Spring Break in Missouri

Last year Brian and I decided that we would like to visit all 50 states with our kids before they grow up.  This is a goal that we would like to see happen- doesn't mean that it will, but we would like to try for it.  The minimum criteria that must be met in order for a state to count is that we have to have a sit-down meal in it.  Eating in the car does not count nor does simply driving through a state.  A meal is the minimum.  We had already covered a lot of the southern and mid-Atlantic states prior to this trip, so we headed toward the middle of the country for Spring Break.  We ended up adding three new states (Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas) during this trip- that brings our family total up to 19.

 Day one was our longest driving day.  According to Mapquest, the drive from our house to St. Louis was suppose to take a little over 12 hours.  We thought that that was do-able in a day.  However, we did not count on getting backed up in stop-and-go traffic SEVEN times between home and Nashville.  It took about twelve hours just to get to Nashville.  We ended up driving for seventeen hours straight to make it to our hotel in St. Louis.  It was one of the longest days ever.  The silver lining of all of this traffic was that we ended up going through Atlanta later than anticipated and managed to meet up with Cassie and James for lunch.

We also stopped at Steak and Shake in Illinois for a late supper so that we could count that state.

 The Gateway Arch was certainly a sight for sore eyes after a long day of driving.  We checked into our hotel around 1 a.m. and went straight to bed.  We were exhausted.