Sunday (6/28)  Well, the weather is much better - only in the 80s.  We made our first stop the home of Harry and Bess Truman in Independence, MO.   This is the only home that the Truman's every lived in.  It was built by Bess' grandfather in the 1850s and then he doubled the size of the house in 1885. The Truman's never changed anything except paint and wallpaper. This modest home is comfortable and unpretentious. He truly was a humble man who loved his hometown.

We went to the Crown Center which is a development around the Hallmark Headquarters in Kansas City.  The Center is the vision of the Hallmark Corporation as a means of giving back to the community.   It includes many acres of commercial and public space all designed to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Kansas City.  One of the large public areas has many fountains - most of which were full of kids today.  There is a model of the entire complex which is not yet complete but when it is will be a real "crown" jewel for the city.

We ate lunch in one of the many eateries in the Crown Center.  It was called Fritz's and they served hamburgers - nothing special about that!    Well, it was special because you ordered your food by phone and your food was delivered by train.   They have a train system that runs around the edge of the ceiling and when the train gets to your table, it drops your food box onto a platform that lowers the food to your table.  It was great fun watching how excited the kids in the place got when the train came to their table with the food.

Also at the Crown Center was a traveling exhibit called The Art of the Brick by Nathan Sawaya. It included more than 30 amazing works of art created solely from Lego bricks. Many were of life-like human beings.  An interesting one was of a man pulling his chest open with all the Legos falling out.

The Toy and Miniature Museum started by two women who had collected toys and miniatures was our next stop.  This 33,000 sq. ft. facility has a collection of the highest quality miniatures imaginable.  Many of miniature pieces of wood furniture were about an inch high and had working drawers, handles and locks.  The wood finishes were just beautiful.  The toys included dolls, dollhouses, trains, planes, cars, marbles and much more. The variety and quantity of items was mind boggling.  There were a million marbles!

We then went to see a fountain that we had passed earlier and came upon a VERY upscale shopping district.  All of the buildings in the area were of Spanish influence and there were flowers everywhere.   It was fun to walk around and look at everything.  We also made a stop at the Union Station.   This old train station has been renovated and has restaurants and movie theaters.  The work in the ceiling of the station was just amazing.

We were on our way back to the campground and decided to see where the Harry Truman Library was because we are going there tomorrow.  When we got there a free outdoor music concert celebrating our Country's Independence was going on.   We listened for a while and then headed home.  It has been a very full day.