Vital Stats

Days:  37

Miles:  4196

Bathroom Stops:  Classified

States: 16

Oklahoma
Kansas
Missouri
Arkansas
Illinois
Kentucky
Tennessee
North Carolina
Virginia
Maryland
Delaware
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
West Virginia
Indiana
(Washington DC visited, but not included in count)

Smiles/Laughs:  335,124

Pairs of sunglasses purchased extra cheap in NYC:  4

Sets of tires:  2

Roller Coasters in Hershey:  11

Day 36 - St. Louis

Today marks the beginning of our sixth week on the road.  We find ourselves just back on our side of the Mississippi River in St. Louis.  First stop, the Gateway Arch.  This relatively new monument (completed in 1965) marks the gathering point for the Lewis & Clark expedition commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 and begun in 1804.  

In the museum area beneath the arch, we watched a well done IMAX movie about the expedition that really put into perspective their travel and the magnitude of Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase (which doubled the size of the U.S. at the time).  

Their journey was that day's equivalent of going to the moon.  The odds of them reaching the Pacific Ocean and returning were fairly low.  But, they succeeded and their findings and maps opened up the area west of the Mississippi to American settlement.

The Arch is an impressive nod to that achievement and how it subsequently made St. Louis the chief provisioning point for settlers headed west.  Because it is so symmetrical, it's hard to get an idea of its' size until you are right next to it.  (It's 630 feet tall compared to the Washington Monument's 555 feet.)  Once inside, we got into the space capsule sized cars to go to the viewing area at the top.  (This area was also the setting for a scene in the first Percy Jackson novel). 

 The Arch is an excellent ending point in our chase of Thomas Jefferson.  His inquisitive nature led him to commission the expedition that opened up the western half of the U.S. to settlement.  Maybe the next Fergapalooza follows his lead and heads out West as well?  Stay tuned...

Our next stop was the famed "Crown Candy Kitchen" (as seen on the TV show "Man vs. Food.").  It is St. Louis' oldest soda fountain - opened in 1913.  They are best known for their 30 Minute, 5 Ice Cream Malt Challenge, but also for their great candy, sundaes and food.  The line for the minimal amount of old style booths was long, but well worth it.  Their BLT would be better named a "BBBBBLT" don't you think?  

Tummies full, we went to a place where we could burn some calories:  City Museum.  It is a really hard place to explain.  A former shoe warehouse/factory that had long been vacant, it was purchased by an artist who made it a playground derived of leftover junk and icons.  The four story tall "MonstroCity" looks like McDonald's hamster trails made from junkyard material.  The kids can climb everywhere, but so can their parents.  (Janell, unfortunately, lifted herself into a crossbar, bloodied her nose, and was down for the count much of our time there -- but being the trooper she was, she sat out with an ice pack while the rest of us sweated up a storm.)

Inside there are things such as a 3 story slide enclosed by painted rotating railings, extra large hydraulic-powered rock'em sock'em robots, a Big Boy statue, a circus school, a skate park without skates, enchanted caves, and a ten story spiral slide.  And the eclectic decoration that adorns the place is unreal.

It is an incredibly hard place to describe because it is so surreal.  But, Janell and I agree it is easily one of the top ten places we've ever been -- for kids or adults.  So, put it on your list!

Day 35 - Indianapolis to St. Louis

This morning we met up with the Phillips and they treated us to a day at The Children's Museum -- the largest in the world.  What a resource for their city.  It has several awesome standard exhibits like Dinosphere -- with contains several dinosaur skeletons and interactive exhibits.  (The kids got to hold eggs and T Rex teeth, and inspect Raptor poo.)

Dinosphere also claims ownership to the only known find of a species of dinosaur that has been named Dracorex Hogwartsia (King Dragon of Hogwarts after the Harry Potter series).  That seemed kind of odd at first, but it really is a pretty ingenious way to make dinosaur paleontology relevant to today's kids.

Another winner with the girls was the Barbie exhibit.  It contains a lot of life size props to interact with like standing in a life size Barbie package, sitting behind a Barbie studio desk, and walking down a Barbie runway.  Of course, it also as displayed hundreds (thousands?) of Barbies from throughout the years.  

