We are now in the fine state of New Jersey.

and suddenly we were in West Virginia

Ok so we haven’t posted anything in a while because we have been seriously internet deprived. You can imagine how hard that is for three teenage girls! Now that we can finally post we have a lot to write about. Hopefully we can remember everything we’ve done. We’ve been on the road for 7 days now, and everything is starting to blur together.

So Saturday we left Oklahoma City and headed for St. Louis. We stopped to see a giant blue whale on the side of the road. It was a little odd, but worth a quick stop for a photo op. 

The drive was pretty uneventful. We stopped for a late lunch at Lambert’s Café (“the only home of the throwed rolls”) in Missouri at the suggestion of Maddy’s mom. We were so glad we stopped. Although there was a long wait for a table (30 minutes) we stuck it out and were soon seated in large wooden booths, looking at a menu full of good ole Southern eats. And, true to their claim to fame, there was a guy walking around the restaurant throwing dinner rolls to patrons. They were warm and delicious and we waved at him several times throughout our meal for more rolls.

After a filling lunch we got back on the road. That afternoon we stopped at the Meramac Caverns just outside of St. Louis. Here was learned about Jesse James’ infamous escape from the law and the rock formations of the caves. I’m sure Maddy has a lot more to say about the caves, but for me it was just an interesting sight and a welcome relief from the heat.

Saturday night we arrived at Maddy’s grandma’s house where she welcomed us with open arms and a delicious peach cobbler. We talked for a while and then gladly went to bed early after a long day. The next morning we got up to the humid heat of summer in the Midwest. After some creative repacking of the car and a delicious breakfast of peach cobbler we headed off for the city and the arch! I had never seen anything like it before at took tons of pictures inside and out. Luckily the line was short for a ride to the top and just 10 minutes after arriving we were waiting in line for the elevator. 

this is the very tiny elevator door

If anyone’s planning on passing through St. Louis and is claustrophobic and/or afraid of heights, I do not advise doing this, no matter how much you want to see they city from 630 feet in the air. The elevators we got into were so tiny we could barely sit up straight, and we’re all pretty short. After 3 or 4 minutes of rocking back and forth (I do not recommend this ride for those who experience motion sickness either) we were at the top! The view was amazing, even though the windows were small. We could see far out into the distance and closer sights like the Busch stadium and the court house on one side and the Mississippi River out the other. After coming back to the ground level we walked through the Museum of Westward Expansion. They had some pretty interesting pieces from history, like a covered wagon, a stuffed buffalo, and some strange robotic figurines that moved and talked. It was a little creepy, truthfully. After we had our fill of history and architecture we headed over to “the loop” a street near Wash U that's a trendy hang out for students. We had a yummy lunch at Fitz's (famous for their homemade root beer) and walked up and down the streets. We found a cute little bookstore where we picked up some reading for the road, and stopped by Vintage Vinyl, where some DJs were blasting music outside and some guys were break dancing, each trying to outdo the guy before him. That night we watched the Emmy's with Maddy's grandma and turned in early.

us at the top!

view of the city from 630ft 

Busch Stadium 

We were up bright and early yesterday morning, hitting the road at 8am. Our last stop in Missouri was a giant catchup bottle. I don't think that requires anything more than this picture:

Nothing happened in Illinois or Indiana (in fact I just almost forgot we drove through these states). Driving through Ohio was very boring. There was some traffic going through Columbus, but other than that it was mostly just cornfields. 

We were almost at the Ohio border and very excited to almost be to our stop for the night (just outside of Pittsburg, PA), when SURPRISE! West Virginia jumped out at us out of nowhere. We drove right under a sign that said Welcome to West Virginia and did a double take. Weren't we supposed to be in Pennsylvania now? Had we taken a wrong turn? After freaking out for a moment we consulted our trusty iPhones and realized that we were in the little sliver of West Virginia they call a panhandle. So we were on the right track after all and 10 minutes later we were in Pennsylvania. 

Today we explore Pittsburgh! 

Passing through Ohio now. Nothing to report but cornfields.

Today's Numbers:

Roadkill count= 11... Wait make that 12
Number of rolls thrown to our table at Lambert's Cafe= 9 or 10
Number of Meramec Cavern billboards= at least 20

Number of "Adult" stores along I-44= 7 since Oklahoma (2 with video arcades? What...?)

more pictures!

hey if you want to see more pictures of our trip so far there are almost 200 up on facebook now!