Day 2 - Terra Haute, IN to Willow Springs, MO

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Day 2

Woke up in our hotel room in Terra Haute, IN and started our Tuesday on the road. Heather headed to the hotel gym for a workout while I stayed with the kids and did some blogging. We got mostly packed up and headed for complimentary breakfast next to the indoor pool on the first floor of the hotel. Pretty good, the girls had oatmeal and the boys went for the heartier options (eggs, meat, potatoes, and they offered biscuits and gravy which were pretty good).

After breakfast, we did our final packing and set out for the great state of Missouri. Or at least that’s what I thought at the time! We actually ended up spending far more time in Illinois than I realized we would when I was laying the trip out on the map.

One of the things we love to do the most while we’re traveling is stop along the way and see random sights we didn’t plan on. To that end, our first stop of the day took us to Vandalia, IL which was the third capital city of Illinois. Also the place where Abraham Lincoln started his political career as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives. We wandered the grounds and toured the capital building, seeing the original House and Senate chambers as well as the offices of the treasurer and assessor. So much history on a 5 acre plot of land.

Our second stop took us to Monks Mound in Collinsville, IL. Monks Mound is part of the Cahokia Mounds historical site and in addition to being the largest pre-Columbian earthwork in the Americas, it’s the largest pyramid north of Mesoamerica. Back around the year 900, a large group called the Mississippian Culture built a civilization in the Mississippi River Valley that was roughly the size of modern-day London. Their crowning achievement was Monks Mound, which is an artificial pyramid they built up from the ground level to over 100 feet high using basket-carried river clay over approximately 200 years. When they were finished with the final expansion, they built a 100-foot long building on the top and a huge habitation around it.

After exploring the surrounding area in 95 degree heat and probably 100% humidity, we started our hike to the base of the ancient staircase to the top (okay, okay...the modern version of the ancient wooden staircase...the natives were NOT experts in metal safety railings or drainage systems but darn it...they built a pyramid and we didn’t. 😉

Diego did so great, he really did. He was very intimidated by the idea of climbing all the way up to the top, and he made a couple attempts at convincing us to just head back to the car and the air conditioning. Tempting as that was, we assured him that the three of us were determined to accomplish this and just as determined that he would accomplish the hike right along with us. After a break on a bench near the base of the mound, an agreement was reached. Diego would climb the mound as long as the Rocky theme was playing in the background to give him the motivation. It seemed a reasonable bargain and so we began our ascent.

Halfway up, it came to my attention that the boy might have been onto something. WOW! That second set of stairs was steep. Olivia and I were walking together and she made the decision that half the stairs meant double the pain for half as long, so she double-timed it up the rest of the way and was the first to the summit (and the kindly-placed bench at the top...the natives were known for their creature comforts and kindness to weary travelers). I reached the top next and waited/cheered for Heather and Diego marching onward and upward hand in hand (with the faint sound of French horns urging them along in the background).

We all made it to the top and gave Diego many fist-bumps and high-fives for his accomplishment. We then explored the top and took a bunch of pictures. As it turns out, the top of Monks Mound is the first place you can see the St Louis Arch if you’re a traveler coming in from the east, it was so cool to suddenly see the St Louis skyline when you couldn’t see it at all from the ground.

After some exploration we headed down to ground level and back to our trusty Ford Explorer for some much needed A/C and a comfortable seat. We pointed our chariot west towards St Louis, the first time any of us had been to Missouri before.

On arrival, everyone’s mind was on one thing...FOOD. We tried to go to a place near Busch Stadium called Paddy-O’s, but they were apparently closed for a private event. At that point I remembered that I had put together a small list of places that might be fun to visit while we were in particular cities, and found a restaurant called Charlie Gitto’s which was very close to the Arch. Headed over there and parked the car.

Charlie Gitto’s is a very cool place and it’s obviously a local legend. It’s one of those restaurants that has every surface covered with memorabilia and autographed pictures of many of the famous people who have dined there over the years.

We got a table for four and ordered a sampler platter (wings, fried mozzarella and “toasted ravioli” which St Louis is famous for). All delicious, especially the fried mozzarella. Our entrees were also delicious, Heather had a spinach salad, Olivia ordered shrimp scampi, I ordered cannelloni which I had never had before. Great, great food...if you’re ever in St Louis I would highly recommend it. We all agreed that their sauce was outstanding...I’d go there again and just get a bunch of appetizers and pasta.

After lunch, we walked over to the base of the Arch to take some pictures and just take it all in. We opted against going up to the top of the Arch and started thinking about our final push towards Willow Springs, MO and the home of George and Martha Lawler!

We had about a 3.5 hour final drive to Willow Springs, and about an hour into it I hit the wall (figuratively!) so we stopped for caffeine and snacks and Heather took over the driving. We had almost no traffic the entire day and it’s a very peaceful drive through the mountains on some long winding roads. We passed through towns like Rolla, Houston (not that one), Cabool and Licking!

We had been told that Dad and Martha’s place was off the grid. We had been told it was challenging to find. We were still surprised by just how true those statements are. We set the GPS with their address, and after about mile 184.5 of the 186 mile trip as we turned onto a dirt/gravel road into the woods the GPS announced that “you have arrived at your destination” and promptly turned itself off.

Olivia was somewhat concerned about this development in our journey. The next mile and a half was similar to going on an upside-down roller coaster with a person who doesn’t like heights. “Oh no...no, I don’t like it...where are we goi...OH NO...is that a...why are we...OH NO...”

Of course I had to mess with her a bit. We came to a one-lane concrete bridge over the creek (about six inches “over” the creek) and that was that. Hands over the eyes...let me know when it’s over. “Are we done get? Nope! How about now? Nope! Are we past the bridge yet? (The bridge was like 1000 feet behind us by now)...nope! She did catch on eventually.

Suddenly we rounded a bend and saw...a nicely mowed lawn and buildings, and a big garage and a familiar looking RV parked off to the side under an awning. We were there!!! Dad and Martha greeted us with big hugs and it’s been so nice to see them. We were greeted by our good friend Neal the Dog who came to visit us in Rochester a couple years ago with his mom and dad 😊 Such a good boy!

Dinner was absolutely delicious beef kielbasa with homemade potato salad. We wrapped the kielbasa in cabbage leaf which gave it a great crunch and flavor. Spicy brown mustard, of course! 😊 The next three hours absolutely flew by as we caught up and laughed and told stories. I was shocked when I saw that it was 10:30pm (11:30 from where we started our journey with the extra hour for Central time) so it wasn’t surprising that we were all feeling pretty tired at that point.

We filled up the air mattress for the kids and got Diego settled with a favorite bedtime story. Then Heather and I headed off to bed and we were both fast asleep within minutes.

Just a wonderful, perfect day 2. Saw the sights, took lots of pictures, accomplished a challenging goal, had two great meals and now we’re at our first major destination spending the next couple of days with family here in Willow Springs.

States visited - Indiana, Illinois, Missouri

First time - Illinois (Olivia and Diego) and Missouri (everyone)

Miles driven - 354
Total miles - 997

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