Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is just a fancy name for the St. Louis Arch. St. Louis was the starting point (kind-of) for the Lewis and Clark Expedition which charted the Missouri River, it’s headwaters, and on to the Pacific Ocean. We weren’t sure how the girls would do in the elevator to the top of the arch and we were sure that the mama was not going to enjoy the elevator trip to the top of the arch, so we skipped it in favor of exploring the museum at the base of the arch. The museum was great and we recommend it for any age group. There was enough to keep Julia (5) interested and Emily (7) found lots to read and learn about that interested her. One of Robby’s favorite historical topics is the expedition of Lewis and Clark, so for him sharing the story with Emily was a highlight. We enjoyed about an hour in the museum and around the arch before continuing on in our adventure.

This was the first bison sighting of the trip. Yes, it is stuffed. Julia was SO excited to see it up close. Finding it really set the tone for Julia on this trip. She had an excitement for each and every stop we made.

When traveling long distances in a car it is best to find a few stops for both education and stretching our legs. Our stop at Harry S. Truman’s home in Independence , MO was one of these stops. Truman was the 33rd president and hailed from the state of Missouri. We saw the small visitor center exhibits and movie about the home in town. It was where the future Mrs. Truman was born and raised and became the house the married couple lived in for their entire life. The historical perspective from the location we visited was about the home and how they used it. The “next” tour that we could join was a bit of a wait so we skipped it and moved on. The lasting effect of this stop is that the girls learned a bit more about the presidency, discovered that some houses have names (in this case the house was called ‘the little white house’), and can pick a photo of Truman out. We visited for a half of an hour.