St. Louis

8/17/00
I get up early and drive from Limon CO to Manhattan, KS. Camp at Tuttle Creek state park, and hear cicadas and crickets for the first time in a long time. It's humid tonight, a regular midwestern summer. I'm tired from a long drive.

8/18/00
I drive from Manhattan to my sister's house in Elsah, Illinois, on the Mississippi river just upstream of St. Louis.

I was delayed by about a half hour due to traffic problems in Columbia, MO, of all places. We eat dinner at Just Desserts in Elsah, and talk with my nieces Libby and Valerie. Pepper remembers her puppyhood in St. Louis. She perks up at O'Fallon, MO, and really gets excited as we approach Elsah. She runs around like a wild creature for a long time when she sees Cinder, her puppyhood friend and partner in crime (they conspired to dig holes in my back yard several times). We go to Wal-Mart for film developing, and ShopNSave for groceries.

8/19/00
Today we go into downtown St. Louis to go to the top of the Arch. We met my parents and my other sister and her family. Here my nieces Alison and Rebecca are at the base of the arch, looking up toward the top.

There's a wait to get to the top, so we have to get tickets and then kill time. There are lots of stairs to be counted and a long stair-rail to provide much entertainment.

After visiting the Arch, we proceed to the Anheuser Busch Brewery, a place that my Brother-in-law Stan has been requesting to visit for at least 10 years. He finally got his wish! Rebecca doesn't find it nearly so interesting, though, and she almost falls asleep.

8/20/00
Today we go to Springfield, Illinois, to visit Lincoln's tomb. There's a tradition that you're supposed to rub Lincoln's nose for good luck, so it ends up being pretty shiny.

Next, we go to New Salem, Lincoln's boyhood home. Rebecca wants to carry a camera, so I loan her my little point & shoot Olympus, which she uses to take this nice picture of a log cabin.

We go to a "blab school", where an instructor demonstrates the discipline and learning techniques of Lincoln's boyhood days. Rebecca gets very upset, and doesn't like the way the teacher yells at everyone, makes them sit up perfectly straight, shakes a hickory stick around, and humiliates students when they make a mistake.

That evening, we return to Elsah for a nice barbeque and big family dinner. After dinner the girls entertain us with several skits, and we have a little sing-along. We do OK on "American Pie".

8/21/00
We menfolk get to have fun today. We repair a couple of chainsaws and get to work felling a large damaged tree that's threatening the house and swingset. Then we all drive back to Fairfield, Illinois.

8/23/00
I took Valerie and Libby back to their home in Elsah, so they can get ready for their first day of the new school year tomorrow. I visit friends in St. Louis, and late at night, I get into a minor wreck on the Interstate.

I was rear-ended by a hit-and-run driver as I was cruising the Interstate at 60 mph in a rainstorm. The other driver must've been drunk or otherwise impaired. I was unhurt, and the van is only slightly damaged cosmetically. It was quite a shock, however, to be cruising along and get hit from behind without warning!

8/24/00
I run errands in my old hometown of Bridgeton, get the van's oil changed, and return to Fairfield at about 7:00pm. When I pull into the driveway, the girls are all excited about a baby bird that fell out of its nest. They've been feeding it worms during the day. Stan climbs a ladder and returns the bird to its nest, to try and rescue it. He's careful not to actually touch the bird.

8/25/00
Today we do lots more chain sawing. The girls go check on the bird, and find it dead. It was returned to the wrong nest.

We go to a high school football team at my alma mater, and see the Fairfield Mules lose to the Edwards County Lions. Watching the Mules lose brings back lots of familiar memories. I see quite a few of my old classmates, some of whom have high school aged children these days.

8/26/00
My aunt and uncle come over for dinner. Before dinner, we wrap a bunch of wine bottles in newspapers, have the girls write numbers on the bottles, and then have a blind wine-tasting. The most expensive bottle was voted worst, and the cheapest bottle was second worst. A merlot took first place, ahead of all the cabernets.

After dinner, we had the privilege of watching the girls perform a Britney Spears dance recital. Rebecca is displaying the appropriate bare midriff. I think the name of the song was Oops, I hit my baby one more time or something like that. I wonder whatever happened to the good old wholesome teen idols of yesteryear? Does anyone remember Michael Jackson's Ben anymore?