Kansas City to Metropolis, Illinois

Travel day started with packing up and breakfast at The Big Biscuit in Independence, MO. Food (including biscuits) was good and the portions were too big....none of us finished our plates. We were back on the road by 1:30ish. We made one notable stop on our 6.5 hr drive at the University of Missouri (also out 2 hrs east of KC in the middle of Missouri). We parked next to the football stadium and noticed there was some kind of event happening in the stadium. It turned out to be Fan Day for the upcoming Missouri football season. The event was only a few hours long and we just got lucky enough to arrive within the right time window. We walked into the stadium and out onto the field. The players were walking among the fans, signing autographs, and posing for pictures. Will had fun playing a little catch with a couple kids in one end zone. I was a little surprised there weren't more fans there given Mizzou won the SEC East last year. It was about 1,000 degrees on the field which may have had something to do with the smaller crowds. After about an hour we got back in the car and drove the remaining 4.5ish hours through St Louis and to our hotel (Harrah's) in Metropolis, Illinois....on the Ohio River (also the Kentucky border). We were checked in by 9:30.