Now that all of the CCA and dog show fun is over, we decided to pack up Stella and go explore the touristy parts of St Louis while we are here. The adventure started with us dashing of rot the AKC Dog Museum. I knew it closed at 5pm and the Specialty didn’t finish up until 3pm. It was well worth the mad-dash and the drive was beautiful! Alexis has never seen this part of the country during the Fall months. The colors and smells are like nothing she has every experience and then there was the mountains. There is barely what one might call a hill in Florida! She was in awe! Then as we were exploring the grounds, we saw a deer! Not a Florida, dog size deer but a real deer! Icing on the adventure cake!

The museum is pretty darn cool! Small but cool! They have quite a nice collection of canine art and I can’t wait to see it grow over time The building in large enough to house a lot more in the years to come.

From there we drove over to see the Gateway Arch. I looked on Google and it said it was open from 8 am to 10 pm – PERFECT!  The drive into the city was nice and the weather was perfect for our journey. After finding a parking spot – which was WAY easy and should have been a sign – we walked over to the arch to tour it. It was as we approached that it came to our attention that it closed 2 minutes after we stepped into the park. TWO MINUTES!!!! They closed at 6pm. From outside and in front, we snapped a couple photos of the landmark and then made a promise – Next year at this time, the three of us – Alexis, Stella and I  – will be back to tour this sucker but 3 to 4 hour earlier! It’s a date!

So how did Stella do you might ask? AWESOME! Lots of socialization and even more bonding. Feeling safe with Alexis and I was the goal and I would say we nailed it! We also accomplished tire her out along with us. Time to go to bed so was can get up at 4am to pack up and fly home!

Stella back a the hotel

 

 

The National Has Begun
Now Her Adventure Begins