Sept 13th-Honest Abe and Springfield, IL

Happy Fiftieth Birthday Sue (Should I have kept the number private?)! I can’t believe we missed the family reunion AND EIGHT LAYER CAKE! Looks and sounds like everyone had a great time together. Ain’t family great!?!?!?!? We slept along the Mississippi last night (Hey Jak and Charlie, Elsie got to swim in the river!) and spent the morning at the John Deere tractor factory and museum in Moline, IL. By afternoon we had made it to the Lincoln Library in Springfield. We parked right out front and used up 3 parking meters! The Lincoln Library was fabulous for the history impaired (and Gene, the history buff). I learned a lot about the Civil War—and will get to see a lot more as we keep driving. The Library had a short movie that compressed the time of the Civil War into several minutes. It was a map showing the boundary line between the North and South along with the number of casualties for both sides. Interesting to see the ebb and flow. Did you know Lincoln was in a four man race for office? He won with only 40 percent of the popular vote, but a majority of the Electoral College. South Carolina seceded from the Union right before his inauguration for his first term, and the other states followed right after. He was re-elected with Andrew Johnson. Lee surrendered to Grant, ending the Civil War, and Lincoln was assassinated six days later. Obviously a lot happened in the interim…