Other rotating exhibits like Rock Stars & Guitars, Star Wars and Etch-a-Sketch keep the place fresh for locals.  It is a really neat place and we recommend it to anyone who might find themselves in the area.  Along those lines, the downtown area of Indianapolis was very impressive as well.  They have a thriving business community, a large amount of retail and a booming restaurant/bar/hotel area -- largely in updated historic buildings.  (So, thumbs up to Indianapolis!)

After several fun hours with our friends, it was time to get truckster back on the road.  But, on our way out, we stopped by The Brickyard - The Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  We were fortunate to see a few cars running on the track -- enough to get an idea of the speed and decibel level at which they operate.  The kids would love a chance to come back a watch a full fledged race there.    

Inspired by the oversized go-carts driving in excess of 200 miles an hour, we maxed the accessorized swagger wagon out at 75 mph on the interstate on our way to our next stop:  St. Louis.  The stretch across Illinois found us driving through three different storm bands where visibility was next to zero.  But, we remained undeterred, looking for our first glimpse of the Arch and trying to get to Sweetie Pies (as made famous on the TV show "Dives, Diners and Drive-Ins") before it closed.  

We made it the restaurant just prior to closing and enjoyed the Mississippi Style Cooking/Soul Food fare.  Their much bally-hooed Macaroni & Cheese was incredible.  And the rest of the fried chicken, smothered pork chops, cabbage, green beans and black-eyed peas were great.  Though the kids still say it all comes in second to Grandma's.

Days 33 & 34 - Hershey to Columbus, Ohio to Indianapolis

Headed West.  This time to Indianapolis.  

A couple of things of note on this day's travels:  First, we went through Carlisle, Pennsylvania -- home of the Carlisle Indian School where Oklahoma's own Jim Thorpe went and starred.  Second, we passed through the West Virginia -- add another state to our list!

We decided that driving all the way to Indy was a bit much.  So, we decided to make a stopover in Columbus, Ohio.  Home of "The" Ohio State University (what's up with that?)  

We got there in time to drive around the campus and to get a view of the Big Horseshoe (scene of Uwe Von Schaumann's "The Kick" in 1977).  The Sooners return here in 2017.  That seems like a long way off.  Chas will be starting his Freshman year, Sofia will be a junior in high school and Ileana and Tyner will both be teenagers.  Come to think of it, it better be a long way off.  Yikes!

The city reminded us a lot of Austin, Texas:  capital city, lots of ancillary universities, lots of commerce, but still revolves around the University.  

After a tour of the campus, we went looking for a nearby restaurant.  We have done our best during our trip to sample other regions' Tex/Mex food along the way.  And there is no doubt that the best in the country resides in Oklahoma and Texas.  Happily, we did find an able attempt in a cool place in Columbus.

The next morning we were back in the Swagger Wagon bearing down on Indy.  Travel time in the car has been really good with the kids.  They are pretty inventive with different ways to keep from getting bored.

We got to Indy and met up with our friends, the Phillips, at the Riviera Club.  It's a wonderful tennis/swim club built in the 1931.  It also boast the largest swimming pool in Indiana, if not the country.

The kids spent most of their time on the diving boards -- something they had never had a chance to swim on because so few swimming places have them anymore.  Thomas and Audrey showed them how it's done and our kids quickly "dove in".  The high dive was especially a thrill. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming with our friends and then were treated to a lovely dinner at their home.  This was followed by all the kids running around and playing in the yard.  It was a great night.  We have been fortunate to see a lot of spectacular things during our trip, but it's always a special treat to hang out with family and friends.

Day 32 - Last Day in Hershey

Today, we headed back down to Chocolate Avenue (Hershey's version of Main Street) to walk through The Hershey Story Museum.   

It's does a good job of telling the story of Milton Hershey and the many failures he endured prior to hitting it big with the Lancaster Caramel Company and, subsequently, Hershey Chocolate. 

One of Milton Hershey's strengths was his allowance for innovation by his employees.  In one instance, an employee added wheels to a bathtub to transport liquid from one place to another during the chocolate making process.  The factory still uses such a device today.

