Tuesday, July 7
The boys (or at least one of them) chose this day to 'sleep in' a bit. We were hoping for an early departure around 7 am . . . it was closer to 8 am. The goal by the end of the day was to get to the hotel in Chesterfield, Missouri which still gave us plenty of time. There was one side trip to make just over the half way mark . . .a visit to Walt Disney's Hometown Museum in Marceline, Missouri. What a treat!
The Museum is housed in an old train depot - many trains still run on the nearby tracks and the depot does not rattle or shake. The Museum is 'staffed' with locals who are great storytellers in retelling Walt Disney's story of his youth and his love of Marceline. Our tour guide was Edna . . she had met Walt twice when she was a little girl. The Museum contained many letters Walt wrote to family members and others, memorabilia of his youth as well as hints of his desire to do something big, and an original midget autopia car that was donated from Disneyland - the whole attraction was set up in Marceline for a time. It was a great stop . . for me at least.
Henry enjoyed watching the trains go by -
On the way out of town we stopped at Walt's barn where visitors are welcome to leave messages for Walt.
Wednesday, July 8
We woke up to rain which didn't totally ruin our plans as we had planned to go to the Science Center and visit a Chocolate Factory . .the zoo was also on the list and little uncertain. We first stopped at Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate for a factory tour. The tour was short and not too intensive but we were still issued hats to wear. We did get to see various stations of the candy making process.
We arrived at the Science Center in the middle of a downpour. The Science Center was packed - I am guessing a few plans were changed with the rain and it send people inside that didn't have plans to be inside.
After awhile we noticed it had stopped raining so we went to the zoo. The zoo was much bigger than we had time for but we did make time for a carousel ride, train ride, and an encounter with the string rays! Yes, the boys touched sting rays!
The weather seemed a bit iffy when we woke up but it was not supposed to rain. Six Flags was on the schedule. Six Flags was not even on the radar until a few months ago when I discovered a "buy one adult admission, get a kids admission free" coupon on a box of Ortega Hard Shell Tacos. Anyhow, we arrived early to beat the rush knowing we still had to buy our tickets. Everything worked out well - The park attractions opened at 10:30 am - we were through the gate and waiting to be let loose by 10:10 am.
We tried to start with a new attraction (Justice League) but it was off to a late start with no opening time in sight so after waiting a bit we moved on. The log rode was a favorite . . .we may have ridden it 6-7 times. The drop at the end is not very step. The boys had fun with this one.
This was a also a favorite . . . squirt people, get squirted . . ."rode" this one 4-5 times . .we were drenched by the time I declared "I'm done" (which also meant Henry was done since he wasn't tall enough to be by himself.
This was Henry's favorite . . .He rode it 3 times . . once with all four of us; once with just he & Mike, and once with him & I. I think he would have rode it more if given the chance.
Friday, July 10
We visited Grant's Farm. We rode a tram around the property and was given a narrative as we rode pointing out various buildings and animals. The tram stopped and unloaded near the goat area. Ralph fed a goat bottle of milk. He also tried to feed birds but he didn't like them nibbling on his finger and gave up that task.
Saturday, July 11
We saved the arch for today . . . another early bird day as we had pre-bought our tickets and were not sure how long it would take to get downtown. We knew what GPS was telling us but not sure if we'd run into traffic. We arrived at the parking garage around 8:45 am. Tour time was 9:40 am. We went to the Courthouse to pick up our tickets and looked around a bit then headed over to the Arch.
The line for security was not long at all. The whole process was quick and we just had to wait for our time. The pods to ride up the Arch fit 5 people and are not made for claustrophobic folks. So strange to be riding in this fully enclosed little pod knowing you are climbing up to the top but not seeing any of the progress. Amazing views from the top.
As we left the area the lines to get through security were quite a bit longer than they were when we arrived. Another day of the early bird gets the worm.
After the arch we started the trek home with plans to stay in Kansas City, mostly because we were not sure how long we would be in the St. Louis area.
Sunday, July 12
A noneventful morning of traveling from Kansas City back home to Lincoln . . . .
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