by Joe (dad)
St. Louis is a wonderful city, but since we had visited here several times before, we only gave ourselves 2 full days on this visit and we spent almost all of it either at Six Flags or visiting with friends. So not to deprive anyone of seeing the St. Louis Gateway Arch, I included a couple pictures from our 2010 visit....both so you can see the Arch and how much the kids have grown in 5 years!
We definitely got maximum value from our Six Flags season tickets as St. Louis was the 8th park we visited! We had a hot day, so cooling off at Hurricane Harbor water park (part of Six Flags park) was great in the afternoon. We hit several good rides, but the tidal pool and water slides were certainly the highlight on this trip.
I know I've mentioned before that reconnecting with friends around the country has been a wonderful part of our trip and St. Louis was no exception. We were able to go to mass with our former pastor in Colorado Springs, Fr. Manning, who baptized Mariana a couple weeks after she was born. Fr. Manning is retired now and returned to his original diocese in St. Louis and we had a wonderful time going to Steak-n-Shake together...the kids were thrilled to get milk shakes after lunch! We visited the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis and words fail to describe the beauty of over 41 million mosaic pieces that adorn the inside of the Cathedral...no wonder it took 75 years to complete the Basilica! We also made a short stop at our favorite playground at Our Lady of the Snows Shrine just east of St. Louis...they have a fountain there the kids can play in!
When we got back to camp at Scott Air Force Base, the Hall family was also there and we shared a BBQ and caught up on our respective trips in our RVs. I worked for Bill Hall at the Pentagon several years ago and even then he was always going camping with his family in their pop-up trailer...and this time we got to link up while we were out and about...the Halls heading east-bound and us heading west-bound.
Amid the joyful reunions, we did get some sobering news. Lori's cousin, Mary, passed away at age 23 from a couple-year battle with cancer. Lori has wonderful memories of vacations with Mary and her family when they were little and the suddenness of Mary's passing caught us by surprise. Please keep Mary's soul and her family in your prayers for peace and grace during this time.
St. Louis is a wonderful city, but since we had visited here several times before, we only gave ourselves 2 full days on this visit and we spent almost all of it either at Six Flags or visiting with friends. So not to deprive anyone of seeing the St. Louis Gateway Arch, I included a couple pictures from our 2010 visit....both so you can see the Arch and how much the kids have grown in 5 years!
We definitely got maximum value from our Six Flags season tickets as St. Louis was the 8th park we visited! We had a hot day, so cooling off at Hurricane Harbor water park (part of Six Flags park) was great in the afternoon. We hit several good rides, but the tidal pool and water slides were certainly the highlight on this trip.
I know I've mentioned before that reconnecting with friends around the country has been a wonderful part of our trip and St. Louis was no exception. We were able to go to mass with our former pastor in Colorado Springs, Fr. Manning, who baptized Mariana a couple weeks after she was born. Fr. Manning is retired now and returned to his original diocese in St. Louis and we had a wonderful time going to Steak-n-Shake together...the kids were thrilled to get milk shakes after lunch! We visited the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis and words fail to describe the beauty of over 41 million mosaic pieces that adorn the inside of the Cathedral...no wonder it took 75 years to complete the Basilica! We also made a short stop at our favorite playground at Our Lady of the Snows Shrine just east of St. Louis...they have a fountain there the kids can play in!
When we got back to camp at Scott Air Force Base, the Hall family was also there and we shared a BBQ and caught up on our respective trips in our RVs. I worked for Bill Hall at the Pentagon several years ago and even then he was always going camping with his family in their pop-up trailer...and this time we got to link up while we were out and about...the Halls heading east-bound and us heading west-bound.
Amid the joyful reunions, we did get some sobering news. Lori's cousin, Mary, passed away at age 23 from a couple-year battle with cancer. Lori has wonderful memories of vacations with Mary and her family when they were little and the suddenness of Mary's passing caught us by surprise. Please keep Mary's soul and her family in your prayers for peace and grace during this time.