Route 44 – I’d never heard of it, but if you wanna get
from Oklahoma City to St. Louis, you will be on this stretch of road for a good
500 miles. But have no fear, Route
44 is like driving therapy.  Its flat terrain, smooth road surface and the simply picturesque scenery have made it my new favorite US highway.

As we drove, you could definitely tell we were getting closer
to the East Coast as the trees were beginning to take on their colorful autumn
personalities.  It was cruise control all the way!  We didn’t even mind the $3.50 toll.

We passed time listening to mixed CDs by DJ Lady T (my friend Taryn – thanks Taryn, we loved your music).
Everything from Alicia Keys to Sara Barilles.  Take a listen.

If you think that video is bad, you should try playing some of the dumb car games we made up along the way:

Guess Those Lyrics (or, Don’t Forget the Lyrics minus Wayne Brady) – We’d play a song we both knew and sing
along.  Then we would go back and sing the same song A cappella. Yeah, we didn’t really know the words
as well as we thought! Crazy fun.

Or how about…

Who Lives in that House? – You ever looked at house in the middle of nowhere and
wondered who lives there?   We’d make up a whole story about who lived in a particular house, where they worked, and what they did for fun.  Sounds
dumb, but it was a good time.

Then there is…

They Sing That Too? – You pick a singer, say MC Hammer (ahem, rapper), and
go back and forth naming songs by him or her. The catch is you both have to sing a verse to keep you on your
feet. This game will make you say,
“Oh yeah, that was my jam!”

Lastly…

State Slogans are Dumb – We would think of  funny state slogans for each state we entered into.

If you know any car games, please let us know. We need some new ones unless you want to see more videos of me singing.  LOL.

A couple of pics of Keisha doing what she does best
while I drive.

… And before we knew it, we were in St. Louis.  We checked into another hotel in which we got a great rate using Kayak.com this time.  Little did we know that we would be right in the middle of everything!  We arrived at night but got up first thing in the morning to paint the town.

St. Louis is so charming.  And you can’t miss the Gateway Arch!  Did you know it stands taller than the Washington Monument and the Statue of Liberty?

Gastronomically, we’ve been champions thus far, but sadly in St. Louis, somehow we dropped the ball.  Or maybe it was dropped on us.  We should have known that it was a miss when we asked a local for a good place to eat, and all she could name were fast food chains.  Keisha and I dubbed her “Fast Food Francine.”  We didn’t dare snap a picture of her, because we were trying not to laugh the entire time Fast Food Francine was talking.

This is what Fast Food Francine recommended:  “If you want breakfast, there is a Starbucks around the corner.  If you want a burger, we got a Hardees, and if you want Italian there is a Pizza Hut right down the way.”  Fast Food Francine, we salute you!  We did find a spot that was not fast food, but it was so not worth the $13.90 we spent.  Oh well, you can’t win them all.

Our hotel, the Hyatt Regency St. Louis Riverfront, was a great bargain at $57.00, thanks to Kayak.com.  It was old school, but in midst of  renovations.  It even had a clothing butler.  Have you ever actually used one of those?