In for the night

After dinner at Applebees (no Turner, I did not have a hamburg and fries - FYI, last night I had a chef salad and tonight I had chicken tenders and mashed potatoes), we are now in for the night.  We are staying in Sullivan, MO.  Tomorrow we are going to Bourbon, MO to an old malt shoppe and I am not sure what else we are doing.  It has been a great adventure so far!

Meramec Caverns pictures

Here are the pictures.  It was really neat!

Meramec Caverns

Just left Meramec Caverns and all I can say is WOW!  I really enjoyed that.  I will be posting LOTS of pictures this evening after we get to our room.

OMG!!!!!! Gateway Arch!

I just got out of the Gateway Arch.  It was great BUT I am claustrophobic and my first clue should have been the "ticket" they gave me with the seat assignment in the "Tram Capsule".  If you have ever been up in the Arch, you know what "capsule" means.  I thought being in the 48 Ford was tight.  This is truly a capsule!!!!! with 5 people and no air.  I did not know if I was going to be able to handle it but I had no choice once the doors closed.  The roof of the capsule was touching my head and we were in a half circle.  I can't even begin to describe this!  Once up to the top, it was ok.  I was anxious about getting back down though.  Then they had a "capsule" available for 3 people and Gary went to another one. Of course, the other two people in our capsule had to weigh at least 300#.  Talk about tight fit!  Anyway, I am still recovering.  Here are some pictures:

Do I look scared?

At the Arch

We are at the Arch but not able to go in yet.  The truck overheated again!  This time Gary is fixing it once and for all.  See pictures of where he just happened to stop!

There are homeless people living here and many came over to see what we were doing.

90 miles to the Gateway Arch

After spending about an hour trying to find places on Route 66, we decided to get back on I-55 and head for St. Louis.  I have discovered that Route 66 is not the easiest to find nor stay on as it isn't well marked.  Here and there they have "Historical Route 66" signs but they are very hard to follow.  For today anyway, we are going to the Arch in St. Louis and check out some caverns and/or caves.

Pictures from yesterday

Sometimes I can even surprise myself.  I was able to get the pictures transferred from my camera to the Ipad!!!

Breakfast before being "On The Road Again"

Off to breakfast at the Ramada Inn.  To avoid the overheating problem with the truck, Gary is pulling the thermostat and filling the radiator with antifreeze.  Guess that will work?!?

In for the night

We stopped in Dwight at an old gas station (no longer in service) but had old gas pumps and other memorabilia.  I took pictures but am not able to get them from the camera to my Ipad.  The card in the camera is larger than my adapter. I will take pictures with my Ipad or Iphone from now on.

We are in Bloomington, IL for the night.  We drove a little on Route 66 but most of the time travelled on the interstates.

The truck got hot again when we were going through some smaller towns but overall it wasn't too bad of a ride, (so far:).

Tomorrow we will be going in the arch in St Louis, MO.

No rackin pinion steering!

I tried to take a nap but it is almost impossible.  Gary told me to pretend I was on an airplane.  After being unable to sleep, I told Gary that it was because were were all over the highway and bouncing around.  The reason is we do not have rackin pinion steering!  He then told me to think of it as turbulence!

 Ate here in Joliet, IL.  Just leaving on our way to St. Louis, MO; although I am sure we will have a few stops along the way.

Met up with the Blues Brothers in Joliet, IL.

Truck gets a little too hot

Going around Chicago, it was stop and go.  Of course an electric fan cooled radiator doesn't like this type of traffic.  The temperature gauge was all the way to the right.  AND of course Gary wouldn't stop to let it cool off because if you could just go, the air would cool it!  So, off we went weaving through traffic leaving Vicki & Grant in the dust.  Once it cooled down then we slowed down and they caught up.         No damage done other than to my nerves!

Indiana

In Indiana.

Breakfast stop

Stopped for breakfast at Bob Evans in Muskegon. I will get better pictures of us in the vehicles at the next stop.

On our way

On our way!!!  First snafu - the batteries are dead in our keypad to lock the door.  Gary was ready to just leave our house unlocked for 2 weeks!!!   Of course we couldn't find a key for any of the doors in our basket of keys so now we will have to break into our house when we get home :(

Packing the truck

Friday night - packing the truck.  This is where we are putting our luggage.  The suitcase in there is mine!  I am not sure where Gary is going to put his.  If he didn't feel the need for a tool box, he probably would have room!   He already has changed from a suitcase to a duffel bag because there wasn't room for his stuff :) and I still don't know if his stuff will fit.