Photo a Day: Olympic Park Park City, Utah
Ski jumps at olympic park
Park City, Utah
Want to see more? Click another image!
Watt Family Top Travel Adventures- Part 1: Moab Utah
Photo a Day- Skydeck at Willis Tower in Chicago
The Open Road is calling…
Photo a Day- Lake Havasu Balloon Fest
Photo a Day- Lake Havasu Balloon Fest
A snapshot I got while attending the Lake Havasu Balloon Festival in Arizona~ January 2013
Want to see more? Click another image!
Flying High at Lake Havasu Balloon Fest
Our Hot Air Balloon Flight with Bruce Sidlinger
AZ to CA in 91 Seconds…
St. Louis Gateway Arch
It’s May~We are in St. Louis, Missouri. Avery wants to do something cool for her 14th birthday.
Since we can’t really have a party, and Hayden’s birthday is a week later, we decided to buy season pass tickets to Six Flags.
Six Flags wan’t open until the weekend, so what’s their to do in St. Louis, Missouri on her actual birthday?
We headed to the Gateway Arch, of course!
To be honest, I never really knew the background of why the arch was built. I guess I thought it was just an art piece, like The Bean in Millenial Park in Chicago. As I was doing a little research to prep us for our visit, I learned that it was built to commemorate Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase, which expanded our country from the current Missouri boundary out to the Southwest. It also celebrates the Mississippi River as the gateway to the West. The river was the edge of the USA until explorers like Lewis and Clark ventured out into the wild unknown.
The Movie
As a national park, there’s more to see and do than just visit the exterior of the 630 ft. Arch. There’s an underground visitor’s center, with a museum and two movies available to watch. The main attraction is the ability to ride a special elevator to the top of the Arch and look out the observation windows on each side.
We bought our tickets and while we awaited our departure, we watched the movie about how it was constructed. The movie was created in the 60′s and the video and narration are reflective of that time period. But if you can look past that, it was interesting to see how the Arch came to be.
I can’t believe how resourceful the engineers were in creating such an architectural feat, in such a short 3- year time period. Each leg was built, with the intention of meeting in the middle, but having no guarantee it’d work. The construction workers spent their days hundreds of feet in the air, with no harnesses or safety nets. It gave me anxiety just watching it! It was comforting to know that no one was injured in the construction.
Elevator to the Top
Our ride to the top was a little nerve-wracking. The cart that transported us to the top was small, similar to a ferris wheel cart.
It’s definitely not for the claustrophobic! After a 2-3 minute ride we were deposited on the walkway at the top of the arch. There’s small windows on each side, so we could see the city view, and the river view. You have to lean forward to look out the windows, and that was tricky for Avery, who has some issues with heights.
I enjoyed the views, and capturing pictures from this vantage point, but it was difficult with the amount of people crammed into this small space. Since there’s no time limit on how long you can remain at the top, elevators can keep bringing people up, even if no one is going down. I would’ve liked to stay longer, but the conditions were getting crowded, so we left.
The Museum
The most pleasant surprise of the day was 
the Westward Expansion museum. It was an open style setting, and you work clockwise around the room as the displays are set up chronologically.
Starting with the early frontier, mountain men, pioneers, wars, gold rush, etc. The information was in bite size chunks, with a great balance between the written word, photos and artifacts of the time periods.
We’ve seen a lot of museums in our travels, and I’d probably rank this in my Top 10 for how visually appealing it was, and how easy to consume the content.
We ended the day by taking the steamboat for a short jaunt down the Mississippi. It was nice to relax and see the city from a coastal perspective.
SUMMARY
The Gateway Arch was worth the day it took to explore it. Even if going to the top isn’t appealing to you,
seeing it first hand is spectacular. The museum and movies are a good way to experience what this national park has to offer.
Have you been to the Arch? What was your experience like? Share your thoughts below, I’d love to hear from you!
Want to see more? Click another image!
Oz Museum in Kansas
National Parks Week- Where will you go?
