The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

I am parked on the edge of Lake Shawnee. Across the lake is a botanical garden where every Spring they have a tulip festival. Miko and I wandered over there – the tulips are getting quite a late start because of all of this cold weather we have been having. I just wanted to share some pictures of Spring for my northern friends. I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just trying to give y'all hope that Spring is possible and on it's way.

One of my neighbors in the campground.  He was a competitive BBQ Smoker.

My view out my door - a Kansas sunset at it's best

I also hit another worthwhile, strange museum, the Evel Knievel Museum. For you youngsters out there, Evel was a daredevil stunt performer who specialized in doing motorcycle jumps over great distances and over buses, cars, fire, and man-eating sharks during the sixties and seventies. He broke nearly every bone in his body during his career. Evel was actually from Montana, but there was a tiny little connection to Topeka so some of his fans built the museum here. The museum is located in a Harley Davidson dealership, but it is huge at two stories and about 13000 square feet. There were plenty of displays of his actual motorcycles and his outfits (the sixties were not a particularly good time for fashion). There were also panels that displayed his jumps. On these panels there would be a square that would explain what the jump was and where it took place and what happened (ex: Caesar's Place, Dec 31, 1967, Crashed). There was a video that would show the particular jump, landing and crash if applicable. If he broke a bone, there was a picture of a skeleton depicting which bone/s he broke. A little strange, I think. 

The museum had a 4D virtual reality jump that you could do. You would sit on a motorcycle (which was on one of the original ramps that Evel used). They would put headphones and a virtual reality headpiece on you. I was trying to decide if I should do this and told the guys there about my experience trying to summit the dome at the state capital. One of the guys said – 'you know, I'm supposed to push this ride, but I really don't think it would be a good idea for you to do this.'  Ok, since I'm not on the debit side anymore for doing scary thing for the rest of the year, I decided to pass on this. 

I try to keep this blog politically free and fairly upbeat. I really do try to not offend others. Sunshine and light is what I'm all about. So, I am going to deviate from that for the remainder of this blog. Topeka is the home of one of the most horrendous groups in our country – the Westboro Baptist Church. Westboro hides behind the bible for all the hateful actions and inflammatory hate speech that they do. They are especially against LGBT people but also Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Muslims, Jews and U.S. soldiers and politicians. Their tactics are despicable and hate filled. Just nasty, nasty people. 

I will not show the hate signs on the church, there is no need to have that seared in your brain. This is their flagpole.

I went to the Westboro Baptist Church neighborhood. Just the thought of being in the same area as this organization made my stomach roil. Why, you ask? I went to see and support the Rainbow Houses which are across the street from the church. 

Planting Peace is a nonprofit huanitarian organization which specializes in global causes, such as orphanages in Haiti and India, international deworming efforts, rainforest preservation and anti-bullying programs. Planting Peace bought a house across the street from the church and proceeded to paint it in rainbow colors, in tribute to the gay pride flag. They called it the Equality House. They have rainbow flags all around the property. They then bought the house next door to Equality House and painted that house in the Transgender colors – white, pink, blue. Sort of like a finger in the eye to the Westboro people.  You Go Planting Peace, You Go!!!!

The side of the Equality House

Take Care of Each Other.....

The Place Where We Dug Potatoes

Greetings From Topeka Kansas. Who knew Topeka Kansas has so much to offer? I certainly didn't.  Topeka is a Kansa-Osage sentence that actually means "place where we dug potatoes".

First up was the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site. Brown v. Board of Education was a 1954 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision where the court declared that state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students was unconstitutional. There were actually five different lawsuits from five different states that were all combined into one decision but Plaintiff Oliver Brown from Topeka was the one that they named the suit after that made it to the Supreme Court. Brown's daughter went to Monroe School, an all black school that was a couple of miles away from her house instead of the all white school that was only a couple of blocks away. This historic site is located in Monroe School and it is one of the better urban historic sites that I have visited.

Even though it is a 1926 school, the exhibits were state of the art. There were wrap around movie screens, interactive exhibits, buttons to push, classrooms to visit. One throwback to the early days was the kindergarten room which was lovely. It had a fireplace which added to the cozy feeling.

I had heard the state capital building was not to be missed. In fact, I heard that it was the only state capital where you could go up to the very top of the dome and walk around outside on a little platform. Views were supposed to be stupendous. Ok, I'm in for the tour. First though, I had to tour the first five floors of the building. Our tour guide, Larry, told us how lucky we were that we had him because he was the 'Singing Guide' and sing he did. Nice voice made nicer by the fact that the building lent itself to making sounds seem very grand. Larry sang in almost every different room that we saw. At one point, in front of the giant John Brown mural, he lead the group in a rousing round of Home Home On The Range. Larry took us from the basement up to the fifth floor where those of us who were going up in the dome got a spry younger guide. 

A very impressive, very tall building

Another beautiful dome

A very pretty building

A close-up of the very top of the inner dome

Let me explain a few things first. The dome is 304 feet tall which is taller than the U.S. Capital building in Washington. I think the guide said it was 25 stories tall. We had 296 steps to conquer to get to the top of the dome. There is an inner dome which is what you see when you look up from the floor of the rotunda and it has all the pretty murals on it. Then there is an outer dome which is what you see when you look at the building from the outside. 

Now, it is important that we all remember how heights sort of make me a perhaps little bit nervous. Ok, I'm lying – the truth is that heights terrify me and this fear seems to be getting worse as I get older. But, as I told the guide somewhere between the sixth and seventh floor, that Eleanor Roosevelt says that we should all do something everyday that scares us. This was going to be the scary thing I do that would count for not only today, but the week, the month and maybe even the whole year. The problem was that as you got above the inner dome, it was this huge very very tall open space and the stairs were just sort of hanging there in mid air. I soldiered on to the eighth or ninth floor and I realized that I could go no further. I had reached a small little landing and I was plastered face first against the wall. I was shaking, my stomach was all in knots, I have not been that scared in like forever. It was horrible. I told the guide to go ahead, save yourself, I was done. He and the rest of the group went on and I had to go back down by myself. I was grateful for that because it would have been too embarrassing to have anybody watch my pitiful descent. I literally sat down on the top step and scooted down the steps very very slowly on my bum. I could hear the others about three stories above me before I even got down the very first flight. I am glad to report that I survived, I'm glad I got as far as I did, but never, ever again. 

This is where we are climbing to.  I made it up to the landing on the upper right side.  Notice the tiny little stairway to the top and how it turns into a spiral staircase.  You are going to die if you go up there.  Well, I would - others maybe not.

That little platform underneath the statue is where you can go outside and view the sights. 

I made it as far as the square windows.