Stop #5: Cuivre River S.P.

After a long aggrivating ride from Nashville, TN. to Missouri, we made it to Cuivre River State Park and lucked into a campsite available with full hook-ups. The camping loop was a bit different but we loved how it was open in the middle for all the kids to play together.  The boys quickly piled out of the truck and met some new friends. Wesley decided to go off on a bike ride alone to the ranger station which resulted in swift punishment. We sat around the fire talking with our nice neighbors about kids, education and such. It is so cool how easily you find down-to-earth people in the camp grounds. We let the kids play way too late but it had been a long day in the truck and they needed to unwind. Manhunt in the dark with flashlights seemed to be the game of choice.

 Saturday morning we headed back into St. Louis to see the arch. What a huge structure, towering above at 630 ft high. The tour schedule called for a tram to the top every 10 minutes but it took us about an hour and a half of line waiting before it was our turn. Underground was a museum which recorded Lewis and Clark's expedition. What an amazing journey they had. (kind of like ours) We tried to read the timeline from 1803-1805 and look at all the cool exhibits but by this time, the little ones were a bit unruly. Finally, our tour time came. All 6 of us climbed inside the tiny white capsule and watched the doors close. Definitely not a place to go if you are claustrophobic. We watched the doors close and Jason timed the ride up which took approximately 4 minutes to reach the small observation hallway. The view was really cool. On one side was the Mighty Mississippi and the other, downtown St. Louis. People crowded around the small oblong windows to get a view of the tiny cars and people below. Nathan was a little bothered by the height and tight space so we climbed into the little tram for the decent. The ride back down took only 3 minutes.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat on the riverfront and then boarded the Tom Sawyer Riverboat for an hour long tour. There was so much history to learn about on the Mississippi River but the boys weren't interested in listening to the captain speak so they headed to the air-conditioned dining room for a game of paper football.













Our last night in Cuivre River S.P. was Saturday June 9, 2012. The kids had water gun wars, played Frisbee and tag until dark. We had another fire and toasted some marshmallows. No campfire is complete without smores! We decided to pack up everything we could that night so the departure on Sunday morning would be quick. We had a long day of travel ahead of us.