We will be going into the fourth month of traveling in a few days and even though we are home sick, we are not yet sure if we are going go slowly and rush home. Time will tell.
Our first stop will be St. Louis, Missouri.
MISSOURI facts: Missouri entered the Union in 1821 as the 24th state. Missouri covers 69,686 square miles and has a population of 5,595,211.
State Motto: "Salus popili suprema lex esto –
The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law"
State Nickname: “The Show Me State”
State Capital: Jefferson City
State Flower: Hawthorn (1923)
State Bird: Bluebird (1927)
State Animal: Mule (1995)
State Tree: Flowering Dogwood (1955)
State Gem: none
State Song: “Missouri Waltz” (1949)
We will do a lot of state hopping to get to St. Louis. We started out in Tennessee, then back into Kentucky, then Illinois and finally into St. Louis at the border of Illinois and Missouri.
Day 89 – 91, May 30-June 1: ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
St. Louis is a huge city with a population of 348,189. It was established in 1764 to support the French fur trade. Nearby were the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The 1857 completion of the railroad link brought many European immigrants. Their skills and crafts helped enrich the city and made it successful. In the 1840’s the city survived and was rebuilt after disastrous floods, fire, and cholera. In 1904 the city hosted the great Louisiana Purchase Exposition (remember the movie “Meet Me in St. Louis”) which lasted 7 months and gave the world it’s first ice cream cones, hot dogs, and ice tea.
We will be spending 3 nights in St. Louis and plan on visiting the Missouri Botanical Gardens, Gateway Arch to the West, and the St. Louis Zoo.
After 7 hours and 307 miles we arrive at Casino Queen RV Park in East St. Louis, Illinois.
CASINO QUEEN RV PARK
Usually casino RV parks are just a parking lot and trailers are right next to each other, like cars in a parking lot. But this one was much nicer. There was a bit of landscaping between trailers giving some space between the sites; not much, but as least the trailers were not on top of each other. And there were some trees, but not big enough to give off any shade. The older part of the park has grass between the sites and more space between the trailers. Most of the big rigs were here. The new part had gravel between the trailers and the trailers were much closer. We were in this part.
This RV park was on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. Missouri and St. Louis was on the other side. In fact you can see the Gateway Arch from our trailer site. Unfortunately we are next door to industrial businesses and the switching yards for the train. Trains run by on two sides of this RV park. Also the Metro tracks. There are trains running all day and night.
Please see our RV PARK REVIEW BLOG under MISSOURI to see a review and more pictures of this RV park http://charleston-rv-park-review.blogspot.com/
MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN
These gardens are pretty amazing and beautiful. Founded in 1859, the garden is the oldest botanical garden in continuous operation in the US and one of the only gardens to achieve National Historic Landmark status. “Shaw’s Garden”, locally called, is the result of the vision of Henry Shaw, an English immigrant who made his fortune selling cutlery and general goods in St. Louis. This garden is huge and contains 32 theme gardens and several buildings (some not open to the public). Some of the buildings are historical. Some of the theme gardens are Iris, Magnolia Grove, Chinese Garden, Japanese Garden, Rock Garden, Children’s Garden, etc. There is a geodesic dome that houses an assortment of orchids. But there was a special exhibit called ‘Dinoquest” at an extra fee going on while we were there. We were not interested in seeing that, so we did not visit the dome or see the orchids. There were also 4 large Chihuly glass structures in this garden. Before starting out on our exploring, we had lunch at one of the two cafes on the property. It was an extremely hot and humid day. Had to take it real slow and drank lots of water. But it was a very enjoyable day.
GATEWAY ARCH TO THE WEST
This place is amazing close up. Standing near it, next to it, or under it, there is no way you can get the whole thing in one picture. From a distance, of course, it looks very small and you can’t imagine anyone going inside of it. But you can ride to the top in a unique capsule transporter system that consists of barrel-shaped capsules joined together to form a train-like vehicle that runs on tracks inside the hollow legs of the Arch. Each capsule holds five passengers and maintains a level position throughout the 4 minute ride to the top of the 630 foot Arch. At the top you get out and you can see miles through windows on both sides. We did not do the ride to the top. The thought of being enclosed in such a small space and ascending 630 feet straight up made me ill. I just could not do it. I am sure the view is breath taking. I sorry I was not able to see it.
