Friday, 7/11/97
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At 6:00 AM, Bob woke up before the alarm clock, ate breakfast and emptied all the necessities
out of the Beast in case the shop needed to keep it for several days. At 7:30 am, Brennan is awakened so he knows that Bob is driving
the Beast to the dealer. The dealer has the car on the lift by 8 am, and has answers by 9 am. A missing nut here on this bracket,
that fitting incorrectly installed, that manifold misrouted so that it rubs here, ...
All due to improper reassembly.
All repairs are finished by 9:30 am, the
Dealer is paid $80 for his work, and the Beast is back to shifting properly at all speeds.
The squeak is silent. There is joy in Mudville.
Brennan and Bob re-pack the Beast with all the stuff that can't ride in the trailer when it is closed up for towing
and are on the road toward St.
Louis by 10:30 am EDT. Brennan
takes the first two hours driving, says it drives like a dream. With gas and
lunch stops and time zone change, we are in St. Louis RV Campground by 4:30 pm. We set up the trailer, got cleaned up, and headed for Union
Station, a former grandiose train station turned into upscale shopping mall and entertainment complex.
There were two primary reasons that Bob wanted to go back to Union Station after many years away. Alas, both the National Parks Store and Boston's
Seafood Restaurant were both gone. But we did see a performance of Crowd Manipulation
and Entertaining done by the talented staff of The Fudgery. They got everyone
laughing, hand clapping, singing and most important, buying fudge. Then outdoors
behind the shopping mall but still inside the enormous roof structure of the original Union Station, we watched a live rock
band give a concert with lots-a-watts. Then had dinner in a nice Mexican style
restaurant.
We then got in the car and drove downtown to the River Front and found a parking lot near the base of the Gateway to
the West Arch. The huge chrome handle looks ready to be used by some future giant
to pick up St. Louis. We stood
below, directly below the Arch as the sun set, then walked inside the underground Visitor Center. We bought
tickets to the next showing of the IMAX theater showing of "The Great American West", along with tram tickets for the ride
to the top of the Arch for a night view.
We again sat in the center of the 3rd row. Great views of the West that
we were working so hard to get to, and great reenactments of the pioneer events that preceded us a century or so ago, such
as the Lewis and Clark Expedition, filmed where the scenery matched what the director had in mind. So, there were the stalwart explorers with Sacagawea, looking West into the Grand Teton Range ... Hollywood
does not care that the expedition passed north of Yellowstone, never close enough to see any part of the Teton Range.
But the movie was enjoyable and even intriguing in places. The opening
even built some suspense as we tried to figure out why we were watching a fancy carriage rushing along cobble stone streets
lead by a mounted escort, then out into the countryside to a castle-like mansion. Not
what you would expect in the time of Jefferson's presidency in this newly developing country. But, then you realize that it is in France that the well dressed gentleman climbs quickly from the coach as it stops at the mansion. He is greeted and escorted to a short man alone in a large, well furnished room. The short man gives the gentleman permission to speak. "Mr.
Jefferson says the cash offer still stands." The short man asks if there is any
reason not to sell the land. Is it worth anything? The gentleman is noncommittal, "Nobody knows what is there. It
is largely unexplored." So with a shrug of his shoulders, Napoleon signed the
bill of sale, and Jefferson's United States of America had bought the Louisiana Purchase.
After the movie, we join one of the last groups for the night to be allowed to ride the tram up to the view area, 620
feet above the ground. To understand what the tram ride is like, try to imagine
five human sardines sitting face to face, hunched over to keep from bopping their heads on the low ceiling of the "tram car". There are ten doorways in the wall of the loading stairway. Behind each door is one of these tram cars. You can't tell
from outside how small the cars actually are. But when you stoop over and step
through the narrow portal, you feel like you have just entered an igloo for pigmies.
There are five saddle seats inside, two on each side and one at the back wall.
When the five seats are occupied, there are ten knees touching each other in the middle. When all ten cars have been loaded, the doors close and the tram begins to move along a vertically curving
track that makes the car bump and shift and creak. Everyone in the car takes
turns telling dark humor jokes about the ride... except one ashen faced lady at the back.
