Road Trip 2015 Illinois-Missouri

We leave from Mt. Vernon, Illinois, which is east of St. Louis on I 64, travel through Eastern Illinois (St. Louis), and across Missouri to Independence.

This part of the United States is again flat with not even what we would consider a hill. Beautiful farm land and well kept farms.

This farm is outside of St. Louis.

Entering St. Louis, Missouri. We decided this was as close as we needed to get to see the Arch.

Crossing the Mississippi River in St. Louis on the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge. We were so interested in the unique bridge we forgot to look at the river.

Leaving the suburbs of St. Louis and about to cross the Missouri River.

Heading west on I-70. We will be in Independence in time to do some sightseeing.

We toured the Liberty Jail, and the LDS Visitors Center (which ironically is located across the street from the Community of Christ Temple). See our pictures of the jail at Road Trip 2015 Liberty Jail.

We also ate dinner at STROUD'S, a place famous for their fried chicken in a city known for their steaks and BBQ. They serve a huge amount of food family style. My meal came with mashed potatoes and gravy. When they brought out the food, the bowl of mashed potatoes was big enough for a family of five with gravy to match. Shirley and I both had green beans with our meals which was served in another large bowl (again more than either of us could eat). Can't complain about lots of good food!!!

Comments

Yellowstone Park is in Idaho?

I am an Idaho resident by birth and have lived in Idaho most of my life (spent about a year in Utah but am trying to forget about that - I was only 3 years old at the time and had no choice). I have always said and continue to say there is no National Park in Idaho. Oh sure! The map of Yellowstone Park shows a small portion along the Wyoming border as being in Idaho, but how many people know how to even get to this portion of the Park? If you look at the above map, there are no attractions at all listed in the Idaho part of the Park! There are no major roads from Idaho into the Park. Main Park entrances are from either Montana (3 entrances) or Wyoming (2 entrances) Any way, my wife Shirley and I have been taking our children and grand children to Yellowstone Park for forty years using one of the main Park entrances. This year three of our sons who live in Idaho talked us into going with them and their families into the Idaho part of Yellowstone. This is ho...

Road Trip 2015 Ohio Kirtland

Kirtland Ohio, was the headquarters of the Church of Latter Day Saints (later to change their name to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) from 1831 until early 1838. The first temple was completed in 1836. The Kirtland Temple is currently owned by the Community of Christ Church (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints). The Temple is open to the public. The Community of Christ Church conducts tours of the building, but does not allow pictures to be taken inside. Our tour was conducted by a Catholic tour guide who was very knowledgeable of the early church history and provided a spiritual tour of the Temple. The front doors of the temple are close to the street so we couldn't get a nice view of the Temple without the electrical wires. The Temple has three floors, the first floor was used as a meeting place for all members of the Church (much like a ward meeting house). The second floor is a...

Lake Creek Trail

Several years ago (probably more like 8 or 9) Shirley and I went camping with friends in the Lake Creek Campground, Salmon Challis National Forest, (about 60 miles from our home in Mackay, Idaho). Our friends went some where with their kids fishing, so we decided to check out the trail to the chain of Lake Creek lakes: Round Lake, Long Lake, Big Lake, Rough Lake, Golden Lake, etc.. Well we got up the trail about 6 miles or so and the trail being so rocky and rough and because we were both on one 4-Wheeler, we decided to turn back to camp. Also, no one knew where we were because we left after our friends had gone and we had been out several hours. We never got to any of the lakes, and always wondered what the rest of the trail was like and what the various lakes looked like. Well, a few weeks ago, we got to find out! Our son Dirk called and said that he and his family would like to go camping for the weekend. They wanted to camp at the Lake Cr...

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