Thursday, May 21, 2009

May 19, 2009

Homestead NM and Dreaming Tree

Headed east again.  First stop was Homestead National Monument.  This spot is a historical tribute to the homesteaders who settled much of the United States.  It is situated on the site of the very first homestead filed under the homestead act.  The visitors center has displays on homesteading all over the US and the hardships those people faced.  Well done museum.

From there we went to Beatrice, NE to visit a bakery that had achieved internet recognition.  The donuts were OK but nothing extraordinary.

Still eastward, near the border we went through Auburn  :) – Nebraska.  Seemed like a nice place.  Even has a stoplight.

Across the Missouri River and into another state.  Special goal on this segment.  Walt Disney spent his boyhood in Marceline, MO.  There is a museum there of his early years.  We skipped it for time.  The draw for me was the site of the Disney farm.  The house is gone but there is a replica of the barn (Walt built another replica in California – more later) and Walt’s ‘Dreaming Tree’ is still there.  It is very old and not in good health but still standing.  As a boy Walt would sit against the tree and dream.  Many of his thoughts would later show up in his cartoons.  

 

This is “Son of Dreaming Tree’.  It was raised from a seed from the old tree.  Sapling was planted using soil and water from special places in Disneyland.

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Walt built a replica of the barn in California.  It had a number of uses but one was as a sort of retreat where Walt would go to think on how to approach problems and projects.  It has been called the birthplace of Disney Imagineering. 

20090519 wilber to Macon-181 The replica in Marceline has a fun thing.  Touching or defacing the outside is verboten but people are invited to write messages to or about Walt on the inside.  Every flat space inside is written on.  Nothing nasty here.  All messages of fun and love

We placed a proxy notation for our favorite Disney fans.  Ken, Julie, Amanda, and Nicholas, if you ever do get to this place look  in the northwest corner of the barn on the north wall.  Just to the left of the window, down low near the ground you will find your notation.

From Marceline down the road to a Missouri state park.  Missouri does know how to do parks.  We could have stayed a couple of days and relaxed.  Took a walk around the campground tonight and saw something I haven’t seen in over 40 years – fireflys, Cool!



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