Historic St. Charles

One evening Michael and I took a drive to explore historic downtown St. Charles. This quaint little town, right along the Missouri River, is where Louis and Clark embarked on their historic journey to find a route to the Pacific. It was a Friday evening and we got there around 4:30/5ish, with the plan to explore some of the shops and then find some place yummy to eat. Well, we learned our lesson that everything (except the restaurant) close early there, even on a Friday night! But we still walked up and down Main street, window shopped, read some of the plaques and monuments about Louis and Clark and the history of the town. We ate dinner at one of the less expensive restaurants on the street, which actually was really good, and that had a nice view of the river. Our evening ended with a stop at the local Bass Pro Shop (Michael's request, of course!) They actually had a cute hoodie that I considered getting, but just couldn't justify getting it since we don't encounter much sweatshirt weather out here.

The beautiful Missouri! I have actually grown quite fond of all the rivers and trees out here.  It amazes me how different the terrain of this country is. And I never thought I would say this, but the Midwest is beautiful...minus the bugs and heat :) 

The handsome husband 

And his lovely wife 

Downtown St. Louis

One day (back on May 11th) Michael and I went to see some of the sights in downtown St. Louis. We decided to take a tour of the Old Courthouse. It was here that the first hearings for the famous Dred Scott case took place. When we first got there we just wandered around a bit, then one of the Park Rangers (it is actually part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, as well as the Arch), started a tour that we joined. He shared lots of interesting facts about the courthouse- like that it has been added onto like 4 times! He showed us some of the restored court rooms, told us about the beautiful dome, and neat facts about the architecture and restoration process.

Looking up from the 1st level. I had fun trying to recall the architectural styles I learned in my Interior design class a couple years ago. 

Up on one of the upper level balconies. 

We were walking up a little spiral stair case and all of a sudden I saw  the Arch perfectly framed in this skylight. The picture doesn't do it justice! 

I thought these swinging doors were so neat. They were made out of leather  (I think) and had neat brass stud accents. 

My handsome hubby!

After our visit at the Courthouse we took a walk down the street to the Arch. We just walked around the grassy area and took a couple of pictures. We actually just learned a couple of days ago that there is a free museum underground! Looks like we will be stopping by there one last time before we head back next month.

Looking back at the Courthouse from the Arch. They were doing some restoration work on the outside.

Talking to my Momma 

A passerby offered to take a picture of us. Just glad they didn't get  my hand in the picture, I was still holding my phone with my mom on the other end :) 

Since we were in the area we decided to hit up a local bbq place that we had heard lots of great things about. It was even featured on Man vs. Food! Pappy's definitely lived up to its reputation! The staff was super friendly, asking if it was our 1st visit and where we were from. The ribs were super tender and sweet potato fries were to die for. Michael has already decided that when we go back he is getting a double order of the fries. We thought it would have been pretty crowded since there was a Cardinals game that night/a weekend, but it was a perfect. We have tried some other bbq places since we went to Pappy's, but Michael still thinks this one is the best. We can't wait to go back again soon!!

Yummy, yummy Pappy's!! 

So excited for that delicious food! The cole slaw didn't end up being that good. Side note: all over the walls were copies of their menu with notes from famous people who had eaten there. Made for some fun reading while waiting for our grub. 

Forest Park and the Art Museum

We had heard great things about St Louis' Forest Park, so our first weekend in Missouri (May 5th) we decided to go check it out. The only way I can think to describe it is the Central Park of St. Louis. Although, I will admit I have never been to Central Park. Forest Park is home to the Zoo, Art Museum, The Muny (an outside theater), ponds, fountains, a little boat house, and lots more! This particular day we decided to explore the Art Museum, which like most things in the area is free! The highlight was seeing some of Monet's and Van Gogh's paintings...2 of my favorite artists! After the museum we took a stroll through a little bit of the park.

Our first glimpse of the St. Louis Temple. It is right off the 64 and just about 15 minutes from our house. 

The Art Museum

The pond in front of the Art Museum  

self-portrait in front of the same pond 

The city in the distance

 The first Saint Louis

A closer look...notice he is holding a St Louis Hockey flag

Pretty view...although the water looked totally disgusting! 

Picture from another side of the pond

Art Museum from a distance

Cute little duck family

Castlewood State Park

The Thursday (May 3rd) after arriving in Missouri we decided to do some exploring of our new hometown of Ballwin. Michael had heard that there was a State Park just a few minutes from our apartment, so we set out with a picnic lunch to find it. Unfortunately, Michael couldn't remember the exact name of the park so it took a little longer than a few minutes to get there. But eventually we found it and were surprised at how much we enjoyed it! We both agree its like Provo Canyon, minus the mountains :)

  We found a little picnic table by a creek, ate our lunch and had fun scaring the little fishes (we discovered they don't like shadows). Then we took a short walk to put our feet in the water and get a closer look at the fish. We took a little drive through the park and discovered that they had a beach! The park is along the Meramec river, so they created a little beachy area with soft sand. Just no palm trees :( On our way out we stopped by the ranger station and were able to pick up a map of the park and learned that they have quite a few hikes that we are excited to try out. We also got a great book of attractions in St. Louis. (It has been great to have as we have explored the area!) 

