Day 103 - Memphis/Jackson MS
The day has finally arrived for us to make our final leg of the trip home to MS. We allowed ourselves to sleep late (7 am) and I started the process of packing up from our hotel room to the car. After everyone was ready, tummies full from breakfast and the room checked at least 3 times we were finally in the car and ready to go. As we drove out of St. Louis we said goodbye to it. We really like it here and will most likely come back again for a visit.
This drive was a little more scenic than the KS drive. At least there were hills, rivers and farms not just corn. As we started our drive it seemed like no one wanted to go home (except for Gretchen, of course). Before we had prayer we discussed how we needed to be thankful for a fun summer and all the things we had done/seen instead of wishing we were still there. So I did a quick recap of our adventures this summer and here it is: St. Louis Arch, City Museum, Cedar Rapids Iowa, Mall of Americas (Lego Store), Visit with Family in MN, boat ride down the St Croix River, Bad Lands SD, Rapid City SD, Mt Rushmore, Custer State Park, Helena MT, Helena Science Museum, Suburban Died, Antelope, Moutnain Lions, ACT at Carroll College, Deer, The Carousel, Carnival at the Klefner Ranch, Hiking, YorkFest, Hanneford Street Bible Church, Helena Pool, Big Fork, Flathead Lake, Going to the Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Avalanche Lake/Creek/Falls, Lake MacDonald, St Mary's Lake, Logan's Pass, Hiking in the Snow, BlackFeet Indian Reservation, Helena Forrest Fires, Helena Library, Black Sandy Beach, White Sandy Beach, Canyon Ferry Lake, Helena Farmers Market, KettleCorn, Mt Helena, deer, Helena town BBQ (really its a cookout), Fireworks at a private ranch, MacDonald Pass and Spring Water, Fishing in the Boulder River, Rimini Ghost Town, Elkhorn Mountains and Ghost Town, Folf, Lime Kiln, Visit from Grandma, St Helena Cathedral, Trolley Ride, Ragtime at the GrandStreet Theatre, Mansion District, Gates of the Mountain, Bald Eagles and Osprey, Bozeman, Huckleberry Jam, Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University (MSU), Madison Buffalo Jump, Bozeman Farmers Market, Helena Rodeo, The Painted Pot, Symphony under the Stars, Bannack Ghost Town and Bannack Days, Grand Tetons in WY, Elk, Grizzly Bears, Deer, Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful, Grand Prizmatic Spring, Boiling River, Firehole Canyon, Mammoth Hot Springs, Mud Volcano's, Dragons Breath Cave, Bison, Coyote, Yellowstone Lake, Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Upper/Lower Falls, Float down the Missouri River (twice), Great Falls, Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, Deer, Montana History Museum, Wild West Fest at the Klefner Ranch, Flathead Cherries and Flathead Ranier Cherries (yum yum), Peter and Heather visit, Lewis & Clark Caverns, 7 mile hike, Vigilante Creek, York Bar Burger (again), Costco Lunches, Youth Group Wipeout and Youth Group Hike, Billings, Little Bighorn Battlefield, Denver, The McCunes, St Louis City Museum (again), BBQ in Memphis. Wow we did more than I thought!!
After a few hours and a couple stops we were in West Memphis and we stopped at Tops BBQ for lunch which was very good. Our first place we stopped didn't look exactly safe so we found another place to go. The closer we got we got weird mixed emotions from the kids. Caleb at one point was hugging all his MT stuff (that he had hung from the roof of the car) trying to remember the good times, Rebecca/Sarah kept asking to slow down and not to get there, Christina wanted to get home quicker, Joshua was kind of in-between, and I had to strap Gretchen in the front seat to keep her from blowing the windows out with all her excitement. Then the moment came and we turned onto the Natchez Trace Parkway. Caleb breathed a sigh because we were no longer between an elevation of 4200 and 5200 feet but at 300 feet.
Once we got in the house everything seemed to change. Everyone was all about unloading and seeing all the things we left behind and finding the things the Drydens had left accidentally. The house looked great and was nice and cool. I have to say that the one thing I hated about being back was the humidity. I was sweating as soon as we got out of the car and started unloading. Jewels, our lovely Golden retriever, was excited to see us and we were excited to see her as well. I went out after a while and found the girls sitting on the front porch. Rebecca looked up and said "Dad its like MT was a dream we can't even remember what we did last week".
By about 8 we were done unloading and filling the house up with all our Helena Stuff. We finally settled down around 10 for bed. It was nice to be back in our own beds again. Home is where your family is and for 3 months we called Helena home but we are now back to our home in MS. Unfortunately I will be traveling back on Sunday so pray that my travel will taper off and I will be able to be "home" a lot more. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers over the last 3 months. Special thanks for the prayers for the last several days and our 33 hour car ride. This summer has been a wonderful time of togetherness for us as a family and we have gotten to see lots of God's kingdom we didn't know existed before.