Reays on the Road

We stopped at our eighth state capitol, Charleston, West Virginia, which will also be our last before a few week break from driving, and our stop to visit friends in Raleigh, North Carolina.  This was the prettiest capitol building we’ve visited so far.  Here, the girls learned that the holiday of Mother’s Day began in West Virginia, that West Virginia is called the Mountain State, and that its state bird is also the Cardinal.  They also learned that the state flower is the Rhododendron, a flower with a really long and hard to pronounce name.

We stopped in Columbus, OH, which was our seventh state capitol on our trip.  The girls learned that there is a football (touch and flag football) hall of fame in Canton, Ohio, that Ohio’s state bird is also the Cardinal, and that the state flower is the Scarlet Carnation.  They also learned that Ohio is called the Buckeye State.

We stopped at Indianapolis, IN for our sixth state capitol.  The girls learned that Indiana is called the Hoosier State, that its state bird is the Cardinal and that its state flower is the Peony.  They also learned that in 1991, the Indianapolis 500 became the country’s first long-distance car race, and races still go on there today.

We visited our fifth state capitol in Springfield, Illinois.  The girls learned that the state bird of Illinois is the Cardinal, the state flower is the Purple Violet, and that Illinois’ state nickname is the Prarie State.  They also learned that the word “Illinois” comes from the word for a Native American tribe: “Illiniwek” meaning superior men.

We stopped in Springfield, Illinois not just to see the capitol building, but also to see the house our Great Great Grandfather built and that our Great Grandmother lived in.

Although we found out the hard way that there is no parking for RVs anywhere near the arch, we were able to drive by it, and also happened to pass the place where Bud and Bud Light are made.  The girls learned that St. Louis is know as the “Gateway to the West.”

We stopped at our fourth state capitol, Jefferson City, Missouri, after going through Kansas City and before St. Louis.  The girls learned that Missouri’s state bird is the Bluebird, the state flower is the White Hawthorn Blossom, and that Missouri is called the Show Me State.

We stopped at our third state capitol, Topeka, Kansas.  The girls learned that Kansas is called The Sunflower State, that the state bird is also a Western Meadowlark (just like Nebraska), the state flower is the Sunflower, and that Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean, was from Kansas

Our second stop at a state capitol brought us to Lincoln, Nebraska, after a nice dinner out with a friend in Omaha.  The girls learned that Nebraska got its name from an Oto Native American word meaning, “flat water,” that the state bird is the Western Medowlark, the state flower is the Goldenrod, and Nebraska’s nickname is the Cornhusker State.

We stopped at our first state capitol today, Des Moines, IA.  The girls learned that the state bird of Iowa is the Eastern Goldfinch,
the state flower of Iowa is the Wild Prarie Rose, and that Iowa is called The Hawkeye State.