Anyways, it was a beautiful park, a little haven of mountainous land in the Midwest, and we can't wait to go back! 

Part 3 of our Journey to the Midwest

Thankfully day 2 on the road wasn't as long as day 1...only 7 hours! We got a little later start then we had planned. But I think the extra sleep was good for everyone :) We had a free breakfast at the hotel. I always love it when they have the yummy, fresh waffles! Then hit the road once again.

Traffic lights in Lincoln...I had never seen them sideways before.

A little more of Nebraska

Crossing the Missouri River...we actually crossed it quite a few times that day.

Popped into Iowa for a bit. The sign reads "The people of Iowa welcome you"

A little taste for the landscape of Iowa. 

Random body of water to the side of the road in Iowa. Was actually kind of pretty. 

Hello Missouri...FINALLY! 

 

Each city seemed to have its very own water tower. Its actually kind of cool to see them, especially when passing through a lot of small towns.

A quick peek at Kansas City...Hopefully we will be able to spend a weekend there this summer. 

Hello beautiful new temple! We had just barley missed the open house. They had just ended those the Saturday before and when we drove through it was being cleaned in preparation for its dedication the following weekend. 

Go Royals! We were thinking of the Terry family when we passed this! 

It is so much greener in Missouri! And its like this in the area that we are living too. We went to the mall the other day, which sits up on a hill. And from the parking lot you just see lots of trees with the occasional rooftop peeking through. We really love all the vibrant, green trees! 

Cool rock formations that we passed. I guess out here you could call it a hill. Not nearly as big as the mountains in Utah, but still cool. :)

Some highlights from the day:

• My very first meal from Sonic. Michael was shocked that I had never eaten there before. The chicken sandwich was the best fast food one and had had on the trip thus far. And the berry lemonade slush was very refreshing, especially since we were definitely starting to feel the humidity! It was also kind of cool just staying in the car and having them bring the food to us on roller blades :) 
• We hadn't been on the road long after leaving Lincoln and were driving along a beautiful country highway, I was starting to doze off when all of the sudden Michael starts pulling over and I hear "oh crap". Then I saw the flashing lights. Thankfully, it was a nice cop and he let us off with a warning. Perhaps he just pitied us with our extremely loaded and covered in bugs car. Moral of the story: Always use cruise control and be extra cautious the next time you are driving on Nebraska highways! 
• Making it to our new apartment around 4 that afternoon. Signing lots of papers and finally getting our keys. We did some grocery shopping. Unloaded the car. And settled in for the night with our sleeping bags and watching Netflix on Michael's phone. Don't worry our furniture was delivered the next morning so we didn't have to sleep on the floor again.
• Oh, and did I mention that I had a full blown cold by that evening. I am blaming runny nosed niece and nephews....its a good thing they are cute.

Part 2 of our Journey to the Midwest...

...equals one long day of 13 hours on the road! We left Logan Monday morning a little after 9 (remember we had to get the tire fixed). Then proceeded to make the long trip to Lincoln, Nebraska. Not many highlights from that day. We had Wendy's for lunch in Rawlins, WY. We made a quick stop in Cheyenne, WY at the Wells Fargo for a cashier's check for our apartment...which ended up being a good thing because there are NO Wells Fargo's in the St. Louis area, I thought they were everywhere! Arby's for dinner in I-have-no-idea-where. Some small town in Nebraska...except we were surprised to discover they did have a Walmart. I didn't have to drive much...I hate driving on long trips and in places I am not familiar with. And I think Michael prefers when I am not driving too :) The majority of the drive we listened to an audio book that Michael had downloaded before we left. He gets one before every long road trip. We didn't have time for any scenic stops, but I did manage to get a few pictures from the car. The scenery isn't much to Ooh and Aww over, but its still kind of neat to see it get progressively greener as we get closer to Missouri!

I believe this was right after passing the Welcome to Wyoming sign. Not much out there, but at least we had nice weather! 

So many windmills. I was driving when we first passed these. I almost snapped a picture since Michael was sleeping, but thought it would be best to focus on the road. Thankfully we passed some more when Michael was awake and could get these pictures. 

More a little closer. Seriously, these were the most exciting thing about Wyoming! 

Hello Nebraska!! 

Hey look a little random clump of greenery! Seriously though, we would be driving along and there would just be a little patch of trees and such, then just flat again. 

I thought the fields were kind of cool. It was like giant stripes of green, then brown, green again, then...I think you get the idea :) 

A grasshopper!! 

Cows! Everywhere! And they smelled! 

We finally made it to Lincoln around midnight. We were both really tired. Thankfully Michael had already reserved a hotel for us so we didn't have to worry about finding a place. We took advantage of the WiFi, I took a shower, and then we hit the sack!