This is the Good Life: Adventure 2, Gateway Arch

Friday, May 8, 2015

Adventure 2, Gateway Arch

When I was in Junior high I took a trip with my grandparents to Missouri, where they had lived. I was so excited to share with my kids some of the special memories I had with my grandparents. The first was stopping at Mt Rushmore. Now we were headed to the Gateway Arch. I did not remember how long the drive was from Mt Rushmore to the Arch, it is quite long, but it was worth it. My kids were awesome. Poor Sierra still did not feel well, and would have probably preferred to be in her bed. To top it off we had a choir of coughing that began with Danika and slowly flowed through the car. There were a couple of slight meltdowns with Aidric but other than that, the kids did wonderful. We spent the night on the boarder of South Dakota and Iowa.

Sunday morning we hopped in the car and had service in transit. We sang worship songs, read the Bible and prayed. It was fun. I enjoy traveling through the different states. Idaho, with its mountains, canyons, lava flows, and desserts. Then we went through Wyoming with miles and miles of unsettled land, from jagged mountains, to flat top mountains, to Independence Rock and Devil’s pass. Next driving through South Dakota we started out with the beautiful black hills, then miles of farmland. From there we drove through Iowa, about the same as South Dakota. Then just before we hit Missouri the landscape was filled with lush green vegetation and rolling hills. I encouraged the kids to take note of all we were seeing. What a diverse God to fill his creation with such variety, the world is all of full of different types of beautiful landscapes. It is so hard to understand the whole talk of overpopulation when we saw countless miles of open, unsettled land.

Just outside of Kansas City the traffic was stopped. Our GPS found us a new route and we are thankful for the GPS. Unfortunately this cut the naptime short and we all were getting a little restless. Time for an ice cream break and that can make everyone much happier. Back on the road we made it to another hotel with a family suite. It was nice, but basically was just two rooms connected with only one exit door. It did have a pool and we finally got a little swim time in.

The web site for the Gateway arch suggested buying tickets on line. You can reserve your time for the trip up the arch, on their web site. The last time David and I went to the arch, we had an hour and half wait. So, I thought this necessary to prebook our trip up the arch. We were awake and going and left with plenty of extra time. This proved very necessary as we approached the arch. Much of the Gateway Arch area is torn up and being redone. We drove around for over a half hour trying to find a parking space for our Yukon with trailer. I was beginning to panic that we would miss our reservation. David dropped us off and continued his search. There were no signs that we saw directing you where to park. It was a bit stressful. I had actually called to find out where to park but the address they gave me was a parking garage and that did not work since we were pulling a trailer. The kids and I went to pick up our tickets and there was no line at all. It appeared that Monday morning during the school year is a good time to visit the arch, another benefit to home schooling.

There is a security checkpoint that only took a minute then we were in line for the trip to the top of the arch. It is a spectacular view and a fun trip to the top. I am not sure Cassandra appreciated it that much. She looked out the window and then was ready to get back to solid ground. With the Gateway arch adventure done we headed to see our son.