{Road Trip} Day One - Meet Me in St. Louis, Later on Tonight?

What a day!!!'

We actually left our house at 2:00am THIS morning. Yes, that's right... We drove through the night, had breakfast in Nashville, and ate a late lunch/early dinner in St. Louis!

We are having fun just being together, but one thing is for sure, we are not as young as we once were!

So, we left at 2:00am, and only got this one blurry photo...BUT, it is documentation, so there's that...

Hubby and I took turns driving and napping. We made a quick stop at Buc-ee's, because, Buc-ee's...

before stopping to grab breakfast at Biscuit Love in Nashville...

From there, we took a few photos of the girls at the Candy Hearts Mural near by...

before swinging by the local NFL football stadium, home to the Tennessee Titans, for the guys to get a quick photo!

We were super lucky that they even let us in, as they were deep in the throes of getting ready for CMA Fest and performances by some big time names in country music!

From there, we continued on toward St. Louis, taking our time and aiming to arrive for a late lunch/early dinner. We made it to town just in time and grabbed something to eat at Crown Candy Kitchen, which touts itself as St. Louis' oldest soda fountain...

The bacon on this was out of control...

B loved his rootbeer float...

and M loved her sundae, too!

We then decided, kind of last minute, to revisit the Gateway Arch. Afterall, we made our last visit almost a decade ago!

We recreated one of my favorite memories when a four-year-old M wanted to get her picture with "Mountain Rushmore", and I was like, "Honey, we're not at Mount Rushmore anymore, we're at the Arch", but sure enough, she'd found those presidents!

{July 2014}

Then, we headed up to the top...

{July 2014}

and took a few photos...

before heading back down...

Also kind of last minute, the boys decided to go to a St. Louis Cardinals game...

while the girls opted to head back to the hotel...

and blog, I mean rest!

More on tap for tomorrow, after a good night's sleep, that is!!!

More {Road Trip} 2024 Fun

Day Two - CITY Fun in St. Louis!

Day Three - A Prime Time in Kansas City

Day Four - Denver to Salt Lake City, and Beyond

Day Five - Operation #CapitolStepsChallenge Completion

Day Six - San Francisco, What a Treat!

Day Seven - A Beautiful Drive

Day Eight - A Univerally Good Time

Day Nine - Heading South and Then East

Day Ten - A Day at the Burning Bush...Errr, I Mean the Joshua Tree(s)

Day Eleven - Four Corners, Four States, and a Four Gazillion Hour Drive

Day Twelve - Going Nutty and Covering a Lot of Ground

Day Thirteen - A Little Bit of Elvis and HOME!

Ready to Road Trip! {2024 edition}

 Well, hello there... It's been a minute...

Our last TRUE family road trip was back in 2019...

{Road Trip} 2019 - A Look Back

Day One - Horses, Hats, and a Heck of a Good Time at Churchill Downs

Day Two - Exploring the CITY in St. Louis, Missouri

Day Three - Covering A Lot of Ground...Like A Whole Lot!

Day Four - Yellowstone National Park Day 1

Day Five - Yellowstone National Park Day 2 + Helena, MT

Day Six - Grand Teton National Park Day 1

Day Seven - Grand Teton National Park Day 2, Yellowstone National Park Day 3 + The Beartooth Highway 

Day Eight - Devils Tower & Rapid City

Day Nine - Heading HOME!

and our last TRUE cross-country family road trip was back in 2017...

{Road Trip} 2017 - A Look Back

Day One - A Presidential Start

Day Two - Getting Corny

Day Three - Oh, Canada! + Happy Birthday, Hubby

Day Four - Alaska Highway - Dawson Creek, BC to Muncho Lake, BC

Day Five - Alaska Highway - Muncho Lake, BC to Whitehorse, YT

Day Six - Well, Hello ALASKA!

Day Seven - Icebergs, Glaciers, and Fjords, Oh My!

