Another wonderful day. Our first stop today was Truck Henge. We got the directions from Roadside Attractions but as we approached the gate, there was a sign telling us to go to the house about a block away. Well, we met Linda Lessman who greeted us and took us for a tour. Her husband Ron has done a lot of the work. As we walked along, she told us the history of the farm/property and how this all began….
Since my memory is short, here are links to web pages that will tell you more:
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/16024
http://www.truckhenge.com/
Video Tour
The stone in front of the bus above is called the Truth stone. Many of the local high school kids come her to get their picture taken in front of the stone. Ron is also starting to collect Christmas Lights to make the largest ball of Christmas lights (so folks, send them his way!)
Linda and I:
This is “Bottle City”. The pictures don’t do it justice. With the sun shining on the bottles, it almost looks like they are all lit up – really neat!!!
And then we went to Boat Henge:
There was some neat sculptures throughout:
We met Ron as we got back to the house and he told us so many things he is doing around the property. This is a railroad car that they use to use to carry race horses. There are only 3 in existence:
This is the original homestead that was built in the 1800’s but has been flooded a number of times:
So this is the new house:
Ron and Linda invited us in to show us what they have been doing with the house – all I can say is WOW!!
Here is the back of the house – check out that stairway and all the plants:
The bottom area of the house is the garage – you can imagine how Andy’s face lit up when he saw the size of it and the tools. It also serves a double purpose since this is a flood plain area – their living quarters are well above the ground and flood area.
Some of Ron’s paintings:
These are made in the doors of the lower level (bottles and concrete). Linda told me that at night when lit from inside, it looks like faces. Sooo…….
the next two pictures were taken without flash from the inside with the sun shining thru:
From there Linda and I rode the elevator to the top floor (Andy and Ron took the stairs). The elevator is a fork truck lift:
Andy and Ron talking in the front room (that is the elevator behind them):
From the elevator, we walked into this wonderful open area – WOW!!! Incredible!!! I loved the open area. The bedrooms and bath are off of this room. Ron showed us the bath – another WOW! The flooring throughout is made from old pallet boards that Ron has planed and polyurethane. The designs are beautiful. All the workmanship throughout is top notch!!!
We had a great time talking with them. I know I could have stayed all day and just listened to all the stories… So folks if you are in this area, stop by and see them. What a great couple.
Ron and Linda, thank you so much for sharing your story and your home with us.
We left there and went further into Topeka and stopped at the fire hydrant garden.
This is from the Roadside America website:
“Claude Belshe started to collect and install old fire hydrants when the garden he and his wife planted was trampled by their two dogs. The hydrants have become heaven for the dogs! They have all been lovingly repainted by his stepson Jeffery. Claude plans for the garden to continue to grow and is always on the lookout for more hydrants. The entire garden can be seen from the street as his dogs are very aggressive to protect their paradise!”
No one was home when we stopped by so we did not see the dogs. But the hydrants are really colorful and cute.
Our next stop was the Mt. Hope Cemetery where we found the grave of 5 year old (1880-85) Carrie Frances Kiene. About 4-5 times a year, this child statue is dressed in appropriate clothes for the season by someone unknown and unseen. Apparently it has been happening for over 20 years. Her clothes now are the green shawl/sundress, sunhat with feather, small purse and even a doll with pink hair. Isn’t this something!
We noticed that Carrie had a number of brothers and sisters that did not live long – how sad. Life must have been very hard in this area over 100 years ago….
After lunch and a stop at Wal-Mart, we headed back to the motor home where we met some of the park residents – :-)):
What a wonderful day!
Tomorrow is a rest day for us – I hope – LOL!!!
