Day 10: The CRAZIEST museum ever

There were lots of things we wanted to do in St. Louis--

Six Flags, the zoo,

a brewery tour.

But there were a few things we couldn't miss.

The first was a trip to City Museum.

We went when we were here last in 2016

but Tucker was tiny and he and Mom

didn't get to do much of anything.

The rest of us barely remembered going.

Mom and Dad kept trying to explain to us

what City Museum was all about

but couldn't quite find the words.

That made it even more intriguing.

Once we got there,

we understood why.

It's this giant, um, playground

full of things to climb on and around and under.

There's a 10 story slide

and holes in the wall

and trees

and more slides

and secret passageways

and caves

and...whoa.

It's hard to describe.

We stumbled on this exhibit with "Doctor Fish."

It's the fish that like to nibble off all the dead skin

on your hands.

I dove right in.

Dad had no problem.

It took everything Mom had to keep her hand in.

Beck couldn't quite get the courage.

There's a huge outdoor area too

Look at Brave Jack!

Waaaaay above his comfort zone

Lots of bridges

and even a few old planes

perched in the air

We crawled and shimmied and slid everywhere.

This was our favorite discovery of the day.

There are hidden passages everywhere

but this one goes under the main hall.

It's really dark

and really narrow.

but how cool is it to pop out of the floor under a whale?

After a crazy lunch in the pinball game area,

we headed up to a yet-to-be-played-in section

and had a ball in the human "skate park"

It was a heck of a trip!

After experiencing a convenience store

in the middle of the inner city

(hey, we were thirsty!)

we headed to our next stop:

Gotta see the Arch!

(It's a National Park now, after all)

We wandered through the museum

and learned all about the history of St. Louis

and the building of the Arch.

Did you know the Arch was accidentally built on springs

so they have to constantly pump water out?

And with last week's storms,

the base of the Arch where the elevators start

was actually under water!

Glad we came a few days later.

We took a ride in the funny egg-shaped capsules

and rode to the top

to check out the view

And it was a heck of a view!

Family picture from 630 feet up!

Safely back down,

we were sworn in as Junior Rangers

and headed out for one more family picture.

Our last stop was another St. Louis must-do--

dinner on The Hill.

We ate at Mama's on The Hill

and despite my insistence

that we weren't taking home any leftovers,

we ordered way to much food

and took home A LOT of leftovers.

All that and a belly full of alfredo?

The Littles didn't stand a chance

of staying awake on the ride back to camp.

Nothing to do now

but spend the next day driving home.

11 days,

4 states,

5 stops,

47 hours of driving,

2473 miles.

An awesome summer camper trip DONE!

Day 9: Who wants a BONUS STOP???

The guy we were renting the camper from

can't pick up the camper until Tuesday.

Mom checked her schedule--

she doesn't have anything scheduled Monday.

We are still on summer vacay.

Sooo...

Mom and Dad surprised us and diverted our course

for St. Louis!!!

Mom, in her duties as co-pilot,

found the fastest route.

She got really nervous when we were suddenly

on farm backroads

crossing through the middle of nowhere.

It was rather picturesque!

And luckily, it worked!

We landed in Eureka safe and sound.

Dad thought our KOA looked oddly familiar.

Turns out, we were here before!

Our friends Tori and Patrick were married

at this very KOA in 2016.

How about that coincidence?

We were glad to get in early

and have a night to chill.

We swam

and rented the poorest-condition bikes we'd ever seen.

They had this cool 4 seater that 

we couldn't even get to pedal out of the parking lot!

So we settled for these.

They had a lollipop hunt.

We had no idea what that meant

so we had to check it out.

It's like an Easter egg hunt,

but with dum-dums

We'll never have to buy

suckers for happy hikers again!

We've had a lot of s'mores on this trip

but tonight's were some of the best

Maybe it's because everything tastes better

on BONUS vacation!

Day 8: Our 3rd Sand-iful NP

Well of course there is a national park on our itinerary.

You know us better than that!

Indiana Dunes is a strange park.

It's broken up into a few chunks

and mixed up with the Indiana Dunes State Park.

It's kind of weird.

We decided to try out one of Indiana Dunes'

longer, harder trails--

the 5 mile Cowles Bog Trail.

It wound through a forest

and eventually climbed some dunes

which brought us to Lake Michigan

and a spectacular beach

which was all ours.

No really. 

There was one other group on the beach with us.

Guess a 2.5 mile hike

keeps beachgoers looking elsewhere!

How cool is this?

You can see Chicago in the distance

Um, and this, right next door.

A utilities plant of some sort.

Surely since this is a national park,

the beach and water are safe, right?

We like to think so.

It's becoming a thing for me to lose a tooth

on vacation.

This vacation was no different!

Another tooth to the Water Gods!

(does Poseidon cover fresh water?)

We ate lunch,

relaxed on the shore,

dug in the sand,

swam in the lake,

and rode the waves.

We could have stayed all day.

But Mom had aspirations for another hike

so we trekked back through the woods.

We drove to another section of the park, 

West Beach,

to check out the West Beach Trail

and Dunes Succession Trail.

The West Beach Trail was kinda lame--

it wrapped around the parking lot

and passed near a pond.

We met some very enthusiastic fellow National Park fans

along the trail.

They were big talkers

so we had to move pretty quick along the path

so we could make it to the next loop.

We were in a bit of a hurry--

the Ranger's Station closes at 6:00

and we needed our badges!

We finally got to the Dunes Succession.

How cool is this?

It's a series of staircases

that wander through the dunes.

I say "we"

but I should say Mom and my brothers.

I was in one of my moods.

Dad had to carry me

because I was refusing to hike anymore.

It was a lovely hike

with some really cool views and landscape

We finally got to West Beach.

My brothers went for a swim

and Mom and I went for a wade

Check this out--

Weston can hold Chicago on his arm!

We ran out of snacks and drinks,

so we decided it was time to go.

But...

moments after this picture,

we realized if we hurried,

REALLY hurried,

we could still make it to the Ranger Station before close.

So we bolted to the truck

and Dad stepped on the gas.

We squealed into the parking lot

and ran to the doors, shoes in hand.

It was locked.

Mom was not to be defeated.

She knocked and held up our completed Junior Ranger book

and the kind Rangers took pity on us

and let us in.

Badges for everyone!

Nothing to do now

but chill around the camp.