The Great 2013 Vacation: Father's Day

Father's Day, June 16th, dawned bright and sunny.  We showered and dressed in our church clothes and broke camp (the boys and I looked pretty funny breaking down the tent in white shirts and ties and Jennifer in a dress--we got a couple of good stares from other campers in the vicinity).  To my chagrin, I found besides missing my church shoes due to lack of room in the trunk, I had also forgotten to pack my belt (I feel incomplete without a belt).  Oh, well, grumble about it for a moment and move on.  Jennifer asked me if I wanted to open my Father's Day gift then or later.  I decided on later.  The plan was to attend Sacrament meeting in the Joplin 1st Ward at 9:00 and then get back on the road; another 628 miles awaited us, our destination this day was the KOA in Brookville, Ohio just west of Dayton.

We reached the building in plenty of time and were able to get settled.  Several wards members were former Californians who knew where we lived with the right amount of coaxing--one brother knew it immediately.  The church building was brand new (it had been almost completely destroyed by the tornado that tore through town 2 years before) and it still had that "new church building smell." :)  The talks were good, the spirit was strong and I got a small loaf of white bread as I walked out of the chapel.  We changed clothes in the bathroom (our church clothes had to last the entire trip) and piled into the car to continue on our way.  We had left the I-40 after Oklahoma City and were now traveling along Interstate 44.  One of the things I found interesting as we traveled through the southeast portion of Missouri was the lack of mention of Route 66.  All along the 40, Route 66 found its way into so many things (motels, businesses, Indian casinos), but after we left the 40 all those references disappeared.  The other thing I noticed was the amount of churches (big churches) along the interstate.  Maybe I was more aware of it because it was Sunday, but I found myself making note of them as we passed.

In keeping with our temple scavenger hunt, we made a stop at the St. Louis, Missouri temple.  We were again surprised to find the gate open.  There was a building off to the side.  At first I thought it was a visitor's center (which would explain the gate being open), but the building turned out to be a distribution center.  I do recall seeing what looked like a maintenance truck, but it may have been parked there since the day before (unless there was an emergency, I didn't see someone working on a Sunday).  As far as I can tell, we were blessed again to be able to walk the grounds and take our pictures.  We all liked the look of this temple very much.  Ben liked the design on the doors; Isaac liked the fountain that looked as though it came out of the sidewalk.

Full view of the front of the St. Louis, Missouri Temple.

Ben and Isaac in front of the fountain (you can partially see how the fountain comes out of a plastic "grate" in the sidewalk)

Touching the St. Louis temple just before I am given my Father's Day gift--notice how we've stayed in the shade the last two times? ;)

It was here that I received my Father's Day gift.  First I was given cards from both the boys and Jennifer and then I got to open my present: a t-shirt depicting Darth Vader with his arms folded menacingly across his chest.  The caption underneath his imposing figure states: #1 Dad.  It's great and I love it.  I am thankful for my wife and sons and the blessing they are to me in my life.  I know there have been times when I've been less than lovable (don't we all have those moments), but their patience and forgiveness over the years has allowed me to become a better person now than I was before--that's what the Savior's Atonement does for each of us; it allows us to improve and become better.

After seeing the St. Louis Arch and the hockey and baseball stadiums, we said "goodbye" to what was once Route 66 (generally speaking) and followed I-70.  Two "mystery places" were on the itinerary next.  After traveling through the southern tip of Illinois, we entered Indiana and were scheduled to pass through Indianapolis.  All through the planning stages of our trip, Ben would talk about Indianapolis and how he would be able to see the Colts football stadium, Lucas Oil Field, from the freeway.  The Packers are his favorite football team, but the Colts are his 2nd favorite.  Since traveling to Green Bay was out of the question, I decided that it might be fun for him to actually walk the grounds of the stadium.  Ben started taking video of our approach to the stadium, but I don't think he really realized this was the first mystery place until I pulled off the freeway.  I tried to find a place to park, but couldn't figure out how or where to go, so I let Jen and the boys out of the car and drove around the stadium twice before picking them up again (it figures, but as I pulled up to collect them, I saw a place where I could have parked--grumble again).

   See the big smiles, exciting times for my two interstate travelers!

Jennifer made sure to get the "Colts" sign in the picture.

The second "mystery place" was the building site for the Indianapolis Temple.  I remember when we would travel to Redlands every other Sunday to see what progress had been made on that temple while it was being built.  I reasoned that even though it was a work in progress, this temple would qualify as being a part of our scavenger hunt.  We took these two pictures (the second one is a bit blurry--maybe because I'm zooming in at dusk--but you still see quite a bit):

An hour and a half later, we entered Ohio and arrived at our next KOA.  After two nights of being either one of two or the only tent campers, we now found ourselves amongst many tent campers.  It took a couple of times to find the spot marked on the map.  As we were putting up the tent, we had a weird run-in with a staff member.  He rode up in a golf cart and told me that I need to be sure to register my car at the office in the morning.  I thought to myself, "It's 11:00 at night and you come to tell me that?" but what I said was "Okay," thinking the conversation had ended.  Suddenly, the guy noticed Ben and Isaac.  "Who are you," he says in a boarder line belligerent voice. "Are you 18?"  "No," Ben replied, "I'm 16."  "Then who are you with?  You can't be here alone."  I walked up to him, "They're with me." I made an encompassing gesture. "We're all together." "Well," he mumbled, "we've had kids try to get in here by themselves to have sex and booze parties.  Can't be too careful."  As he drove away in his cart, the four of us looked at each other in stunned silence.  If I hadn't been so tired, I might have laughed at the absurdity of it all.  We all had to wonder what he'd been drinking as we finished what was needed to settle down for the night.