A Trip to Remember: Day One

We didn't plant a garden this year.  We're in the middle of building a barn, which is taking for-EV-er.  We have chicks hatching nonstop, both inside in incubators, and outside under mama hens.  Our school district is on a balanced calendar, meaning that instead of nearly three months of summer vacation, we have about eight weeks.  We have softball.  And baseball.  And horsemanship lessons.  And robotics events.  And work.  And a dog.  And cats. And a bunch of bees who are insistent on making their home on our front porch.  Oh, and don't forget those bats in the attic. 

But I thought maybe, just maybe, we'd put all of that aside for a couple of weeks and just, well, GO. 

We had purchased a 12 passenger van earlier in the year, and scooped up a super cheap 30 year old pop-up camper just a couple weeks before we left.  We knew we looked like Cousin Eddie and family, but we didn't care.  We packed clothing and food and all the camping gear we would need to get us through the first five days before arriving in Colorado.  And, let me tell you, there wasn't much room to spare.  With friends taking care of the farm and family taking care of the dog, it seemed we were all set to go.

 I had planned on a 7am departure, but the kids were so excited that we opted to leave at 6am instead.  Fine by me!  With a destination of St. Louis, Missouri for the first day, we had a lot of time on the road ahead of us.  The kids pretty much woke up, climbed into the van, and went back to sleep.

You know those parents who say, "You better go before we go-there won't be any stops!" to their kids before road trips?  Well, that's not us.  I mean, we say it, but what are you going to do?  Actually not stop?  With seven people on a road trip, we mentally added at least an hour per day for pit stops and another hour for meal stops.  It is what it is.  So, a couple hours down the road, having eaten a breakfast of muffins and donuts in the car, it was time for a stop.  I had picked up a little white board for the trip, and decided a photo of us in each state as we passed through would be a good way to track our journey.  State One: MICHIGAN. Duh. 

And then we were back on the road again.  I have to say, we were all pretty bored and anxious to get where we were going.  Indiana came and went, and we didn't even stop to document that we were there-just a selfie from the road and the sign in the waaaay back.

Once we got into Illinois, we were up for a little sight-seeing.  I mean, when the world's largest pitchfork is advertised, you have to stop for that, right?

It was a tiny little tourist attraction, but it was free and we took advantage of the corny displays.

Of course, Greyson tired of that very quickly, but did manage to smile and he sat and waited for the rest of us.

As we headed toward Missouri, nap time called.  I had shoved a couple of these sleep masks in the van at the last minute, and I can't tell you how useful they turned out to be.  Nash would put one on and be asleep in seconds!

A couple more hours down the road, and it finally felt like we were getting somewhere.  The Mississippi River was just ahead of us, drawing a line between our side of the country and all new land for us to explore.  The kids took turns showing off how quickly each of them could spell m-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i and then we were in Missouri!  First up, we had to go see the arch, up close and personal.  Well, actually, first up would be finding a safe place to park our campground-friendly-but-not-big-city-friendly van/camper combo.  Parking garages were out, parallel parking was out, and the open air parking lots seemed to be quite shady when it came to safety.  We decided to get as close to the arch as we could, and just pick a lot.  Luckily, we stumbled upon one that was only half full, and there were several other campers parked there.  We all piled out of the van, happy to stretch our legs, despite the sweltering heat-it was about 105 degrees with the heat index!

And then we were there!  I hustled down the steps to take a picture of the kiddos with the huge arch looming over them.

The kids all hurried down to touch the Mississippi.  The steps led directly into the river, because it had flooded earlier in the year and the waters had not receded fully yet.  The boats had to dock way offshore because there is actually a road down under the water!

