconnect with friends, family and abode. But there's always a little sadness when we reach this point, as we do enjoy the freedom of the road, the new horizons, the experiences, the people we meet, even if only fleetingly.

We've had a great trip, thanks to good weather, terrific friends like Ken and Connie Marshall in Edmonton, our old high school gang, hosted by Dave and Leone Jobson, cousins in Edmonton, friends to visit tomorrow...Jim and Penny Stewart. Not to mention the many old friends from days in Germany, as we had such a great time on the Alaska cruise. Thanks to the Vances and the Chubbs, and the rest of the committee for a great experience. So we've bankrolled a host of good memories as a result of our excursions, and with hundreds of pictures to attest to that, will be able to hold these memories for a long time.

Today, we visited the Lincoln Museum in Springfield. It was quite a contrast to our visit to the Ike Museum in Abilene. This one if full of high tech...full sized models of characters from the time, holographs that were quite amazing, movies that depicted stages of Lincoln's life, various memorabilia in attractive displays. Some might think it was over the top, but clearly a lot of the museum is aimed to please the younger generation, with all the bells and whistles that young people appreciate. What better way to make history come to life, and to emphasize the basic values that Lincoln stood for.

As mentioned with both Eisenhower and Twain, here was another man who came from a most humble beginning. He had hardly any formal schooling, managing to teach himself to read, and going on to self-teach pretty well everything he learned, including qualifying for the Law. He was also a man who experienced many failures, even to the extent of not managing to make a general store profitable. He ran for the Senate twice, and lost both times. But two years later, was elected President. Perseverence, strong belief in self, a strong partner in his wife Mary, and an amazing will to succeed because of a set of values that propelled him to the place where he could effect amazing change. He suffered many ups and downs, but always stood firmly to his convictions that he could make a difference, and indeed, he did just that.

We've enjoyed these last three days of education. Despite what you might think of the America we know today, there is a history, full of bloodshed as it is, that speaks to us about the value of the individual spirit, and the thought that anyone can achieve great things if determined enough. There are so many problems still to be solved. Trump certainly isn't helping. But the fundamental concept of freedom and respect has to count for something. The ordinary citizen is pretty darned nice...pleasant, friendly, helpful, courteous, kind. Same as almost anywhere I've travelled in around 60 different countries. We have to keep hoping that the good values will come out on top, and people like Trump, Erdowan, and people like them will be put in their place in the long run. And we'll find answers to the big problems.

Enough of my wanderings. I am not sure I'll see the advances that I hope for in my remaining years, particularly as there aren't too many years remaining. But I have terrific grand-kids, with refreshing values, strong, clear values, that if part of a generational movement, will find a way to solve the problems that the world faces. So I have hope for the future, despite some despair for what we face because of an insatiable human urge to have more, to insist that growth is the only true salvation.
Back to the basics. That's what we need. Bring it on, kids.

I know a few of you out there follow this blog of mine, and I thank you for your occasional comments. It's really more for me that I do this, as the blog serves as a sort of journal, a record of good times (and some bad). But if you've enjoyed the ramblings, thank you for listening. That's it for now. Hopefully, more later. Stay tuned.