Go East, retired man

The circle is starting back, as we head east for the first time since Atlanta. It's somehow fitting that we do that by going backward through the Gateway of the West - St. Louis, Missouri. And even more fitting that we mark the occasion by ascending in the Gateway Arch (real name: Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) which we first observed (almost 32 years ago to the day) as we drove west on our honeymoon. The Arch is 630 feet above the Mississippi River, built in 1965. You ascend in a small (about 5' high) tram car that takes 4 minutes to reach the top where you can then look 50 miles east and west. A brief side trip before St. Louis had continued our literary tour, this time to the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, known for the "Little House" book series, who lived most of her 90 years in this house. The visit gave a new appreciation for the books, and introduced me to her daughter - Rose Wilder Lane - who was also quite the writer. Her "most famous novel" was "When the Hurricane Blows" aka "The Young Pioneers". She was a news correspondent right up to the Vietnam War before her death in 1968.
PS: IF YOU WANT TO READ THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIP POSTS, SCROLL DOWN AND SELECT "OLD POSTS". THE PICTURES ALL STAY IN ORDER, BUT THE POSTS DON'T.