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Thanks for the suggestions for the scenic drive TO St. Louis. Now, how about returning from St. Louis to Tucson on a direct (read: short) route but with some sights along the way to stop, stretch and explore with our grandsons, ages 10 & 12?? Many thanks.
MoMoe
A way back: Take I-44 down to Oklahoma City. There you could take the boys to the OKC Memorial. Staying on I-40 west, just outside Amarillo is Cadillac Ranch. This is a place where it's legal to spray paint some old Cadillacs that are just sticking out of the desert dirt, so pick up a couple of cans. Continuing on I-40, go into Tucumcari on the business route and see some of the remnants of old US-66. If your grandsons have seen the movie CARS, they'll know at least a little about Rt 66!
At Santa Rosa NM, if you want to stay almost direct to Tucson, take US-54 west down to Alamagordo. Just outside of Alamagordo is White Sands National Monument. Your boys will be interested in the very white sand, while you may be interested in the history of the place. Before Alamagordo, though, you could take a little "long-cut" over to Riudoso to the Museum of the Horse. Incidentally, US-54 is a scenic road between Carrizozo and Las Cruces.
Once in Las Cruces, get on I-10 west to go home. BTW, my favorite rest area in that stretch is the one with all of the rocks, in Arizona.
Donna
The most direct route back is I-44/I-40 to Amarillo, US-60 to Clovis, US-70 to Las Cruces, then I-10.
OKC: Murrah Building memorial
Amarillo: Cadillac Ranch
Roswell: UFO's
Alamagordo: White Sands
If you have some extra time to burn, you could take US-65 south from Springfield to Branson - then 65 south to US-412 to get back to I-44 at Tulsa.
Thanks, Donna and GLC. Murrah Memorial is great idea; I'd never heard of Cadillac Ranch - the boys will find that a hoot and I've always wanted to check out White Sands. Riudoso is such a pretty area - think that will be a nice detour. I'm actually looking forward to this end of the trip, as well!