On Monday, 10 March 2003, Sally Babcock writes: Mission Accomplished!

We're back! We went the "back" way, and found it to be very easy, which is a big relief to me. It's about 45 minutes from the new house, but a really pretty drive.

Purina Farms is quite a jaunt from virtually any other place of interest in St. Louis, except for Six Flags, which is just down the road. It's a good 45-minute-to-an-hour drive from Lambert (airport) - much closer (maybe 25 minutes) if you're coming by private plane into The Spirit of St. Louis Airport.

The map on the Purina Farms web site is right on. I-44 runs southwest out of St. Louis. If you're coming from the east or north, you just follow I-270 around in a western curve and it runs into I-44, south of I-40, probably the main east-west thoroughfare through the city and county.

If you're coming from the west and want a bit shorter route, just contact me. I'll be happy to share my "shortcut" with you.

From whatever way you are coming, you'll end up on Road 100, looking for the MM turnoff at Gray Summit. Don't blink or you'll miss it! The turn onto MM is right next to a bright yellow gas station called U-Gas, pictured here. You can just make out the little green Purina Farms sign above the pickup truck bed. You should turn west.

Purina Farms is one mile down MM. About half way there, you'll see this Purina facility (mill?) on your right. The sign says, "Purina Farms Straight Ahead".

You'll turn left into the Farms.

The entranceway curves to the left where you come to a guardhouse and a gate. The facilities are straight ahead. There are some smaller storage building to the right. Purina Farms is closed right now, but will be open to the public on March 15. However, I did manage to get the guard to call headquarters for permission for us to drive in, walk around and take some pictures. That was very nice of them. I told them that Airedale people were coming from Australia, Canada and all over the country and that my friend, Andréa, had a web site, etc., etc., etc. They were quite nice.

From the gate (in a previous picture), you could see a large barn-like building. Just beyond that, the roads begin curve off in various directions. The sign says, "Checkerboard Dr."

Although Purina (now Nestle/Purina) may own considerable land around, the actual facilities do not cover that large of an area. These roads appear to curve around in small and big circles.

According to the guard, the tents and activites will be set up across the parking lot from this building, which is the Visitors' Center.

On the right side of the Visitors' Center is a large patio with tables and chairs. It appears to be an outdoor eating area. Note the framework for a tent top.

This is another building to the immediate right of the main Visitors' Center. Note this sign: "No Dogs Beyond This Point". We could see and hear a few dogs barking behind that white fence. My guess would be that this is the petting area.

This is the main parking area, taken from in front of the Visitors' Center