Road Rally Times - Los Angeles Unified School District



Look Out Minnesota!

Balboa Heads North!

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Memorial Day Weekend was spent at White Water University Fun Park in Des Moines. The park opened for the summer season and we were the first ones down the water slides. Crossing the Des Moines River, we traveled just North of Des Moines where we made a quick visit to Iowa State University. We learned it is the birthplace of the electronic digital computer. We also saw several Grant Woods murals. Do you know who Grant Wood is?

A quick detour off the beaten track took us to the birthplace of Mamie Doud Eisenhower. We saw a spectacular 1949 Chrysler Windsor and Mrs. Eisenhower’s 1962 Plymouth Valiant.

A short drive from there, we found ourselves in Mason City, Iowa. This small city is famous for its manufacturing of bricks, tile, and cement. We saw the magic of Bill Baird’s Puppets in the MacNider Museum, the unique architecture Frank Lloyd Wright in his Stockman House, and Native American artifacts in the Kinney Pioneer Museum.

We crossed into Minnesota in the late morning. The name means, “sky-tinted water”, and the state is known for its 10,000 lakes. We learned the number is actually more than 15,000!

On our way to Minneapolis-St. Paul, we had to stop at the Mall of America in Bloomington. We visited the Minneapolis Sculpture Gardens, the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices (Wow! There’s some really scary stuff there!), and the upper lock of the St. Anthony Falls Harbor Project.

St. Paul, a city of 272.200 people, is 703 feet above sea level. It is the State capital. We made quick trips to the Children’s Museum of Minnesota where we created a thunderstorm and crawled through a giant anthill maze. At the Science Museum of Minnesota we actually touched a tornado. We spent some time in the Wabasha Street Caves where these historic sandstone caves were once used for mushroom growing. Dinner was aboard the Minnesota Centennial Showboat where we dined and watched an old time melodrama.

Germain in Windy City

In Indianapolis, we saw the Indiana World War Memorial. There we saw the corner houses of the national headquarters of the American Legion. It was an exciting site to see. Then we went to the state capitol building. It was fun because we saw the many places that were very memorable. We then went to the raceway where the 500 automobile race is held during Memorial Day so it was very crowded there. The people were about to begin the race so everyone was shouting and cheering for the racers. After that we got some lunch at Market Square and we ate macaroni and cheese at a small plaza. Then we played at the near by basketball court at an arena. It was fun to play and watch a sport.

Then in Chicago, Illinois, we went to one of the largest grain markets. There we saw how they made the grain and how they shipped it to different states. It was a fun and exciting place to visit. We then went to a park called Grant Park. It was a beautiful place to visit. We played there and went to a little museum. It was a wonderful day, but it was sad because we didn’t visit any historical landmarks because we didn’t find any. But it was a wonderful day.

Lassen Visits Cajon Country

We left Crystal Springs, Mississippi and headed for Louisiana. We passed through ranches and beautiful wooded areas in Mississippi. We made a brief stop in Brookhaven. This town was founded in 1891 by Samuel Jayne, a pioneer who migrated from Long Island New York. He and his brother opened the first post office, store, and mill along the Bogue Chitto River. In 1858, the coming of the railroad resulted in the growth of the town. We saw several of the town’s old, historic buildings and then headed to Columbia. Columbia is located in Marion County which was formed 12/9/1811. On June 25, 1819, Columbia became the state’s fourth municipality. The Courthouse of Marion County, Columbia served as the temporary state capitol. The Mississippi Legislature met twice in Columbia.

