Hope to Jefferson

25 degrees
Mileage - 2818 kms
2:58

We did not have to travel far today to get to our next destination. Under sunny, increasingly warm skies we arrived, gaining an hour along the way. We did make one stop, birthplace of President Clinton.

HOPE Arkansas is 110 miles west of Little Rock, where in 1946 William Jefferson Blythe was born and named after his father who was killed in a car accident three months earlier. With this tragedy he and his mother moved back to her parents house in Hope where he embraced the values of this small town. He was taught early lessons in the importance of family, education, and racial equality.

“My grandfather just had a grade school education. In his country store he taught me more about equality in the eyes of the Lord than all of my professors at Georgetown, more about the intrinsic worth of every individual than all the philosophers at Oxford; and he taught me more about the need for equal justice than all the jurists at Yale Law School” - Bill Clinton

When his mother married Roger Clinton, Bill was not formally adopted by him however, when Bill’s brother Roger started school, Bill legally changed his name to Clinton. He wanted his brother to know there were no differences between the two of them.

“I learned a lot from the stories my uncle, aunts, and grandparents told me: that no one is perfect but most people are good; that people can’t be judged only by their worst or weakest moments....Perhaps most important, I learned that everyone has a story....All my life I’ve been interested in other people’s stories. I’ve wanted to know them, understand them, and feel them. When I grew up and got into politics, I always felt the main point of my work was to give people a chance to have better stories.” Bill Clinton

When I started my blog on this trip I did not know where this trip would take us or what we would encounter. I am reminded everyday by our experiences and the truly wonderful kind people we have met along the way how important it is to say hello and listen, have respect and appreciate.

We are at our destination, Jefferson, Texas and we are looking forward to the arrival of Mike and Cathy who are joining us on our journey for the next few days. Tony’s brother and my sister from another mother will have a lot of fun! We are staying at The Delta Street Inn, a lovely Bed and Breakfast. Jefferson is the B&B capital of Texas.

The Inn is prairie style, Circa 1920. From our balcony there is an expansive lawn, a beautiful front porch to relax on, a gazebo. Our home away from home for awhile. Small world, the owner here sold a certain piece of mining equipment to J.S. Redpath in North Bay.....

Here are photos from this afternoon, more to tell tomorrow. It is a beautiful starlit night, the crickets are singing and downtown was rocking! Night now, I will send more in the morning over coffee.

The living room, diningroom, Bill’s bedroom, he loved Hopalong Cassidy, the room is located in an upper porch, there were many of his “golden” story books on the shelves. The kitchen which did have a small pantry and his mother’s bedroom where when born he slept in the crib, there also was a cradle in the room. His grandparents room was identical in size to his Mom’s room and housed two double beds and a huge armoire. There were no closets, if the tax man came and saw a door, it was thought of as another bedroom and taxes rose accordingly. Very few doors and no closets.