Homeward bound

Happy 4th of July everyone! We must be ready to come home ... this was the first morning that I didn't have to wake either of the other two. We'll head down to get some breakfast and then hit the road.

Our Saturday was pretty busy. St Louis really does the 4th. They have concerts along the river under the Arch and a big parade. (John Legend played last night and the B52s were playing tonight.) All of this made it interesting for us to try to get where we wanted to go. We eventually made it downtown and parked at the ball park. Walked around Busch Stadium and took some photos on our way to the Arch. (That's Audrey and I with a statue of Ozzie Smith, one of my favorite shortstops) The Arch is actually the Jefferson National Expansion Monument and it's amazing. We got in line to go through security then got in line to get our tickets to go up the Arch. We watched a documentary about how they built the monument. As with most feats of engineering, those guys were crazy! Then we took the little pod cars to the top. Five people fit in these little cars and it takes 4 minutes to go up and 3 minutes to go back down. There were lots of people already up at the top so it was kind of hard to get around. There was an air show going on on the river side so we could see the planes fly by. Then we could look down and see how tiny the people look. There's a great museum that you could spend alot of time in. But with all the people and the fact that we hadn't had lunch yet, we'll have to come back to do it justice.

We went back outside and had funnel cake and curly fries for lunch. Along with sweet tea and frozen lemonade. Found a place in the shade to eat and people watch. We wandered around for a little bit but it was pretty hot.

About 4:30 we headed over for the baseball game. We had great seats along the first base line a couple of sections up. It was 91 degrees at game time but our seats were in the shade and stayed in the shade as the sun went down. It's a beautiful view of the city and the Arch from the Stadium. The Cardinals were beat by the Brewers 12-5. For a while it was 11-0 and the lady in front of us apologized to us that we had to witness the thumping but at least they came back.

We were able to stay in the stadium to see the fireworks. However, the view was obstructed and Audrey complained bitterly. They were ok fireworks, they didn't last very long and I'm pretty sure even Westerville has a better finale. It was pretty late when we got back to the hotel.

It's been a fabulous trip. We've had amazing weather and have seen beautiful sites. Thanks for reading our blog and we'll see you soon!

Almost over

We're in St Louis tonight (and Audrey and Brian have gone to the pool.) We stopped at Grant's Farm on the way in this afternoon. It's owned by Anheuser-Busch. It's the farm where the Clydesdales are bred and raised. We saw a couple of foals. It's also sort of a zoo with a Deer Park with all sorts of animals. Audrey bottled fed some goats and had her first snow cone (wild cherry.) She also enjoyed another carousel ride. Also on the grounds is a log cabin built and lived in by Ulysses S Grant. His in-laws were the original owners of the property and when he married into the family, they gave him 80 acres. (thus Grant's Farm)

We're staying in a Hampton Inn ... I checked us in this afternoon and they gave me room keys. We unloaded the Pilot onto one of those baggage carts and came up to the room. Tried to get in and the keys didn't work. Went back to the desk and they redid the keys. This time when I tried to use them, I could hear people in the room. I knocked on the door and spoke to the man. Then went back downstairs to the front desk. They don't exactly know what happened (ha!) but they gave us another room and these keys worked and there was no one already in the room. So, we're leaving to go next door for dinner and Audrey had forgotten her headband. I said I would go back and get it. As I'm coming back down the hallway, I see a couple messing with their room keys and sure enough, it's the people we almost walked in on and I have to ride down the elevator with them. They were talking about having their keys redone and I admitted that I was the one who tried their door. We were able to laugh about it because it had happened to the man before except he was the one who had walked in on someone else. (yoy!)

We're going to a St Louis Cardinals baseball game tomorrow. It was supposed to start at 3pm but it's been moved to 5:35 to accommodate tv scheduling. There's also some sort of street fair downtown around the St Louis Arch. We hope to be at the Arch pretty early before it gets too busy.

