Today we visited Carthage Jail in Illinois where Joseph Smith was shot and killed.  In the top photo, the window on the right is the one Joseph jumped from after he had been shot. The second photo is the interior shot of the same window.

Then we went to Historic Nauvoo, where we saw the Nauvoo Temple and visited several sites-the Browning Home & Gunsmith Shop, Brigham Young's home, John Taylor's home, the Smith Family Cemetery and the Brickyard where we learned how bricks were made. It was all very interesting and I especially liked touring Brigham Young's home since he is my ancestor.  In the Young house I am standing next to  a desk in the room where many meetings were held and where the exodus from Nauvoo to the West was planned.  

St. Joseph, MO was so cool. We started by visiting the old Stetson factory and discovered that my old Stetson Revenger was made at that plant about 30 years ago. It was like returning to the scene of the crime.
We then visited the Pony Express Museum in the exact location where the riders rode from back in the day. The brick was added later; but this is the real deal inside. The line ran from St. Joe, MO to Sacramento, CA. Another interesting thing that happened in St. Joe was the killing of infamous outlaw, Jesse James.
Then we visited Adam-ondi-ahman - a very peaceful site.

The last two days have been extraordinary. We drove a great distance out of our way to visit the General/President Eisenhower boyhood home, museum and library. He, of course, was the Supreme Allied Commander that organized the Normandy Invasion that brought the European portion of WWII to an end in 1945 - the year Ann and I were born. Then he went on to become the President that we knew best as we were growing up. For me, he was bigger than life and it was an honor to sit on the family porch in exactly the same spot that he did for a family photo so many years ago.
Then we had a visit to a Russell Stover candy factory where the aroma of chocolate was pervasive and almost intoxicating.  On the bear:  I love chocolate.
Today, we visited the Monroe Elementary School that is now the National Park commemorating the U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education of 1954 that overturned the 1896 "separate but equal" doctrine, bringing an end to that element of segregation. It was an outstanding learning experience.
And if that wasn't good enough, we visited the home of an "abolitionist" activist named John Ritchie. Our guide was a history professor who enlightened us greatly on the "Bleeding Kansas" fight that took place before the Civil War erupted. Ritchie was a "station keeper" on the "underground railroad" that helped slaves escape to freedom. Our visit today was incredible.

In Independence, Missouri we went to the Harry S. Truman house.  President Truman moved back to this house after his 8 years as President in the early l950's. It looks just like it did in 1982 when his wife died.  It was very fun to tour the house and remember some of the things of that era.
As we were driving along the highway Richard spotted this gas station, still a functional station.  He had to stop and take a picture.
The next picture is of Liberty Jail where Joseph Smith and some other LDS church leaders were imprisoned.
The last picture is Vaile Mansion in Independence, a beautiful 1881 mansion with wonderful tall doorways, 8 marble fireplaces, flushing toilets, 3 stories, 30 rooms and lovely period furnishings.
It was a very eventful, fun filled day.
We also enjoyed tasting Kansas City BBQ the past 2 days -- Oklahoma Joe's BBQ in Kansas City, Kansas and Arthur Bryant's Barbeque in Kansas City, Missouri. Yum! -Ann

The weather the past couple of weeks has been so hot and humid.  Today again it felt like stepping into an oven going outside.  Most of the time my skin is clammy and moist.  When we went into the cave, which is underground, it was so cool and nice, even cold but it felt good. - Ann

We visited Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, near Cave City. Pretty cool. Then we stumbled upon a car show in  Historic Downtown Cave City and I would have bought the '57 Chevy. Then a little fun.
I was looking on the map of Cave City and found a street labeled Moonshine Boulevard and thought it needed investigation. As it turns out, the street did not have a street sign; but it did have a steel industrial building that was being used as headquarters of "There 4 Ministries."  On the front of the building it said "Owned and operated by God." The only thing I can come up with is that the moonshine blvd reference must have originated in a sermon.
Then we found the "Little Hope Cemetery." What does this mean? - Richard

This morning we traveled to the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln in Kentucky. He was born here in a log cabin that sat roughly where the stone monument is located. Inside is a replica of the 16' x 18' one-room log home where he was born and lived for two years. It was a humble beginning. The triangular log home that we read about in grade school was about seven years later when they moved 90 miles west in the fall. I am sure that that was much more humbling. Anyway it was inspiring to stand near where the 16th President was born.

I met a guy in the parking lot of our hotel and found out he and his son were there to attend the Ford Retractable conference a few miles away. Of course, we went to see the cars. They were made in 1957-59. The hardtop folded up and was stored in the large trunk - pretty cool huh?
Then we went to the awesome National Air Force Museum in Dayton. Unbelievable!
And then we went to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory Tour. We got to see the signature stamps for Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Micky Mantle along with thousands of others. We got ends cut from the bats being made for Jim Thome. That is me, Richard, at the bottom of the bat photo in front of the museum/factory.

