FDR PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY EXPEDITION!

 A while back, I attended a week-long Road Scholar (www.roadscholar.org) program, on the life of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  The classroom parts of the program were held at the FDR Library, in Hyde Park, New York.  In the photo below, I am the one in pink, sitting between Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt.  

The statue of the Roosevelt couple sits near the entrance to the FDR Library, and probably has a steady stream of visitors using it as a photo opportunity to remember the occasion.  

This banner with a photograph of FDR is on the exterior of the building, and is very unpretentious, compared to the signage at some of the other presidential libraries I have visited.  The other presidential libraries I have visited include those of Clinton, Ford, Reagan, Truman, and the older George Bush.  I hope to visit the new presidential library for President Theodore Roosevelt, scheduled to open in the summer of 2026, in North Dakota.

Likewise, the exterior of the building is not impressive in terms of modernistic, futuristic architecture.  Instead, the stone and roof design are reminiscent of the early settlements of upstate New York, which is where the original Roosevelt family immigrants lived.

 The Roosevelts had a Protestant Christian background, and when FDR was sworn in as President of the United States of America, the Bible that was used was turned to I Corinthians 13, that has the passages on faith, hope, and charity.    Although we were not allowed to photograph it, the actual Bible used, is part of the permanent collection at the Franklin D Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park (www.fdrlibrary.org ).  It is a 1686 Dutch family Bible, printed in Amsterdam.  It is the oldest Bible used in a presidential inauguration and the only one in a foreign language.  The Bible was passed down through the Roosevelt family, and contained records from the early 185h century.  It was also used when FDR was sworn in as Governor of New York in 1928 and 1930.  

God's Word was always important to the president, and the USA President wrote a personal message (dated January 25, 1941), that was placed on the first page of the Servicemen's Bible, given to soldiers involved in World War II.  

The photo below shows Springwood House, which was the lifelong home and birthplace of Franklin D. Roosevelt, in Hyde Park, New York.  It is part of a National Historic Site, located on the same grounds as the FDR Presidential Library and Museum.  Our group was able to take a complete tour inside the . , but we were not allowed to take photos.  The thing I remember most about the interior was seeing the stairs to the second floor.  Our guide told us that after FDR contracted polio, an elevator was installed because he had lost the use of his legs.  However, according to the guide, FDR usually refused to use the lift, and instead, used his upper body strength to crawl up the stairs, saying it helped him stay strong.  The other thing I remember about the house is seeing where he worked on his stamp collection.  Although the hobby has lost popularity now, it was the perfect activity for a person with limited mobility and a keen interest in travel and history.  Although my collection of stamps is not organized as was FDR's, I am still fascinated by the designs of postage stamps and have hundreds of them !  Some people collect stickers, and postage stamps are just a type of sticker!  The 300 acre Springwood Estate includes the Rose Garden, where both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt are buried.   

The Roosevelt dime is pictured below:

It is that fighting spirit that FDR had in overcoming polio, that led to his support of the March of Dimes program, and the reason for the FDR likeness on the US ten cent piece.    I told more details about that situation in a blog I published about visiting the FDR Little White House, in Warm Springs, Georgia.  It is available in the archives of this blog, dated April 12, 2018.  

The photo below shows what the folder looked like that I used in elementary school, to collect dimes for the March of Dimes program to fight polio.  

Our group also visited Val-Kil Historic Site, the cottage built for Eleanor Roosevelt.  Its native stone exterior is an example of the vernacular architecture of that area, and possibly the inspiration for the stone exterior used decades later for the FDR Presidential Library.  The same photography rules applied here as did at the Springwood House, so I do not have any photos of the interior of Val-Kil.  (By the way, many places I visited in upstate New York, had a suffix or prefix of "kil".  It was widely used in areas settled by the Dutch in New York.  It is derived from the Dutch word kille, meaning a riverbed, water channel, creek, or tidal inlet.)  The one image I can remember from the interior, however, was a photograph of President John F. Kennedy and Eleanor inside the cottage, when he came to visit the elderly widow, during his presidential era.  

