Jeff and Serena US Road Trip: Indiana, Missouri, and driving westward

Tuesday, 10/23

Uneventful day. We left Washington, D.C. at 7:45 a.m. Because we left DC to the north, we skipped Virginia and drove 712 miles through Maryland, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Eleven hours of driving and we ended up in Bedford, IN with Jeff’s high school buddy James and his wife Linda.

Here is one of the drawings Serena did as Jeff was driving today.

Wednesday, 10/24

Relaxing day hanging out with our friends James and Linda in Bedford, IN.

Jeff has known James since middle school.

Serena did some more drawing today inspired by things around the house.

Nothing in the house looks like this but that’s where the inspiration came from.

Thursday, 10/25

Jeff helped with a small project at the house and then we had another relaxed day.

Friday, 10/26

Left Bedford, IN this a.m. and drove to Terre Haute. We had brunch with Serena’s 4th grade teacher who also performed our wedding ceremony 21 years ago.

From Terre Haute we went to St. Louis, MO.

Along the way we did NOT stop in Casey, IL to see the world’s largest Rocking Chair (or the other seven items that are in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the largest of their kind). https://www.enjoyillinois.com/travel-illinois/big-things-in-a-small-town/

Our friends in Crested Butte recommended seeing the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis and that was our first stop. Wow! 41.5 million pieces of glass are in the mosaics that cover 83,000 square feet inside the building.

All the pieces that sparkle like gold do have gold leaf in the glass.

Then we went to the Gateway Arch which we learned is a monument to the US westward expansion following Lewis & Clark’s trek westward. It was late in the day so mostly we only had time for the movie. Unlike most national parks this movie has an admission price. It was all about how the arch was built and was very cool (also a bit scary to watch the workers hundreds of feet in the air without safety lines - no one died during the project, despite the expected/projected loss of 13 workers.

This artwork shows the arch near completion with the center brace, the final piece being hoisted, and persons instrumental to the project.

We proceeded across the river to East St. Louis, IL and a vast asphalt RV park at the Casino Queen. It’s nothing special but it is very convenient.

Saturday, 10/27

We drove back to Missouri this morning and took a ride to the top of the Arch. We arrived a bit after they opened at 9:00 a.m. so no line for security and we had about 30 minutes to look at the museum. The tram cars that go to the top are tiny little 5-person pods. Definitely could be claustrophobic for some people. The ride to the top is 4 minutes (3 minutes on the way back down). Once at the top the views are expansive but after looking out the windows and taking a couple of pictures there’s not much else to do but line up to go back down.

Door is 4’ tall and ~2’ wide. The interior is curved and tiny.

This is us 630’ above St. Louis.

The Old Courthouse across from Arch Park.

We didn’t know until staff at the visitor desk told us but tomorrow is the 53rd anniversary of the finishing of the arch. Today there is a “Meet the Builders” event. Jeff bought a $1 poster then went around the table and got all their autographs. It was pretty cool to be here today.

Gateway Arch is a monument to US westward expansion following Lewis & Clark’s trek westward. At 630’ tall it is the tallest monument in the US.

It appears incredibly fragile and the idea of going up to the top was a bit scary until we watched the film. The exterior is double welded ¼” plates of stainless steel. It’s hollow for the tramway and maintenance staircase but the walls are filled with concrete and reinforcing steel cables. The sides at the base are 54’ each. The final piece at the peak is 17’ on each side.

We spent the rest of today (12-7pm) driving west on Highway 44. We covered about 500 miles and have a similar drive tomorrow. We ended up today just after full dark in Edmond, OK city park campground (and got the senior’s camping rate!).

Sunday, 10/28

Another day of driving westward. We went across the top narrow portion of Texas where they farm a lot of wind. Don’t know where all that power goes; it doesn’t seem likely that the cows and fields we’re passing are using it.

Friends from Santa Cruz moved to the outskirts of Albuquerque, NM not long before we left on this trip so we added a visit there to our itinerary.