Friday (6/26)  We started our day in Abilene, KS.   The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum is there.  The Eisenhower Family moved there shortly after Dwight was born and he lived there until he left for the West Point Academy in New York State.   He had made a pack with his older brother to work while his brother went to college and then his brother would work while Dwight went to college as they could not afford to have two in college at once and they needed to work to help pay for the college cost.   Well, after his brother had completed two years of college, Dwight was nominated for a military education and got it.   So he got to go to college at the same time as his brother.  He was one of seven boys.  One died in infancy and the remaining six all became successful professionals.   This was quite a feat for a poor family at the turn of the century.  The Eisenhower complex also has the home that he lived in for all of teenage years. There were many pictures of him as a teenager competing in sports.   He was very talented even as a young man.

We then went to Wamego, KS.  Now I know that you are wondering WHY?  It is really quite simple - Sue loves the movies - The Wizard of Oz.  Okay, you are still saying WHY?   Well, the Oz Museum is there.   They have over 2,000 OZ artifacts and a very detailed account as to how the book became a movie.   The book was actually written in 1899 and there were three silent movies made of it as well as several play versions in the early 1900s.  It was not until the 1930's that the movie we all know with Judy Garland was made and as they say "the rest is history."  I did not know that there are several books in the OZ Series.  Many of the actors were not the first choice for the various parts and they even thought about Shirley Temple for the part of Dorothy.  It was a very quaint little town and we enjoyed the whole experience very much.

In the evening we drove in to see the Capitol Building.   We know that we will be unable to tour this Capitol but we wanted to see the outside of it anyway.

We are spending tonight in Topeka, KS, which is the Capitol.