Things you should know about our trip: a) there were 10 of us traveling together in two cars and b) half of those travelers were 14 or under. We drove Terry's truck, which was a good thing considering all the things we thought we needed for the two week adventure, and my sister's family drove their minivan. Okay, so we left OKC on Monday and headed northeast toward St. Louis. Would you believe the 10 of us were ready, completely packed, and on the road by 8:30 am? You already know my family (Terry, Tela, Nicole, Ryan and Me). My sister's family includes Donnie, Chelle, Kaily, Ayden and Camden. I'm sure that I have talked about them before, but I don't think I have formally introduced them to you yet.
Our first stop was a restroom break at McDonald's in Vinta, OK. The only reason it is worth mentioning is that this particular McDonald's used to be the largest one in the world and is actually built over the interstate. Since we were stopped anyway, we raided the snack basket to tide us over until lunch.
By the time we hit Springfield, MO, we were getting hungry so we decided to stop at the nearest Steak N Shake. I really wish we had these in Texas. I learned an important lesson with this first stop. When asking Mio (my friendly little GPS) for the nearest location (especially if you are looking for a particular restaurant, store, gas station, etc), be sure the location actually falls on the route.
I just picked the closest Steak N Shake. By closest, Mio means closest "as the crow flys", as my sister would say. So we ended up way farther off the interstate in Springfield than we really needed to be. Sadly, enough we passed two other Steak N Shakes on the way back to the interstate with one being right off the interstate. Fortunately, everyone was in good spirits and didn't mind the scenic tour of Springfield all that much.
We didn't have to stop again until we reached our hotel in St. Louis. We stayed in a very nice Town Place Suites. All 10 of us stayed in a two bedroom suite with one bathroom. It wasn't bad
at all. Chelle and Donnie got the bigger room because they had to set up the bed for the baby, but Terry and I got the room with the TV. Not that we even had time to turn it on, but it was there if we wanted to watch it.
No time to rest though, once we were settled in
we headed for the Gateway to the West, the St. Louis Arch. Terry, Tela and I had been there before, but Nicole and Ryan had not. Terry and Tela had absolutely no desire to go to the top of the arch so I went up with the kids. They were not at all scared
and rather enjoyed looking out over the city.
It was time for dinner and we had spotted a White Castle just down from our hotel so that is where we headed next. Terry's Mom was once managed a White Castle so going there brings back some fond
memories of her. As you can see, he also likes the little White Castle burgers. It was tough getting that Crave Case away from him. After dinner, Donnie took the kids to the pool and I went to do laundry. The plan was to wash our dirty clothes at Chelle's house before we left, but her brand new washer quit working so we were out of luck. By the time that was finished, we were all pretty much wiped out and headed to bed.
Before leaving St. Louis on Tuesday, we visited the St. Louis Science Center. Admission was free and they had all kinds of hands-on science exhibits. I
was disappointed that the DNA section was being remodeled, but there were lots of other cool things to do. They had an actual child mummy on display. That was pretty creepy.
Once we left the science museum, we wanted to have some lunch before heading to Cincinatti. I learned another valuable lesson concerning Mio. Mio cannot distinguish between an actual restaurant and business office. Mio showed a Pasta House just down the street from the museum. It ended up being a corporate office for Pasta House. Tried the next one on the list and it ended up being a catering facility. So we ended up eating at Denny's.
With full belly's and empty bladders, we were ready to press on to Cincinnati.
After the short visit with Terry's uncle, we headed to Cumberland Falls to meet back up with Chelle. Cumberland Falls is a beautiful place. We all walked around the tame, tourist side of the river to see the falls. One of the coolest features of this particular waterfall is that on nights of a full moon a "moonbow" can be seen in the mist of the waterfall. Unfortunately, we missed the full moon by a couple of days. It would not have matter though, because we were not going to be there
at night anyway. One of the interesting observations that I made was that some people completely ignore posted warnings. Just up steam from the falls, there were signs all over the place warning that there should be no wading or swimming in the water. Makes sense to me considering an accident could lead to someone taking an unpleasant trip over the falls. I can't tell you how many people we saw wading in the area despite the threat of fines and jail time for doing so. I mean, it's one thing to endanger your own life, but do you really need to take the kids out there too? Just a point to ponder. . .
Before leaving the park, we drove to the other side of the river so that we could hike the 1-1/2 mile Eagle Falls Trail. There were lots of cool rock formations and gorgeous views of the falls. The trail ended at Eagle Falls. A secluded area with a nice little water fall and rocks to climb on. We passed a few hikers on the trail, but we had the whole Eagle Falls area to ourselves. Ryan really enjoyed the hiking, while
I don't think Tela liked it so much. Nicole
and Kailey enjoyed it. Ayden did wonderfully on the way to Eagle Falls. He needed some help coming back, but a 1-1/2 mile hike for a four-year-old is asking a lot. I had a wonderful time and would enjoy going back there some day.
