Texas,RV's,Travel and Family: 2026

Day one - September 8, 2026 - Starting mileage: 26135

The first stop before leaving Lubbock was at Whataburger for breakfast.

The second stop was in Amarillo at Buc-ee’s

Continuing east on I40 we stopped for fuel at El Reno, OK

At Oklahoma City, OK we turned NE on I44 and continued our journey, arriving at the hotel in Tulsa, OK at 4:55p. Dinner was across the parking lot at Saltgrass.

Day two September 9

Woke up to high humidity, something we are not used to. Breakfast was imitation coffee and Instant Oatmeal. The Oatmeal was acceptable, but we needed hotter water than the hotel thermos container provides.

Today we traverse Oklahoma and Missouri for about 400 miles to the St Louis area.

The first stop today was, where else but Buc-ee's. This one just east of Springfield, MO.

Today turned out to be Bar-B-Cue day. At Buc-ee's we tried the sliced brisket sandwich and it was wonderful. The brisket was sliced thin and very tender. It was perfectly cooked and paired well with their sauce.. We will definitely get it again.

Upon arriving at our hotel, technically located in Collinsville, IL, we knew that dinner would be next door at Bandana Bar-B-Que. We were not disappointed. While Deb had a Turkey sandwich with a salad, I filled myself with sliced brisket, pulled pork, Mac & Cheese and fried corn. Deb said the turkey was perfectly smoked, tender and tasty. The brisket was fork tender, the pork melted in your mouth and the fried corn… wonderful. The corn on the cob is deep fried for just a few seconds and then dunked in melted butter. The Mac & Cheese was not spectacular. It was ok, but was a white cheddar sauce and runny. We would eat there again. Am I turning into a “foodie.” At least I didn’t include photos.

Day Three - September 10, 2026

Today starts with a quick trip to the Gateway Arch. After driving past it on the way to the hotel, we decided it would be easier to leave the car at the hotel and Uber from the hotel to the Gateway Arch and back again.

Raining when we left the hotel, our Uber driver was nice and knew exactly where to take us, and when dropping us off, told where we needed to go to enter the Gateway Arch Park.

We arrived before the venue opened and we waited in line with a couple of bus loads of tour groups and their guides. Upon entering the venue we found our way to the North Tram.

This tram goes up the north leg of the arch. During the preparation talk, including the rules, the Park employee mentioned that we would need to go up/down 95 stairs. Or, at least that is what we thought we heard. Deb decided that was too many for her and she decided not to go. The stairs as it turned out were only about equivalent to going down two stories. The Tram Car was another thing entirely. When trying to think of how to describe the size of the interior of the car, the best I could come up with was, imagine a Porta-Potty and then imagine putting four people inside on small stools. That is the best I can come up with. The ride to the top takes less than five minutes, much faster than the 12 minute ride the builders took on an elevator car attached to rails on the exterior of the arch. Once at the top of the arch you disembark onto a set of stairs that go to the tip-top, about 15ft.

The stairs are deep, but shallow (height from one to the other). Of course the people waiting to go down are lined up on the same side of the walkway that you get out on. The Tram doors are short and narrow. Sorry, no pictures of the Tram car or the interior of the arch. At the top, the arch has walls along both sides, and you lean about 2.5 feet forward on a slanting surface to look out a window that is about 12 inches tall and 18 inches wide. As mentioned previously, it was raining.

Of the 15 or so windows along the east and west sides of the Arch, there were one or two that had a patch without rain or condensation that you could actually see something out of. I found a west facing window with such a clearing and was able to get a few photos.

The "Old Courthouse"

I could not find one on the east side that was clear enough to take a picture through. After being on the top for about 10 minutes (enough time for the Tram to load the people that were on the top when we arrived and take them down, load up again and come to the top.) it was the Tram ride down. This was probably a little faster than the trip up. Getting to the bottom, I located Deb and we toured the lower level waiting for the start of the documentary movie on the construction of the Arch.

3D Mural in the visitors mall

This was very fascinating. Constructed of an outer skin of ¼ inch stainless steel, with concrete between the outside skiing and the interior steel structure, it is an engineering marvel. Giant triangles lifted into place, by cranes that rested on basically a railroad track that was constructed on the outside of each of the Arch legs. Once in place, bolted and welded. The prediction at the start of the project was that thirteen men would lose their lives due to accidents during the construction. No lives were lost. This project was done in 1962-1965. One of the people interviewed for the documentary stated that a project like this would never be possible in this day and age due to the many building and safety regulations. This structure has stood the test of time.