The Diary of a Remote RV Investor–Episode 102Who knew exploring by yourself could be so fun!  Usually I am traveling with all kinds of different folks around me, whether it is my husband and kids, friends, business colleagues, etc.  But this particular time had me traveling from Houston, TX up to Dallas, TX, then to Kansas City, KC, then onto Denver, CO, then over into Park City, UT, McCall, ID, Milton Freewater, OR, then to Redmond, OR, Klamath Falls, OR, onto Salem, OR, then finally back home to Marysville, WA.

I’m tired just typing all of that, whew!  Yes it was long and exhausting for sure, but oh so fun and at times very invigorating.  You see when you travel alone you can stop and explore whenever and wherever you want.  So many other times you are going with the group consensus.  I don’t know about you, but not everyone in my family likes museums or likes to take the time to actually read the signs, not just look at the pictures or statues 😉

As a teacher for so many years, I’m always eager to learn more and or recognize that things take on different meanings in my life during different seasons.  For instance history was boring and horrible for me in school and made no sense to real life.  Now as an adult, it takes on a whole new meaning.  I believe this is because I never had a teacher that showed me the big picture of how it all fit together than dove into the minutia.  Instead they simply focused on all the minutia and I was just lost and bored.

So while in Kansas City, I took some time to check out 2 places of particular interest to me.  The Money Museum at the Federal Reserve Bank and the Harvey House restaurant.  Now that I have a better understanding of economics, the Money Museum at the Federal Reserve bank, has so much more meaning to me.  To see how our money has evolved and why, and better understand our own system and what, how and where things can go wrong.  Even what things have been done to the system in learning from past mistakes.  Plus I got this fantastic bag of shredded money, that was a great puzzle for my nephews at the family reunion.  If he puts all of the shredded money back together he will have $83 🙂

I love reading historical fiction books.  I find it a much easier way to learn about history and still be fun.  In my many books, I came across multiple series written about the Harvey Houses all across this country when the trains were being built around the country.  This smart business man saw an opportunity to provide for the growing need to feed not only workers but travelers all along the route so he expanded right alongside the same timeline as the railroads.  He trained all of his restaurants to operate on train schedules down to the exact times of service etc so that meals were prepared and served in a way that folks could eat and not slow down the train schedule.

He gave many women opportunities to work and provide for their families during a much needed time of our country’s development.  But with this it also meant young women were away from their families and living at the houses for extended periods of time and he had to work through those challenges as well.  I not only recognize his entrepreneurial efforts and the impact it made on our country, but also his diligence in overcoming challenges that come to every business.  So it was such a pleasure for me to be able to see one of his restaurants first hand there, even if it was slightly different.  Union station was a great place to explore, better if you go when it is open. We made the mistake of showing up at night time the 1st time and I had to go back.

Well it’s on to Denver…