I don’t know about you but my kids are generally ready for some kind of an adventure. There are those times though when they are filled with slight doubt. Those times generally arise when they learn that it might take some time to get to an adventure. After all, what kid wants to take a long drive on a way to an adventure. On Thursday, we embraced one of those long drives to get to an adventure though and we survived to tell the tale!
This adventure arose from the mind of my dad and took us on
a journey to Boonville, MO to Warm Springs Ranch, home of the Budweiser
Clydesdales. Our journey didn’t just come from the mind of my dad though. He
and my mom actually met me and the kids early in the morning to journey along
with us. After setting out around 7:30, we arrived at Warm Springs Ranch around
9:50. If that seems like it took a little longer than it should have, it’s
probably because we had to make multiple stops along the route for Ethan to use
the bathroom.
Once we arrived at Warm Springs Ranch, we were instructed to park alongside a set of giant letters that were repurposed from the Budweiser brewery in St. Louis. Since Ellie and Ethan had been cooped up for a while, we took the opportunity to let them run around the giant letters while waiting for our tour. Soon enough though, it was time for us to join the rest of our group and begin our tour.
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| Ellie and Ethan are up there somewhere. |
After receiving our complementary bottles of water and our
radio packs so that we could always hear our tour guide, we began weaving our
way through the barns making up Warm Springs Ranch. It was fun to see Ellie and
Ethan taking in all of the sights. Ellie, for her part, absolutely loved using
her camera to take pictures of the massive Clydesdales she was seeing along the
way. We even saw a TV star in Stan, a multi-time Super Bowl commercial star/Clydesdale
horse. Before leaving the Ranch, we were treated to getting to see three foals
hanging out in private pens with their moms.
One of my favorite parts of the tour had to be at the end
when we received the opportunity to pose with one of the horses named “Kid Rock”.
It was cool because we could really see how tall a full-grown Clydesdale was up
close, especially compared to Ellie and Ethan. It was also pretty cool to see
just how well-trained the horses were. “Kid Rock” would even turn his head
towards a camera for pictures which Ellie loved!
Once our tour was completed, we loaded up and headed towards
Columbia to grab some lunch as it was only ten additional miles down the road. Despite
my protests, the kids would not listen to anything other than Chick-Fil-A for
lunch. No worries though. After we finished lunch, we decided to drive over to my
dad’s old stomping grounds, the Mizzou campus. As Ethan is a pretty big fan of sports,
it only seemed fitting that we check out Faurot Field.
While I was initially just planning on making a quick drive
around the stadium’s parking lot, imagine my surprise when I saw what looked to
be an open gate heading inside the stadium. Therefore, I decided the only thing
to do was to see where exactly that open gate would take us. As Ellie, Ethan,
and I headed inside, I fully expected to be cut off by a closed gate somewhere
or by security. Instead, we headed into the actual seating area near the
50-yard line. Looking down towards the field, I saw more open gates actually
heading out onto the playing surface. With that, there was nothing left for us
to do but continue on our quest of possible trespassing.
We headed down the stadium stairs until we reached an open
gate leading onto the playing surface. As we stepped foot on the field, Ethan knew
he was on hallowed ground. He actually took it all in instead of running wildly
as he normally would. As we wandered towards midfield, I asked the kids if they
wanted to stand on the Tiger head on the 50-yard line. With that, both Ellie
and Ethan took off sprinting across the field while I laid back and snapped a
couple of pictures. With that, I figured it was time for us to make our way off
the field and not test our luck anymore.
Once we reached my parents and the van, we settled in with
the intention of heading back towards KC. However, we needed to make one more
little drive past Mizzou Arena, home of Missouri basketball. When we drove by
though, I noticed a banner waving outside the arena saying that the Tiger Team
Store was open for business. That was enough to make me wonder if we could
actually find our way inside the arena to see the basketball court. With that,
I asked the kids if they wanted to check it out. Ethan enthusiastically replied,
“Yes,” while Ellie halfheartedly said, “I think I’ll just stay in the car.”
Therefore, Ethan and I excited the van and headed inside.
When we entered the arena, we noticed a pair of locked gates
keeping us from wandering to other sides of the concourse. However, we noticed an
open doorway leading into a seating area. We walked through the door and headed
down a flight of stairs before finding ourselves in a row of seats directly in
front of the court. Ethan was once again pretty stoked to be standing inside an
area where he’s watched Mizzou play on television. Once again though, we didn’t
stay long before making our way back out to the van so that we could head home.
All around, I would say that our little adventure was pretty
great. I hadn’t been sure how the kids would handle being in the car for two
hours to the farm and back. However, outside of Ethan’s constant bathroom
breaks, they did great! They didn’t even seem to mind the driving time. I guess
it just goes to show that drives aren’t that bad when you’re going on a cool
adventure.
#DaddyWrite
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