Days Four and Five

Oh, joy! The rains that had plagued us from Houston to just before we got to Memphis were back. It rained off and on until we got to St. Louis. I thought the campground that I selected was in St. Louis, but it was actually in Granite City, IL, about a 25-minute drive back across the Mississippi River to the Gateway Arch, in an industrial area. Thank goodness the GPS knew where to find it because the directions on the KOA reservation and Web site were less than useful. We were not particularly impressed with the quality of service at this one; it was far less than we have received on the trip thus far. John made sure that everything was locked up securely before we ventured away from the site, just to be sure.

We got up Monday morning and drove back to the Gateway Arch. We lucked out and got a parking spot right next to the elevator in the parking garage that took us right up to the east entrance to the park. It is an absolutely awesome sight to stand below the arch and look up. It’s hard to imagine working on it when looked at from this perspective. Then, down into the lower level where the ticket booths and all other access is located. From the surface, all you can see is the arch surrounded by lovely paths through the grass and trees. Note to everyone: Security here is at least as strict as it is at airports – park rangers work the security scanner and conveyor belt where you have to put all electronic devices, purses, cameras, bracelets, watches, etc. Even stripped of all my bling, I still set off the device. They let me in anyway, after checking my ankles. Hmmm. Was it perhaps the screw in my ankle? The ranger thought so, so I passed through.

We all three go in line to go to the top of the arch. That is accomplished by climbing into a very small, almost round, white capsule with white seats, referred to as the tram. Each capsule holds five people who become very close for the short ride as all knees touched. The trip up is five minutes, and the return trip is four minutes. They told us we could take pictures on the trip up, but all you can really see through the porthole in the door is the support structure and the stairs John wished he was on, going down. The top is very narrow and has a curved floor. (See how happy John is to be up there!) There are carpeted areas you can lean on to look through the windows down on to either the Mississippi River (on the south side) or downtown (on the north side). There is only one very slim section that is flat at the very top of the walkway. You are allowed to stay up there as long as you want to, but there isn’t anything to sit on and it is pretty crowded with all of the visitors that have come up from both the east and west entrances to the arch. It’s really amazing to stand there and look out over the landscape.

We didn’t stay at the top of the arch very long, returning to the lower level to look around at all of the exhibits. In the east base of the arch, there is a movie that shows how the arch was built. In the west base, you can see the show about various areas of the area. On the way to the tram, our photo was taken by one of the employees there. Just before we left the arch, we got our “official” photos of our trip to Gateway Arch.

Then, it was back across the Mississippi River and home to the TT. We opted to not try to see any of the other destinations around downtown St. Louis as we had done a lot of walking to and around the arch and were tired and hot. The temperatures today are 95 degrees and HUMID – just like home! And, it was time to do some laundry before heading out tomorrow. It’s amazing how many clothes one teenager can go through in only THREE days when he had packed enough for a week – and including a trip to Wal Mart to get two more outfits and another swim suit! John and Josh went swimming and came to help me take the clean laundry back.

I kept hearing a clanking noise in one of the dryers while they were running, but couldn’t figure out what it was when I looked. After emptying both dryers, I discovered that it was the original set of keys that couldn’t be found. Apparently they had snuck into someone’s jeans when HE wasn’t looking. Obviously neither one claimed knowledge of how that could have happened, but it is good to know that we now have three sets of keys to the TT door, all of the outside compartments, and the tow bar. I certainly appreciate having my own washer and dryer at home – I don’t think this washateria thing is something I’d like to do on a regular basis. Josh went back swimming with a couple of kids he has met, so we had a pretty quiet afternoon to get our strength back.