This was the best drive back to Chicago I’ve ever had, because I had Molly with me! I also got to cross off three more national parks from my list.
We left after work on Tuesday and spent the night at a newly remodeled Motel 6 in Albuquerque. We thought it was a nice room and slept well. When we emerged from our room the next morning, there was blood and glass all over the sidewalk. Apparently some guy had gotten drunk and attacked his girlfriend in a room a few doors down from us. He’d broken windows downstairs, too. How did we manage to sleep through that???
We hiked a short trail at Petroglyph National Monument the next morning.
Molly’s mom treated us to a luxurious Hampton Inn in Joplin, MO that night.
We visited Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield in Missouri, and both of us felt stupid when we realized we didn’t know which side Missouri fought for in the Civil War. The ranger went into all this detail about the battle and neither of us wanted to admit that we didn’t even know the most basic facts about where we were. After a little Googling, we learned that Missouri was a border state and had troops fighting for both sides. They didn’t actually secede from the Union, but they still had slaves. Most of the fighting in Missouri was guerilla style, but 1700 people died in the battle of Wilson’s Creek. It was sobering to stand in that spot and imagine what it must have been like that day.
We also stopped at Jefferson Expansion National Monument in St. Louis. We weren’t interested in going up in the arch, and the museum was closed, but we really enjoyed exploring the beautiful old courthouse and learning about the Dred Scott decision. We didn’t linger too long, however, because we were so excited to get HOME!
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