St. Louis...Home of the Arch!

We ran down to the Arch area after we checked in the motel on Tuesday night.  None of the arch pictures turned out but here's one of the riverboat docks.

We are still trying to adjust back to Central time at this point.  The motel desk clerk recommended waiting until after 9:00 to try and go downtown...here's an example why.

 

You can see the Arch from quite a distance away...beckoning.

Finding a parking place was a bit of a trial.  Not because they're weren't any spaces but because we had that cool looking topper on the van.  It was too high for the normal lots so they sent us down to the riverfront...

Yep, that's the mighty Mississippi river in the background!

The Arch is very impressive.  It is amazing from just a technological standpoint.  The technological obstacles they had to overcome to build it, transport folks to the top, create a museum, etc. were fairly large.  After going to the top we watched a documentary on the construction.  Nathan and I were both shocked when they said the margin of error was 1/64th of an inch.  That will grab your attention!

The boys were in rare form right off the bat...

That's the old courthouse in the background...more about that later.

Then they settled down for a nice picture.

Then it was to the top...

Cool little cars take you up.

What a view.  Little scary that you have to actually lay on your belly to see out the little windows.  It's a long way down.  Here's a picture of the shadow.

And of the gentlemen at the top...

Pretty tight up there.

We also went over to the Old Courthouse.  This was where the Dred Scott case was originally tried.  This case eventually lead to the outbreak of the Civil War.  What a beautiful building, inside and out.

Next, it was on the road again...at least for a while.

Illinois was uneventful. Wish I could say the same for Indiana.  We got off the interstate at Evansville to eat and I knew there was something wrong with the van.  We made it to a hotel for the night and the van is in the shop now.  Still waiting for an official opinion.  It is certainly the transmission but we don't know how severe at this point.  The Lord worked it all out though.  From what they guy at the shop said, there's nothing from Evansville to Louisville so the Lord had us stop in the right area.  The Lord is good!  I'll update when I have more information.