There was a plaque on the exterior of the grounds, with a motto attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, that probably would be helpful for all of us to strive for!

 

In recent years, the US Mint Quarters program, came out with a quarter with a design honoring Eleanor Roosevelt, and it is pictured below:  (It is ironic that her likeness is on a coin worth 25 cents, while her husband's likeness is on a coin worth ten cents!)

There is a hiking trail that goes from the Springwood House, along the Hudson River, up to the Vanderbuilt Historic Site, also above the Hudson River.  However, this warning by the Duchess County Health Department, about ticks made me rethink the possibility of investigating that trail.  Perhaps if I had done what the Eleanor motto recommended, I would have some more photos to show you of the trail!

However, I settled for a photo of the start of the trail, and that was enough to give me "MILES OF SMILES"!  Tricia

 

BRYANT CREEK STATE PARK EXPEDITION!

In 2024, I went with friends from "Women Hiking the Ozarks" abbreviated "WHO" to do a hike at a place that had never been on our schedule before.  It was Bryant Creek State Park (www.mostateparks.com), which was added to the Missouri system in 2022.  As always, our group "circled up" at the beginning, to go over the instructions from our volunteer trail coordinators, tell our names, and number off.  (The goal being to have the same number at the end of the hike, as at the beginning!)  The concrete pad where we are gathered also serves as the handicap parking spot, for the two pit toilets, which are handicapped accessible.  The covered kiosk on the left, had helpful information posted behind the glass, plus a container that had paper maps, a hiker could take with them while exploring.

Our large group divided into those who wanted the longer, more difficult hike and those who wanted the shorter, less difficult hike.  I was in the group who wanted the shorter distance, and I took the photo below of my group, when we started our journey:

The long trail group hikers are TOUGH!

At one point far from our starting point, the two groups crossed paths.  I was in the group with their backs facing the camera, while the longer mileage hikers are facing the camera. 

The photo below shows 3 ladies conferring with their map, while the lady at the left of the photo worked on the ambitious goal of getting a very wide angle photo that would show the entire group. 

What the map readers were trying to figure out, is where we were in terms of the waterfall that is listed on the map.  Eventually, we came across the (barely flowing) waterfall, and it is pictured behind me.  We were visiting the area during deer hunting season, which accounts for my bright orange attire. 

  The bluffs that occur throughout the park add to its biodiversity, with a bioinventory indicating 940 kinds of plants, shrubs, wildflowers, and trees.  The photo below shows one of our hikers beside an outcrop of sandstone. 

The park brochure says ledges of Roubidoux sandstone, stacked two or three layers tall, follow the ins and outs of the area hills and hollows.  Sometimes our trail was on top of the sandstone, sometimes beside it, and sometimes between it, as shown in photo below:

The Ozarks is famous for its "hills and hollers", which means there may be a bit of water flowing through the hollers at the bottom of the hills.  As a trail patrol volunteer with the Arkansas Master Naturalists (www.arkansasmasternaturalists.org), I can appreciate the labor that is required to create a trail through a heavily wooded area.  The trails here were built with the assistance of team Fire 1 of AmeriCorps NCCC, a full-time service program (www.americorps.gov) allowing young adults ages 18-26 to serve in communities across the country to learn leadership skills. 

When I was at the park last November, I read the information at the kiosk, that said a track chair was available, by advance reservation, for visitors to the parks.  When I contacted the park to arrange a demonstration in December, the ranger explained that it generally is not available during December, January, February, and March because of weather-related issues, so I was delighted when the park ranger, Nick, followed up with me again in April, indicating that a demonstration of the track chair could now be scheduled.  Friends of mine from church (R and C) were also interested in learning about the track chair, and we are shown below:

After the park ranger explained how it worked,  the liability release form had been signed, and identity verified by R showing a photo ID driver's license, we were ready to start rolling!  C is shown below, using the track chair as it was set up, upon our arrival.  C has limited use of her right hand, so she was having to reach across her body, to operate the "joy stick" that controls the chair, with her still-functional left hand.  This was not an "ergo-efficient" movement, and proved to be very tiring for her left hand. 