As we were turning around, we heard it.  An older woman's voice.  "Harold!"  "HAROLD, OH MY GOSH!"  And then we heard him falling.  It felt like slow motion.  She was screaming and he was falling.  We could hear the thumps as he hit the stone steps with his arms, his legs, his body, his head.  She was still screaming, moving down the steps as quickly as she could, and he was lying, completely still, about 30 steps below her.  I prayed he wasn't dead.  As another lady and I called 9-1-1, a few other bystanders rushed to him.  By the time his wife made it down to where he was, Harold was conscious again.  There were scrapes on his arms and legs, and he was bleeding from his head, but he was awake.  I kept the kids at a safe distance, and the small group around him created a shade with his jacket, and offered him some water.  When things seemed to be under control and the ambulance was on their way, we decided to leave.  Surely he would have a concussion, and who knows what else he had injured.  We made it back up to the top and headed across the small park, back to our van.  Finally, we heard the ambulance as it pushed its way through rush hour traffic on a Friday night in St. Louis.

When we got back to our van, we grabbed some water.  Our GPS told us that it was a one mile walk to our destination for the evening: The City Museum. As we walked, Jason gave the kids a short lesson on heat and water consumption and pee color indicating hydration levels.  The kids thought it was funny and a little gross and vowed to make a conscious effort to take note the next time they used the bathroom.

Now, one mile doesn't seem that far of a walk, but in the extreme heat, it dragged on and on.  We were all drenched with sweat and getting really hungry, when we spotted a little Irish pub with just a few patrons inside.  We didn't even care what kind of food they had, as long there was ice water and air conditioning.

We gorged ourselves on fried pickles, chicken tenders, pretzel bites, and chips and cheese.  It took awhile, but eventually we had all cooled off and rehydrated and it was time to go.  The City Museum was just around the corner.  After visiting this place last year, it had been on my list of places to take my family.  If you have never been, you're missing out.  I tried my best to explain it to Jason and the kids, but they all assured me I had done a terrible job.  This museum is no ordinary museum.  This museum was built with recycled and reclaimed objects, both from the recent past and centuries ago.  Indoors, the museum has multiple floors, connected by staircases and slides and tunnels, with a huge slide that travels from the very top of the building all the way to the basement.  Mixed into the different floors are caves, ropes courses, giant tree houses, ball pits and it's like a giant adult-sized playground. I assured Jason that everywhere the kids could go, HE could go, and he did! 

Outside, the fun continues with a welded mass of metal tunnels and ladders and slides and cages, fitted together like a maze.  Jason and Owen climbed through most of it, despite the sweltering heat. 

Speaking of heat, it was so hot, that back inside the museum there were several "cooling spots" where you could go to sit among air conditioners and fans to cool off.  All of that climbing and hiding and running around had us soaked with sweat. 

There was so much to look at and so much to do there and we all played together until everyone had had their fill.  One more "refreshing" drink, and we had to make the trek back to the van.

I'd love to tell you that when we left the museum after 8pm that the temperature had dropped and the air was cool, but that would be a big, old, fat LIE.  It was still hovering around 100 degrees, and the humidity was unbearable.  We had to stop several times along the one mile trip back to rest, and Jason and I ended up carrying Nash most of the way.  In case you're wondering, he's not a lightweight dude.

Finally, there was our van.  It was still there, waiting for us.

When I finally checked my GPS for our walks to and from the museum, I realized that it wasn't one mile each way, but nearly 2.5 miles!  That would explain why it had taken nearly an hour to walk each way!  Oh well, at least everyone would sleep like the dead!  We had planned to grab a hotel for this first night because we knew we'd be in a big city and we didn't want to rush the museum to try to set up camp before darkness fell.  That decision proved to be a great one, as we were all exhausted from the day's adventures and it was just so hot outside.  We managed to find an inexpensive hotel right outside of St. Louis, in Fenton, Missouri, complete with air conditioning, an indoor pool, and breakfast buffet.  The kids only lasted in the pool for about twenty minutes and then everyone was DONE.  Our hotel room was completely silent and still by 10pm, which is no small feat when you have seven humans crammed into one little room.  And just like that, Day One was in the books.


Stay tuned for more of our adventures to come!