Our next stop was in Louisiana, the state capitol, Baton Rouge. There was so much to see. One of our first stops was the Old State Capitol. It looked like a castle. We found out it was built in 1847, burned by the Union Army during the Civil War, and repaired in 1882. The state capitol was moved in 1932. We saw all sorts of exhibits about the history of Louisiana. We made a stop at the Governor’s Mansion and took a

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Old Governor’s Mansion Old State Capitol Paddle boat

short tour. It was cool. We had lunch at a Mulate’s and tasted authentic cajon food. It was really interesting, especially the jambalaya. After lunch, we visited the Louisians State University Rural Life Museum. It is designed to resemble an 1800’s plantation with a gristmill and blacksmith shop. They had all kinds of artifacts from prehistory to the early 20th century. So much to see and do!! We saw paddle boats on the Mississippi River, they reminded us of Disneyland. Everywhere we looked we saw beautiful magnolia and cypress trees. We went on a tour of the Spanish Lake Basin and saw alligators, egrets, herons, and even a bald eagle. This reminded us a little of Florida.

Our next stop was Lafayette where we visited an Acadian Village, a replica of a bayou town of the 19th century. The site had buildings we could check out, gardens, and a woodland area. It was great. We learned all about the cajun culture at the Acadian Cultural Center. Alexandre Mouton House was our last place to see in Layfayette. It was built about 1800 by Jean Mouton who founded the town. It contained exhibits detailing the cities history. We stopped for the night in Ville Platte.

We traveled this route to experience the unique cajon culture, visit another state capitol, and still get to Saint Louis on time.

Gledhill is OK in Oklahoma

Here we are in Hillsboro, Texas. Hee-haw! We woke up really early and hungry so went to Denny’s for their Grand Slam breakfast. Yum! The temperature was a chilly 65 degrees with light rain, so we took our raincoats. Wow! We were in a thunderstorm. We drove past Lake Whitney and we were back on the road to Dallas, Texas on Interstate route 35. While we were on the road we noticed how flat Texas really is. We also noticed how many people wear Cowboy hats and boots in Texas.

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We arrived in Dallas, which has a population of 1,006,900 and an elevation of 434 feet. In Dallas, we first visited the JFK memorial at Main and Market Street. This monument is dedicated to our 35th president John F Kennedy who was assassinated in 1963 while riding in a parade. We saw where the book depository was where his assailant, Lee Harvey Oswald, waited for his one chance to shoot him.

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Next we were off to Old City Park, which is a historical period village. We got to ride donkeys. It was really fun but they are slow and they smell like fresh manure. Cody’s donkey wouldn’t budge so the guide had to poke him. I don’t know how but we managed to eat again at their “big” open – air bar-b-que for lunch. (Everything in Texas is big!) We left Dallas via interstate 35 for the long drive north to Oklahoma City. We arrived in Oklahoma City in the late afternoon. The population of Oklahoma City is 3,317,100 and its elevation is 4,973 at Black Mesa and 287 at Little River. It was a hot and humid 86 degrees. Our first stop was the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. It was so cool; we were there two hours. Next, we went to the Oklahoma City National Memorial. It was really crowded but we saw where the Oklahoma bombing happened. [pic]

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The memorial is dedicated to the victims and rescuers who lost their lives and others whose lives were changed forever as a result. We felt a surge of patriotism to our country.

We all called home to say “hi” but very few parents were home because we were on central time and two hours ahead. We stopped for a dinner at Black Angus and treated ourselves to an awesome steak dinner. It’s true what they say about the beef in Texas and Oklahoma!

We left Oklahoma City for a short drive on Interstate 40 east to Henryetta where we settled in for the night at the Gateway Inn. Some of us went for a quick swim before bed. We chose this route because we wanted to go to Oklahoma City.

SUPERIOR STANDS OUT IN OHIO

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Our trip started in the morning at Altoona, Pennsylvania. We had breakfast at Carrows. We had to get an early start because we had a very busy day ahead of us. We packed up the hummer limo and hit the road. Briana and Jeanette left something back in the hotel room so we had to go back. Our first stop was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We went to the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium. Our teacher, Mr. Nairin, showed us all the cool habitats and living objects in the ocean. The aquarium is a 42,000 square foot building that contains 45 exhibits with colorful saltwater fish, sharks, freshwater fish, poison arrow dart frogs and a real coral reef. This was a beautiful adventure. Keith and Joseph got to hold an eel. That was cool. We than got a little hungry and had lunch in the aquarium cafeteria.

