St. Louis, MO...The Gateway to the West

If you are wondering where to take your next vacation, then look no further than St. Louis, MO.  A very small city with a great mix of family events, adult events, history, culture, great food and so much more.  We wish we could stay an extra day to take in more of the sights!

We got up early and went to the St. Louis Arch.  I am so glad we did!  We were on one of the first trams up the arch and found ourselves with very few people.  The arch is an amazing engineering feat. It takes 4 minutes to go up and 3 minutes to come down in a five person capsule. You can stay as long as  you want at the top to look around.   As you'll see below, we found an a precarious and somewhat hilarious parking spot along the  River.

At the Arch there are also two movies and a small museum highlighting the Westward Expansion of the U.S.  We took the kids to see the Lewis and Clark expedition and it was very entertaining and educational. It took Louis and Clark's team 1.5 years to make it to the pacific ocean and only 6 months to return.   We finished with the Westward Expansion Museum. The Museum shows artifacts from the expedition and talks about the Indian relationships and has the full collection of Peace Medals as presented to the Indian tribes.

The afternoon was spent with a small  nap, a big swim in the hotel pool and then out to explore a few neighborhoods.  Anheuseur-Bush was born in St. Louis, and its a tour for all ages.  We took the girls to see the museum and to check out the Clydesdales.  While at the barn, we were lucky enough to have a private meeting with KING the dalmation dog who rides on the wagons.

To end our spectacular day we went to The Shaved Duck (http://www.theshavedduck.com/), a restaurant featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.  It was delicious. Well-done good BBQ food.  Then it was onto Ted Drewes another St. Louis institution.  They create "Cement"  a custard ice cream that is mixed with flavors.  Its so think your spoon can stand up in it.  We didn't go the orginial location but here is the website:  http://www.teddrewes.com/

We are off on the iconic RT66 tomorrow towards Oklahoma City, OK.  It's a long day's drive and we hope to stop and see some of the sights.

Our parking spot.

Our capsule to the top

We made it.

Looking Out

An Engineer Admiring the  People who Built the Arch

Not a good view but most of the team is out on travel.

A Few More Heartland Pictures

It was  such a long day today,  including crossing over into the CST time zone. I need to post a few more pictures of our sightings:

Chevy Plant

Vera Bradley

In Prairie Town

Our First Arch sighting...Gateway to the West

The Heartland

Wow! Can you guess how many states we have been thru in only three days? Nine! (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri)

Our morning started well and we were out the door on time. We had mapped out an 8.5 hour day with a two hour stop in the middle.

Ohio is a lovely state of corn fields and farms. The state takes pride in its roads and every rest stop is modern and clean. I was amazed by the sea of corn and likened it to a person seeing the east coast  ocean for the first time. Wow! I also noticed that certain farms post signs regarding the type of corn grown. Three types were Agrigold, Beck and Asgrow.

In Indiana we stopped at Conner Prairie (connerprairie.org). It's a historical reenactment park in the middle of suburbia. We visited the Indian camp where we learned how to throw tomahawks, tan a hide, and visit the trading post.

Next we visited the homestead and got take care of baby calves and one week old goats. Molly learned the art of weaving and using your garden to dye wool. She announced her dress was made from sheep :).

We finished with the prairie town. Molly was a healer, Andy a Gardner, and I a cook. Very fitting roles for our family. The big news in town was the land sale. We missed it, but it was the talk of the town. Some folks were not keen on Dr. Campbell's running of the sale. The town was set in the 1800s and Indiana had been a state for 20 years.

Lastly, I need to mention the factories we passed to highlight the American Economy. We passed the Ft. Wayne Indiana Chevy Plant, Vera Bradley Plant, and Nestle.

We are now finishing up a very long drive on I70. We had to stop for a car top carrier adjustment. Kids are good but we are all tired.

Tomorrow we spend all day in St. Louis and have tickets for the arch at 9am.

                                                          Corn Fields

                                               A funny take on city names...

                                                       Grain Silo

                                                                        Yes, I do drive.

                                               Conner Prairie Hot Air Balloon Re-Enactment

                                            Andy trying out his skill

                                                We are on a boat (ha!)

                                                      Molly and Amelia's favorite part

                                                     A goat named Molly

East Bounding Down...Acutally West

We woke up in Syracuse, NY and will sleep in Cleveland, OH.  Five Hours and Thirty Minutes on the same road...I90! 

We realized we need a better morning routine, on our first morning leaving hotel.  We were about an hour behind schedule. YIKES!  We had troubled getting up, getting dressed, finding food...you name it!

We made up great time on I90, a very flat but scenic Interstate.  It runs along the Great Lake Erie is lined with farms and wineries, or at least it appears to be farms growing lots of GRAPES.

We came into Cleveland and went to see Andy's Great Aunt Helen.  Helen married George Joca.  She is 86 and leaves in a small duplex.  The house was a shrine of lovely tchotches and almost like stepping back in time.  Molly loved the fact, that she has  shiny silver wallpaper in the bathroom. Helen put out a meal worthy of any Sunday Dinner. We had roast pork, green beans, potatoes, broccoli, salad, rolls, and gravy. YUMMY.  It was a so nice to stop and feel like home without eating out.

We ended our date with Helen with a short drive to our hotel and swim in the pool.  We have a long day of driving tomorrow but then will spend two days in St. Louis.

4th of July Week and On The Road

Whew...its finally July 5th!
We have been having so much fun with the family on the lake, that today's date took us all by surprise. It was hard to believe that the day was here and it was time to leave.  We hit the the road in true Joca fashion, 20 minutes behind schedule and leaving a few things behind :).

Let's start with the fun stuff...The week of 4th of July.  This week in Rangeley is when summer really begins.  It started off with rain and ended with lots of sunshine and swimming.  Each year on the 3rd the town of Rangeley has a Children's Day Parade.  There are several categories and each entry is judged.  Every kid gets a free ice cream at the Pine Tree Frosty, but if you win the top three then you get a ribbon. This is our fourth year participating!  The first year, Molly got honorable mention and a spot in the paper.  The second year, Molly and her cousins we were the fireworks over the statue of liberty and got second. Last year, we were the 4th of July Picnic and also came in Second.  This year I wasn't sure we would even enter, but the kids pulled it together and came up with "Red, White and Blue Team." "All American Kids...Made In The USA."  We got THIRD.  Can you believe it?

We spent the rest of the week tubing on lake, watching fireworks, eating smores, and setting off sparklers and fireworks.  Life could not be any better!

Alas, today we said "See You Soon" and make our way to Syracuse, NY.  I have learned that using maps, and planning a course with today's technology isn't normal. So we did our trip, with two google maps running on cell phones and using the in car GPS.  All had different routes, but we took the shortest and arrived in Syracuse NY 9 hours later.  I also learned I need to take a few more pictures from the road to include the Hoosick Big Moose Deli and Country store, which was covered in cows of all shapes and sizes, Troy NY, home of Uncle Sam, and so much more.

The kids did great.  Molly started asking if we were in Alaska, 15 minutes into the trip...BUT...we did see 1 average moose, a mom and baby moose, and deer.

Enjoy the pictures.  We are off to Cleveland tomorrow!

Ella

John

Amelia's First Smore

Our little Fire Cracker

Patriotic Molly

Ell and John

Bubba and Mimi

The Team

Molly at the lake

Molly and Andy tubing

Fireworks

Amelia's First Fireworks

Sparklers