Utah 2011—Pictures From the Road

It always makes me laugh to see how contorted these kids can get then they sleep…

In Kansas at a big truckers gas station we saw these “wide loads” pull in.  Clearly they were not only wide they were LONG!  And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tanker/container supported like this before.  Wish I knew what it was!

We have gotten used to hotels having waffle makers as part of their free breakfasts, but the swanky hotel we stayed at in Denver had a new toy—a machine that made pancakes.  Seriously, you pushed a button, and a few minutes later a pancake or two rolled off of the (internal) conveyor belt and onto your plate.  The kids were fascinated. 

And last but not least.  When we made it to Utah the kids were thrilled!

Utah 2011—The Great Kansas Mystery

One of the things that is interesting when driving across Kansas is that you can occasionally see amazing church steeples in the distance.  I don’t know a thing about the history of Kansas, but I am curious to know what religious culture shaped this area.  We’ve driven several times past a sign advertising the “cathedral of the plains” which of course only adds to my curiosity.

While we were driving this summer I decided that we needed to get some post card stamps.  I immediately called my navigational assistant and asked him where we could find the nearest post office.  After a few minutes he called me back and told me to get off at the next exit and drive into the town.  Since I was already curious about the town (and it’s church that was visible for miles) I was more than happy to do that.

Except, well, there hardly was a town.

Seriously.  What I finally found was three or four paved streets, crossed by three or four gravel streets.  You would think I could have found the post office right away, given the size of the town, but it eluded me.  Perhaps because I wasn’t expecting it would look like this.  The only way I finally found it was to look for the flag…

And then I drove to the edge of town to see this.

I’m still shaking my head.  What on earth?  What would such a tiny town, seriously in the middle of nowhere (even if it was near the interstate there was nothing else remotely near it) need with an edifice like this???

Utah 2011—St. Louis Arch

 

A couple of years ago we stopped in St. Louis and went up into the arch.  I didn’t want to go in it again, but I did want to go see it and to go see the movie about Louis & Clark.

(Clarification: the official name of the arch is the Gateway Arch or the Gateway to the West and it was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States.)

We made our movie reservation for first thing in the morning and got up and got packed.  I loved driving down towards the arch, seeing it get closer and closer.

It’s amazing how much bigger it gets as you’re walking towards it.  You really have to be quite a ways away to be able to get a picture with the entire arch in it. 

And once you’re right up close, it’s HUGE!!

I LOVED the movie about Lewis and Clark.  Wow.  What an amazing feat their journey was.  The kids were kind of sad we weren’t going up in the arch again, but we’d done that a few years ago and I didn’t want to take the time/money to do it again. 

After the movie we walked down to the Mississippi River. 

I loved all of the bridges alone the river.

When we’d left our hotel that morning it was cool and very overcast, but by the time we were done with the movie the clouds had started to clear.  There was just enough cloudiness left that combined with the sun and the arch (and with the fact that I’d left my sunglasses in the van) the light was blinding!  I just hoped my pictures would turn out, since I couldn’t see much in the camera.

Before we left, the girls wanted me to take pictures that showed just how strong they are…

I love visiting the arch.  I love driving towards it, seeing it get bigger and bigger and bigger.  I love walking around it and realizing how massive it is.  And when we’re done, it’s really hard for me to drive away without looking back…

Utah 2011—St. Louis

It sounds funny to say it, but one of our favorite things about our trip to Utah was our night in St. Louis.

I generally Hotwire 2 1/2  star hotels for our trips, but this summer for some reason the 3 star hotels were cheaper.  Because I wanted to go to the arch when we spent the night in St. Louis, I booked a downtown hotel.

It was beautiful, and the kids were so excited to stay in such a nice place.  I loved the view of the arch from the hotel.

The unexpectedly wonderful thing about St. Louis was the downtown.  In addition to many wonderful buildings, for blocks and blocks (almost from the waterfront up to our hotel) there was a greenspace and public areas.

  Several of the blocks were a sculpture garden.  The sculptures were big enough that we could see them from the car and we were intrigued.  We arrived early enough that we had time to go and explore.

At the entrance to the sculpture garden there was a map of all of the sculptures and information about each one.  It was quickly obvious that these sculptures were all meant to be interacted with.  Children were playing IN the fountains, dancing on the walls, climbing everywhere.  I didn’t let my kids get wet, but they climbed everywhere.  We had a great time.  (Although Rachel was a concerned the whole time about our time running out on the parking meter!)

We loved downtown St. Louis, and can’t wait to visit again someday!

Catching Up: Utah 2011

Ok, I’m going to try to do it.  I’m working on a new blurb book (for 2010) and I’ve realized that it makes me sad when something big in our lives doesn’t make it into the blog and into the blurb book, since this is the best record of our lives that is happening.  So here goes.  Eventually I will change the dates to move the posts into chronological order, but for now I’m just going to put them in as I get them done.  Wish me luck!