Toto, we're still in Kansas

We left Colorado about 8am this morning and arrived in Topeka about 7pm. (don't forget, there was a time change in there) We got on 70 east about 10am. I commented to Brian that, other than our stay in St Louis, we'd be on 70 east for the next 4 days. No photos today, not that we didn't see beautiful country, just didn't take any pictures. We saw a man this afternoon with spurs on his cowboy boots. I told Audrey that he was a real cowboy. She said, "why is he eating in McDonalds?" Good question. Audrey and Brian have gone for a swim. I think they've been in the pool every night the past two weeks.

Wednesday

And yet, another beautiful day in CO. We headed up Pikes Peak this morning on the Cog Railway. We started out at about 6,000 feet in elevation and go up to above 14,000 feet. It was a beautiful trip up (and down). Lots of scenery, rocks, trees and waterfalls. Even some wildflowers. Audrey had a little issue with the altitude but was ok. It was chilly when we got to the top but you could see for miles. There were 275 people on our train plus folks can drive up so there were lots of people on the top. We sat with folks from Texas who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. They had gone to the top on their honeymoon on July 5th and had gotten snowed in at the top. There's still a little snow at the top but not much.

When we got back down the mountain it was pretty warm. We headed off to the Garden of the Gods. It's a large park with some amazing rock features.

We had dinner in Manitou Springs along a main street. We sat on the porch of a Bistro and watched people then we had promised Audrey ice cream. We checked out the little shops but only purchased two Christmas ornaments.

Tomorrow is a long day of traveling ...

Tuesday

Another lovely day in Colorado. It was warm but breezy, sometimes almost windy. We drove about 90 minutes from Denver to Colorado Springs to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It boasts that it's the only mountain zoo. It's a very nice zoo with some animals that we don't get to see in Columbus. The first animals you see as you enter are giraffes and you can buy giraffe crackers to feed them. We saw just about everything and rode the skyway and the merry-go-round. Audrey also rode her first pony. It was a really good day. I think we're all tired although Brian and Audrey are in the pool. Tomorrow we head up Pikes Peak on the Cog Railway.

Monday

Hi Friends - it's definitely warmer in Denver! I'll start out with a note about our hotel room. We're staying in a Holiday Inn Express just off the freeway. Yesterday Brian noticed that the fluorescent bulb(s) in the light above the bathroom sink was flickering. I didn't think it was a big deal. OK, I was wrong. (better make sure Brian reads this) This morning it was like taking a shower with a strobe light. Unfortunately, it's the only light in the bathroom and the only mirror in the room. Made putting in my contacts real interesting and it's a good thing we're not epileptic. We talked to them when we went down for breakfast and they've fixed it. Now about breakfast - they were out of orange juice, they didn't have any cold water and the room was really hot. So we packed up and went to McDonald's.

Our first stop was the Denver Downtown Aquarium. It was nice (Cincinnati is better and what aquarium has tigers, no not the sharks, the cats) but we had a good time. Audrey was pretty brave and touched a star fish and petted the sting rays.

Next we went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. A very cool museum. We saw a movie in the planetarium about stars and Audrey even liked it. The BodyWorks exhibit is here so we saw that. This exhibit was in Columbus but we never went. It has real bodies that have been "plasticized" and posed. It also shows healthy organs and unhealthy organs. Audrey now knows what the stent looks like that Grandma has in her heart and what a cat's heart looks like. It was really very interesting. Then we visited some of the natural exhibits mostly about North American animals.

As we were leaving the museum I asked a lady at the information desk if she could recommend a restaurant. She recommended Annie's Cafe & Bar. We had a really good, relaxing meal. The decor is vintage/old movie posters and stuff from tv shows so they show whatever's playing on TCM. You'll notice in the photo of Audrey and I that we are genetically linked as we watched some movie from 1944. :)

Tomorrow is a short travel day, Denver to Colorado Springs/Manitou Springs.

Sunday, part two

Oh yes, today also included listening to more golf on the radio ... :)