Sunday 23 June
For those journeying with us through the blog, thankyou – today is the halfway point of our trip!
The changing time zones caught us out again travelling this part of the country. We thought we were up at our usual time of 7.30am and on the road by 8.30am, but our clocks hadn’t updated, so we were actually up at 6.30am! At that point I regretted staying up until after 1am organising all my photos, but at least I have now been through the 1,510 photos on my phone.
Our first stop was at the world’s largest windchime (seeing as we were in the town of Casey we thought we should check it out). It was impressive, and at 8am all the kids had a turn at pulling the cord to make it work. The neighbours must be used to the noise I guess…I hope…
From there we decided to visit the world’s largest golf tee in the same town. Jarrod and Tim had a photo in front of it to show their golf teacher. The man at the golf course club house asked us to sign his guest book, because once he reaches 5,000 signatures he can have a sign on the highway. We had the distinction of being the visitors from the furthest distance – he said he was going to highlight our entry!!
We drove for two hours then to St Louis in Missouri to see the Gateway Arch. Ross and Abi were particularly keen to see this because it features in a Percy Jackson book they had read. It was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States, and is the centrepiece of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. It has a viewing platform at its top and midpoint, although to look at it one wonders how it is possible to reach it!
After morning tea in the RV in downtown St Louis, we wandered down to the waterfront and Arch. Crowds were huge and ticket lines were long. I lined up at 11.30am and by the time I reached the front of the queue, the earliest tickets I could get were for the 1.35pm trip up. As it is part of the National Parks program, the kids were given booklets to complete as they made their way around the underground museum. This kept them busy while we waited and earned them a Junior Ranger badge when they handed in their completed booklets. (The National Parks pass we bought in week 2 would have also provided us with a discount on the ticket price, but not knowing this we left it in the RV – oops, don’t tell Grandpop! – but at $10 per adult and $5 per child it was a reasonable excursion anyway).
Our transport to the top of the arch was a little space-age-looking trolley car, seating 5, in a group of 8. These climbed the 192m in 4 mins (and disturbingly descended in 3.5 minutes!). The viewing platform was crowded and we could feel some movement in the arch due to wind. We were given unlimited time up there, but didn’t need long to enjoy the view but then wish to be back safely on the ground!! We grabbed some sandwiches on the walk back to the RV as it was by now 2.30pm, and set off for Kentucky aiming to get closer to Nashville.
I did realise then how well it turned out that we arrived in Indianapolis yesterday and St Louis today on weekend days. Being downtown areas of cities, we would just not have been able to park the RV close to the tourist attractions on weekdays. And since our Boston experience, we have approached every city since with some fear and trepidation!
On a sad note, I made the decision to skip Chicago. It was less than three hours north of Indianapolis, but it would have been another place difficult to visit with an RV. I am devastated to not be visiting Oprah or Harpo Studios – after all, as part of her Sydney audience I have intended since then to return the visit 😦 It is just something else to add to the list to do next time. On a positive note, by saving that trip, we are now a little ahead (by half a day) on our itinerary. Given we have been falling behind our ambitious schedule since week 1, this news makes me slightly deliriously pleased! For however long it lasts! 😉
Reflecting on the 28 days that have been (and reflecting on the books I brought to read in the RV with themes of gratitude and making the most of every day), it is appropriate to acknowledge how blessed we have been. We have discussed doing a trip like this for the last two years, so I pinch myself every day to think it is now a reality. And despite Ross’ pains towards the end of the first RV trip, everyone has been very healthy and happy! And while there have been mistakes and tough moments, we are all really enjoying this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity together.
Tonight we have stopped at Kentucky Lake, Calvert City. The RV park managers recommended the Cracker Barrel restaurant for dinner, where we all enjoyed some southern home cooking (ie. baked and steamed vegetables!) and the bill was just over $40! I needed to print a bank document to sign, so asked at reception. The manager there is a lot like our grandmothers, so after taking a good amount of time to work out how to print it for me, she was quite excited to learn we were in the caravan park business. She then encouraged me to pull up a chair while she gave me some advice from her 39 years owning this park, which led on to discussion about politics, prayer in schools, Baptist preachers v Church of Christ, and Joel Osteen. Ross came in search of me at 10.30pm! Lovely people here, and very real hospitality. I am thankful we didn’t bypass it in a rush to get to Nashville!