Kjell and Luanne's Travel Blog: ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI (AUGUST 20, 2009)

More rain… More thunder… More lightning… More of Luanne’s snoring last night… Nothing frightening… Nothing I couldn’t handle…
Felt pretty good, actually, when I finally got out of bed just before 8:00.
Got through the usual morning chores… Had some coffee with my favorite girl, and headed in to St. Louis…
Took Hwy 140 back the way “Molly” wanted us to come here to Mulberry Grove (just to see where she would’ve taken us), and found we would probably have been lost… Good thing we have instincts to go by, huh?
Anyway, we meandered our way along the back roads, through the town of Greenville, where we hooked up with I-70, which took us the 52.6 miles in to the “Big City.”
Luanne took all kinds of pictures, as usual, and, of course, got some more barns….
I’m sure you’ve figured out that most of the pictures we take are taken on the move (through the truck window), and, if not most, at least quite a few of them are out of focus (or right down blurry), so, before I get them on my Picasa Web Album, I spend a lot of time editing… Even that leaves a lot of pictures to post…
I guess what I’m getting at is that I might be overloading you with pictures, but I just can’t make myself delete more than I have, so, sorry…
It was an awesome sight to see the Gateway Arch as we passed here yesterday, but, let me tell you, when you get to stand under it, or close to it, it takes your breath away!
I’ve always been very proud of “our“ Seattle Space Needle, but, guess what… This monument is, in my opinion, more graceful and pleasing to the eye…
I think the engineering feat, which went into both of these structures, must’ve been equally challenging, but the Arch is, by far, more esthetically pleasing… To put it plainly, It is magnificent in its simplicity!
Lu and I loved every minute we spent around, inside, under, and on “top” of it, and will always classify this as one of the highlights of our trip.
As you can see by the pictures, we took an hour’s cruise on the riverboat M.V. Tom Sawyer, which was all right, but nothing to write home about…
I mean, the riverboat cruise we took in New Orleans (in 2000) was fantastic compared to this one…
Maybe it was because of the surroundings?
Don‘t know, but look at the pictures: What we saw of the St. Louis waterfront was not very pretty (except for the Arch Park Area)…
Rusty buildings, rusty tugboats, and rusty barges are everywhere…
We passed a “HOBO” camp, and several vagrants (sorry… don’t really know if they were or not) who sprawled among some boulders…
Debris (of all sorts) line the shoreline…. The captain even showed us an upside down car wreck that’s been there for ages - Why don‘t the City clean stuff like that up?
Guess both Lu and I were disappointed in that part of the City’s characteristic…
Maybe they are cleaning it up, and haven‘t gotten to that part yet?
Because, as we took off on foot, after our cruise, we went down to the Old Town, where we found a vibrant community… Shops and eateries, and everything in-between… And everything was clean and well kept… (By the way, we seek out The Old Town in every city we visit, because that is what interests us).
Walked over to the Domed Stadium, and looked in at the new Casino across the street, then had a delicious late lunch, at Big Daddy’s, before heading back to Mulberry Grove…
At home, we had a little catnap, then took a stroll around the campground, and that’s it for today…. We’re ready for some GRANDKIDS!
Can’t wait to see those little ones tomorrow!
Hey Reese, Hailey, and Hannah! HERE WE COME!