Saint Louis and Other Stuff

It's been a bit since we've been able to update, so here's what you've missed.  We wrapped things up at the campground outside of Saint Louis by going to see the petroglyphs (rock carvings).  The signs made a big deal about how cool they were and all the neat symbols you could see.  As I predicted, it was a disappointment.  Hannah put it best when she described the experience by saying, "I feel like I'm looking at a sonogram."

Anyway, we drove an hour and a half up to Saint Louis and powered through the whole city in a day.  We got to the arch and went to the top to see all the cools views.  Also, I've never seen Hannah so excited as when we got to the arch...she started speaking pure nonsense when we arrived.

(Hannah is the small person standing on the left side of the arch)

(See the clump of bushes and trees on the right side of the picture?  I had to hide my pocket knife over there because the folks at the metal detectors told me I couldn't bring it in.)

It's very easy to get away with free parking in Saint Louis...I guess the meter maids have their hands full and can't make their rounds very quickly.

Next, we went to City Museum, which is a 10 story building that has taken recycled stuff from landfills and made a obstacle-course-like play place.  There are not really any rules and you can just climb wherever you wish.  Some areas are better for young kids to play (we're talking like 16" diameter tunnels that run for 40 or more feet), and others are designed for big kids like Hannah and I to play on.

(Here's a good example of what the place looks like...doesn't that look easy to navigate?  We saw plenty of panicked parents telling their children it was time to go...the poor kids helplessly replied that they had no idea how to get out.)

(I think this is a smart way to break kids of their fear of heights.) 

There is also a 10 story slide which is exactly what it sounds like.  Here's a video of me going down it...I think the only thing you can really gather from this terrible bit of footage is that it's long and fast.  Oh and you end up down in a dark, basement-like area, so not only are you terribly dizzy, but you can't see a thing until your eyes adjust.

After this we went and grabbed lunch at a killer meat and three place called Sweetie Pie's, drove around the city some more, and got some frozen custard at Ted Drew's (thanks Justin for the suggestion).

Finally, we drove through East Saint Louis, which is known for its extreme poverty and some of the worst performing schools in the country.  It wasn't so much dangerous looking (there are sketchier places to be found in Spartanburg), but it was hopelessly poor...for example, most of the stoplights in the area weren't working and they had just tacked up stop signs at all these intersections.

We drove to our campground near Springfield, Illinois and enjoyed a nice view of a bath-water warm lake (nicer to see than play in).  

There's lots of corn around here.

Today we move on to Chicago.  We'll spend the night there tonight and tomorrow night and play in around the city during the day.  On Friday, the day we leave, we're hoping to catch a Cubs game, then drive to a campsite in Indiana alongside Lake Michigan.  From there, we'll finally start heading south again.