Thursday, April 9, 2009

Mizzou to Indiana

Today started in Colombia, Missouri, pointed at St Louis. I couldn't help but compare the lay of land and scenery of most all of Missouri, with Central Virginia. Nice rolling land, no real hills, but not flat. When we entered into Illinois, then it got Eastern Virginia flat! Could have been either place taking pictures.
Our big event was stopping at the Arch in St Louis. What a thrill. Designed in 1947, it was constructed for the World's Fair in the 60's. It is not what I imagined at all.



Right down on the Missouri River waterfront, it is an amazing piece of engineering.
Speaking of amazing piece of engineering!!!





I love my wife!

OK, back to the story. Made of steel with a stainless steel covering, it is really up there! 600+ feet, with an observation platform inside at the top of the arch. How in the world do you get up there???? Glad you asked! They created this amazing little "capsule tram". Eight of these tied together on North and South sides, running every 10 minutes.



Five persons/capsule. It is tight, and no place for someone who's claustrophobic! Kind of a cross between an elevator and a carnival ride : - )
Once to the top, there are viewing ports on both sides.
As you can see, it's 630 feet to the ground. You lean over on the carpeted area under the window, and look down. Yes, it does feel like it begins to "tilt"......yikes!





Nice view of the mighty Missouri below,
and points west.
This is the symbol of St Louis being the Gateway to the West during the western expansion of the United States in the 1800's. They have a great movie about the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804-06:



The other side has a great view of the city of St Louis, and notably, the old capital building. Notable to any Virginian, because it looks just like the Virginia Capital Building, designed by none other than Mr. Thomas Jefferson himself:





The Museum of Westward Expansion was very enjoyable as well.
The only thing NOT enjoyable is the traffic trying to get into and out of the city : - (
But, worth the effort.
We've arrived at Mom Hoppel's place in the country outside Evansville, IN, and are bedded down for a couple of days. Will pick up again on Saturday, for the last two legs to good ole Blacksburg, VA!
"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

1 comment:

  1. Hey, that looks like our bear.!!!!

    Happy Resurrection Day Glad you guys are having a great time Love your sis

    ReplyDelete