Missouri

Missouri
Our final stop on the trip was the St. Louis Arch in Missouri. Although we were on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, we had a great view.
 The Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park is on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River from the Arch. It provides an excellent view of the St. Louis skyline. The park has a 43 foot tall concrete viewing platform with ramps to the top that were easy to climb. The viewing platform is free, as is park admission.

The park also has a geyser fountain which is the tallest man made freshwater fountain in the world. Known as the Gateway Geyser, the fountain runs from April through October and fires a fountain of water as tall as the Arch itself four times a day.

The park is named after Malcolm Martin, who was a St. Louis lawyer and philanthropist with a dream of building a companion park on the Illinois side so people could properly view the Arch.

Martin organized the Gateway Center of Metropolitan St. Louis in 1987 to raise funds and build the Illinois park. The park became his life's work, and he used some of his own money to purchase land. He died in 2004, before the platform was completed, but his final gift of $5 million dollars saw the project completed. A statue of Martin sits on the top of the platform, gazing fondly at the view he wanted everyone else to have.

Oklahoma

 Oklahoma
On Thursday, July 5th, we took a 30 minute drive to Oklahoma (just to add another notch to Leah's travel belt). We ate dinner at a little restaurant in Ponca City.

While taking these pictures, we did see a dead armadillo in the road, so at least Josh was excited...

Kansas

 Kansas
We finally arrived in Kansas on Monday, July 1. Our trip was to visit Josh's mom, Susan, and her husband, Tom. They live in South Haven, which is about an hour

 south of Wichita, close to the Oklahoma border. These first two pictures are of a cow pasture that we could see from their front porch! (It was a little too hot for Leah's liking).

 The next pictures are from Susan and Tom's property. They have about 25 acres. There are 3 horses (Stormy, Murphy, and Paint). They have chickens guineas, 3 dogs (Trixie, Tori, and Ringo) and cats!

We spent 4 days there in the VERY hot temperatures. Mommy and Daddy even won some cash at the casino in Mulvane.

 On Tuesday we went to Botanica in Wichita where Leah got to spend some time in the Downing Children's Garden.

Petting Mimi's horse, Paint.

Iowa

 Iowa
Our next stop was completely unplanned. We happened to be driving through Iowa and saw a sign for the Madison County Bridges.

 We decided to go check it out and we came across Imes Bridge. The Imes Bridge is a wooden covered bridge in Madison County, Iowa. Built in 1870, it was originally located over the Middle River. 

In 1887 it was moved to a spot over Clinton Creek, and in 1977 was moved again to its present site. It is 81 feet (25 m) long and is the oldest of the remaining covered bridges in Madison County. It was renovated in 1997 for a cost of $31,807.

Illinois

 Illinois
We began our trip in Milan, Illinois. Here we stayed with the lovely Griswold family, a favorite hangout! During the trip, we drove down to Rock Island where Leah got to see the Mississippi River. Of course, we picked the hottest week in the summer of 2012 to travel, so she wasn't very happy, and a little uncooperative! 
 

She had a great time with her friend, Owen. They swam in the pool, chased each other in the huge garage, and sat together to watch cartoons!

 Hanging out with Owen!

 At a water play area along the Mississippi River.

Let the trip begin!!

On June 29th, we left for a fun filled trip out west. We left Ohio at 4:00 am and began our trip to Milan, Illinois to visit friends. After Illinois, we made a pit stop in Madison County, Iowa to visit the bridges of Madison County. Finally we made it to Kansas to visit Leah's grandma, Mimi Susan. While there, we drove to Oklahoma and on the way home, we stopped by St. Louis to visit the St. Louis Arch. The following entries and pictures are from our trip. Leah officially went through 6 states!!