Day 1

Sunday we loaded our covered wagon and headed west. 3 adults, 3 children, and 1 pink deer named Conquer on the open road. My sister and her daughter have joined us for the beginning leg of our journey. We drove to St. Louis with a stop at Wendy’s for lunch and some mid-afternoon playground time.

We headed right to downtown St. Louis to do the Gateway Arch. We braved the 92 degree day to walk to the arch and take a tiny, terrifying pod capsule all the way to the top. I do not like heights, and I really did not like being in a small capsule rocking back and forth as it took us up 600 feet. However, I conquered my fears and enjoyed the views from the top, especially looking toward the west–the direction we will be heading as we follow the Lewis and Clark trail over the next two weeks.  The kids all loved looking out the windows at the top and didn’t seem to mind the swaying of the arch as much as the adults did.

Once we were safely back on the ground, we backtracked to O’Fallon, Illinois (a suburb of St. Louis) to have dinner with our cousins at their house. We had a great time catching up while the kids played ping pong and jumped on the trampoline. We ended the day with a quick dip in the hotel pool. 1 day down, 34 to go!

Driveway

Beautiful Cargo
Beautiful cargo!
Wagon is Loaded!
Our wagon is loaded!
Conquer the Deer
Conquer the deer is ready to go!
Caroline goofing off at Wendy's
Caroline goofing off at Wendy’s
Playground
Playground
Ready for the Arch
Ready for the Arch
Headed to the Arch
Headed to the Arch
Inside the pod about to head up!
Inside the pod about to head up!

The Arch

Checking out the view from the top
Checking out the view from the top
Torsten at the top
Torsten at the top
View to the west
View to the west
Conquer visits the Arch
Conquer visits the Arch
A Horse with Pink Toenails
A Horse with Pink Toenails

7 thoughts on “Day 1”

  1. Coming through perfectly! Love the pics and updates (almost got sick up in the arch – and I wasn’t even there). Safe travels!

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  2. Wow, The journey has begun and it looks fabulous. The pictures are Great; my stomach got queasy at the top of the Arch but Sir Torsten, Princess Alexia and Princess Caroline didn’t— perfect Westward Explorers!

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  3. We went to the Arch several years ago. Drew and I really enjoyed looking out of the windows. Jeff not so much, He kept saying, “Don’t you think it’s time to go down now.” A few years later they had the big flood where the Mississippi River was up the where the Arch begins. Having seen that made it difficult to believe that the water was that high.

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