If you have been reading my posts from the beginning you know I instituted a thing called a six-year-old adventure when my oldest child was six. He is about to turn 39. (For an old post about that first adventure click here.) He has twins that turned six in June and he planned an epic trip to see a few National Parks with all three of his kids. We are calling it the twins’ six-year-old adventure to the West. The first planned stop was the Gateway Arch (photo above) on the Mississippi in the city of St. Louis. I had seen it a few times before (so had my son), but never had taken the time to go into the underground museum or up on the tram to the top. Of course, the twins had no real idea of what they were to see and that is at least part of the point of a six-year-old adventure. Like most adventures things do not always go exactly to plan. While traveling through Kentucky, one of the kids said they had to go to the bathroom and as we pulled off the interstate, my son saw the sign for a national historic landmark. At the stoplight, he was able to check on his phone that it was still open; so we headed for The Buffalo Trace Distillery. My son took it as a sign that because his daughter had to “tinkle” that he should use the opportunity to visit one of his favorite brands. An unlikely stop for a six-year-old adventure, for sure, but one the twins seemed to appreciate. It was remarkably kid friendly, and it had an amazing playground where the kids could burn off a little energy after a long car ride. Thankfully, they had nice clean bathrooms too.
We stopped again after we made it to southwestern Illinois where we stayed the night. In the morning we crossed the mighty Mississippi into Missouri, and made our way to the first planned landmark. The kids could not imagine going inside and up to the top, and frankly were a little scared at the prospect; but they had a good time doing it. For a few photos of the first part of the adventure click here. As is always the case, I am trying to keep recognizable images of family members out of the public domain. I hope to get private photos uploaded soon for people who have membership privileges. Stay tuned for more pictures from the trip, and family members can expect that there will be many that include faces of people they know.