They opened a big box of small gifts that were all hints to our big surprise. There were blankets, new books, snacks for the trip, a keepsake ornament, and finally a map showing our route and when we were leaving. We got a mix of reactions from them. While I think they were excited, they were really nervous about leaving so quickly and being gone for so long. Ella all out did not want to go on vacation. Coe was panicked about being gone the duration of his Christmas vacation, and Chase literally said, "I need at least a good months warning for stuff like this". Oh, yes he gets that from his mama. Over planning and preparing for everything. From there, the list making began! We had two days to pack and get everything together.
Friday, December 28th we were up and on the road by 8:30am. (A half hour earlier than planned). Bonus!
Our first destination was East St. Louis to view the Arch from across the river. While Aaron & I have both been there; our kids had not. We weren't going to be able to get into it anyways because of the government shut down, so we decided on a place to get the best view & have a picnic lunch.
We found a great view at Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park.
It was super windy and cold along the river (of course), so we ran to the top of the look out, took a few photos, and then sat in the truck to eat our lunch that we had packed.
We then headed onto Marion, IL where we stayed for the night.
It wasn't until Aaron and I went to see Clint Eastwood's new movie (The Mule), that I realized I had booked our room in the same town as a State Prison. Oh well, we never even saw it nor did we have any problems there. It was a nice area and my main goal here was to drive thru Shawnee National Park the next morning as we headed out of Illinois.
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