Xtreme Tour Days 10 & 11

Yet again I am late...WAY late in updating our trip. We concluded our great journey over a week ago, but memories are still very fresh...so here's the wrap-up:

We took our "suite" time getting up on the 10th day of our trip. Our goal was to visit the St. Louis Arch...located in the Thomas Jefferson Westward Expansion Memorial site. The museum, with theaters, is located under the Arch. We made our way from the hotel to the Arch...a pretty good walk considering how HOT it was. Once there I waited in a bit of a line, but we nabbed tickets for a show on Lewis & Clark, and a tram ride up the Arch. Getting to the top is a unique experience with visitors shuttled up in egg-like, claustrophobic contraptions that take about 4 minutes to rise to the top. Once there the view is amazing, but the area a wee-bit tight. They let you stay as long as you want, but there's not a lot to see - especially with the small windows - but well-worth the visit. We left, and soon headed north to Normal.

The drive went well, and after finding our hotel we made our way to the "Corn Crib" to check out the Cornbelter's - an Independent team in their first year. Can't say I liked the stadium that much - pulled back from the field, and the scoreboard was pushed back as well. The foul territories were HUGE thanks to this. I made arrangements for Sam to shadow a reporter, who was in an unused, but air conditioned suite...THANK GOD! It was totally hot, humid and zero wind...by far the worst weather at any game we experienced. The funny thing was the Cornbelter's were playing the Evansville Otters...and so we made our way to their broadcast booth were we found Mike once again...this time sweating it up since no air was in the press boxes (???). After that Sam settled in with the reporter, Randy, and followed what turned out to be a great game by the Cornbelter's pitcher. Here's a guy who had a woeful 0-2, 8.5+ ERA but goes seven NO-HIT innings. He comes out for a reliever who takes the no-hit into the 9th. Sam is going CRAZY at this point, but alas the Otters' first batter slaps a single. Fantastic way to finish the last game tho. When we got back to the hotel, we found out the pool was closed, but he gates were open and the lights underwater on. Hence "Operation Cool Pool" began as we snuck in for a good hour + swim while no staff noticed...NICE!

The final day of our trip was spent at a children's museum in Normal. Not sure what to expect, we actually spent a good 3 hours at that place while Sam interacted with other kids, climbed stuff and splashed around in the water exhibit. More good times :) From here we hit the road for home, but not before an unplanned detour for gas north of Normal where a monument to the old Route 66 was erected next to the station. This monument consists of several hundred feet of the actual roadbed of the 66, with signs alongside guiding visitors to significant places on the road in that town. REALLY COOL!

Then it was finally off for home. As I pulled into our driveway I noticed that we covered 2700 miles in our 11-day jaunt - an amazing trip that Sam called his best ever. I have to say the Lord was VERY good to us throughout...and we both thank HIM for bringing us through safely...with a HUGE pile of memories to cherish always!

Xtreme Tour Days 7, 8 & 9

Ooookay, I guess I'm not keeping up so well. Let's see, last time I checked in we had arrived in OK City. That day we visted the site of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995...where 168 perished in a terrorism attack. At the time it was the worst attack on US soil...eclipsed by 9-11. There was a monument where the building fell, and an incredibly moving museum across from it. This was an amazing display vividly capturing this sad episode and focussing squarely on the people who were victimized by this act of cowardace. I was especially pleased to have Sam experience this since he had no idea it had happened.



From there we drove our longest stretch of 5+ hours to Kansas City, MO. There was a spectacular vista as we drove thru Kansas called the Flint Hills. This looked like a scene from Dances with Wolves...just stunning landscape. Well we needed to go straight to the game, and thankfully we made it in time. BEAUTIFUL STADIUM! Probably the best I've ever been to. Just something about it made it feel really comfortable. A CRAZY MASSIVE scoreboard didn't hurt either! I mean this thing had to be at least 10 stories tall...just colossal! The game went well...KC won on an 8th inning homer - and then we went to our hotel. This took FOREVER though horrible traffic, and then a hotel which was booked with a bunch of party rats. Anyways we did enjoy the pool, then retired for the night.



We woke up on our 8th day by visiting what is called the College Basketball Experience (CBE) which was in downtown KC. I had NO idea this existed, and big kudos to Sam for finding it in a guide. Simply put, this place ROCKED! Talk about interactive-overload! This place was decked out with a working basketball court, and many other areas to test your shooting, free throws...whatever! There was small part for a hall of fame, which was also well-done. Sam was able to get a pick up game with some other kids, and came away stating that this was his favorite part of the trip. Nearly 5 hours at this place testified mightily to his feelings.



After just about dragging Sam out of there, we headed off to Springfield, MO for a minor league game. We arrived (after being bombarded by Branson billboards and "Fantastic Caverns" ads), and made our way to the stadium. Very new and very nice field...home of the Cardinals AA squad. Sam as usual took a walk around and made fast friends by the lawn area. I just enjoyed the game, which the Cardinals won. Back to the hotel for some more swimming and sleep.



I planned to awake on Day 9 by going to Fantastic Caverns. However I felt suspicious about an attraction I never heard of, and one that was being blitzed in every ad around us (seriously). I took a look online on reviews, and sure enough they were lukewarm at best. Apparently it also cost $20+ each. No thanks. I convinced Sam to visit a Civil War site...and so we did. It's called Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, and we were both impressed. We took a leisurely drive thru the site (for $5!), and met with some National Park folks at an old house regarding the history of the place. Good stuff. We stopped several times to get out and view the battlefield. We topped it off with a very well-done movie at their visitor's center. Oh yeah, we were DRENCHED after all the stops...it had to be near 100 degrees. The theater was a Godsend, and we were then off to St. Louis.



The journey to St. Louie went well...but getting to the hotel was a bit tricky, and I did myself no favors by losing the camera...in the car. We needed to get to the stadium by 6pm so Sam could get a tour of the press area. Well thanks to the camera issue, we ended up just about running 6 blocks from our hotel to the game. We did make it up to the press area (wasn't easy), and our guide Melody escorted us through the press area and broadcast booths. GREAT experience for Sam once again. We exited into the snazzy club area, where we found some seats and stayed put. Another new and gorgeous stadium with the rabid fans to go along with it. When the game concluded we made our way back to the hotel, where we found out we had a suite. SWEET!