Sunday, June 28, 2009

Turn and face the strange, cha' cha' changes...

We are less than ten miles from the bridge into St. Louis. Much of the day we spent huddled under the scattered shade seeking relief from the hottest day of the year. At five-thirty we got back on the road and were walking past a church whose digital message board read a temperature of 107. Then the pastors son came inviting us to have a drink of cold water. We had been drinking hot water for hours, so I was thankful. First, they allowed me to hose Nice (the dog) down, as he had just jumped in a pool of ditch water to cool off and was half black and half brown.

After a meal for us both and a bath we were off to Pontoon Beach, population 6900. We were soon met by Lt. Dan of the Police Dept. who offered us every courtesy and gave us directions to Chain of Rocks bridge where we will be as soon as this rain storm and wind allow us to move from this overhang at the food mart gas pumps. A nasty storm it was. Now it is raining with a steady wind that will keep me from moving. It was raining so hard the bugs were finding refuge on me. Some even crawled in my pant leg (they did not survive the journey) to get out of the rain.

Being stuck here has afforded me the opportunity to answer questions from the large clan named "Curious", many whose first names are "Just".

We will make it to the bridge in the morning one way or another. If not for the reputation of East St. Louis we would already be at "The Gateway" and be working our way through the sights of Louisville, Kentucky's Sister City of St. Louis. This detour has been thirty miles on this side of the river alone. That translates to several days for us.

The wind has seemed to let up and I have miles to go before I sleep.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good luck on your journey. I hope you made it to the Chain Of Rocks bridge before this morning in time for the festivial. Hope you and Nice enjoyed the Red Robin.

Amanda Lupardus

Unknown said...

Yep; we met him at the trailnet.org "birthday bash." He was there most of the day! ;->

Unknown said...

So I suppose that Monday's walk will be along the Riverfront Trail -- Chain of Rocks, South, to the Arch. 11 miles:

http://www.trailnet.org/trail_details.php?ID=76

(Page lists locations in South-to-North order, from the Arch. He'll be going in the opposite direction.)

Unknown said...

Things to do in down town Saint Louis (at the arch)...

The Arch -- the "Jefferson National Expansion Memorial", run by the U.S. National Park Service
http://www.nps.gov/jeff/
$10 elevator trip; $7 movie.

The City Museum
http://www.citymuseum.org/
$12 + $5 for access to "The Roof".
(The bar in the log house is accessible without paying admission, if you want to go cheap. ;-)

The Trailnet office at 1533 Washington Ave. (same block as The City Museum) -- for "Ride The Rivers Century" map to get you across the Missouri river along a low-traffic route. It's a route that hits the North side of Forest Park -- where you can visit the Saint Louis Zoo.

I can offer a number of suggestions, if you wish.