I should mention that our next three stops were all to visit family and friends (St Louis, Kansas City and Denver). We did venture out to do a few dog friendly activities, but mostly we relaxed and hung out with some awesome people that opened up their homes to us and made our road trip so much better. I am so grateful to everyone who has shared their homes with Oats and me and supported us along this journey.

After Ohio, we conquered another 8 hour driving day and headed for St. Louis to visit my aunt, who lives just outside the city. It was so wonderful to spend time with her, especially since I’ve never visited her in Missouri before. I see her often at family events, but this was such a great opportunity for us to really spend time together. She spoiled me with delicious food and wine and introduced Oats to the St. Louis “Dog Days of Summer.” We had such a great time. Thank you again Auntie Dot!

DOG-FRIENDLY STOP #1: St. Louis Gateway Arch Park

I am truthfully not planning to do many “touristy” excursions on this trip, but I really wanted to see the St. Louis Gateway Arch. When my aunt told me (how did I not know this?) that it’s purpose is to be the "gateway to the west,” there was really no way we could miss it. If it’s symbolic of exploring the west, then it’s pretty much exactly perfect for our road trip.

The park is dog friendly, but it was nearly 90 degrees and very humid, even though we got there pretty early in the morning. Oats lasted about 45 minutes before overheating again.

DOG-FRIENDLY STOP #2: Treecourt Unleashed Dog Adventure Park

After Oats got a little overheated (again - see our Ohio post!) I did a quick search for somewhere she could cool off. I found an adventure dog park, so I called and spoke directly to the owner. He said they had a couple great little spots for her to cool off, just no actual swimming (I also looked into a dock diving center in St. Louis, but when I called they had already closed down the pool after Labor Day) - but that was good enough for me - as long as she could cool down.

Treecourt was awesome and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting (or living near) St. Louis. There were lots of friendly dogs there with their owners, two little doggie pools with running water to cool off, tons of space to run around and explore, and a little mineral pool because evidently this area is famous for their mineral water. Oats basically had a dog’s version of a spa day, and I got to meet lots of very sweet dog owners.

DOG-FRIENDLY STOP #3: Dog Days of Summer

We got unbelievably lucky with this one. We visited St. Louis the day after Labor Day, so my aunt mentioned that a lot of the public pools in the city open up for dogs now. There were probably between 50-60 dogs there, and Oats just swam and chased toys the entire time. I think they do a few more pool days throughout early September, but I am very grateful that we just happened to be there on the day when most pools were open to dogs. I didn’t bring my camera to the pool, which was smart because I was soaked when I left, but here’s a little phone video of her swimming.

Here’s our little highlight reel from our Instagram updates while in St. Louis, so you can see some more about our lovely visit!

My aunt also has gorgeous butterfly gardens and raises monarchs in her home to release each year into the wild. There were about 8 in chrysalis form while I was there but we also saw a bunch of butterflies in her garden, so I had to shoot a few photos. Sometimes I take pictures of something other than Oats…sometimes.

Thank you again Auntie Dot for a fantastic time in St. Louis and for welcoming Oats and me into your lovely home! What a wonderful part of our trip :)