We have so enjoyed Missouri. Last night we went to Creve Coeur Lake, which is west of the city. There is a 4 mile walking path around the lake and there were tons of people out, biking, roller blading, sailing, rowing, and walking. It was a beautiful late afternoon and it was refreshing to get outside and move since I had been holed up all day long in training. Even though the city and area is considered southern, there are tons of people from all over the world living here. We have had fun exploring the big city.
Today after checking out we went to Chain of Rocks bridge. It is one of the longest walking bridges in the world being one mile one way. It connects Missouri and Illinois and spans the mighty Mississippi which means Big River, named by the Indians of long ago. The bridge is part of Route 66 and the bridge has a bend to it. I briefly read it had something to do with the land placement, but I should look it up to learn exactly why. It was overcast at first and kinda droopy in mood, but after we got over the river, my mood lifted. The Mississippi looks so powerful. It actually scares the crap out of me. While we were walking toward the Missouri side we were met by a bicycle which was a triple seat and it had a dad, mom and young son riding on it. After I passed I wished I had taken their picture. On our return to the Illinois side they were parked and we got to talk with them. They are from California and they are biking across America. They are the Williams family and their blog is: Tripleontour.blogspot.com. We talked with them for a little while and learned their son is 9 and after they finish up on the coast of Virginia they ar going to spend the holidays in North Carolina with relatives and then head off to either Australia or New Zealand.
We drove on Great River Road along the Mississippi all the way to Cape Giraldeau. We drove all thru the farmlands of Illinois and then into Kentucky and we crossed at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. That was stunning. Before that we went thru Maeystown, Illinois. I had read on the internet it was a neat little community of German descent and it sounded like it had many shops and restaurants. Upon arrival the tiny community had some great stone buildings dating back to the 1800's but it was tiny, no shops, no restaurants and the few buildings that were there many of them were for sell. The landscape was beautiful though. Many of the private homes had chickens in their front yard or under their porch. They were beautiful.
The area had small bluffs and there was mining going on. Tons of farming. It was neat to see that area of the country. It always amazes me to see the levees along the Mississippi. We saw water lines where the Mississippi has flooded. Man just can't control it.
We are staying in Paducah, Kentucky and tomorrow I hope we travel home by way of Land Between the Lakes.

Doug and I spent our 2nd day in St. Louis today. Yesterday it rained and rained and rained, but we still went to the St. Louis Basilica and Union Station. Both were beautiful and full of history. Union Station back in the day was one of the largest and busiest train stations in the nation and it was where Harry Truman held up the famous newspaper announcing him the winner in the Presidential election against Dewey. The Basilica is the largest mosaic art exhibit in the US. It took over 70 years to construct it. The guy who conducted the tour was a good Catholic and was so interesting. We ate at a place Vito's. The pizza was yummy. A young guy waited on us and I felt like he wanted to sit down and visit with us. It was kinda nice and annoying at the same time. We awoke to rain, but didn't let it keep us from our sightseeing. We first went to the Missouri History Museum. The Charles Lindbergh exhibit was my favorite. It was fascinating. St. Louis is full of history and I would enjoy spending an entire week here seeing all the things there is to see. We then went to the Arch. I wanted so badly to go there yesterday, but because of the rain we didn't. But seeing it for the first time driving toward the city was thrilling to me. I never thought I would get to see it. I don't know why I have thought that. But I was so excited to see it. Walking toward it and standing at the base was mind boggling. We didn't have to wait at all to go up. We were told it could take hours to get to go, but I guess because of the yucky weather there weren't many people going up. Doug and I were fortunate because we didn't have to share the tram ride up or down with anyone. The little car could hold five people and we had it all to ourselves. After that we went to the museum, which was interesting, but by that point we both were museumed out. We then went to Charlie Gitto's restaurant. It is a 3rd generation Italian restaurant. Our waiter was Steve and he made recommendations to us. We both had the same dish (shocker) and it was AMAZING. Charlie Gitto's has famous people come in all the time. Today while we were there Mark Sweeny was there.
We then went to the old courthouse where Dred Scott sued for his freedom. It has a cast iron dome. It was beautiful.
Tomorrow I begin the training that brought us to St. Louis and Doug gets two more days to sightsee. I'm looking forward to more. It has been such a fun time.