2011 Summer Adventure Day 14

2011 Summer Adventure Day 13

Riddle:  What time is it when you start naming flies (Flanders)?

And refuse to have it killed because its been with you for so long? 

And you threaten punishment to anyone that attempts to kill it? 



And you just purchased a giant fly-swatter for killing flies?



.....Give-up?

Answer:  It's time to go home.

That is what happened yesterday.  After realizing this, Jackie and Steve began laughing hysterically at what such close quarters for extended periods of time with your children can do to you.  It's time to go home....

But not before we stop in St. Louis and visit the Gateway Arch - the symbolic structure that represents expansion into the Western Hemisphere - Thanks Lewis and Clark!

We left our St. Charles hotel about an hour later than we wanted...

But no harm no foul.  The Comfort Suites are much nicer than we expected.

So we travel from St. Charles (was the original capital of Missouri)...

...to St. Louis

That bridge in the background is what sparked the idea for the creation of the Arch.

We saw the old courthouse...

from the ground...

as well as from the top of the Arch...

630 feet up.

They take you up in a very small pod like structure such as this...

all five of us crammed in like sardines...

We got a shot of Busch Field from atop the Arch - much smaller than expected...

We spent a couple of hours at the Arch and than decided to drive to our final place of rest before home...Mason, OH (just outside Cincinnati).

We rested on the way...

We read...

We prayed...

Until we reached our final DDD location - Blue Ash Chili - just outside our hotel

 There specialty is Cincinnati Chili.  It is Chili on top of a bed of spaghetti...

This one had fried hot peppers and cheese on top.  By far, this was the best DDD location we visited.  I guess it's true they save the best for last.

Well it's off to sleep we go...

But not before viewing the fireworks display just outside our hotel window...great view!

 Farewell America!

2011 Summer Adventure Day 12

Today we left our B&B in Downs, KS, hosted by Joan (not Jean as previously wrote in Day 11) and Steve Hiede, at 10 am CST.  We had a fantastic french toast breakfast with a homemade strawberry yogurt and some bacon.  It was quite delicious.  Even the self-proclaimed "french toast hater" (Sarah) liked this french toast.  The Hiede's were great hosts and we really enjoyed our short stay with them.  (we forgot to get a picture of them...)









We were whisked away by a twister which set us down in the little town of Wamego, KS - right in front of the Wizard of Oz Museum...even Dorothy was there.

There was a wind machine there that reached speeds of 70mph.  Sean had to get in there...

It was a rather small museum with articles, artifacts and art about the movie, play and any of the many knock-offs (like The Wiz).  The girls liked it...

two peas in a pod...

OK...on to DDD #4 (which is really only are 3rd stop).  40 minutes away in Topeka...

So we sat in the car (It's only 106 degrees out here).  Sean and Shannon liked there hot dogs.  The rest of us could have ate at McDonalds - but we did get this shot of the lamp Guy signed inside the place...

This placed could have either been a drive-in or a dive....

Oh well...we're getting closer to home.  Onto St. Charles, MO which is just outside of St. Louis.  A little over 4 hours from Topeka.  That calls for some much needed rest...

We are all pretty anxious to just get home now.  Here is the extent of our picture taking in Missouri...

...They're pretty much drive-bys at 80 mph.

We checked into our hotel than went down to their Main Street.  It had a red brick road with stores and restaurants on both sides of the street.  We asked the hotel clerk again where a good place to eat was.  Again he did not stear us wrong.  "Lewis and Clark's." A perfect way to end the day...

Good Night.

2011 Summer Adventure Day 11

After an unexpected pleasant stay in Cheyenne, WY, the Murrays head for Kansas.  Specifically to Downs, KS.  Home of the Howell House Bed and Breakfast -- more on this later.  Another road trip, 6.5 hours to be exact with a time zone change (mountain to central).  The original plan was to visit the first day of Frontier Days in Cheyenne.  This is the worlds largest rodeo.  But we decided to forego this since it really didn't start today and we have too many things to do in a short period of time in order to make it home by Friday.  So we head down route 80 into Nebraska - home of the cornhuskers...

As we were traveling we noticed a National Wildlife Sanctuary and decided to stop by.  You can never get enough wildlife after visiting Yellowstone.  We came face to face with the elusive grizzly...

followed by a polar bear...

We even spotted a gray wolf hiding behind a sign that read Gray Wolf.  How coincidental is that?

OK OK you got us.  We stopped at a Cabellas store along the way...

What a neat store.  The animal display was amazing.  We could have spent a couple of hours here easily...

They even had a job for you Dad Murray...

This guy was burning weeds in the parking lot with his torch.  Check out the size of his propane tank.

We left Cabelas in order to get to our first stop in Lebanon, Kansas - the geographical center of the contiguous United States.  This is the road that led up to the location...

We were kind of expecting a little more fanfare.  But no such thing.  In fact, we ran into some people that were just leaving so the place was empty...

We could understand why.  Not much to the geographical center.

Gravity must be nil here...Steve was floating...

There was even a four person chapel there...

But that's about it. So we moved on to the big attraction - the largest ball of twine.  How lucky can you get.  The largest ball of twine is so close to the geographical center of the United States. 

First there was a painted sidewalk leading up to it...



than there were the two signs surrounding it...

As we string you along (get it), it than hits you.  Whammmooo....

It's now time to head to our overnight accomodations.  A restored Bed and Breakfast only a few miles away from the largest ball of twine.  As we stated above, the Howell House is beautifully maintained in Victorian style...

We have two rooms for the night.  Jane and Steve Heide are real nice and we are looking forward to the breakfast tomorrow before we head to the Wizard of Oz museum.  Before the night was over, we went to the local Pizza Hut for dinner and than grabbed some ice cream down at the corner store where returned to the Howell House and ate it on the porch.  We than retired for the evening.  See you tomorrow.