The Gateway Arch is a memorial site where you can contemplate the epic mass-migration and settlement of the American West during the 1800. Thomas Jefferson estimated that it might take 1,000 generations for Americans to fully extend across the vast continent. Instead it took less than 90 years. Louis and Clark started their exploration of the West at St. Louis. They stopped here for supplies. And thousands of wagon trains heading west on a four to six month journey also started in St. Louis.
The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial was created to memorialize the role of St. Louis in the westward expansion of the United States. Construction of the Arch was started in 1963 and completed in 1965. The structure is a sandwich made of stainless steel on the outside, carbon steel on the inside and concrete in the middle. The plans called for exact measurements of the two freestanding legs as each piece was welded into place. Post-tensioning rods made of steel placed within the back side of each leg kept the structure from tipping over until the final section could stabilize the 630 foot structure.
A huge thunderstorm rolled in while we were exploring the grounds. The dark clouds made for some interesting pictures of the Arch. I was ‘shooting’ away until it started to pour. That’s when we went underground at the base of the Arch where the visitor center is. This is also where you get onto the trams and there is museum there as well.
ST. LOUIS ZOO
This is another great zoo! And it is FREE! But parking costs $11. They have about 18,300 animals representing more than 700 species. The zoo is set in a natural setting with lots of trees and shade and very scenic. Some of the areas of the zoo are Fragile Forest (chimpanzees, orangutans), and Red Rocks (lions, tigers, zebras, giraffes), River’s Edge (elephants, cheetahs, hippos). We spent four hours exploring the grounds and probably didn’t see everything. It was a very hot day, but we wore our hats, sunscreen and drank lots of water and moved slowly. It was a wonderful day!
Now we leave for our next destination of Kansas City on the border of Missouri and Kansas.
Day 92 –94, June 2-4: KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI/KANSAS
There are two Kansas Cities. One is in Missouri and one is in Kansas – both next to each other. Kansas City, KS is divided from Kansas City, MO merely by a street named State Line Road. Although the larger Kansas City lies in Missouri, its metropolitan core spreads into seven counties in both Missouri and Kansas. The two politically separate cities, which form the Greater Kansas City area, blend into one economic unity. Kansas City ranks first in the nation as a farm distribution center, and has a population of 441,545.
We will be spending 3 nights in Kansas City on the Missouri side.
After 6 hours and 228 miles we arrived at Trailside RV Park in Kansas City, MO.
TRAILSIDE RV PARK
This is a fairly small RV park with lots of trees and lots of shade. It is next to the highway however so there is lots of traffic noise day and night. The free WiFi is a good connection, but no cable TV. It was a fairly comfortable park with only a few permanent trailers.
Please see our RV PARK REVIEW BLOG under MISSOURI to see a review and more pictures of this RV park http://charleston-rv-park-review.blogspot.com/WE ARE ILL
After 3 months of traveling and experiencing all kinds of weather, Dave & I finally came down with colds. Dave got sick while we were in St. Louis. I got sick our first day in Kansas City. We have never visited St. Louis or Kansas City before so we were not going to waste our time letting these colds get the better of us. So we took meds, drank lots of water and moved slowly. We did not explore Kansas City and see as many sights as we wanted to, but we did get to see the zoo.
KANSAS CITY ZOO
The Kansas City Zoo is on 200 acres. The exhibits include The Great Ape House, Tropical Habitat, Outback, Great Cat Walk, and more. There was construction on a new habitat for Polar Bears that looked real nice. We will return here in a future trip. The layout is in two sections with a free tram that takes you from one section to the next. It is a long walk between sections with nothing but nice scenery in between. We walked to the Africa section, but took the tram back. It was an extremely hot and humid day and it wore us out very quickly. We spent about 3 hours at this zoo and enjoyed ourselves despite the heat.
