On the Road Again: Where Were We?
If you guessed the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri you are correct! We have actually been in St. Louis 4 times already this month. I have seen the Arch many times driving through St. Louis, but a couple years ago we actually went up in it. It is a great place to visit with some neat history. There is actually a museum in the bottom of the arch.
Did you know?
- Arch is 630 feet tall
- It is made of Steel and Concrete
- Eero Saarinen was the Finnish-American architect who designed the Arch
- From the top of the Arch on a clear day you can see up 30 miles in either direction
- Tram ride takes 4 minutes to go up and 3 minutes to go down
- There are 1,076 steps inside the arch, however, they are only used for maintenance and emergencies
- It was originally called the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial now it is the Gateway Arch National Park
- The Memorials to Thomas Jefferson, for his role in opening the West & Dred Scott who sued for his freedom in the Old Courthouse
- Directly across the Mississippi River from the Arch on the Illinois side is the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park where the Gateway Geyser (the tallest water fountain in the U.S.) and the Mississippi River Overlook can be found
If you are going through St. Louis, Missouri and have extra time I encourage you to check it out.
Wild Animal Adventures (Stanton, MO)
The 2 tigers were together in the pen, we got to see them interact, swim, play, and relax.
After the girls got out of Cub Creek camp in Missouri we went visited Wild Animal Adventures. It is outside of St. Louis in Stanton, Missouri. It was a smaller establishment, but the animals were well cared for. We went at busy time and their parking lot was full (they had a trailer blocking part of the parking lot which made it a little inconvenient) but after a few minutes we got a spot.
They have an indoor section with aquariums, touch tanks, birds, reptiles and more. Outside the have both farm and wild animals in different sections. The workers seemed to enjoy being there, interacted well with the animals and were happy to share stories about the animals.
Our girls did two extra interactions, playing with the foxes and the dingos. The dingos also known as “singing dogs” were tired so they were laying down and let the kids pet them. I was hoping to hear them “sing” but they were not into that while we were there. The workers allowed 4 people in at one time with the dingos. For the foxes they gave the kids “treats” aka cat food to feed to the foxes. Our two girls were the only ones other than the worker in the pen with the foxes. The foxes loved munching on the treats and were more energetic. The website lists the extra activities with a price range, however, at least one of the activities was more than their list price. They need to update their website if they are not still charging those rates.
Overall it was a fun stop for our family. The animals were fairly active and the employees were nice. If you are driving through the area it is a nice place to stop especially if you have kids that enjoy animals. We have included a sprinkling of photos from our trip to Wild Animal Adventures.
The llama had some personality.
Gorgeous colors
The kids were not interested in the pretty flowers, but I enjoyed them!
Their 3 legged white fox. He can still move quickly and nibbled up treats from the girls.
This one liked to interact and have conversations with you!
The llama was more interested in you if you had food!
Glad this one was in a cage and behind a window.
Beautiful white tiger!
Wild Animal Adventures
Travel & Vacation: Traveling to Kansas, Jesse James Bank Museum, and Milford Lake
On board and ready for take off!
One of the reasons our family travels is because our extended family is so spread out. This summer we headed out to Kansas to spend time with my family. We got on the plane early Thursday morning in Greenville, SC and by mid-morning we were in Kansas City ready to go.
We had a layover in Chicago! The kids found it very entertaining to go on the walking sidewalks in the airport. We didn’t get a chance to visit the actually city of Chicago, but it was good to get out and stretch our legs in the airport for a little bit between flights. The advantage to the really early flights is the airport is not as crowded!
Karlie found a great way to pass the time during our layover….reading! She was so excited to found out that I had added a bunch of free kids books onto my Kindle! She is frequently found around the house with her nose in a good book too so this did not come as a surprise.
Brina found a good amazing animal website to check out too.
After landing in Kansas City and getting our rental car we were off to explore the area. Our first stop was Wendy’s for an early lunch (we had been up since 4 am). The second stop was the Jesse James Bank Museum in Liberty, Missouri. Not far from the Kansas City MCI airport.
Karlie was surprised at the weight of the bank bag! Wow!
Learning about the Jesse James bank robbery. Banks are very different now!
Walking around the historical district of downtown Liberty!
Brina walking along the edge of the water fountain!
Riding with their cousin Nicko on the tube!
Their faces crack me up!
Having a blast tubing on Lake Milford with family!
So much fun!
Go faster Grandpa!
They even let me go on the tube with them! Fun times with family in Kansas!