Day Eight - All Around Anchorage + the Parks Highway to Fairbanks

Day Nine - Denali National Park & Preserve + Go UAF Nanooks!
Day Ten - Into the Arctic
Day Eleven - JUNEAU
Days Twelve & Thirteen - Driving for Days
Day Fourteen - Hello, Seattle!
Day Fifteen - A Couple of Capital Cities with Capitol Steps to Climb
Day Sixteen - Out and About in the Portland Area
Day Seventeen - Idaho
Day Eighteen - Utah, and a Goodbye
Day Nineteen - From the Mountains to the Plains
Day Twenty - Canvasing Kansas
Day Twenty-One - Good Bye, Kansas + Hello, Missouri!
Day Twenty-Two - Finishing Up Truman's Missouri
Day Twenty-Three - Kicking It Through Kentucky and HOME!



and our last TRUE cross-country family road trip to California was back in 2015...

{Road Trip} 2015 - A Look Back

Day One - From Running Up Stairs to Painting Cars

Day Two - New Mexico

Day Three - A Canyon, a Dam, and a Whole Lotta Lights

Day Four - Vegas By Day and a Surprise at Night

Day Five - DisneyLAND - Day 1

Day Six - DisneyLAND - Day 2

Day Seven - DisneyLAND - Day 3

Day Eight - Desert Driving, Waving to Mexico, and Night Swimming Under the Fireworks

Day Nine - LBJ Ranch and Austin, TX

Day Ten - Another Stop in Baton Rouge and HOME!

Well, CALIFORNIA... We have some unfinished business to take care of, and we're coming for you!!!

{Beta Club Trip} Washington, D.C. - Part II

 continued from {Beta Club Trip} Washington, D.C. - Part I...

Day 3 - Friday, April 19 

After breakfast at the hotel, the group made a college visit stop at Howard University before making their way over to the U.S. Capitol...

Another little throwback...

{October 2013}

{October 2013 - admiring the rotunda right before a guard reprimanded them for sitting on the floor}

Before they left, the group got a photo with Representative Timmons...

{photo from the public Facebook page of Representative Timmons}

After lunch, they headed over the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Though I have visited before, this was a new one for M, and a very moving experience...

From there, they made a couple quick stops for photo ops at both the Washington Monument...

and The White House...

before grabbing dinner and heading to Nationals Park for a Washington Nationals game!

Of course, we're no strangers to the mascots...

{October 2015}

After the game, they headed back to get some rest after a packed day!

Day 4 - Saturday, April 20

On their final day, the got up early and headed out, making one college visit stop at the University of Virginia (where another college sweatshirt was procurred)...

before continuing the trip home...

What a wonderful experience for our M! I am forever grateful that this trip actually happened, and our baby is now back home.

{Beta Club Trip} Washington, D.C. - Part I

Sweet M got to go on her 8th Grade Beta Club trip to Washington, D.C., and it was such a treat. B's to New York City was unfortunately cancelled because, well, it was in 2020, and L's, also to New York City, wouldve been last year, but even more unfortunately, her class didn't show enough interest... She was BUMMED, and I was for her, as well!

But, on to the trip that DID actually happen...

Though M has been to Washington, D.C. numerous times before, as we used to go annually (pre-2020) for the Army Ten-Miler (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), I strongly believe that taking trips without parents/family is so very important and offers a whole new, and extremely valuable, level of learning/figuring things out. 

Day 1 - Wednesday, April 17 

M and her class left early in the morning and started their trek north.

Their first stop was at the North Carolina Zoo before continuing on and making a college visit stop at Duke University, where everyone purchased Duke sweatshirts!

From there, they continued on to their hotel to get some rest.

Day 2 - Thursday, April 18

After breakfast, the group headed over to Arlington Cemetery...

Though we visited back in  2015, its been almost a DECADE since M has been there... WOW...

{October 2015}

After lunch, they hit some of the Smithsonian museums...

My kids especially like to send me pictures of dead animals (because they know how much I just love loathe taxidermy)...

Also, presidential pictures (I actually do love those)...

After dinner, they took a tour of the monuments and memorials at night!

I think M got some GREAT photos!

Her favorite president...

and, back in the day...

{October 2012}

It was full day!

{Beta Club Trip} Washington, D.C. - Part II