Tuesday, July 14

Sorry for my extremely negative attitude yesterday. It really wasn't that bad yesterday. Anyway, today was definitely great. I mean, didn't you know? Obama, the Great Messiah, President of the United States, was throwing the first pitch at the All Stars game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis - today! Isn't that exciting? Not really, when you look at the spending plan he announced in Michigan just a few hours before. Anyway, forget politics. We got to see the Gateway Arch!

We got up for a leisurely breakfast, and proceeded to leave at about 9:30. We got to St. Louis about 30 minutes later, where we took a few wrong turns, but eventually got parked and could visit the Arch at leisure. We took a couple pictures, and then went down into the underground complex, where we bought tickets for a 45-minute movie about Lewis and Clark's expedition out west, and the tram ride to the top. The movie really was spectacular. We watched it on an IMAX style screen, and the footage of the West was simply astonishing to me. The top of the Arch, however, was a completely different story.

The land stretched out east and west as far as the eye could see. It really is that flat out west. Anyway, it was astounding, although the fact that the "land" was mostly concrete, steel, and asphalt. That's how big St. Louis is. Regardless, it still inspired. We followed up the Arch with a lunch at Tigin's Irish pub. Hunger and a lust for heights now sated, we proceed to leave the big city for camp. Once back, Philip, Dad, and I hung around while Mom shopped for groceries. Dinner was good - we had tacos. After dinner, life slowed down a bit as Philip went to bed, and I started on today's post. So, that's a wrap for today! Tomorrow, we drive 470 miles, to Iowa, where we'll be staying for one night as a simple stopping point before we hit South Dakota on the next day. As they say in Chinese, 再見. Or, in English, goodbye.