Thankfully, there was a solution, as the ranger explained that the controls could be moved to the opposite side of the chair, with advance notice, but he did not have the necessary tools with him, to make the change at that time.  That is when R pulled out a fully-equipped tool bag out of his van, and the two guys started the process of switching the sides of the chair that the joy stick was located.  It did not require a change in the electronics cord, just a matter of unscrewing the control boxes for the electronics, and transferring them behind the chair, to be relocated to the opposite side. The chair runs on battery power, with the amount of battery charge remaining, displayed on the arm controls.  Because of the limited battery power, it is generally recommended that the chair can only be used for a two hour time period, before needing to be recharged at an electrical source. 

It was inspiring to see these two work together on a common goal! 

The chair was much easier for C to maneuver with the controls on the left:

C has an electric wheel chair at home that uses a "joy stick", so once she had the controls on the left side, she was ready to go "full throttle" on the trail!  (The speed is adjustable incrementally, from 1 (slowest) to 5 (fastest).    The photo below shows she was several feet ahead of me, as I was a walker; and, the photo also shows the golden "track chair" blaze on the pine tree, as well as illustrating there are park benches along the trail used by the track chair. 

This tree shows the blazes (hiking trail markers) used for all the trails at Bryant Creek State Park.  The red rectangle designates the  4.5 mile Pike Hollow Trail, the yellow rectangle designates the Pinewoods Trail, and the blaze below it with the symbol for the track chair, means this section is where the track chair is permitted.  The liability release form that a participant signs, indicates the chair is equipped with a GPS locator, so the possibility of a person in the chair getting lost in the woods is minimal.  Also, the liability release form one signs, indicates that park personnel are not allowed to assist the user into or out of the chair, so most users will need to have a helper with them for that maneuver.  The form also states that their photo/video may be used by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, while they are using the action track chair.  However, before I published their photos, I asked C and R, if it was okay for me to do so, which they said was okay.  By the way, the blazes in this photo (which do not harm the trees) are on trees that are partly responsible for the development of Bryant Creek State Park.  That is because the park acreage has a nice stand of Missouri's only native Shortleaf Pine. 

One reason I became interested in accessibility to the outdoors is that decades ago, my nephew was teaching hang-gliding at a location in Southern California.  A gust of wind caught his hang-glider, slamming him against a cliff.  The injury resulted in him having lower body paralysis, causing him to be confined to a wheelchair from then on.  Another learning experience was the week I spent at a Road Scholar (www.RoadScholar.org) program at the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, in Hyde Park, New York.  Learning about the difficulties FDR had when he was confined to a wheel chair after a bout with polio, I was impressed by his determination.  I remember in particular a quote from President Franklin D. Roosevelt saying to the effect, that he had just signed into existence, a new USA National Park, that he would never be able to enjoy, as a person confined to a wheel chair.  Fortunately, since that time, progress has been made to correct that situation.  One group that I follow on social media that has the goal of taking mobility-impaired folks to places they could never go otherwise, is called Luke5Adventures (www.Luke5Adventures.org).  Using a "chair cycle" (similar to what is used in mountain rescues) they take people on some, otherwise unattainable for the paralyzed person, trails.  The name comes from the passage in Luke 5:17-26, that tells about the men who carried a paralyzed man to Jesus for healing, gaining access to Jesus, by lowering the man down through a hole in the roof of the room where Jesus was teaching.  They were demonstrating faith and friendship in action! 

Seeing the faith and perseverance my nephew, my friends C and R, and other wheel-chair folks at my church demonstrate, despite their challenges, is an uplifting testimony.  It is in stark contrast I had many years ago, when making patient rounds at the hospital I worked.  I entered a paralyzed patient's room, to find out his food preferences, and he started cursing at me and throwing objects at me, such that I had to leave the room.  His anger was completely understandable, which makes a good attitude in the same situation, so amazing to me.  

 Hopefully, enabling folks to get out into God's Great Outdoors, will point them to a new-found strength, through accessibility advances, like a track chair.  My experiences at Bryant Creek State Park, both hiking and observing the track chair, gave me "MILES OF SMILES"!!  Tricia