Family Matters
June 17-June 23 fits more into family celebrations than roadtripping. And yes, the title is a double entendre. I arrive in Kirkwood, Missouri to spend some time in my sister and brother-in-law's beautiful garden before moving up through Illinois to the family homestead where we will be celebrating. My niece Sara graduated from high school and in short order she is off to college. Chaz and family will arrive and deliver my oldest granddaughter, Halyn who will be traveling with me over the next few weeks. She has some bucket list items she wants to cross off....an almost 11 year old with a bucket list!
Landing in Kirkwood is like landing in Mayberry in the middle of a big city. Suzi and I only have a day to go explore and we set out for Missouri wine country. First is picturesque Hermann, Missouri, and the roads leading to it from St. Louis (Highway 100 aka Route 66 in part), are dotted with a group of wineries collectively known as the Hermann Wine Trail. Stone Hill Winery in Hermann offers a great tour and full-service dining to its long line of award-winning wines. On a clear day, you can see across the whole town from Stone Hill Winery. Lunch is amazing. We pair our wine with some amazing Latkes. We leave stuffed even though we share our meal!
Rolling hills, fertile vineyards, and stretches of lazy river fill our afternoon. Small towns pop up along the way like wildflowers. We spend the afternoon driving roads in a Benz, but there are great spots to hop on the Katy Trail, the nation's longest leisurely bike path. The trail is scenic, safe, and gloriously flat. Find your own pace, and remember: The best part of this journey is stopping along the way. Stopping in New Haven is an unexpected delight and history lesson.
Along the river is a historical marker for John Colter who was a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition . Though party to one of the more famous expeditions in history, Colter is best remembered for explorations he made during the winter of 1807–1808, when he became the first known person of European descent to enter the region which later became Yellowstone National Park and to see the Teton Mountain Range. Colter spent months alone in the wilderness and is widely considered to be the first known mountain man. He came into disfavor with the Blackfeet tribe along the Missouri River here in what would become New Haven, Missouri and barely escaped with his life.
Seeing how swollen the river is here it really comes as no surprise that we can't get to Defiance, Missouri to check out wineries there. The roads into town are closed. And thanks to Suzi for getting most of the pics today. My battery is dead dead dead.
I am heading out a day earlier than Suzi and Matt. They are headed to a Cardinals game this evening.
I am driving back roads, so I intend to break up the drive stopping at a boondockers welcome site in Dunlap, Illinois not far from Peoria.
First i have to get across the Mississippi. Downtown Alton, Illinois is underwater. The Missouri, Illinois and Vermillion are all over flowing their banks.
I don't hit many road closures (except for downtown Alton) and sticking near the rivers allows for more hills and rock formations than flat Illinois cornfields. Traveling through tiny Norway, Illinois, I see a small, two-prop passenger plane, burrowed nose down into the ground, a partly smashed and gutted hulk. Don't bother looking for survivors. It's the Agricultural Crash Monument, "Dedicated to all farmers and Ag related business folks that have lived through the 'Agricultural Crash' of the 1980's"
Arriving "home" puts me into action with a lot of prep work for my nieces party. It's a success. Fun is certainly the order of the day and having my son and family is an extra treat. Any chance my grandkids can have with their great grandmother is a gift.
Halyn has packed way too much stuff! She is all set repacked into the van. She is ready to hit the road and after we clean up the party favors, we are off to our next adventure. Here's to making memories.
~Catherine
“Grandchildren are the dots that connect the lines from generation to generation.” – Lois Wyse