Girls' Trip to Missouri - Part Three

We started our last day in Missouri at Grant's Farm in the southern section of St. Louis. We have seen this advertised as another free place to visit, but there is a $12 fee for parking. We paid the fee, and then got on the first tram of the day at 9:00. You have to be impressed with a group of traveling women that can be dressed, ate breakfast, packed the car, and drove through morning rush hour traffic to get places before they open.

The tram ride takes visitors through the grass land owned by the Anheuser-Busch family. At one point we could peek through the trees to see the roof of the family's "big house" on the property. The rest of the property is home to herds of exotic deer, bison, elk, and cattle from all over the world.

One of the long-haired Scottish cows was standing in the middle of the road, causing a tram-jam this morning. She moved to the side so we could pass, and we got a close-up picture.

Even though this property is owned by the Anheuser-Busch family now, it was once home to the United States' 18th president--Ulysses S. Grant. The log cabin he built is still standing on the property, one of only two remaining cabins in this country built by a president. There are also covered wagons and cannons from the same period.

This is another place that wheel chairs are available, but there is a $5 fee to rent one for the day. That was a worthwhile purchase for us, as it allowed Mother to see the entire grounds without getting tired.

Another worthwhile purchase is the $5 fun pass. That includes two bottles of milk for feeding the baby goats, so Denisa and Connie were happy to use that part of the pass. Yes, we were the only adults inside the pen with the kids.

It also included a ride on the carousel, and a snow cone that was shared by all. Yes, we were the only adults doing this as well.

Grant's Farm houses a small zoo, and food is available to feed most of the animals. The camels are in the middle of shedding their winter coats. We were blessed with a cool morning, but yesterday's 100 degrees would have certainly been incentive to shed those coats!

There were kangaroos, and this guy was entertaining us with a raucous game of tether ball.

There were also live animal encounter shows that were well attended by visitors. This one featured macaws, ferrets, owls, pigs, hawks, etc.

The elephant show features the sizable African and Asian elephant herds at Grant's Farm.

We'll include other pictures of the animals at Grant's Farm, that aren't your typical farm animals.

But one of our favorite animal encounters was going into the parakeet aviary, where a hundred birds were just waking up to start their day.

For a dollar, a person gets a craft stick with a little millet glued to the end, and entry into the aviary. It took a little encouragement to get these sleepy birds interested in the millet.

Many of the birds were content to stay on their perch with their beaks tucked inside their wing.

One bird got especially friendly with Debra, and wanted a free ride out the door when we were finished.

Most of the activities at Grant's Farm are geared for the young, or the young-hearted. There is also a biergarten, where those over 21 can enjoy two free samples of Anheuser-Busch beer. Because we are more of the snow-cone type, we didn't try any of the beer samples.

Another section of the park includes the stables where the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales live. This statue made a good photo background.

But there are real horses that are as pretty as statues in the stable.

We felt so blessed to have a morning with temperatures in the lower 80's for walking around Grant's Farm. But then it was time to load up the car and make the 4-hour drive to our last Missouri destination--Kansas City, MO. This is where our son and daughter-in-law are living while he is doing his three-year pediatric residency at Children's Mercy Hospital. Luke had just gotten off a twelve-hour shift at the hospital when he met us for dinner and ice cream.

Jordan took this picture of the five of us together at the ice cream place. Fourteen months ago we took a similar picture of the same five people, but Luke was wearing his academic regalia at his medical school graduation. Denisa's Mother and sisters hadn't seen him since then, and now he is a seasoned M.D. with over a year of experience.

Since he had to be up at 4:15 the next morning, we tried not to keep Luke up too late. But we did sneak this picture of him and the newest family member--their new Golden Doodle puppy.

We left Missouri the next morning, after enjoying breakfast with Jordan. Then it was back on the road towards Oklahoma. It was another successful girls' trip, and we so appreciate the privilege of spending this good quality time together for another year!