Tuesday July 11, 2000

Initially I had planned to spend this night in St. Louis and then tomorrow night in Little Rock and get to Jill on Thursday. But I am a bit anxious to see Jackie so I decided to drive my ass off and get to Jill by Wednesday.

I had wanted to start earlier than normal but I started driving at 11 am. Hew and I wrestled a bit before I left. I was all ready to go then we wrestled and then I was exhausted. I sped the whole way often doin 20 over the limit. I arrived in St. Louis at 3:30 pm. It is a damn cool city. I found a parking lot across from Busch Park where the Cardinals play. I parked at the very top of a nine story parking garage. The city looked cool from up there. Perhaps I’m a bit gilded from Chicago but St. Louis didn’t seem like a terribly big city. There were a dozen big office buildings whereas Chicago had more like 50-100. It looked more like an overgrown Grand Rapids than anything else.

Th arch was excellent though. It was impressive to see the arch from a distance in relation to the other buildings in St. Louis (which the arch towered over) but you never truly appreciate the masive height of it till you stand below it and look up. This pefectly smooth, perfectly constructed shape is beautiful to behold. But when looking up at it from below and realizing how tall this is , is enough to take anyone’s breath away. I have seen the Washington Monument and it is spectacular, but the Gateway Arch is higher by quite a lot plus it isn’t just a big ol stick in the ground it is a massive, shiny, steel arch! I spent a long time just sitting at the base of it looking up, dazzled by it.

Below the arch underground is the rest of the “Jefferson National Expansion Memorial” under there you can see the museum and buy tickets to go to the top. Since I was by myself I was able to go right in without having to wait in any lines. Due to the curvature of the arch a normal elevator wouldn’t work so a “tram car” was made fro it. I’m not exactly sure how it opperates but I suspect the 8 small cars on each leg are attached by a rail system to accend it, or are pulled up on cables like ski lift chairs. Either way it took 4 minutes to get to the top and the cars were cramped.

The top of the arch had fabulous views of the city and it was then that I realized that the arch was right on the Mississippi River which was cool to look at as well. Unlike the time Buddy & I went to Chicago I was smart this time and parked on the roof. So from the top of the arch I could se my car and I got a picture.

After I took a few pics from the top I looked around the museum some. I focused on Lewis and Clark and anyone else who passed through St. Louis on their way to explore the western United States. It helped put my trip in perspective. Here I was in the great city dubbed the gateway to the west, preparing to begin my own western expedition. Just this morning leaving behind Matthew, my temporary traveling companion, I begin this westward adventure alone. Passing throguh that arch I was born again into a tough pioneer of old. Ready to see fabulous things I have never witnessed before and to survive totally on my own for a full month. Here I was at the base of the mighty Gateway arch, just west of the grand river which has long limited my travels. Its long stretch will limit me no longer, for I am free. Free to explore the magnificent nation that I love, free to follow the American wanderlust and go west as many men have been called to do in the past. My whole life I have been impressed with the beauty of this land, but the true beauty, the pristine west, lies before me now bekoning me onward, tempting me with the promise of adventure.

I returned to my car and made my own food for the frist time of the trip. I somehow felt like a new person as I sat huddled around my grill cooking hot dogs and making soup. A security guard walked by and I was able to see myself through his eyes and I was again able to appreciate the magnitude of my journey and what lay before me. Not just the upcoming changes in geography but the changes in myself.

As I lay on the concrete roof of this 9 story parking lot finishing up my soup thunder bellowed in the distance. A harsh cracking that shook the ground and reverberated through the heavens. With a groan I realized it was rapidly heading my way and I scurried around packing up my stuff. I left the garage and paid the outrageous sum of ten dollars just as it was beginning to rain.

It was a powerful storm and the roads were quickly turned into rivers. I drove on and was luckily able to drive out of the rain in a short time. I left the city at 7:30 pm and headed south on 67. Unfortunately it soon got dark and I was unable to enjoy all of hte beauty of Missouri, I had been anxious to finally get out of Illinois, all it was was flat farmland that stretched on forever. After 5 days of criss-crossing the state I was sick of it. Missouri was somewhat mountianous and heavily forested, it was a welcome change. While the roads in Illinois were long, straight and even, highway 67 through Missouri had more twists, turns, hills and rops than a roller coaster.

After a bit, it got late and I got tired, I stopped in Popular Bluff near the Arkansas border to try and find a place to sleep. I checked the AAA campbook and after a phone call determined that the closest campground was closed. Then I set off to find a place to park my car for the night; Jackie suggested I park in church parking lots so I tried to find a suitable one and I couldn’t. So I just gave up after loking for a while and parked in a businesses’ lot.

I was absolutely miserable. This is the frist time I attempted to sleep outside on this trip and it didn’t work well. Firstly the car wasn’t very comfortable and then it was in the 90’s both in temp and humidity. So to try and get a bit of breeze and air I opened the windows a bit. Of course the bugs rushed in and my phobia of insects is getting worse so even when it wasn’t a bug on me I thought it was and I was a wreck. After a few hours of laying there I was absolutely frazzled and didn’t know what to do. I looked for a hotel, but they were all well out of my price range. So I decided to drive on. I found a rest top in Arkansas and decided to try again. This time it worked! I got a good 2 hours of sleep.

St. Louis pictures

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