Illinois Trip - July 2015

We arrived in Illinois on Thursday, July 2, after a trip that took about four hours longer than it should have due to rain and the accompanying accidents.  I spent Friday afternoon helping my mom with paperwork, trying to simplify things for her.   The rest of Friday, all day Saturday and Sunday after church were spent beginning the long process of helping mom get rid of junk.  I spent almost 4 whole days during this trip cleaning out one room.  I didn't even get the entire walk-in closet finished.  There are probably six more areas with a comparable amount of stuff that need to be cleaned out.  Maybe after Chase graduates next year, Carys and I will be able to go twice a year.  It was a very overwhelming process, so I won't go into more detail.

On Monday, July 6, Chase and I drove to Columbia, MO, to meet my friend Laura for lunch.  Laura and I have been online friends for at least 15 years, so it was great fun to meet in person.  We had a very long lunch and visit at a Mongolian grill called Hu Hot (I think).

Laura took this picture of Chase and me after lunch.  Chase so rarely allows herself to be photographed, so this is a very special picture to me!

On Tuesday, my high school friend Ethan met us at the Belleville Philharmonic to give Chase an introduction to the cello.  We had a fabulous time chatting and catching up, and Chase adored getting to play around with his cello.

On Wednesday, July 8, we all headed to Warrensburg, MO, to see Gerren.  On the way through St. Louis, we stopped at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery where my dad was buried last May (2014).  This was the first time Mom had been to the cemetery.  It was raining, and we got pretty wet but it was worth it.

Next we went over to The London Tea Room for lunch.  Chase has been asking to go there since 2010.  We finally made it, and it was seriously worth the wait!  The tea and pastries were delicious.  We will definitely be back.

I didn't take a single picture while we were with Gerren.  Right as we were driving into town his truck broke down.  So, we waited to get it towed then headed to the hotel to check in and back to the auto shop to get his stuff out of the truck.  We went on base and got visitor's passes then headed to a really good local Mexican restaurant for dinner.  Warrensburg, where our hotel was, is about 20 minutes from the base.  So we had to go pick Gerren up Thursday morning then go back to Warrensburg as there is really nothing to do on base or in Knob Noster.  We started back to my mom's after lunch that afternoon.

On Friday, we drove over to the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis.  I haven't been there in more than 20 years (pre kids).  Chase took some incredible pictures there, and I can't possibly include them all.  :)  Around 3:00pm, we left the garden and headed to the zoo.  Carys always begs to go to the zoo, but we've been there more than anywhere else.  We decided to just see a few animals.  It was crowded and hot, though.

Aren't Chase's pictures, gorgeous?

 

The Lantern Festival highlights the gardens every summer, but it costs $22 to visit at night when they are lit up.  We still got to see them during the day, and they were amazing.

 

I had to instruct Chase to take pictures with people in them!  :)

 

This is the gravesite of Henry Shaw, whose beautiful home was the beginning of these gardens.

 

See the girls on top of the gazebo?

 

Carys wants to pose everywhere. :)

 

The girls had a blast feeding the fish/ducks (you're supposed to feed the fish, but the ducks let very little food actually get to the fish).


 I actually took these pictures.

Love this one!

See what I mean about the posing?

They have a fabulous education center at the gardens which was a welcome relief from the heat.

And finally a few more of Chase's beautiful photographs.

After the zoo, we headed to The Hill for Italian food - the best in St. Louis.  We chose Zia's this time.  Greg and I ate there on our 20th anniversary.  We took the whole family to Cunetto's when we were in the area in 2012.  The food was fabulous, but when we got to the car Carys realized she'd left her lip bump (orthodontic appliance) on the table.  Fortunately, it was in a purple retainer case and couldn't be easily missed.  Chase went back for it, but they couldn't find it.  I had to go make a nuisance of myself.  Finally the manager checked the dish bins in the kitchen and found it.  By the time we got back to Belleville, I was so tired of driving that I was completely dreading the trip back to Florida on Monday.

On Saturday, the girls and I got together with my dear friend Pam at White Cottage for ice cream.  Then we headed to her house so Carys could swim in the pool.  She swam for awhile, but her main interest was the dogs.  She played and played with them, and then Scott brought out the pet rats.  Carys can't wait to go back.  I'm pretty sure Pam's house is better than the zoo. 

On Sunday after church we headed to my cousin Abbey's house for a family get together.  Abbey was so gracious to plan this when several of us out-of-towners were going to be in the area.  It was so great to get to see my extended family again.  We often go many years between visits as there are now so many of us living out of state.

I asked Chase to take pictures, but the only ones she took were of my cousin Jane's grandbaby, Gabby.

She was pretty sweet!  I loved holding her. :)

I love St. Louis.  I'd move here in a heartbeat.  There are so many great things to do, much of it free or very low cost.  Of course, I'd probably get tired of the winters pretty quickly. :)


We headed back to Florida on Monday morning, and I'm happy to say that the trip home was much easier.  We didn't get a drop of rain, so the only traffic we hit was Atlanta.  I think I'm going to find an alternate route to Illinois that avoids Atlanta before we go back! :)