Going into last Friday, I expected to be on a road trip from Charlotte to Chicago. Hurricane Helene blew up those plans, so with no plan in mind, we set out westward on the morning of Friday, September 27. Despite having no plan, the trip was amazing, and we packed the days full.
Step one was to head to Des Moines, Iowa. I had never been to Des Moines, and on my map of places I’ve visited, it represented a big hole between places. On our way to Des Moines, I looked up things to do there. The Pappajohn (not Papa John’s, though I wonder if there is a connection, i.e. the Papa John’s pizza franchise being named after someone with the name “Pappajohn”). Sculpture Park was at or near the top of all lists, so we headed there first.
The park was interesting- it took us about 30 minutes to explore it end to end. The park had a virtual Geocache requiring exploration and observation of the full park. Giant spiders, the white tree of Gondor, and a bunch of abstract shapes – the park certainly wasn’t lacking in variety.
From the park, we headed to Spare Time Amusements and played their Area 51 escape room. The room was fine, but it repeatedly utilized a compressed air noisemaker which is one of my least favorite things that shows up in escape rooms – blasting a deafening noise into a silent room at random intervals. But it had a laser maze, too, which I always enjoy.
From Des Moines, we had a choice- head west to Omaha or southwest to Kansas City. Christina preferred Omaha since she has family connections there and had never been, so we headed west.
Arriving in Omaha early evening, we grabbed dinner downtown at Tap House Omaha. I was impressed by the city of Omaha- everywhere we looked, we saw things we wanted to do (zoo, art museum, history museum, marketplace), and the pace of the town was nice; downtown was abustle, but without the congestion or parking deserts typically synonymous with big cities.
While dining, we decided to try another escape room, and this time we played the Final Frontier room at House of Conundrum in Omaha. The set design blew me away- it may have been one of my favorite escape room sets I’ve ever played. It’s not for everyone, but I LOVED the amount of crawling and climbing required to navigate the space.
We stayed over in Omaha, and the next morning we drove to the Strategic Air Command Museum just out of Omaha. The museum was amazing. The crown jewel of the museum is its collection of vintage military aircraft, pristinely preserved in two air conditioned hangars. It’s hard to comprehend how large a B-52 bomber is without seeing it, when you can stand halfway down the wing and have a hard time seeing where the fuselage is.
After the museum, we headed south to a pit stop in Kansas City, grabbing dinner before getting back on the road toward southern Missouri. We made a detour to Louisburg, Kansas, to play an escape room called The Forge at Enigma 68. The room was neat, revolving around the goal of forging a sword step by step, and it was really neat how the puzzles all simulated the blacksmith process.
After the escape room, we headed to our next pit stop in Ash Grove, in southwestern Missouri. We rented an old loft in a historic district – it was a really cool aesthetic, although we were surprised in the middle of the night to discover that the loft was about twenty feet from active train tracks, and the trains made liberal use of their horns all through the night!
The next day, we started by visiting family in Springfield, Missouri, before heading to Branson. We’ve been to Branson a few times, and every time we’ve left with a longer list of things we wanted to go back and try. This time was no different – the scenic mountain train is the newest item I’ve added to my to-do list.
Upon a family member’s recommendation, we explored The Landings at Branson, an outdoor shopping mall, and grabbed dinner there. With dozens of impressive-looking options, we opted to try Waxy O’Shea’s Irish pub. I was surprised how creative the menu was – I loved my chicken curry “boxty” – a potato pancake wrap described as an “Irish burrito.”
After the Landings, we played two escape rooms back to back at Escape Code, an award-winning business with two sprawling (2500 square feet or more) 90 minute escape rooms. I had already played the 90 minute games on an earlier trip, so we opted for a 60 minute and a 75 minute game (Vortex and Folklore, respectively). We were on fire and set the record for Vortex while using zero hints. I really enjoyed both games and I’m glad there are still two more for us to try on our next trip to the area.
After the escape room games, we headed back to Ash Grove and stayed another night. The following morning (Monday, if you haven’t been keeping track), we headed out early in the direction of Chicago. Our first stop was the St. Louis Zoo. As members and frequent guests at Brookfield Zoo Chicago, it was interesting to explore a different zoo. The exhibits in St. Louis are huge, with viewing angles from all sides. We were also caught off guard when one of the penguin exhibits was kept at frigid temperatures!
After the zoo, we headed toward our final adventure on the road trip- Champaign-Urbana Adventures in Space and Time. I have heard about this escape room a LOT, and from people who know escape rooms in and out. It especially intrigued me based on how many different escape room owners have recommended these games to me, so needless to say, I was extremely eager to try.
We played the Wizard’s Curse game, and immediately, I could see why the game had such a strong reputation. The game’s space was crafted meticulously floor to ceiling, with puzzle components everywhere. I really enjoyed the experience – it’s the first time in a while I’ve encountered what I like to call “puzzle immersion” – where I have so many puzzle components to work with that the process of keeping track of what I’ve looked at becomes complicated and I’m at risk of missing or forgetting something due to distractions elsewhere. For me, it’s the BEST feeling to have in an escape room.
After the game, we headed back to Chicago and got home late. I can safely say we made the most of our time with our canceled road trip from the east coast. And like any good road trip, I return with more places I want to return to at some point in the future!
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