Independence Day

If you could be anywhere in the USA on July 4th, where would you be? Independence, Missouri, of course! That's where we are, celebrating the holiday with roadside picnics, a visit with Harry Truman, a good ol' campout and KC-style BBQ and fireworks. Here's our first stop of the day: breakfast in a shopping center parking lot.

Along the way, we shared the roads with some Mennonites near Seymour, Missouri. Apparently, these are the most conservative of all the Amish in America, so there was no way the driver would smile for me. Even the horse had blinders on.

We reached Independence by lunchtime, just in time for our second picnic of the day in front of the Harry Truman Presidential Museum and Library. Note the beer and the liberty bell. That's how we celebrate America on the road.

The museum is much like Truman: stolid, understated and plain. It houses a wealth of historic materials about his family life, as well as the challenges he faced at the peak of World War II, and the dark period of post-war recovery and early Cold War foreign policies.

The former president, his wife, Bess, and his daughter, Margaret, and son-in-law are buried in the museum's courtyard. For me, though, Harry Truman was alive and well -- and talkative! Here's a few pix of our lively conversation in the foyer of the museum.

We discussed foreign policy, how he made the decision to drop the atom bombs on Japan, the election against Dewey and his failed efforts to pass a national health care act. He seems to approve of Obama.

Happy Independence Day!