St. Louis with these three

Finally got in a trip with the Grand kids this summer. I'd planned this trip for early June but after breaking my foot it had to be delayed.

We spent several hours at Six Flags where the older two rode every terrifying ride they could find. The youngest and I rode every non-terrifying ride we could. Everyone had a great time. The oldest are becoming roller coaster critics. I believe the opinion was that the rides at Silver Dollar City beat out Six Flags St. Louis. The summer of coasters will continue at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City this September. Will be interesting to see if SDC still comes out on top.

After a quick stop back at the hotel we headed to the arch. I hadn't been here since I was a child. Very nice museum. Very nice waiting area...which is good because that's mostly what we did - wait. We had over two hours to wait until our ride to the top. The ride up takes 4 minutes and when we got out of our little pods we were surprised at how many people were crammed into such a small space. It didn't take us long to get our fill of the view and the crowds. Back into the pods for a 3 minute ride down.

One surprising thing is how in need of an update the room at the top was. Several of the carpeted areas you lean on for viewing out the windows were missing carpet. This seemed so odd considering how modern and nice the museum at the bottom of the arch was. They need to spent $10 on some carpet squares. 😁

By the time we left the Arch we were all exhausted. So back to the hotel for dinner and bed. It was great to spend time with the kids so we could talk about me heading out to be a gypsy. Saying I'm going to be a gypsy made this a little easier for them to understand what I'm doing. However, it was decided that I need to work on my gypsy fashion and jewelry...apparently my earrings are all too small.

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Day 23 last day in South Padre

So sad to say goodbye to the beach. But I'll be back some day. It's less than 15 hours from home...that's totally doable. Here's a link to where we stayed. link This was a perfect place for a late September vacation. Very few of the condos appeared to be occupied. We had the hot tub all to ourselves last night! Today we rented chaise lounge chairs and an umbrella and just enjoyed the beach all day long. We had an amazing dinner at Pier 19 where we were able to see dolphins out the window. Now were getting things ready so we can get up at 4 am and start driving home.

Day 24 - Home - Trip Summary

MILES: 7,780 STATES : 15 Missouri Kansas Colorado Wyoming Montana Idaho Washington Oregon California Nevada Utah Arizona New Mexico Texas Oklahoma TRIP PHASES: 4 To the west coast Pacific Coast Highway National Parks Beach Vacation FLAT TIRES: 1 ECO SYSTEMS: 20 Prairies Foot Hills Mountains Geysers Sulphur Springs Lakes Continental Divide Rain Forests Ocean Beach - Pacific Ocean Redwood Forests Vineyards Almond groves Yosemite El Capitan OK, not an eco system, but unlike anything else! Sequoia Forest Desert Death Valley (see El Capitan note) Canyons...some of them even grand Gulf of Mexico Beach - Gulf of Mexico NATIONAL PARKS/FORESTS: 15 Yellowstone National Park Olympic National Park Hoh Rain Forest Redwood National Forest Yosemite National Park Stanislaus National Forest Sierra National Forest Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias Inyo National Forest Death Valley National Park Zion National

Day 18 Grand Canyon and the end of Phase 3

Today we went to Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest National Parks. We are officially done with Phase 3 of our trip - the National Park Phase. And frankly...we're both relieved. The National Parks, while beautiful and awe inspiring...were also kind of a bummer. They were crowded, had limited parking and generally felt like a tourist attraction. Mindy went to several of these when her boys were young...35+ and 20+ years ago. Hearing how the parks have changed over the years was kind of a downer. That being said, I'm so glad I went and was able to this countryside, it is truly unique and majestic. Now that we're done with Phase 3, we both feeling a little energized! We're ready to get up early tomorrow and begin Phase 4...which we've decided to keep secret. If I told you what we're doing, you'd think we're nuts. Better to keep quiet than to confirm that thought! First view of a canyon on the prairie First overlook into Gra

The Adventures of Gypsy-Jackie

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