Water World, Denver + Watts = FUN
What’s new at the Denver Zoo
Oz Museum in Kansas
While traveling through Kansas we stopped off in Wamego, Kansas to see the Oz museum. In this quaint, little town of a few hundred people, there’s a museum dedicated to the movie that made their state famous.
As you enter the museum, there’s different scenes from the movie recreated in various alcoves throughout the building.
Each main character gets their moment to shine.
Besides the vignettes, there’s decades of memorabilia and artifacts on the movie.
There’s a chair set up in the Emerald City for you to sit in and be “The Great and Powerful OZ” for a moment.
The museum only took 30 minutes or so to experience, but it was a fun trip down memory lane.
They have an extensive gift shop that loyal fans would really enjoy.
If you’re ever crossing through the plains of Kansas and are looking for a place to stretch your legs and be entertained for a bit, I’d recommend following the yellow brick road to the Oz Museum in Wamego!
Want to see more? Click another image!
Our Visit to the International Spy Museum
Disneyland Holiday Time saving Tips: Part 2
The Neon Boneyard Museum
St. Louis Gateway Arch
Discovering the Dutch delights of Solvang, California
No drive down the PCH is complete without a stop in the quaint town of Solvang. This area of Santa Barbara county was settled by the Dutch in the early 1900′s.
Their famous architecture and bakery goods draw over one million visitors each year.
There’s much to do in Solvang, no matter your time frame. If you have a day, go straight to downtown and soak in the architecture, the traditional shops and baked goods. If you have a weekend, stay at a bed and breakfast and bike around the outskirts of town enjoying the Dutch inspired landscape.
On just about every corner there’s a bakery or sweets shop that sell traditional Danish delights like the ableskiver, a fried dough ball with powdered sugar and fruit jam. They were delicious!
Solvang is also known for it’s Hans Christen Anderson museum. It’s located above the bookstore, and is free to the public. It’s a very small museum, but it’s interesting to see some of the early editions of his famous novels like The Little Mermaid.
Even if you only have a half day to explore, it’s worth a visit to come to Solvang. Take a walk around downtown to soak in the architecture and grab some treats for the road. You’ll be glad you did!
Want to see more? Click another image!
Superhero Paradise tucked away in Smalltown, USA
Elephant Seals of San Simeon California
Bombs, Missiles & everything Nuclear
Photo a Day- Skydeck at Willis Tower in Chicago
What it’s like to stand over 1000 feet in the air! Willis Tower Skydeck in Chicago, Illinois
Visiting the Aquarium of the Bay
We had a great time getting a backstage tour of the Aquarium of the Bay. Thanks to the amazing staff who made this visit possible.
Here is a quick video on our experience.
Want to see more? Click another image!
Superhero Paradise tucked away in Smalltown, USA
By far one of the best part of our travels is the opportunity to take spontaneous detours and discover some of the lesser known attractions in small town USA.
Recently we drove through Oklahoma, and discovered a unique museum simply because of a billboard along the highway. Always the adventurer, we got off the freeway to explore what these humble, quaint towns have to offer.
We drove through the cobblestone streets of downtown Pauls Valley, Oklahoma in search of the Toy & Action Figure Museum. Amongst the classic turn of the century architecture we found our destination. Opened in 2005, the Action Figure Museum is the home of over 13,000 action figures, and hundreds of cartoonist drawings and other memorabilia
Most of the collection comes from the owner, Kevin Stark’s private collection. As an artist and private collector, he’s spent his entire life acquiring unique super hero memorabilia, especially the Batman series, which is his favorite.
As a skilled artist, he’s even been commissioned to work on franchises like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He graciously gave us a private tour of the museum, which made it even more interesting as we got to hear the back story to so many of the displays.
Ten minutes into our visit even I, who only went to see the action figures to please the men in my family, couldn’t help but be impressed by the breadth of items on display. From adult men sized Superhero Under-Roos, to the Stay Puff Marshmallow man in Ghostbusters, to classic GI Joe and Lone Ranger action figures, the museum covers at least 60 years of action heroes. It would’ve been fun to host one of Hayden’s childhood birthday parties here, it would’ve been a blast. 