Early in the day, we were traveling along a scenic byway and stumbled upon Wilbur Wright's birthplace and an excellent museum. When we arrived in Dayton we then went to the Packard Museum.
Here I am standing next to a $3mil custom-built Packard that was too cool.
Then we went to the second of the five Wright Cycle locations. This is the place where the Wright Brothers made the decision to continue in the footsteps of The German engineer Otto Lilienthal - "the Flyer Man" after Lilienthal died in an accident.
The last photo is of me at Huffman Prairie where the Wrights perfected controlled flight in 1905. The building in the background is a reproduction of their hanger where they stored their aircraft, repaired and assembled them. The derrick is a  reproduction of the one they used for their catapult mechanism to launch their aircraft. From the location behind me in the photo Wilbur took off on one day in 1905 and flew around this field 29 times - until he ran out of fuel. 

Today we visited the Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway. The first photo is of the pit area where my former client, Vince Granatelli's 1967 turbine powered STP racecar worked out of. Andy was the front man; but the younger brother Vince built the car.
The next photo is of one of the turns. You may wonder how I got on the track to take these photos - don't worry. It was legal. The next photo is of me in front of an early Benz racer. And the final photo is of my favorite hottie sitting on an Indy car.

We spent the night in Mackinaw City, Michigan at the Tee Pee Campgrounds and were so lucky to have the best campsite in the whole place. There were no closer sites to the beach than us.  The body of water is Lake Huron. The weather was awesome and the scenery gorgeous. The Mackinac Bridge is in the background. It connects the lower peninsula (L.P.) to the upper peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan.  We crossed the bridge and the upper peninsula was very beautiful also. R & A

We had a great time at the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.
Then we went to my Grandparents house in Cleveland where I lived after my Mother died when I was two years old. The stairs I am sitting on in the photo go from the kitchen to the basement. One day when I was about four, Grandma heard a strange sound coming from the basement. She discovered me scraping paint off of the stairs. She, of course, asked me what the heck I was doing. I responded that I did not like the color and was scraping it off. What makes this interesting is that that my MO has always been to proceed - often without permission. It was pretty cool to return to the scene of the crime.
There I am sitting on the front porch of the home my Grandfather Marin built and I lived in for about three years.
The last photo is the factory in Detroit, Michigan where the Ford Model T was invented and first built. It was great to be there.

Here is a photo of how the LSTs were launched sideways into the water. This particular ship launch took place within a short distance from our ship's launch.

While serving as a Building Missionary in Upland, CA in 1965 I received a Draft Notice - President Johnson had just announced that we were going into Vietnam in a big way, I had just turned 20 years old and we had no draft deferments. I was able to get to a Navy recruiting office before the Army got me. And so I ended up arriving in Vietnam on the USS Polk County LST-1084 on the same day that I would have been released from my missionary service. The ship photo at the bottom is the ship. So yesterday, after church, we met with another LST Sailor who took us to the places where the ship was built and launched. The photo at the top is the yard where they first started welding components that would be used in building the ship. The second photo is of the very large building where they would build the ships round-the-clock right through the winter and the third photo is the site where the ship was launched sideways into the Ohio River on 19 January 1945. Ours was one of hundreds of these amphibious tank landing ships built by "corn field" shipyards during WWII. It was way cool to see where our ship was built!

For the last two days, we toured the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Mission (PPM) where our son, Rex, served his mission about 10 years ago. So, now, on this trip, we have visited the places where three Elder Marins have served as missionaries - Rex, Ryan and me. The first photo is at Meadville, PA. This is where the Channel-Lock (long handled adjustable pliers) manufacturing plant is. There was a very nice baseball field a few blocks from this church building and I imagined Rex either jumping the fence or getting in there somehow to play a little baseball on his Preparation Days (day off).
The one in the middle is at Oakdale, PA and the last one is of the Beaver Valley Ward building where he attended while serving in the Aliquippa, PA area. Bishop Weeks remembered Rex. Aliquippa was a thriving "mill town" up until sometime in the 1970s when the steel industry collapsed in the United States within a two year period. Today it is, as it was when Rex served there, a challenging area. It was very cool to drive through each of these areas and wonder which doors Rex had knocked on and where he might have given missionary discussions. He served as a District Leader while serving in Connellsville, PA

Niagara Falls - July 7

We had an incredible time in Rochester, NY visiting with our son, Rex, our daughter-in-law Heather and their kids, Rachel, Tyler and Brady. Among other things, we visited the park and played in sand, visited the National Museum of Play in Rochester, visited a dress rehearsal of the Hill Cumorah  Pageant - incredible. The hamburger is one that Rachel made for me at the Children's Museum. Pretty cool huh?
#1-Grandpa & kids   #2-Rachel & Tyler Marin   #3-Grandma & Rachel   #4 at Hill Cumorah - Richard, Ann, Heather, Rachel, Brady, Tyler, Rex   #6 - Niagara Falls   #7-Tyler  #8 Brady