Epic Road Trip: Day #2, National Park #1

 

I warned you that the first few days would be less interesting. So far we've covered over 1,000 miles of interstate.

Yesterday we drove from Allentown to Dayton, OH, where we had a lovely dinner with grad school friends. Yelp found us a lovely restaurant near Fallingwater for lunch en route. Since I drove the first shift, I indulged in this delightful concoction with my meal. 

Rosé Colored Glasses

We had such a good time at dinner that we didn't get any pictures - not even of the cocktails! Dinner was delicious Peruvian food. 

We headed west again early this morning and after a bit of a mental tussle with time zones we realized we had time to stop in St. Louis for lunch with a friend and a walk along the Mississippi River. I've driven across the Mississippi five times and have no memory of actually seeing it. So this time I wanted to be sure. When we plugged all the info into WAZE we thought we'd run late - and then we realized that WAZE gives the arrival time without taking into account the change from EDT to CDT, so we had an extra hour. We consulted Yelp again and found a deli near Gateway National Park where I got to introduce David to one of my favorite crossword people and had the best chicken salad I've had a long time. No food photos there, either. 

I did take pictures of the river and the Gateway Arch! How could I not?

The great Mississippi

This doesn't give you a sense of the scale. We could see it from about ten miles away. It's HUGE.

This was an unexpected National Park stop. Since we didn't drive into the park, we didn't have to pay an entrance fee. We'll have to wait to buy our Senior Citizen Lifetime Passes. We planned to visit four National Parks on this trip; looks like it will be at least five!

We're headed to dinner (barbecue, natch, because Kansas City) with a ParentNet friend. Trips like this remind me how rich in friendships I am, and that's more precious that gold.