The Great Family Western Adventure - Day 13 or Homeward Bound

The final day of our vacation came all to soon as we arose early in Kansas City for a quick breakfast at the hotel. Today is the only day we actually backtracked over roads that we had traveled before. I honestly did not want this vacation to be over. The kids had been great, the things we saw were amazing, and I felt privileged to have been able to witness the great sites of this country. I really did not know if I would ever get to see some of the things we saw on this trip, but I now want to see even more of this great country. I just do not understand how people can look at these natural wonders and not believe there is a God creating all of this.

As we headed east that morning, we only had one thing on our agenda, other than getting home. We were stopping at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and riding to the top. LeAnn, Abby and I had done this before, but Ian had never been there. Plus St. Louis was approximately half way home, so it was a good place to get out of the car.

When we got to the Arch, Ian announces rather loudly that he has to go to the bathroom...NOW! The Arch is quite big and it does look like it is right there, but believe me, it's not. We walked as fast as we could to get there, since there were no bathrooms between the parking garage and the actual Arch itself. We headed to the nearest entrance only to see a huge line. By this point, Ian is about to relieve himself on the side of the Arch if we didn't do something quick. I explained to a security guard the situation and he suggested we go over to the other entrance since there was no line there. So here Ian and I go, running as best we could to the other entrance leaving LeAnn and Abby behind. Sure enough, there was no line, but as we entered the door, I knew we had a problem. In front of us, going through the security was a young couple with what looked like five kids, three of which were still in strollers. Trying to get all that through the metal detectors was crazy. The thing went off every time one of them went through it. Meanwhile, Ian is jumping up and down at this point. Finally, they get through. Ian immediately flew through the metal detector, while I am still putting all my paraphernalia in the plastic box. Fortunately, Ian didn't set the alarm off because he was gone. I got through as fast as I could and caught up with Ian. Gladly, we made it to the restroom avoiding any major catastrophe.

We bought our tickets to ride the tram up to the top of the Arch. While we waited for our appointed time, we visited the museum and the bookstore. I bought a couple of really cool books about Merriweather Lewis and William Clark. One of which is their diaries from their expedition. Ian got a four decks of cards. It was a buy one get another free deal. Ian collects decks of playing cards. I believe he ended up getting around seven decks on this trip. He was very happy with his purchase.

We then headed over to the line that takes us to the tram up to the top. If you have never been to the Arch, you ride a tram to the top. Each car looks like a futuristic egg and holds five people. It is very cramped, and Ian wasn't too sure of it. Of course, the rest of us had ridden to the top of the Arch before. But Ian quickly decided it was safe and thus okay to proceed. At the top, there is a narrow hall that has several windows on each side. The eastern side overlooks the Mississippi River and into Illinois. The western side overlooks downtown St. Louis. You get great views of Busch Stadium and the skyline. If you stand perfectly still, you can feel the Arch swaying a little bit. Especially in the tram is coming up to the top. The kids had a great time and really enjoyed the experience. We then grabbed our egg down to the bottom, made quick bathroom trips and headed back to the car. Once we got to the car, I was reminded that we were beginning our last leg of the trip.

We traveled south to Caruthersville, Missouri and then headed east again, across the Mississippi River and back into Tennessee. An hour later, we were pulling into our driveway, and the Great Family Western Adventure was officially over. And it truly was an adventure.

Thank each of you for patiently reading all of these post about our trip. I hope it wasn't to boring for you. But each day was so different and amazing that we didn't want to leave anything out and wish that each of you could have experienced it with us. A big thank you to Jon and Megan for joining us for our first weekend. It was really great to see you and spend time with you like that. This was a special trip for our family and we can't wait to hit the road again for another adventure. Not sure when or where that will be, but we will definitely let you know all about it.