Courtney's Blog July 8th, Day 3 of the Epic McFarland Journey!
Today we took our sweet time getting out of the hotel. We got ready slowly, and headed out to the Lincoln Tomb. I was ready for a rather boring morning as I was to be surrounded by dead people. Surprisingly, it was very exciting! The Tomb was amazing. What a huge monument to honor such an amazing man. There was a gigantic huge bust of Lincoln out front. The kids took a picture making their best "Lincoln" face - see below. We had a great time explaining to Abby that it was called a "bust". Imagine how many times we heard that word with giggles after it....Anyhow, it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the nice walk and learned a lot! Next, we explore more of the town to see the Capitol Building. We go down this HUGE four lane road. We stay on the right side of the road. Some lady starts driving towards us on the RIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD!!! Oh wait, this is a one way...woops. We avoid getting arrested, and tell the woman we are from "Tennessee" (where our license plate is from) and that they don't have one-way roads in Tennesee. Good thing she didn't see Adam's parking job yesterday.
Next we were off to travel more of Route 66 in Illinois. Only about 100 miles left in the State before we hit Missouri! As we're driving, we see a post office...perfect opportunity to solve the "blankie" situation. To keep you updated, the "guy" said we have to send a pre-stamped package for him to send the blanket back. I explain my situation to the clerk at the post office who then lets me know....the post office will not process prepaid postage. Of course they don't! That makes sense. Why would they want me to mail stuff? I head to Staples to go to the copy and print center, but...they don't prepay either! Obvi. 30 minutes later, we find a Office Depot. There a lovely lady named Carmen sees my desperation and offers to let me us one of their computers to print my own prepaid postage. 45 minutes and $55 dollars later, the packages are sent and, hopefully, blankie will start his own adventure journey tomorrow! In the meantime, Abby is being very brave!
We continue onward towards St. Louis. On the way, we are on a road which basically makes you feel like you are in an apocalypse. We see a car every 20 minutes or so. We pass this beautiful barn on the side of the road with an american flag painted on it. Did I mention that the clouds out here are insane? These big, puffy, white beautiful cotton balls floating in the sky. They are gorgeous. Anyhow, we took the opportunity to stop and take a picture in the middle of the road. Meaning...I stood in the middle of the road and saw not another soul till either end of the horizon. Yes, mom, I made sure we had enough gas!
Next on our route is the Chain of Rocks Bridge. I was very excited for this one. It was an old bridge built to cross the Mississippi as part of Route 66. It was a two lane bridge, but the cool part was the huge turn in the middle of the bridge. It is now only open to bikes and walkers. The bridge is about 1 mile long and we walked the whole thing (both ways). In the midle of the bridge, you switch from Illinois to Missouri. Pretty cool! There was randomly some old firetruck sitting in the middle of the bridge. We went with the flow and the kids played on it for awhile. On the bridge, Gideon held my hand and kept telling me he loved me while kissing my hand. I reminded myself that these days will end soon...and me looking down at him will slowly turn into me looking up at him. I took a picture to remember the moment. Gideon also had to pee really bad....let's just say he's the only McFarland thus far to pee off a bridge and into the Mississippi River. Also, he really had to pee....typically when you're breaking the law and urinating in public, you do it fast. Gideon was peeing the equivalent of a two liter bottle and took about 60 seconds to do so. Lastly, can we just point out, he doesn't have the greatest of aim yet? Adventure all around!
We decide to get to St. Louis early to see the arch. We are amazed at how big it is! (that's what she said!) And Abby says "it's really not as thin as it looks!"(that's what HE said!) We get a hotel room after trying three hotels who were completely booked, and settle in. We decide to try a local BBQ joint which was delicious! Gideon tried Fruit Punch for the first time, and loved it! Abby really enjoyed the Mac and Cheese. We then headed out to see the Arch, close and personal! Apparently there was a baseball game (Pittsburg vs. Cardinals) so traffic was a bit crazy. We finally arrived and had a nice walk down to the Arch. Talk about overwhelming. You really can't imagine how gigantic this structure is unless you see it. And those clouds. There they go again..being perfect, fluffy and amazing. We passed on riding up the tram 630 feet to the top for two reasons: (1) Mommy didn't feel like having a stroke on a Tuesday, and (2) it was thirty dollars, and 6 minutes long. 5 dollars a minute is a bit much if you ask me! We enjoyed the Arch enough from the outside. We also had a nice time walking the indoor museum.
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a Route 66 staple, a frozen custard place. I had been telling Adam how gross that sounds and pictured Miss Muffet on her tuffet. That's curds though, not custard...but still. In my mind, this was gross, chunky yogurt. We get there and there is probably at least 100 people standing around eating rotten yogurt. You only live once, and call me a follower, but I tried the gross stuff. It was amazing. The creamiest and non-chunkiest ice cream you have ever eaten. The kids INHALED it. Abby and Gideon ate it fast too! Too bad they aren't open for breakfast....
Summary:
Lots less travel, but fun! Another nice walk and lots of great views. No disaster at bedtime. Tomorrow, the G-man turns 4!
Ended the Day at the Drury Inn Valley Park, Missouri
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