Day Twenty Nine

I forgot to mention yesterday that that total Rivian’s seen is up to 19, I won round three of the alphabet game (competitive much?!) and we saw a North Dakota license plate, Hawaii you are the last one standing! The KOA campsite was close to the train tracks and after 10 pm about 4 or 5 trains went through including them using their very noisy horns, not disruptive at all! Then we had people pull up into the site next to us at midnight…grrr! Needless to say what with it being noisy and hot I didn’t get a great night’s sleep, Bill on the other hand heard none of it and slept absolutely fine, story of my life!! It was actually raining when we woke up, kinda cool to lie in the tent and listen to it. It’s Bill’s 50 birthday today!! I showed him the birthday video of all the messages people had made, thank you to all of you that sent a message and thank you James for putting them all together. I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast and then we packed up to head off into St. Louis for the day. We had tickets to go up The Gateway Arch and on a Riverboat Cruise, with that we got a special parking rate of $6.40 for the whole day! What a deal, as parking in a city is normally a complete rip off! We had some time before the arch tour so bought some sandwiches and went and sat in the park, it was lovely and peaceful, I had a snooze, we read our books and then a church group of noisy teenagers and little kids descended on our patch of grass and the peace was no more! There is a museum underneath the arch which was very interesting “The museum shares St. Louis’s role in United States history, from the city’s founding in 1764 to the completion of the Gateway Arch in 1965. During a nationwide competition in 1947-48, architect Eero Saarinen’s inspired design for a stainless steel arch was chosen as a perfect monument to the spirit of the western pioneers. The Gateway Arch is a 630-foot-tall monument in St. Louis, Missouri. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world’s tallest arch and Missouri’s tallest accessible building.” The 4 minute ride up the arch was a little strange, we were in a pod type elevator car, not for anyone who might be slightly claustrophobic! “A special one of a kind elevator will take you to the top observation deck by going up one of the Arch legs. Since the legs of the arch are curved a very different type of elevator had to be invented just for the Arch. It is a combination of an elevator, Ferris wheel, and escalator that we call the tram.” We could see Busch Stadium ballpark from the top, this is where the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team play their home games. It really is an amazing feat of engineering. We then went down to the river front and waited for our paddle boat tour, which was a perfect opportunity for Bill to have a birthday beer! It was fun to see the city from the river, sadly the boat wasn’t actually powered by steam to move the paddle like in the olden days. Our hotel was 5 minutes away and luckily had valet parking so the truck and bikes would be safe overnight, we were slightly concerned about parking it in the city. Damn ‘The Last Hotel’ was swanky! A very nice birthday/anniversary treat for us both! We went up to the rooftop pool and had drinks and appetizers and watched the sunset. I had a Mudslide slushy of all things! It was a saltwater pool which is so much nicer than your standard, overly chlorinated pool. I asked at the bar if a piece of chocolate cake could be sent up from the restaurant for Bill’s birthday and the bartender said ” Oh if it’s his birthday they’ll give him a pice of cake” and went off and got a piece for him…I brought the candles and lighter and the celebration was complete! We’re off to Normal, Illinois tomorrow to visit the Rivian Factory, such a romantic thing to do on our 27th wedding anniversary! Then we’ll be continuing onto Dayton, Ohio which is a stop point on our way to visit Russ and Sunna in State College, Pennsylvania on Friday.

Bill Here, I just want to thank everyone who made a recording wishing me a happy birthday! I was very moved and thankful to have so many great friends!! I hope to share a drink in celebration with all of you soon! Special shout out to the Newells! You have outdone yourselves! 🙂