June 18th - Golden Arches and Frosted Tips

SLEEEEEEEEEP.  The long night sleep was very needed as our already loose grasp on sanity was quickly slipping away. I’ve already lost my knowledge of what day we left, where we’ve been so far, and I’m not even sure where we’re going anymore. I’m not sure how travelers made it through the Oregon Trail, but I am now certain I would have died of whooping cough on day #1.

Our morning began with watching Miguel’s Swedish relatives pull of a surprising but very deserved victory against South Korea. From there we got our tourist on by visiting the St. Louis Arch. Beautiful views but no Big Mac makes this definitely my second favorite Arch.

Speaking of food, we headed back to our hotel to continue our lavish lifestyle; ordering room service and watching Belgium vs. Panama. Belgium shouldn’t get too excited just yet but a commanding 3-0 victory is the perfect way to start the tournament for the perennial dark horse. Dries Merten’s goal in particular stood out as the type of brilliance that they’ll need to go far this summer. At 5’6’’ what the winger lacks in height he makes up for in footballing acumen and frosted tips.

Okay so at this point I need to make a correction on a point I made in an earlier post. So remember how I said there was no A/C in the van? Yeah so about that… Turns out Dodge Grand Caravan’s have this crazy system where to turn on the A/C you have to turn the “power button” on. So yeah…A/C’s not a problem anymore. This whole saga should be embarrassing for me, but honestly I’m just thrilled to have a cool car for the rest of our trip.

The day ended with a drive from St. Louis to Oklahoma City. Miguel called 12 hotels before finally finding an open room. Say what you want about goal celebrations throughout this World Cup, but the scenes in the car after finally finding a place to sleep could rival any soccer celebrations. Music blasting, seated dancing, shirt off, we pull into the parking lot at 12:30am, knowing we have an early start in the morning.

See you tomorrow,

- Elwood