Day 28 was an early rising day in St. Louis. We left the hotel at 6:45 to make it to our appointed time at the Gateway Arch. After a few missed turns (the Miss River had flooded several downtown streets), we arrived at the Arch at 8. Four of us went to the top, Julie opted out of this one due to the very claustrophobic car to the top. Beautiful day for a view from the top. Great museum at the base and it was a perfect way to round out the trip as the focus was on Westward expansion, Lewis and Clark and Manifest Destiny. We left St. Louis just before noon with a change in plans for the trip home. We decided to skip Memphis and instead go East through Illinois, down through W. Kentucky and to Jackson Tennessee. I will explain why tomorrow. Pretty drive down and we stopped at Cape Girardeau, Ill for lunch at a Cajun Restaurant recommended on Trip Advisor. We now know why it was rated #1. Fantastic ambiance and great food. We traveled through Cairo, IL because I wanted to see the town, it has a lot of history as the it is at the convergence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Lets just say its glory days are way..way in the past. Probably the most depressed town we have seen. After passing through Martin, TN which is a nice little place, we made it to Jackson around 6pm. Looking forward to tomorrow and heading for Home.

Day 27 we left KC and headed across the Missouri River to Independence, MO and to the Presidential Library of Harry S Truman. This was a real treat. We ended up spending almost 3 hours there. The kids were more engaged than I anticipated. Well done place complete with a Harry Truman look alike that made me do a double take. After a quick stop at the Truman home we started across Missouri and I 70. Halfway across is Columbia, MO and the University of Missouri. We did a short tour of the campus. Looks a little like Auburn. We arrived in St. Louis around 7pm, watched a little TV and turned in for the night, we had an early departure.

Day 26. This was a simple travel day. 3 hour drive from Omaha down to Kansas City. This was our only downtown big city stop and we chose to stay at a hotel right next to Country Club Plaza, a well known outdoor shopping area in KC. Only problem, no oversized parking area. We found a place on the street two blocks downhill from the hotel. Quite a sight seeing all of us push a luggage cart up two city blocks and across a four lane highway. But we made it. Heading out on the town tonight. Now I am all caught up on the blog. And Griz did not think I would be able to follow through on this. Ha!