As the mother of a boy who spent his early years in love with all things Spiderman, Power Rangers, and Star Wars, it was fun to watch my son take in the magnitude of all that’s on display. Even Dino, my husband was geeking out as the flood of memories from his own childhood washed over him each time he made a connection to a toy from the ‘80s.
Our stop over in this quaint town was only for about an hour, but it was well worth the detour. If you are driving through Oklahoma with your husband, son, or any other super hero enthusiast, I recommend you stop by and experience it in person. But if a trip to Pauls Valley isn’t in your near future, you can take an online tour from their website.
Want to see more? Click another image!
ATV Riding in St. George, UT
Not yet old enough to drive a car, Hannah was thrilled to learn she was old enough to drive solo on a ATV during our adventure in St. George. Check out how she did as well as the rest of us having fun int he St. George desert sun.
Want to see more? Click another image!
No related posts.
Seven Secrets to Surviving Road Trips with your Kids
Seven Secrets to Surviving Road Trips with your Kids
by Shannon Watt
When I was growing up the most common mode of transportation for family vacations was taking a road trip. The most popular forms of entertainment in the squished backseat consisted of tormenting each other, sleeping, playing car games or singing along with the FM radio.
Road trips have evolved dramatically in just one generation. My offspring have numerous forms of technology available at their fingertips, in a car more comfy than the home I grew up in. Road trips can now be easier than ever before. Because of this we’ve taken our kids on several long road trips, from infancy until now, and they’ve become great travelers because of it.
Here are my recommendations to make your next road trip more enjoyable.
- 1. Listening material- Even if you are equipped with satellite radio, the song sets repeat every 2-3 hours, which can get annoying if your drive is longer than that. Creating playlists for your ipod and downloading audio books or podcasts are a great way to pass the time.
- 2. Snack box- Probably the second most frequent phrase behind “Are we there yet?” is “I wanna a snack.” To avoid stopping in every town bring a cooler with your own snacks. Not only will you avoid impulse buys at the gas station, you control what your children consume by stocking it with healthy treats. Cut up fruit and veggies ahead of time and put in individual snack baggies for each child.
- 3. Potty supplies- Being in the middle of nowhere when your child says they have to go to the bathroom can be stressful. Their small bladders can’t always wait for the next rest stop, and many aren’t comfortable going on the side of the road. What’s a parent to do? When I had three kids under 3 yrs. old, I learned the value of carrying a child- size porta potty and roll of toilet paper with me on long trips.
- Creative supplies- DVDs, ipads, and other electronics can be fun diversions, but even kids will fatigue of using them after several hours. However books, art supplies and other creative toys encourage imagination and play. You child can learn and be entertained during the drive if the car is well stocked with lap activities.
- 5. Headphones- When you are going to utilize electronics in the car, like childrens’ movies, CDs or gaming consoles, then for your own sanity, make sure you have headphones for the kids so you don’t have to listen. I’ve been on trips when everyone in the car had to listen to the Wiggles video over and over again, and trust me, it makes the car ride seem twice as long.
- 6. Play time- Make sure your travel schedule plans in enough time for breaks where the children can run around and play for a bit. If you stretch their legs every few hours chances are they’ll be in a better mood, and might even take a nap when you get on the road again.
- 7. Unveil the “new”- When my children were little, my secret weapon to beginning each journey was to unveil something new on the day we left. Usually it was an inexpensive toy, a new DVD to watch, new art supplies, etc. I made it a special reward for their impending good behavior. They were so grateful for their new thing to play with that they immediately were immersed in playing and that set the tone for our journey to get underway in a positive way.
These seven steps are a great foundation for your next road trip. If you’ve yet to brave the open road with your little ones, I encourage you to get out there and try them out. Some of your fondest moments might just be an exit away!
If you have some great suggestions on how to make road trips with kids more enjoyable, please share them with us in the comments below. I love getting tips from other moms and seasoned travelers. I look forward to hearing from you!
Stay Connected
Check this Out
Family Photos