After our visit to Pittsburgh, we hopped back into the hummer and headed towards the capital city of Ohio, Columbus. Columbus is home to Ohio State University. We went to visit the university, whose nickname is the Buckeyes. Their football stadium seats more than 95,000 people and was the first double-deck, horseshoe-shaped stadium built in the country. We than went to the Ohio Historical Center and we saw a historical research library and the state archives. We than went to visit the Columbus Museum of art and saw a collection of early Modernist paintings, the collection of Old Masters and modern American paintings. After a long and tiring day, we were ready to have some dinner. We stopped at Historical Lindey’s on East Beck Street. This is in a renovated 19th century building. After a filling diner, we retired for the night at the DoubleTree hotel on South Front Street. We’re inching ever so closer to St. Louis.

Dearborn Sweeps Nebraska

Day six found us sleeping in until 7:30 a.m. We rolled ourselves out of bed. Robyn fell on the floor with a big clunk. We told her it was time to hit the road, and she got up and reluctantly got into the suburban.

Our first stop for the day was in Julesburg, Colorado. Julesburg was an important stop for the Pony Express. In this town we visited the Depot Museum. This museum has artifacts from the Pony Express and the Union Pacific Railroad, as well as pioneer tools and period clothing.

We squished into the suburban and headed along I-80 to the town of North Platte. North Platte was the home of Col. William Cody, aka “Buffalo Bill”. We arrived at Buffalo Bill State Historical Park where Buffalo Bill made his home. We were able to view some of his personal things as well as things from his Wild West shows. At his home we enjoyed a trail ride and a Buffalo stew cookout for lunch. We weren’t sure whether or not to try it. Aaron double dared us and it tasted good.

Walking bowlegged back to the suburban, we painfully climbed in and drove onward to Kearney. Kearney was named for the nearby Fort Kearney, established in 1848 to protect the pioneers on the Oregon Trail, overland stages carrying mail, prospectors of the gold rush and workers constructing the Union Pacific Railroad.

We passed by Great Platte River Road Archway Monument. This is the only museum that straddles an interstate highway. It was made to celebrate the opening up of the west and the joining together of a bicoastal nation. We headed toward Pioneer Village to see how America grew. There was a one room country schoolhouse that was used until 1935. It still contains all of the original desks, stove, schoolbooks, and the water pail. We saw a prairie church where services are still held every Sunday. We viewed a Pony Express station where Buffalo Bill’s saddle is in a glass case.

Following I-80 East we ended our days travel in Lincoln, the capital of Nebraska. The weather finally went from the cool 50’s to the very pleasant 80’s. While walking around Lincoln and we visited the L. F. Larson Tractor Museum at the University of Nebraska. We saw many antique tractors, tools, and farming equipment that helped shape our Nation’s farmlands. Nearby was the National Museum of Roller Skating. We couldn’t believe people were roller skating back in the 1860’s and we learned the proper way to skate. Also on display was Tara Lipinski’s roller skates and outfit she wore before she became an ice skater.

Alana heard a lot of noise and suggested that we follow it. We did and we came upon the State Fair and the evenings horseracing event. It was very exciting. We all chose a beautiful, shiny black horse to cheer for. The race was close but we didn’t win. Maybe next time. We ate our way through the fair with popcorn, cotton candy, soda, and hot dogs on a stick.

Feeling full and tired, we checked in to the Best Western Villager Courtyard and Gardens Hotel. What a day!

Something happened to Noble and to Beckford, and they weren’t heard from. We hope they’re OK and are simply lost temporarily.

News from St. Louis…

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Today is the awards ceremony. Students are anxiously waiting to see if they were selected as outstanding students in various areas.

The fifth graders are still at the overnight campout. They should be back later today.

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Most of our kids ride the bus to school.

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Gateway Arch on the riverfront

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We can hardly wait for you to see our school! Only two days left. We’ll try to make the rain hold off.

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