Family Trip this past summer

This past summer, my dad, stepmom, and I went north to visit his sister and other relatives. She's his older sister so it was kind of 'visit while we can'; not that she's in bad health but she's in her 80s. Plus it had been 10 years since I had visited. We drove.

We stayed with her, in the condo she and her husband bought after they sold their house to their middle son (a house meant for a family, not an older couple). It's a nice condo; 2 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, detached garage.

None of us are as young as we used to be, so we broke up the trip and overnighted in Kentucky. We were able to walk to the Cracker Barrel for supper; which was nice, because getting up and moving after all day in car felt great.

We got to Aunt J's. She'd made hamburger stew (delicious btw). We went to a booth run by a local farmer and bought some ears of freshly picked corn (it was the height of corn season). She drove by the house she and her husband lived in when they were first married. And the house a mobster built (two separate houses, btw).

teeny tiny tomatoes

We drove by the banner for her late husband. The town has banners for all the citizens who have served that they hang from the lampposts. They have more banners than lampposts, so they have to rotate the banners. We saw the other sights of the town, including a ghost ad that was discovered when they took down a building. The fence was later added, 'for modesty.'

We spent part of a day in the Cahokia museum. Not enough time, of course, but a decent amount.

RG collects shot glasses so I asked if they had any at the Cahokia gift shop. They did not; but they did have this small glass toothpick glasses. Close enough.

We went to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. That was a bit of an adventure to get to. One, there's construction in the area so we had to find a route as GPS kept trying to send us through the construction. Two, they'd moved the entrance to the museum. Last time I went, the entrance/exit were at the base of the Arch. Now those are strictly exits and the entrance is halfway to the courthouse (1 of 2 or 3 buildings that survived a fire in the 19th century). Dad stayed in the museum, while Kathy and I went up in the arch.

On the way up, we were with 3 college students, one of whom had fears of enclosed places and heights. At her request, I did my best to distract her with conversation. One the way down, we were with a family group who had a daughter with a fear of heights and elevators. Both girls were incredibly brace to face their fears that way.

I did get some great shots from inside the arch. They've changed the procedure a little bit. You get your reservation to go up and the time you'll be going and which side; either at the entrance or at the base of the arch. When it's time, you go to the ticket person and you get in line going down the stairs. Personnel go up and down the line to put people in groups of five; handing out plastic cards with car numbers on them. Each car has five seats and there are twelve cars in each leg.

At the base of the stairs there's a short film about the Arch and a bit of history at the time and since. I couldn't see it very well, so I missed a lot.

Stand on a different set of stairs, with doors on one side. Stand between the doors and off to one side. The doors open and the people who've come down exit, then up the stairs.

Once you're at the top, you're in a more or less triangle shaped room, with a floor 'cutting' off one angle. There are windows and wide window ledges on either side. You can look out over the river or over St. Louis.

Aunt J doesn't have internet and I really felt a need to check my email, so Dad took me to the library to use their wifi. We'd rented a car for the trip and he wasn't used to certain elements. He sat on the panic button. I eventually noticed the noise (from inside the library) and turned it off. I apologize to everyone who put up with that until I heard it and stopped it.

Unfortunately, it wasn't until we were about to leave that I thought to ask about their geneaological resources. I didn't do more than scan the materials and then Dad and I looked at his yearbooks and found his picture.

I was hoping to find another postcard, so we swung by the museum. That's when we met that cousin and got the offer of the use of the scanner.

Dad and K swung by for me to get some breakfast and dropped me off at the museum, before it or the library opened. I ate my breakfast and waited for the cousin. Once she let me inside, I got started. She also showed me where our trees intersect. (below are different pictures of Grandma, Dad's mom)

One of the other volunteers took me to the little Italian deli to pick up some lunch. I had some kind of pasta salad. It was quite tasty.

When Dad and K came to get me after I was done, we went down in the basement. They had the drum Dad danced on when he was Chief Kahok. It was up on a shelf, in storage, so we didn't get a good look, but we saw it. They have a very nicely arranged museum. They've put a lot of work into it.

One morning, Dad, K, and I went to Horseshoe Lake. K and I took pictures of birds and flowers. It was a bit of a mizzly day so there were very few people out there. There were some people fishing but I could count them on one hand with fingers left over. We also drove around to the most distant campsite. We literally drove by cornfields to reach it. Very creepy.

I took my temperature scarf with me and I worked on it a bit. I also tatted a cross for Aunt J, in a red similar to her beloved St. Louis Cardinals. She watches game shows and baseball and that pretty much it. There's a channel that shows old game shows. It's kind of neat sometimes.

All the cousins in town came for a visit one evening. Both of Aunt J's sons, one daughter-in-law (the other son is divorced), some of their kids, and at least one of her grandkids. Plus Aunt V, Dad and Aunt J's stepsister came over one evening. She had to leave early because she was going to Colorado to visit one of her grandchildren.

Eventually we headed home, overnighting in the same hotel.