Left so early this am, that I decided to let Tony drive. I figured how much damage could he do? After all, it's Kansas, flat and straight, on I-70. So, TZ finally got to drive the big rig - he did 100 miles before I took over. But, 10 minutes into his drive, it was Tony vs Bird, and it's TZ 1, Bird 0. He thought it was very funny, I said "Get your own material".
Kansas City was a fun stop. Known as The City of Fountains, it's very clean - not a shred of paper in the gutters. There's a section called Country Club Plaza, a 14 square block outdoor shopping district. It's the first surburban shopping center in the country - 180+ shops and restaurants. Built in 1922, it survived the Depression, and the floods of 1977. Blocks of stores were destroyed, but the merchants rallied and their clean-up allowed the annual Art Fair to open 10 days later. It was a symbol of the spirit of Kansas City. Today, you'll see designer shoe and clothes boutiques, chocolatiers, salons, fine jewelers, with a variety of restaurants from Chicago Uno, to Ruth's Chris Steak House. The architecture is Spanish, with beautiful courtyards, red tile roofs, and ornate towers. There is patterned brickwork on the sidewalks, and just about every store is represented.
We drove east to St. Louis, city of The Gateway Arch, area of the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
This was the starting point for the Lewis & Clark Westward Expedition in 1803, after Napoleon sold the Louisiana Territory to the US for $15 million, doubling its size. Led by Merriweather Lewis, President Jefferson's Secretary, and William Clark, Lewis' colleague, the group sailed up the Missouri against the current, for what was in their time, comparable to a journey to the moon. The President asked Lewis to document all scientific discoveries, such as foliage and flora, and Clark was to map the entire trip. The expedition took 2 years to reach the Pacific Ocean, via the Rocky Mountains and finally the Columbia River, and 6 months to return. Along the way, they met up with various Native American Indian Tribes, who for the most part, were helpful in guiding the group in the correct direction. In thanks, Lewis & Clark gave the tribal leaders coins and trinkets. The group was instrumental in providing vital information for future explorations westward. People were astonished to see the group return, less one Sargent who died on the trip, as they all were feared dead. It was truly an amazing journey in the development of our country.
We took a tiny tram up to the top of the Gateway Arch.
This phenomenal piece of engineering is 630 feet high, and took 2.5 years to build. We saw a film on how it was made, piece by piece, but what amazed me was that the workers so high up, were not tethered in any way to the arch or scaffolding, and not one person was lost during the construction.
The tram is a tiny bucket which holds 5 people:
The view from the top is spectacular:
Tony says between this and The Skywalk over the Grand Canyon, I can forget anything else except terra firma.
We continue to head east, towards Brookfield CT. Turned 6000 miles for the trip so far. Passed through 2 states today,
and tomorrow we have one more stop - in Columbus, Ohio - to see a friend. Then, we're almost home.
Saw Patty & Gary Mann, and their family, in Columbus Ohio. Tony met Gary in Viet Nam, so it was one more Helicopter Crew reunion on our trip.
Tomorrow we start the final leg of our trip, through Pennsylvania, New York, and finally Connecticut!
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