Great Plains Adventure Day 9

I realize that Missouri is considered more of a Midwest state than a Great Plains state, but for the sake of continuity, I shall continue calling our trip our Great Plains Adventure.

Today all the FIRST Lego League festivities wrapped up.  This afternoon was the awards ceremony in which Pi POD did not win any awards, but agreed that the whole experience was AMAZING!  Once again, thank you to everyone who made it possible.

Today we went to the most distinguishing landmark in St. Louis-- the Gateway Arch.  Up close it is so much bigger than I imagined!  Abe does not like heights, but he was a brave boy and went anyway.

Here we are - squished into a space ship about to be shot into space.  

Not really, but that's what we told Cannon to make it seem more fun to be in a tiny enclosed pod jerkily making our way 630 ft up the arch.  It was partly very cool and partly very freaky.  So the trick was to be fully present and enjoy the moment while mentally checking out and pretending it wasn't really happening.  

It's kind of the same mental trick I do when I'm having a baby.

Here we are at the top.  It was quite crowded and stuffy up there, it swayed ever so slightly and any fear of heights or tight spaces combined to make one anxious to get back into the pod and get back down ASAP.   We all agreed to head back down sooner rather than later. 

All that said, we're glad we went up.  It is an engineering phenomenon.  And you all know how much I know about engineering phenomenons.

"We must touch the great Mississippi River". 

It was interesting to see the River overflowing it's banks. 

 No one here seems concerned about it, but this river is huge and I think the natives should be more concerned.  But you know how much I know about rivers flooding.

 Previously I wrote about how traitorous we felt in going to the St. Louis Zoo without Clark.  We purposefully did not go into the reptile house out of respect.  We had a bit of time before our ticket time for the Arch, so we revisited the zoo.  Abe stayed in the car with the little people (parking is very expensive and we're getting tired of toting them around) and Clark, Bethany, Elinor and I booked it as fast as we could to the herpetarium. 

Lego robotics and World Festivals are cool and everything, but I guess the Reptile House is where it's at!

As we finish up our time in St. Louis we are pretty worn out.   Everyone's feet are tired and aching and no one has gotten enough sleep.   Except maybe George-- he can't walk and he happily falls asleep wherever.  

Abe and I are looking forward to a long days drive tomorrow to rest up for the next leg of the trip.  If all goes well we'll be sleeping in Sioux Falls, SD tomorrow night, then on to Rapid City. 

End note:  We will not be wearing Pi POD shirts in anymore pictures on this trip.