Our first stop on our Iowa trip was to Marceline, Missouri, Walt Disney's hometown where he spent his formative years. He moved here when he was five years old and was 11 when he left Marceline. But here is "Where the Magic Began".
Walt returned to Marceline many times throughout his life with fond memories of his boyhood. Once he addressed thousands of residents and said, "My best memories are the years that I spent here in Marceline. You children are lucky to live here".
Ensuring that the world never forgets....Walt Disney was a simple farm boy from Marceline who grew up to become the keeper of childhood magic.

The Walt Disney Hometown museum is the recipient of a unique collection of family effects, never seen elsewhere in the world. Personal belongings and artifacts from Disney family members, hundreds of personal letters written between family members and interpretive exhibits that focus on the Disney family and tell the story of Walt's childhood, family and friends are some of the things you will see in this museum. You'll even see his actual school desk that he sat in in grade school with his initials engraved into the top of the wood.

I took this picture before I knew that you weren't allowed to take pictures inside the museum. Oh well, at least I have one! This little car has been restored into it's original condition and there are more still to be restored.....these were a collection of the only "ride" from Disneyland ever to be disassembled and reassembled in the town of Marceline for all the children at that time to enjoy. A gift from Walt.

The main street in Marceline was the model for Main Street USA that Walt designed for Disneyland. He came back to the town quite a few times, unknown to the residents at the time, to make drawings and help with his memories.

Dad and JoAnn outside the Uptown Theatre.

Walt's original dreaming tree, which was hit by lightening quite a few years ago.

The new tree planted to replace the original tree. The "little dreaming tree".

The barn behind his home where Walt and his sister Ruth played in and he put on little plays for the neighborhood kids.

Walt Disney's home as a boy.

We had a storm yesterday evening that went through, and a tornado touched down about three miles from our house in this neighborhood off Lebanon Avenue and Greenmount Rd. It also touched down outside of Mascoutah, IL. These are pictures I took of the damage in the area of Greenmount Rd. We could not get into the subdivision where it touched down, but these are pictures we got from the road as we drove by. We were driving very slow by here because they were still cleaning up debrees off Lebanon Avenue in the roadway.

Debrees being stacked out front.

Channel Four "copter".

All the light poles in this parking lot were either leaning or c ompletely broke off like this one.

Huge sign completely bent over.

Very pretty sun after the storm.

These are pictures of Seymour, Iowa, where we went to on a recent trip up north. My G-G-G-G-grandparents on my father's side settled here from England in the 1800's. I had information on them and wanted to see the town and where they were buried in the local cemetery. We didn't find their original home, don't know where it was. But certainly would enjoy going back and spending more time in the area and take more time to go through the library info and find other local information on my family. I did get copies of their obituaries from the Seymour Library.

This is the cemetery where they are buried in Seymour, Iowa.

Samuel and Sarah Webb, my G-G-G-G-grandparents that came over from England in the 1800's and eventually settled here in Seymour, Iowa.

On down the road, outside of Adair, Iowa, we stopped at this historical site.

Me, standing at the marker of the "First train robbery in the West" that involved the notorious Jesse James....just outside of Adair, Iowa.

A part of the original tracks.

We visited Jesse James' home in St. Joseph's Missouri.

Dad and JoAnn on the backporch of Jesse James' home.

Picture of Jesse James' living room.

Jesse James was straightening a picture on the wall when Bob Ford shot him in the back of the head. You can see the bullet hold in the wall (gold frame) where it went through his head and into the wall.

Picture of Jesse James in casket; there's a small tie pin that was found in the chest area when he was exhumed for DNA testing.

We visited the historic town of DeFuniak Springs, Florida. All the historic homes you see face a natural perfectly round lake. It was a very cute little town with lots of fun history.

The Hotel Defuniak.....we ate lunch at a little restaurant inside here called Bogey's. It still functions as a hotel.

My dad said he learned to drive in a car just like this one.........wow he's old!

The Little Big Store.....just like the old-fashion general store. They had everything you could imagine from "way-back-when".....lye soap, parafin lips, clove gum, horehound candy....the list goes on!

The Magnolia Tree, such a stately tree with such beautiful blooms.

A cute little Methodist Church and a huge magnolia tree to the right.

Is this not the coolest thing? A fountain out front of your home. Next pic is of the saying that's above the fountain. Awesome.....

This is a beauty!

Saved my favorite for last........I just love this house!!

Just got back from our Destin, Florida trip. Will be sharing photos with you over the next few days. This is a beautiful sunset in Destin. Breathtaking!!