When Vassil found out he was going to be spending four weeks up in PA for business, I knew that would be the perfect time to vacation to KS! There was simply no way I was going to spend FOUR weeks all alone w/two young, demanding children! And since my mom has the summers off, it seemed like the perfect time to spend some time back home! So we decided to make a roadtrip of it! Of course, that sounded like the perfect plan, until Vassil's business trip was changed to August, and then again to early July. Ugh. At any rate, since Vassil already booked tickets, we decided we'd go in June as we'd planned. Plus, it meant we could celebrate Liam's first birthday back home with family.
So, with the click of our heels we were off....
We traveled close to 1300 miles in 3 days with two children two and under. It wasn't nearly as bad as it sounds. In fact, it was WAY less stressful than flying, since we could go at our own pace and stop along the way. Both kiddos did GREAT! Although, poor Liam really had quite enough about an hour outside of Wichita! Elizabeth also did great--singing songs, reading books, making lots of conversation about the things she saw along the way. And, of course, asking us a million times if we were in Kansas yet. Lol!
Here are some pics of our journey!
Above: As you can see, our GPS decided to take a little nap!
We stopped LOTS of times along the way... for potty breaks, lunch, and many times just to ge out and stretch. We brought a blanket for Liam to crawl on... and Elizabeth, well, we knew she could just run free. The pic above and the two below are from a rest stop in West Virginia--a mall right off the highway called "Tamarak."
Of course, no roadtrip would be complete without a trip to Cracker Barrel.
I love this one (above) of the kiddos hanging out on the front porch of Cracker Barrel.
Liam is SUCH a sweet, happy boy! Even after 1300 miles of driving!
Elizabeth decided to help drive for a stretch of the way! J/K!
Time out to stretch!
We got a little lost as we neared lexington... but ended up finding the World Equestrian Games facility--which was ENORMOUS and SO beautiful, btw!
I so much prefer driving over flying. Not only do you get to stop and explore different cities, but you also get the fun of staying in different hotels! I'm SUCH a hotel person! We scored a great deal at a new Hyatt in Lexington which was pretty nice. That night we decided to swim--it was Liam's first time in a pool! He LOVED it! And cracked up watching Vassil swim laps back and forth, yelling and pointing "Dadaaaaa!" the whole time!
The next day we headed for Louiville. It was a pretty town.
We also decided to "hit up" the Louiville Slugger museum while there ;) Couldn't resist.
Above is our little all-star! Not even one year old yet, and already knows baseball signs... pretty sure this one means "Safe!" LOL!
We walked back to the car along the river walkway... it was right under a freeway--what a shame! We loaded up and headed off to St. Louis, where we'd be staying our 2nd night of our journey.
Of course, we still had to stop some along the way. We found an all you can eat Amish buffet. And afterward, (like most stops) we spread out the blanket to let Liam crawl a bit.
Look at my cuties!
When we made it to St. Louis, we decided to check out the Arch! The Gateway to the West!
It was really amazing! Even though I'm a midwest girl, born and raised, I'd never been to the Arch, or St. Louis. I LOVED both! St. Louis was an amazing town... reminded me SO muh of where we used to live in California! SO many new buildings and businesses, and just a never ending sprawl of suburbs after suburbs. It was very nice, and clearly St. Louis hasn't felt much of an impact of this recession--or at least, didn't seem to show it! Very awesome town!
Anyway, while at the arch, we decided we'd ride it to the top. I'm honestly not sure what we were thinkng. Above is a picture of the little circular pod-thingie you take to the top. Elizabeth hates heights (which I kinda forgot about), so as soon as the door shut, and she could see out the window that we were going up, she started freaking out. It didn't help that the thing shook pretty bad and the seats were very unstable. I'm a rollercoaster fanatic; I love them! But I have to admit, by the time we finally made it to the top, my knees were shaking. Suffice it to say, I don't think I'll ever be doing that again.
Once you get to the top, you get out of the little pod thing, and climb some stairs to a look out area--630 feet up. Elizabeth was fine at the top. Running... even jumping! Which scared me half to death because you could feel how wobbly it was.
Above: Elizabeth cheking out the view from the top
What a beautiful skyline! However, let's just say after snapping these two pics, I was ready to ride down. Elizabeth, however was petrified to get back in our pod. Let's just say, this made for quite the adventure!
One thing I didn't realize about the Arch, is that underneath there is a big mall area. There is post-9/11 security to go down below. Once down, there are shops and a few museums. We decided to check out the Museum of Westward Expansion since it was free.
Elizabeth LOVED it! In fact, I've NEVER seen her more fascinated at any other museum we've ever visited. She LOVED the talking wax statues and had SO many questions!
She was VERY upset at the teepee exhibit. She saw the buffalo fur blankets on the floor of the teepee and asked me if they were buffalo fur. I told her I thought so, to which she wanted to know how the buffalo took off it's fur. When I explained that the Indians had killed the buffalo she was very mad and upset, and kept asking "How can the buffloe get its fur back on?" She ran back and forth from the stuffed bison to the teepee and back again just trying to figure it all out. I think we'll definitely have to check out Cowtown in Wichita with all the questions she had!
Anyway, once we left the museum (which was no easy feat) we headed over to see the riverboats. I love this picture (above) of Elizabeth peering into the gift shop.If you zoom in, the look on her face, while peering into the gift shop, is priceless!
After checking out St. Louis some, we headed for our hotel. We LOVED it! It was the first time we'd ever stayed in a Drury Suites-they had an amazing free dinner buffet along w/free wine and a huge complimenary breakfat buffet as well. We are all about free stuff... and snaged a great deal as well!
Liam loved checking out the view from the 8th floor and watching all the cars zoom past on the highway.
He also loved checking out himself in the full lenth mirror!
The next day it was on to Wichita. We knew we were in Kansas, or getting close, when we saw this storm approaching.
The eerie black cloud went right over us w/no rain. Nothing quite like midwest storms! LOVE THEM!
We also knew we were getting close when we saw the flatlands and BIG sky! Truly, there is nothing quite like the beauty of the plains.
Heaven on earth!
Anyway, 3 days of driving, 2 hotels, 1 traffic jam, 1 boo-boo, 7 states, at least a dozen rest stops... we FINALLY made it "home!"
And it's like Dorothy always says... there's no place like it!
More pics and videos to come! But please be patient with me... we are having a blast, and this computer is SLOW (and the keys stick, so please excuse any typos)!
Until then...
