Day 15: The Arch

Last night we pulled into Cahokia RV Park, just outside of St. Louis, set up the camper, and turned in. We would have a busy day, and we wanted to be ready.

This morning we started our day at Grant's home, White Haven. Actually it belonged to his wife, Julia Dent's, family. They were slave owners, so as you might imagine, there was some tension there.

We toured the house and the adjacent museum. There were many interesting facts about Grant's presidency of which I was not aware.

The kids also earned another Junior Ranger badge before we left for our next destination, the Jefferson Westward Expansion Memorial, also known as the St. Louis Arch. We didn't have time to stop at Grant's Farm, which is owned by Anheuser Buche and includes a beer tasting at the end of the tour. Maybe next time...

The arch was spectacular. We've met some really great rangers at the national parks, who have been very helpful helping the kids earn their Junior Ranger badges, and have shared their knowledge of the parks and historical sites we have visited.

On the way to take the tram to the top of the arch there were some neat exhibits that commemorated the history of the Westward Expansion, and kept the kids occupied during a rather long wait.

The trams were pretty tiny...

but the view from the top was amazing...

When we came back down from the arch, we finished the Museum of Westward Expansion, but the courthouse was already closed, so we only got to see the outside.

 When we got back to the campground we went for dinner at Sawmill BBQ. All I can say about that is, "awesome brisket!"

Days 13 and 14: On the Road Again, Sort of...

I have plenty of pictures from the last few days, but I'm still working on getting them uploaded. The reason I haven't done much posting is that our time has been occupied by repairing the tent camper. When we were getting ready to leave Sioux Falls the tent wouldn't come down. Upon pulling apart the bench and step that cover the pully/crank assembly we discovered that the cable had jumped the spool and was caught in the gear. Cranking up the roof with the cable caught in the gear had frayed the cable badly so it would need to be replaced.

First we tried Spader's, the RV place immediately next to the KOA where we were staying. They wouldn't even look at it and referred us to another RV dealer about 12 miles away. NorthView Campers, Spader's directions didn't even get us properly there, did what they could to help. They didn't have any cable on had, but they shortened the cable a bit and put it back together.

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough cable to let the top come down all the way. We picked up a couple of ratchet straps to hold the top down and when we got close to our next destination we stopped at a Lowe's to get a piece of cable. Again, an unfortunate circumstance, as they did not have the correct type of ferrule. On our second attempt we got a working fix, but it was late, so we all spent the night in the RV.

Currently we are using some prudently placed 2x4 boards as a safety until we can reinforce the ferrule.

Even with fixing the camper we found some time to visit Truman's home. Truman was a unique president as modern presidents go. Born a farmer he kept a sign on his desk with which most people are familiar, "The Buck Stops Here." The part that is not is well know is that the back of the sign read, "I'm from Missouri," a reminder of where he was from and where he would return when his term ended. Unlike many other modern presidents the Truman's lived a relatively simple lifestyle. They were far from impoverished, as President Truman's wife Bess's grandfather, George Gates had made a small fortune milling flour. Of course, his presidency is also controversial for a few reasons, not the least of which is the use of the atomic bomb against the Japanese.

The Truman library has some excellent exhibits. If you are ever close to Independence, MO, I highly recommend a visit. The kids even got to make campaign buttons.

After walking all over Independence, MO, to see the sights we had worked up quite an appetite. We stopped at a place called Dave's Bakery & Deli. They had good sandwiches, but, although, the baked goods look delicious, we decided to pass and get back on the road.

Day 12: The Long Winter

Amanda insisted that we go to the Ingalls' Homestead today. After all we are only about 90 miles from De Smet... I told her that it better be awesome, and it was. The kids had a blast. We got some discounted tickets on Groupon which made it even better. One of the best parts was that they encouraged touching, climbing, and exploring. There were several demonstrations going on at the homestead. Right behind the visitor's center was a woman making soap with lye and lard.

There was also a merry-go-round and see-saw.

The tour was self guided. While Sophie was a little disappointed that it wasn't the original house, we saw a reproduction of a sod house and a prairie shanty.

The next structure was a reproduction of the hay roof barn that Pa built on the homestead. If you aren't familiar Laura Ingalls Wilder was an American author who wrote several memoirs about the life of her family as they traveled westward and settled in the Dakota territory. The TV show "Little House on the Prairie is based on her books.

We also got to see a reproduction of the house that Pa built for Ma.

I tried my hand at the lasso, but it didn't turn nearly as well as it looks like it might have...

One of the kids' favorite parts was riding the cart and pony...

Also, the covered wagon ride to the school house.

At the school house we got a lesson on how one room school houses functioned and saw first hand a variety of desks and school implements. Some were over 100 years old! Sophie, David, James, and, Michael all got to participate as characters in the schoolhouse story.

After a visit to the school house we came back to the farm and got to experiment with some of the equipment that pioneers used. The kids shucked corn and made corn cob "babies" and "super heroes," and used a rope twister to make their own rope from bailing twine.

We also visited West Bethany Lutheran Church, which had been moved to the Ingalls Homestead.

On the way home we stopped at a Dairy Queen for a late lunch. That was an entertaining experience. It looked like there was not a single employee in the place over the age of 14 and none of them were particularly interested in making food or serving customers. There was, however, no shortage of workplace drama while we waited for our meal. Almost an hour later we left for Sioux Falls and our campsite.