Traveling

I won't write a full post, but wanted to check in. We are in St. Louis! That means the hard part is over, the long drive and all that. I don't want to do a blow by blow of what it was like, maybe just a few bullet points.

• Friday: I'd gotten only 4 or 5 hours of sleep the night before, so, yeah... Rocket Boy changed our car reservation at the last minute so we didn't have to go to the airport, we picked the car up in Boulder. I was going to take a Lyft but discovered that I can't use Lyft on my phone anymore (the service is gradually degrading and I have to buy a new phone, I learned on Wednesday too late to do anything about it before the trip). So our next door neighbor drove me to get the car, after I had a total flip out meltdown about everything (sigh). They upgraded us to a small SUV, a Dodge Journey which I liked very much -- it was about the size of my Forester, but with a lot more power. We finally left on our trip around 12:15 or so (I'd been hoping for 11). Got to Hays, Kansas, and our hotel around 6:15. I could barely stay awake the last hour or so. Hays, Kansas, is doing some stupid construction on their main street and for a while I didn't think we'd ever find the hotel (a Sleep Inn & Suites). On the plus side, there was a little pool and the beds were so comfortable, I slept like the dead.
• Saturday: We drove from Hays to Iola, where we stayed in a Super 8 (much less comfortable, but a nice pool). In between, we visited Hillsboro, Kansas (Mennonite Museum) and the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, which Teen A insists on calling the "Tallgrass" Prairie, using finger quotes, since the grass hasn't grown very high yet. Kansas was green but very dull. Again, I was close to dozing the last 100 miles or so.
• Sunday: We drove from Iola, Kansas, to Columbia, Missouri, stopping along the way at Fort Scott, near the border (very worthwhile, even the twins liked it). Due to various unfortunate circumstances, we didn't meet Rocket Boy at the Columbia airport until almost 5 pm, but I managed to turn in the rental car there. Then he took over. We took the long way back to St. Louis, through the Missouri Rhineland area, which was lovely, but it was just too late in the day and we were so tired. Ate dinner around 8 pm at a Bob Evans that was about to close -- I had a pot roast sandwich, much of which I threw up later, but that's par for the course with me these days. We finally got to his apartment (half of the top floor of an old house in the Dutchtown area), climbed up the tall, steep flight of stairs, and collapsed.
  

So we're here! I have some Words of Wisdom from the trip, Lessons Learned or whatever. 

1. I can't drive long distances like I used to. I think 200 miles a day should be my limit. We drove 300 or more each day, and after 200 I got sleepy, despite repeated doses of caffeine and chocolate. Very scary.
2. I've got to get a new phone. The fact that the twins now have phones saved us several times.
   
3. I'm really glad I did it. In a few years the twins won't put up with this anymore. 
4. Suites are worth the extra money. Rocket Boy and I can share a bed, but each twin needs his own bed. Teen B and I shared the 2nd night, and it was bad.
5. Two special stops each day are about all the twins can handle. RB and I could probably manage six or more, because we like to look at everything, but not the twins. And you've got to try to make everyone happy.
6. Even though it's tempting to live on weird snacks from Travel Stations (Funyons, Monster drinks, Skor candy bars), you should try to eat some actual food every day. Like on Saturday we had lunch at Subway -- that was good. The rest of the time, hmm.
   
7. Nobody in Kansas wears a mask (in Missouri, it's mixed), but people were nice everywhere we went. This whole liberal/Trumper war is such nonsense.
   

So now we're in St. Louis and it's warm and humid, but it could be worse. Today, after laundry, we did two activities: visited the Cahokia Mounds and took a tour, and then, after a late lunch/dinner at Denny's (practically the only thing open), drove to the old Chain of Rocks bridge and walked partway across it (RB walked all the way across and back, but the twins and I were tired). Came home around 7 pm or so, and then RB and I went to the grocery store to get cereal and fruit and milk and ice cream, etc. It was very romantic -- we held hands. Tomorrow I think we're going to go to the City Museum, because the weather's going to get rainy soon, and we want to experience the rooftop display that we missed when we were here in November 2019.

I'm typing this in the little room beyond the kitchen that you can see through the doors in the photo above. I'm listening to gunshots -- this is kind of a transitional neighborhood and RB lives right next to an old high school with a big empty field. It seems to attract an undesirable element. During the day, though, it's quite charming.

I'll try to post again next weekend, but it might have to wait until we're back home. Anyway, we survived the journey and now I think we're going to have a pleasant week with Rocket Boy. I'm glad I made this happen.