St. Louis Trip--Part 1

Our trip began TH evening after a VERY BUSY day! Nathan left at 6:45am for a day of recruiting at College of the Ozarks in Branson. The boys and I had an 8:30 appt for flu shots (for them--I got mine later) and then get Trevor to school and then head to the pumpkin patch for a redo with Cody's preschool. After that, Cody and I headed home to pack and pick Trevor up from school to head to Gumma and Poppy's. The boys were beyond excited about staying at "the farm" (as Aunt Libby calls it) for the weekend. We loaded up their John Deere Gator and bikes for extra outdoor fun. It was a rush, but we got them boys dropped off and unloaded and I headed to meet up with Nathan and a co-worker so we could start our getaway. I was so tired and stressed from the day that I wasn't even sure I wanted to go... all that packing and loading and driving..... But, the farther Nathan and I drove towards St. Louis, the more relaxed and excited I got. We stopped in Marshfield and got some cereal and milk for breakfast in our hotel since it didn't come with cont breakfast. We stopped in Ft. Leonard Wood for dinner....we had a decent selection and Nathan ended up choosing a Diner--thinking it would be some fun, "greasy-spoon" food. Not-so-much. It was very high-priced, so we dedcided to get up and leave (we hadn't ordered)--much easier to do when you're "out-of-towners"! We headed next door to the Cracker Barrell and had a great dinner!! We made it to St. Louis around 10. Longer drive than we'd planned, but it was enjoyable and we had no "schedule". We found our hotel--The Crowne Plaza--through Hotwire.com--a 3.5 star hotel for $64 a night. It was literally a block west of the Arch. Once we figured out the parking garage--it was a mess!!--we made it to our room. Our room was on the North side, so we didn't have an arch view, but it was still a great view--on the 28th floor of a 29-floor hotel! I forgot to take pictures of the room inside....but here are some pics of the rest. Stay tuned for more!!View of our hotel from the arch....the interstate is directly in front of the hotel....then the Arch park and the river.

View from our hotel room window--looking East--the Eads bridge, MS River and the Arch park.

View from our hotel room looking West (and North a bit)

View of the Arch in front of our hotel--taken from the interstate as we left.