St. Louis Blues (as in blue from the cold weather)!!!

Inside the tram

Busch Stadium from inside the Arch

Looking up at the Arch

Cameron dressed for boat ride on the Mississippi!

It is June 3rd and it is cold here in St. Louis. Don't the weather gods know that it is June????? I know that those back in Arizona are probably thinking I am nuts, but I like the warm weather!!

St. Louis is really a great city. We are staying right downtown next to the Mississippi River and by the St. Louis Arch. We are close to Busch Stadium where the Cardinals have been playing every night that we have been here and a few blocks from Edward Jones Stadium where the St. Louis Rams play football. The Courthouse where Dred Scott went to court to ask for freedom from slavery and where Virginia Minor asked for the right to vote for women is right across the street.

Yesterday we went to the St. Louis Zoo where we got caught in a torrential rain two different times, but it was warm and humid. Apparently, there was some severe damage from this storm. We didn't experience any of that storm.

Early this morning there was a very loud sound and then a voice came over the intercom telling us to disregard the fire alarm. We are on the 16th floor and that was a bit scary!

Our plans for today were to take a river cruise and visit the Gateway Arch. Part of the plan was not to spend $30 on a sweatshirt at the gift shop at the Arch!!! I was not prepared for this as I am thinking of summer in Arizona where you only need a sweatshirt if you are heading to mountains.

The river trip was very interesting and very cold!! The Mississippi is an incredible river. And all of the history here about the Westward Movement brings back all of the reading that I did many years ago. I have always loved history.

I was in St. Louis one time before--the summer of 1965. I was a delegate to the National Y-Teen Convention in Washington D.C. that summer and we traveled on a chartered bus from El Paso to Washington. The Gateway Arch was not finished until October of 1965 and I remember being in awe of it then, even when it wasn't complete.

I had no idea that you can actually go up into the Arch in a tram. There are eight very small cars and that is probably the reason the attendant asked if anyone had claustrophobia when we bought the tickets. There are seats for five people in this little car. This tram was designed by an engineer in the 1960's.

So we all pile in this little space and proceed up to the top of the Gateway Arch....... Now you have to picture this...Cameron who is afraid of going on rides at Disneyland is actually excited. His mother is terrified!! This is our brave, confident Kerri!!! We get to the top and take a few pictures and Kerri wants to get down. As she said and when I thought about it...we are up very far in the air with nothing beneath us--as opposed to going up in the Sears Tower or Empire State Building. When she put it that way, I could see her point. So we headed back down in the very small tram car.... Kerri was very relieved when we got to the bottom and got out!!

It has been a great three days here. Tomorrow we head for Carbondale and Sonya's wedding. I am anxious to see Sonya, Lillia, Jason and her family. We are staying in a cabin in the woods called the "Little Red Barn." I don't know if we will have internet access there or not. I am just hoping it is a bit warmer (I think)!!