Hannibal (Day 29)

After St. Louis, we continued north with Des Moines, IA as our destination. It probably seems like an underwhelming destination in the context of all of the cities and national parks, but there was a good reason. Brenda's brother and family lived in Des Moines back then, so we went out of our way to visit. On the route to Des Moines, we passed through American author Mark Twain's boyhood hometown, Hannibal, MO. There were a few tourist plaques there, and it was a good opportunity to get out of the car, stretch the legs and get lunch.

Looks like a postcard for Hannibal, MO.

So, at the end of a day's drive, we arrived at our destination, visited a bit with family, then crashed. The next day was an opportunity to have a nice relaxing day at a lake picnicking and playing in the water.

This might be Des Moines' only tourist attraction, the capitol building.

The itinerary from Des Moines would take us to Denver, CO through Nebraska. We wanted to maximize our time in Denver and Utah, so we decided that the 11-hour drive to Denver would be an overnight. I thought everyone could sleep through it, and wake up ready to explore Denver. I don't think anyone got much sleep that night.