Psalm 104:3-4 
He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire.

When I first saw that we’d be driving through St. Louis, I thought nothing of it. 
When I realized we’d be arriving there early in the day, I thought nothing of it.
I figured we might look around the place, but really, we’d press on to our destination for the night – Kansas City, MO.  I’d very, very briefly priced going into the Arch, or cruising the Mississippi back in February and quickly ruled it out.

Now – I’m pretty fascinated by bodies of water.  I don’t know why this started, but it’s pretty recent.  It likely took seed when we started visiting the Ocean in 2008, but I think the joy of cruising really breathed more life into it.  So – when I saw that we had nothing to do in/around Wisconsin on our way home I looked into Mississippi River cruises as the beginning of the river way up north there.  The problem is nothing lined up with the days and times we were going to be in Wisconsin.  I tried to locate parks where I might be able to touch the river, but even with Google Earth I wasn’t feeling successful.

Then Thursday night, before we left home, I decided to look into Mississippi River activities in St. Louis.  I don’t know if the prices were lower, or I wasn’t feeling as broke as my post-Christmas looking, but I decided if the weather was decent Saturday, maybe we’d consider it. 

As we left home, Friday night, I called the tourist phone line to assess departure times.  If our traveling didn’t hit any snags overnight, we’d be able to pull it off.  We didn’t tell the kids about it in case it didn’t work out.

We made GREAT time… even with our lengthy Bob Evans feast.  (It helped that we gained an hour super early.)  As we drove into St. Louis, we had to work to naviate some heavy reconstruction in the down town area, but we finally found parking, and secured tickets to the 10:30 A.M. riverboat ride with 8 minutes to spare.  It started raining lightly as John was in the courthouse buying tickets. 

As we approached the landing I was gloriously surprised to see a gangway from the pier settled right on the land… the SHORE of the RIVER was right there at my feet.  AND – I bent right down and touched the Mississippi River.  I was so afraid of being late that I didn’t stop for a photo. 

We made it in time to board the Tom Sawyer riverboat.  Becky Thatcher floated nearby. 

As we got off the landing, Stewart, Nigel, Marie, Tab, and even Katriel stuck their hands in, too.

As Daddy and Johanna came down a few minutes later, they went for a cheese foot-slap in the water.  (It was pretty brown.)

Now this is a cool story.  As we ascended the steps, the skies were somewhat clearer than they’d been on the way down.  I lingered behind the rest of my family with the camera to grab a few more photos.  As I was just to the top, a man who had been taking photos of the woman he was with asked if I would take a photo of them together.  I said sure and as he joined her I took a few shots.  Then, he got down on one knee and PROPOSED.  I shot pictures as quickly as his camera would allow me to!  I really hope they turn out well.

Next up – Inside the Gateway Arch.

Psalm 139:9-10
If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

As we’ve been planning this trip over the last three-to-four months, we’ve received a wide variety of reactions from people.  Some gape, some beam, some smirk, and others look incredulous.  And that is just within our own home. 

So – yes… we are heading out to the open highway with the goal of visiting friends in Oregon.  We will traverse 16 states along the way.  God-willing we will see odd rock formations, (both naturally occurring and sculpted); climb mountains; span badlands (what makes them bad?); and dip our feet in the Pacific Ocean.

We intend to sleep in 7 hotels, a vacation rental, and our friends’ home. 

We intend to avoid fast food as much as possible.

We intend to watch as many movies and utilize as much technology as our van’s battery can handle.

And we will likely visit more gas station bathrooms than I care to think about.

Please join us in prayers for traveling mercies.

Psalm 121:8