The museum is very hands/on interactive for the kids.  They did everything from creating a chocolate production facility on a computer monitor to emailing themselves their custom designed Hershey labels.  

It also does a great job of showing the evolution of different candies in the Hershey product line.  For instance, did you know that the Krackel bar was first produced in 1938 with crispy rice and almonds in it?  In 1939 the almonds were traded out for peanuts.  In 1940, the peanuts were removed and the bar stands as it does today, using only chocolate and crispy rice.

Another interesting fact is that Milton Hershey built a town similar to Hershey, PA in Cuba around his sugar cane company in an effort to stabilize the supply and price of sugar he needed for his chocolate business.

But, probably the most fascinating fact is that in 1918, he secretly ceded his shares (then worth $60 million) of the Hershey Company to a trust which benefitted a school he and his wife had established for orphans.  That trust still has controlling interest of the Hershey Corporation today.  And it's school now educates, houses, feeds, and provides medical and dental care for between 1,000-2,000 underprivileged kids each year on it's magnificent campus in Hershey.  What an amazing legacy he has left.  (And all of us continue to serve it by eating Hershey's Chocolate --  Hey, we are givers!)

After touring the museum, we all went down to the cafe where we sampled a chocolate flight of six chocolate syrups created from different cocoa beans around the world.  Some, like Mexico, were quite bitter.  Others, like Java, were quite sweet.  Of course the mixture of these that Hershey uses is a corporate secret.

Following our cocoa tasting, we headed across the street for a picnic along Chocolate Ave.   Good times.

Day 31 - 4th of July - Hersheypark

OK.  We broke one of my major rules today.  Going to an amusement park on a HOLIDAY.  And on a holiday WEEKEND for that matter.  And on a holiday weekend in SEASON for crying out loud.

But, then again, we knew all of that going in and so we had a great time.  We knew it would be crowded, but we wanted the Americana of it all.  And, we got it.  Patriotic songs over speakers, band singers dressed up like Uncle Sam and a fireworks display to end the night.

We started our morning with designer pancakes.  And, keeping with our theme of blogging, reviewing and reminiscing along the way (in hopes of increasing the kids' memories of the trip) we made pancakes in the shape of things significant to our trip.  I'm no artist, but I think they guessed most of them.

Stomachs full, we headed to the park.  Having already been there twice, the kids pretty much led the way.    

While our weather the first first couple of days was ideal, today it was much hotter - which made us and most of the other visitors beeline for the boardwalk/waterpark area.  We spent a good amount of time at the splash area and then waited a hour and a half to ride the 11th and final roller coaster - "The Roller Soaker".  

    

Cooled down, we spent the rest of the day doing lots of family rides.  And we may have another roller coaster enthusiast on our hands.  After riding "The Comet" the last ride of our Friday night at the park with some dismay, Ileana suggested we all ride it again.  This time, she ended it with a smile on her face!

At different moments throughout the trip, Janell & I have been forced to realize how fast they are growing up and that we no longer have any babies.  Sometimes it's when we pass another family with a kid pushing one stroller with another sibling in it, a Dad pushing another stroller with a toddler and an 8 month pregnant Mom trailing behind trying to keep up.  Sometimes it's even more personal -- like when all four kids could ride together on the "Coal Cracker", a good old fashioned log ride.  Since it would hold only five people a decision had to be made.  And the kids chose to ride alone with us following along on the next log.  Sure it was fun for Janell and me to ride just the two of us, but I think both of us suffered a little heartbreak over the whole thing.

Before we knew it, the park was nearing closing time.  We had just enough time to get in a family skee ball contest (which I am required to tell had Janell & Ileana tying for the victory).

The night ended with us heading out to the parking lot to watch a fantastic fireworks display.  We hung out on blankets in the parking lot in absolutely no hurry to be anywhere.  We just soaked up the spectacle, felt the concussion of the booms and laid down sprawled across one another.  And, hopefully, given the many places of national significance we've visited, the fireworks had a little more meaning than they otherwise would have.