We left San Antonio in 2008 and flew to Tulsa, Oklahoma to spend the night and lease a car to drive the rest of the way to visit our daughter, Valerie, who was working for an internship at Swan Lake NWR in Missouri. The weather was extremely cold and the roads were icy when we left Tulsa but soon became much more calm and pleasant driving. We drove from Tulsa to Springfield and on to Swan Lake which is in Sumner and below Cunningham, Missouri
Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1937 and contained 10, 670 acres of land. It is a refuge for fish, wild birds of all kinds and some animals. It is a beautiful location and is open to the public for fishing and hunting for some time around the end of May to the last part of October. Valerie’s job was to care of the animals and birds and to help in keeping the facilities available and running. She had a three months commitment and seemed to enjoy the freedom, although it would have driven me crazy in being so lonely and isolated. For this work, she had a room and kitchen in the house which was built by the Civilian Conservation Corp somewhere around 1933.
The nearest small town is Sumner, village of about 102 individuals. Further North is the town of Cunningham which is a little more of a community. In fact, they had a parade celebrating something while we were there and we attended along with the crowd of other people and listened to the speakers as the parade unwound. It was interesting and we enjoyed some the food which was available for consumption.
Interestingly, the land around here was explored by Daniel Boone and Thomas Stanley prior to Missouri’s statehood in 1821, so I have read. The land around Swan Lake is colorful and worth a look for anyone who likes the wilderness and lots of water and plants. Valerie had the ability to use the dune buggy to show us around the place and she was used to fast driving across the high weeds and plants but it was kind of alarming to Barbara and I.
There was much for us to see as the lake covered such a large area and had great beauty in so many parts of the refuge including the woods which we visited. I can see why they used the buggies as so much as the trails were muddy and would have been almost impossible to travel with a car. They had put out boxes to attract the bats and allow them to help in keeping the place bug free. The house was nice, but would have made me fearful if I was the one living there because of the lack of other people at night. We saw an animal looking in at us one evening from a tree but could not determine what it was.
We made a second trip after three months to help Valerie in packing to come home and we were accompanied by our daughter and son-in-law. He swore he heard footsteps on the stairs that night after we had gone to bed. It was our imagination, but we were glad to leave for home.
On the initial trip to Swan Lake to visit Valerie, we had the opportunity to come back through Kansas City and also to visit Independence. Independence is part of
Kansas City so it made it easy to stop and see the Truman Library and Museum.
On our initial trip to Swan Lake to visit Valerie, we came back through Kansas City and by the Truman Library and Museum. Both of the stops were noteworthy because Kansas City is noted for it’s good barbecue which we had the chance to sample a portion. We also made our opportunity to see the Truman Library and grave sites in Independence, Missouri. It was easy as Independence is part of Kansas City and it was not much out of the way.
We made a second trip three months later to help Valerie in packing to come home and we were accompanied by our daughter and son-in-law. He swore he heard footsteps on the stairs that night after we had gone to bed. It was our imagination, but we were glad to leave for home.
On our return to Tulsa for a flight, we made a stop in Lamar, Missouri, where we saw Harry’s boyhood home. We took the tour of the bedroom where he was born and saw the out buildings. There was a Ranger to answer our questions concerning Harry Truman’s past and we found this to be both educational and entertaining.
We then returned to Tulsa and took a flight back to San Antonio. On the second trip, we were all driving in cars and we drove back through Oklahoma City and back to San Antonio.