the impressive Gateway Arch in St. Louis
National Park Service visitor center underground beneath the arch
tourists enjoying the park around the arch on the Mississippi River
Traveling west this weekend to join Buddy in Kansas. A two-day road trip that took me across the mighty Mississippi river and into the heart of St. Louis. I stopped there for the night to see the Gateway Arch up close. Having seen it in the past from the expressway going 70 miles an hour does not do it justice.
The virtual and literal Gateway to the West is an awesome structure. It is the tallest man-made monument in the United States and part of the National Park Service's Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.
Construction stats - 886 tons of stainless steel 1/4" thick, total steel 5199 tons, total concrete 38,107 tons, built from 1963-1965, more NPS stats found here.
I didn't go from sea to shining sea this weekend, but I did go from the mountains to the plains, now here in the heartland. I saw a few hills, a lot of picturesque farms, and even a couple of barn quilts from the expressway. A beautiful country we have here, and no better way to see it than an old fashioned road-trip!
