Day 2 of Trip - St Louis to Tulsa OK

I will post the pictures of the wedding later on - - was a great time!!
Onward West!!

Where Lewis and Clark Departed WEST!

First Stop was the departure point for the second most famous westward journey - Lewis and Clark.  We found the spot they departed from on the Mississippi river banks and reflected on how lucky we were to have a car and roads!  Although I think it would have been cool to have traversed the wilderness as they did, the fact that we can re-create the westward journey in a matter of days now is good enough for me.  From there was a short jaunt up to the Chain of Rocks Bridge.  This was the bridge where Route 66 crossed the Mighty Mississippi River for most of its existence.  The weird part - not only is it still there and in operation as a pedestrian bridge, but it has a bend in the middle.  Now I am not talking a curve, there are plenty of bridges with curves - I mean a bonafied bend.  28 degrees to be more specific.  The story's range from engineering mishap to states (Illinois and Missouri) starting construction on their respective ends and meeting in the middle, not exactly matching up.  From what we heard though, it was done on purpose in order to allow for river traffic - as the river is rather treacherous in that stretch, and shipping up and down the mississippi was, and is still, a vital transportation lane for the counrty.  That said - is a beautiful bridge - off the beatten path, with a stretch of old route 66 leading up to it.  Was our first real taste of the "old road."

From there it was on to downtown St Louis to see the Arch - Gateway to the West.  Now Sean and I have an ongoing debate as to weather or not St Louis is in the Midwest.  Being from Michigan - I never thought it was, was more of a "plains state" if you will.  Most St Louians however will debate me on this, and think I am crazy.  I always point to the arch and say - "you call it the Gateway to the west,,, it is on the easternmost point in your state, you are not in the midwest, you lose.  This usually stifles them, but occasionally I will get a comment about how that was before most of the westward expansion of the country and maybe they didnt start out in the midwest, but are now due to the fact that there is so much more land west of them.  If Mizzou ever gets accepted into the big 10 I will have to re-evaluate my thinking on this one, but until that happens, you will have to "show me" a better argument.
Enough on that, we went to the arch - parking was interesting to say the least.  There was a guy with his hand out down for some cash to park on an access road near the river, and I mean NEAR,  The cars were parked on an pretty steep angle down into the water of the mississippi!!  My head wasnt good with this, what if tide comes in, its a river stupid, ok good with that.....what if the car rolls back and floats away into the river, OK parking break!!! haha, I guess this situation is why they make that thing I never use...  besides, its a rental, so really $500 bucks is the worst they can hit me for, lets go for it!!!  Up the stairs and to the Arch Park, past all the suckers that parked in the garage half a mile away.....I have outsmarted you!!

The line to go up in was pretty long so we decided to skip and go out and take some pictures instead.  Was a beautiful day and couldnt have asked for better weather.  Even got to see another Lewis and Clark Statue down by the river!  I really do love those guys!  Lacledes landing is down in this part of town as well.  Ox and Aaron might remember a debocherous night spent down by the river on cobblestone streets, or maybe like me they dont remeber, but being back there brought back the nostalga of those ballpark trips we took each summer when we were younger.
The courthouse in the background was striking (was where the Dred Scott Case was heard), and is really a great set-up.  St Louis,,, midwest or not, did a great job on this park.  

Was time go get back in the car and on our way our of town.  Back to the car strategically parked close by down at the river, hop in and......wait, the car isnt able to get out of the space.  The stupid little rental car, dosent have the balls to carry us and all of our luggage up the incline out back onto the street.  I shimmy it back, and gun it forward, spinning the tires in the process,,,, nothing.  OK low gear - that is the ticket!!  again - nothing but spinning tires.  Carrie jumps out to assess the situation,,, not good, have about a foot till in the river....
At this point we have a meriad of spectators watching from a walkway above, obviously the same folks I had so badly defeated with my parking masterpiece previously.....not such a bad idea to hit the garage now was it!!!  To the rescue a 5'2" 60 year old Indian man.  "You drive I push" he says, to which I reply " Thanks man, but you drive, I got into this mess"  No- you go I help.
Here we go, pedal to the floor, and with the aide of my new found re-incarnated friend,,,,,,We are OUT!! ha ha!! Safe at last!!!! I get out to shake the mans hand and notice that the crowd has grown exponentially, to my shagrin.  Fathers explaining to their kids why they had to park at the garage and walk all that way.  From a distance, I hear on of them yell - "hey is your parking break on?"  to which I revert back to my parking panic state of mind in the first place.....The old man watches as I reach over and release the beast that had thwarted my attempts at freeing the car from the clutches of the Mississippi,,, and calmly says "Don't admit that to them - forget them,,,see you later."
Carrie Immediately bursts into laughter at the situation, RJ - the master of driving - has fouled up pretty terribly- and there was a crowd there to witness it.  Sadly, or fortunately, depending on which side of the steering wheel you were on that day, Carrie didnt get the video camera out in time to tape the debacle.  So you will have to let your minds eye re-create the hillarity that ensued there that day, in the shadow of my heroe's Lewis and Clark.
Next Stop ted drews custard stand - for some frozen custard.  Plugged the address into Garmin and we were off!!  Through the ghetto of southwest St Louis arose an old time ice cream stand - which - sadly was closed till noon that day.  Got a picture and sadly, without sticky fingers or ice cream stains on our shorts, we were back on the road.

Just outside town lives the original monster truck - Big Foot!!  Swung by and snapped a picture, mostly for Carries dad, whom I thought would get a kick out of it.  On past the hot and cold water towers, and over to the worlds largest fork!!  Thats right, for those of you that know me, this is kind of a big deal, as I dont use spoons.  Had there been a worlds largest spoon on the route, we would have stopped, just so that I could give it the finger, and if no one was looking, well never mind, I am sure there would have been a bathroom close.....

From there the Route jumps over into Kansas for about 18 miles, where we took the route through the state the whole way.  Came upon this old gas station, being renovated by "4 girls on the route" who had turned it into a gift shop.  Sadly - as was sunday evening, it too was closed.  So we continued on our way, over a couple of the original bridges and sections of the old route.  Driving this stretch really does transport you back in time, there are rarely other cars on the road, and when you do see them- you are usually greeted with a wave, something not familiar to many of us anymore, most unfortunately.

Upon exiting Kansas for Oklahoma, the sun was beginning to set and I knew that we had two really important stops left, so we had to step on it.
First was the worlds largest totem pole.  It sits right in this guys yard, and I got the feeling they were watching us out the window as we wandered around and took a few pictures.  Cant just drive past the worlds largest anything without stopping.....right?  

Back into the car and onto the last stop for the day, a stature commemorating Andy Payne, who in 1928 won a cross country race from Los Angeles to New York City.  That was quite a ways further than we were even DRIVING on our cross country journey, and Andy RAN it!!!
The plaque said it took him a little over three months to complete the journey, 3,422.3 miles total.  Good Grief.  We bounced on into Tulsa and spent the night there, but only after my SECOND screw up of the night.  I took us to the wrong hotel......who knew that Tulsa had more than one Raddison near the airport?? Not this guy I can tell you that, so 20 minutes later - we were at the right hotel, and hit the sack for the night, Oklahoma and Texas tomorrow!!!!