HALLMARK
We were not feeling well this morning. Visiting the zoo took too much out of us, so we searched the AAA book for something that did not take too much time or involve a lot of energy.
We found a brochure that we had picked up at the visitor center about a Hallmark Crown Center and decided to visit that. It turned out to be a shopping mall called Crown Center, which was founded by Joyce C. Hall. J.C. Hall was also the founder of Hallmark cards. In the Crown Center was the Hallmark Visitor Center.
We spent about 1.5 hours inside the Visitor Center reading about the history of Hallmark. Saw some demonstrations on how a card is created and printed. All the Hallmark ornaments that were a collection series were displayed. There were several TV screens showing clips from several of the Hallmark movies and commercials. It was all very interesting and fun. It was a relaxing day and did not wear us out.
TORNADO WARNING
Our first tornado warning came on our last night in Kansas City. Late afternoon a thunderstorm rolled in and man those clouds were really dark. For your info; WARNING means a funnel has been sighted and WATCH means the conditions are right for a funnel to form. The local weather station was reporting two large cells about 30 miles outside of Kansas City. One funnel was sighted and there were warnings of hail the size of golf balls and eggs. But the cells were heading southeast, away from us. But that could always change. I checked with the RV park office and was told the safest building would be the bathrooms. So I gathered up the two portable carriers for the cats, the leash for the dog and our laptops. Then we nervously stood by. Mostly me. Dave just continued playing in Facebook. It was interesting. The local station showed only the weather report for over four hours. We were given a minute by minute update on the status of the cells and where they were heading. Finally about 8pm they called off the “warning”. The cells had just fizzled out. WHEW!!
Our next destination is an overnight stay in Salina, Kansas, then onto Colorado. We really did not plan on any time exploring Kansas on this trip. You can’t count the Kansas side of Kansas City or Salina, or driving straight across the state on Hwy 70. So we will return on another trip and visit places like Topeka and Wichita.
KANSAS facts: Kansas entered the Union in 1861 as the 34th state. Kansas covers 82,264 square miles and has a population of 2,688,418
State Motto: "Ad astra per aspera – To the stars through difficulties"
State Nickname: The Sunflower State
State Capital: Topeka
State Flower: Sunflower (1903)
State Bird: Western Meadowlark (1937)
State Animal: Buffalo (1955)
State Tree: Cottonwood (1937)
State Gem: none
State Song: “Home on the Range” (1947)
Day 95, June 5: SALINA, KANSAS
Salina is a major trade and distribution center for one of the greatest hard wheat belts in the world. You can see how flat Kansas is driving across the state on Hwy 70. You see fields and fields of wheat and wheat silos dotting the landscape. “Tornado Alley” goes north through Kansas too. We did experience thunder storms, but no tornado.
After 6 hours and 208 miles we arrived at Salina KOA in Salina, Kansas.
SALINA KOA
This is a nice RV park. It’s nicely laid out with lots of trees and shade. The bathrooms are interesting; bright colored curtains above each sink and a lighted picture of Marilyn Monroe. There were lots of activities too. The evening we were there they were having a Mexican Fiesta meal with free margaritas. But we didn’t join in. Instead we drove downtown and found a nice quiet place to eat dinner.
Please see our RV PARK REVIEW BLOG under KANSAS to see a review and more pictures of this RV park http://charleston-rv-park-review.blogspot.com/
Our next destination is Colorado. We will be spending eight days there visiting the Pikes Peak area and Rocky Mountain National Park.
COLORADO facts: Colorado entered the Union 1876 as the 38th state. Colorado covers 104,247 square miles and has a population of 4,301,261.
State Motto: "Nil sine Numine – Nothing without the Deity"
State Nickname: “The Centennial State”
State Capital: Denver
State Flower: Rocky Mountain Columbine (1899)
State Bird: Lark Bunting (1931)
State Animal: Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep (1961)
State Tree: Colorado Blue Spruce (1939)
State Gem: Aquamarine (1971)
State Song: “Where the Columbines Grow” (1915)
You had a nice journey. Well organizing. I think you enjoyed very much. Zoo is the my favorite place. Good luck....!!!!
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