After a stormy night at the Park Hills Motel and RV Park , I continue my journey. (Sorry, again, Mr. Manager, for waking you up at 12:00 am!) Juan and I feel more confident in our ability to deal with the unexpected.

With Ike several hours behind us, we made great progress through Missouri (after a quick stop for more fans to help dry out our carpeting). I am very anxious to get to our final destination for the day, Springfield, Illinois . Of all our destinations, this was the one I am most excited to get to. Springfield, Illinois, as most of you know, is the "Home of Lincoln" and the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum . President Lincoln is one of my personal heroes.

We arrived in Springfield late in the afternoon and had to be guided into the KOA/Springfield  via cell phone by a very nice lady named Linda. Springfield just had its own close-up with Hurricane Ike , and the main road into the campground was flooded. So we wound our way through corn fields and farms until we reached our site. Thankfully, there was a laundry room so we could wash and dry the pile of wet towels we had accumulated trying to stop the deluge from the previous night.

Monday morning, we were off to the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. We were greeted by the Executive Director, Rick Beard, who was very gracious in offering us a tour of the museum vault where thousands of Lincoln related items are stored. Unfortunately, we only had about an hour to see and do everything the museum had to offer, so we never made it to the vault. You see, we had to be back in St. Louis by 2:00pm to meet with a class of 5th graders. So I made a mad dash through the museum trying to take in everything I could. And there was so much!

The museum is a state-of-the-art experience thanks to BRC Imagination Arts . Every exhibit has something for the eyes and ears. You start your journey in Lincoln's boyhood cabin  and wind your way through scene after scene — Lincoln grows to adulthood right before your eyes. Next, Lincoln is elected President and you follow him through his White House years , the Civil War and eventually his tragic murder.

As I rounded the corner that leads to the scene of Lincoln lying in state, I became unexpectedly emotional. The exhibits are that powerful.

In addition to the exhibits, we had just enough time to watch two film presentations: "The Eyes of Lincoln" and "Ghosts of the Library."  Both are exceptional and full of surprises, from moving chairs to hologram technology — not to mention the content, which is educational and fun. (What a great combo!)

If you ever get a chance to go to the Lincoln Library, whether you're a fan of Lincoln or not, this is an experience everyone should have.

When I said farewell to Mr. Beard and the Lincoln Museum, I was sad to leave because there was so much more to see in Springfield.

But we set out for our next stop — one that was equally rewarding! In St. Louis, we had the pleasure of meeting with Ms. Decker's 5th grade class at Kennard Classical Junior Academy . What a great group of kids! They were all very smart and asked some really great questions. After my history presentation, the students all wrote letters to a 4th grade class at Mary E. Silveira School  in San Rafael, California (near San Francisco). We collected the letters, and the whole class came down to see the RV and meet Eddie and Charlie.

(Mrs. Decker's class! I know you are reading this, so I want to thank you again for letting me visit your class and talk with you about the Butterfield Overland Mail   and Wells Fargo. It was great! And just so you know, the letters are safe and sound, and on their way to California!)

After a full day we were STARVED! We headed to downtown St. Louis for some BBQ and to our next campsite, KOA in Granite City, Illinois , just across the Mississippi River .

Tuesday, the official trip begins, and we're really excited to get started. After traveling for hours and hours and miles and miles every day, it will be nice to go only a few miles each day. And we'll finally get to stop and take in some of the interesting sites along the way.

So stay tuned!