We took the scenic drive home because it was longer (at least that's what the kids thought). We stopped in Nauvoo, Illinois our first night to finish seeing the sights that we missed the first time. On the way there, however, Clint and I both missed the sign for our freeway change, and we ended up with a three hour detour through country roads of farm land in Iowa. Nicole asked why it was taking so long (she was timing us). Clint told her we were driving the "pretty way." Nicole replied, "The pretty way to see what? Corn?!"
We drove through and by so many cities of friends and family, but lacked the time to stop and meet anyone. We really could have used an extra four or five days. Anyway, it was our first time through eastern Missouri (except for Clint, who interviewed in St. Louis for medical school). We stopped at the Gateway Arch for a picture.
Poor Clint was still in his nice clothes, and had to walk around in 100 degrees and high humidity.
I could not believe how big the arch was! Under the ground of the arch, and after passing through airport-style security, we toured the arch museum (which was really more of a Native American shrine than a historical museum). They had this display to compare the size of the arch to other famous U.S. landmarks.
On our way back to the car, we walked through what is probably a scary parking garage after dark. A lady was yelling at her cell phone at the top of the entrance to the stairs. I just knew she was going to ask us for money. She was bawling and said she needed $6 for bus fare to get home because she left her purse in the back of her husband's car, and he was now on the other side of town. Sob, sob. Clint and I both agreed that she was either telling the truth, or she was the best scam artist we've ever seen. I'm still not sure, but Clint gave her $6 just in case. As I was trying to hurry the kids away from her, Grant yelled from the bottom of the stair case, "My name's Grant! What's your name?" She yelled her name back down to him. Then he yelled (as we were further from the stairs and closer to the car, "It's nice to meet you! Will we see you again?" At this point I finally got him to stop yelling and get in the car. He had a hard time understanding why we can't correspond with his new friend. Kids are the sweetest, aren't they?
After that, we didn't have many more stops, except for food, gas and hotels. We drove ALL the way across Arkansas, which was surprisingly beautiful. And then we drove ALL the way across Texas. The kids couldn't believe that we could drive all day long and still be in Texas. We loved eastern Texas (minus the humidity - yuck!), but the scenery diminished a bit once we passed Dallas. Oh, by the way, El Paso (I was so curious about it) easily passes as the most ghetto town in the U.S. Glad we didn't have to stop there! The kids were fascinated by the Rio Grande, the fence, and the hill on the other side. *shiver*
Everyone was happy to see the Arizona state sign. We took a less traveled highway to Mesa and passed the new Gila Valley temple. You can't tell really in this picture, but the stone isn't the typical bright white -- it's more of a tan. It was a stunning building!
In all, our scenic route added an extra 700 miles to our trip, but it was a beautiful drive. We stopped for a family dinner at Shari's place on our way into town and were overwhelmed at the welcome we received. We even got a bonus by seeing Papa! When we pulled into our own driveway, it was very late. We had the sweetest surprise waiting for us, which made the whole homecoming so special: a newly cleaned house and a fridge and pantry full of groceries. Our dear family takes such good care of us!
And after all of that wandering, we couldn't be happier anywhere else than our home in Arizona!
