USA

St. Louis Union Station
The next day we went to check out St. Louis Union Station. Here it is.

Inside they have one of those neat whispering things were you whisper and people can hear you on the other side of the room.

Very pretty interior.

The station also has a portal to the Magical World. Here are J and I exhibiting our Muggleness. We couldn't get through.

Outside the station there were a lot of fish.

The Arch
After lunch, we drove around in search of the arch. We were a little lost for a while, but then I found it.

See, here it is!

J and I were so excited, we did a dance.

Here are a series of photographs.

Once inside the arch, we had to wait our turn to go up, so like good tourists, we went to the gift shop. J and I tried on cool hats.

Finally it was our turn! They put us in a small pod, and up we went!

Here are some of the views from the top.

The Trip Home
On the way home, we got hungry for dinner, so we stopped at Arby's. This was probably the most exciting part of the trip for me, because I love Arby's, and look at the special they were having. I was too, too excited.

And thus ends the trip. So, finally, I am ready for some second semester stuff. I'm only 3 months behind, so, it could be worse. But I need to hurry because I'll be home in six weeks! Hard to believe this year has gone so fast!! Well, anyway, I should go, because I still need to churn out 1000 more words for a paper due tomorrow. So, adios!

This entry is mainly for the benefit of my friends and whatever Aussie family members may occasionally tune in, as my immediate family was with me on this exciting road trip to St. Louis! So get excited everyone! You're about to get a behind-the-scenes insider's peak of just what a Rarick Family Road Trip entails!

The Drive

Our Car's Odometer. This picture was actually taken about a week prior to the road trip, but I'm including it because it's pretty nifty.

Here we are in the car.

The Mid-Trip Stop: Paducah, Kentucky.
Along the way, we stopped to have lunch in and walk around Paducah.

They had some pretty pictures.

Here's the main street.

The Tennessee River.

A fish organ Jonathan found. It was exciting.

Then there was a big train, so we went to look at that.

J and I being emo-myspace (he taught me that term) outside the place we had lunch.

J ordered a hot dog and received this. We were confused. I also like the hole in the wall. A high class place, for sure.

The Drive Continued: St. Louis
Here it is!

The Hotel
After checking into our hotel, one of the first things we had to do was check out the exercise room.

Jonathan has massive skills.

But our mom needs more practice.

Six Flags

The next day, we went to Six Flags over St. Louis. The day started out very nicely.

But then it rained. And lots of rides were closed. Luckily, the log ride remained open, so off we went!

The Tony Hawk ride was also open.

As was my mom's favorite.

Unfortunately it rained a lot and we all got really wet. But before we left, we thought we ought to get a group shot of the four of us. But instead of asking someone to take it for us like normal people, we thought we'd try myspace style. Here are the results.

To be continued...

Well, I've decided on 8 pairs that I think I can do without in Australia. This still leaves me with 12 that I really want to bring. I fear that this might be problematic.

However, I have already preformed a packing miracle by fitting all of the clothing I'll need into a single suitcase (thanks largely to the wonders of the Space Bag), so we'll see what I can do...

The fun will be beginning very soon, and I want to keep you all updated on what I'm doing. Click "Subscribe" (over on your right), to receive an email every time I update my travel journal. That way, you won't miss a thing!