Old Pictures

Old pioneer pictures at Nauvoo!!

MeEt Me In St. LoUiS, LoUis!

Okay, so Chels turned sweet 16 on 6/22,

(and, of course, we had a family birthday dinner party for her.)

Let 'er blow!

 Then.... 

she abruptly got her driver's license!
(Whoa!  I forgot how nice it is to have a mobile teen--
'would you run to the store and grab me a....?)

Next on July 10th., my h.h.h. and I celebrated our 19th. anniversary.
('Can't believe it was that long ago.  
It seems almost like yesterday.)

Subsequently, it was time to take off to St. Louis where...

Craig attended the AVMA Conference.

You might just need a map to get around,
because...

St. Louis is a city where you can see Clydesdales,

 and Busch Stadium--
(U2 had a concert while we were there)

where the Cardinals play.

St. Louis is home to the Gateway Arch
which you could see
from our hotel,

from the swimming pool at our hotel,

and from just about anywhere downtown.
(The arch is huge--630 feet tall towering over the Mississippi River.)

St. Louis is also home to the courthouse

where the Dred Scott decision was made.

It's also home to the one and only, old
Tums Manufacturing Office and Plant.
(Oh, I know that made your day!)

St. Louis is a city of unique archectecture.
(The whole city just about burnt down in 1849,
so they made an ordinance that
buildings had to be made of stone or brick.)



Right across from our hotel, we just by chance noticed this stone plaque.
This is site of the first building used by the Mormon Church 
from 1854 to 1857.
(Whereas MO was quite antagonistic towards LDS members,
St. Louis was an oasis offering jobs and acceptance.)
Cool!



St. Louis has a lot of hotels,

fountains,

and a free zoo!
(Craig and N8 shown here looking for some proper head adornment.
The temps were in the 100's.
The humidity was 80+%--
together giving a "feels like" reading of 133 degrees!
Can you say "sweat"?)

The St. Louis Zoo is located in an area called
"Forest Park".

The area was built for the 1904 World's Fair.

Forest Park is over 1 1/2 times as big as Central Park.

The zoo and all of the museums there have free admissions which is really great!
(11 of the Fortune 500 companies are located in St. Louis.
They must donate a lot of $$$$$.)

Ahhh, misters!

Zebras!

This is Chelsie in front of the Art Museum.

Aluminum...

tree huggers!

The museum had oodles of amazing paintings--Renoir, Matisse, Cezanne,  Monet, Picasso...
along with armor, Egyptian artifacts, and more.
How great is that?

The Art Museum is the only building at Forest Park
that remains from the 1904 World's Fair
(along with this waterway.)

At the northern end of Forest Park, you will find the History Museum.

There's a big exhibit on Charles Lindberg.
('Ever see the "Spirit of St. Louis" movie with Jimmy Steward?
Well, this is one of three planes that they used in the film.)

Question time:
What is the significance of July 17th.?

It is "National Ice Cream Day" proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan in 1984.
(Almost as good as "Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day"--celebrated the first Saturday in February)
And since the ice cream cone was first introduced at the 1904 St. Louis World fair,
the museum gave out free ice cream in honor on this momentous occasion.

In the "St. Louis of Yore", Chels and N8 try their skills at cobbling,

and check out what they would look like in a famous painting.

 They also "attend" a Cardinals game.

What?
A separate entrance?

'Probably because girls are so much cooler and fashionable!

Now, take a ride to a very different museum.
(It's downtown and called "The City Museum".)

You might want to ride with a more experienced driver.

Oh my!
(Yep, that's the bus hanging atop the 11-story building.)

The City Museum is probaby one of the most eclectic museums I have ever seen.

I wouldn't even call it a museum.
The rooftop houses that old bus hanging over the side,
a ferris wheel,

numerous slides,

and plentiful swings.

From the roof,
slide down 4 stories,
and you end up in caverns with tunnels and trails.

Outside the entrance, there is a mishmash
of stairways and tubes

to climb and travel through.

How's the view from up there?

Inside you can walk through a real bank vault,

pet an old carousel pony,

swing from some more ropes,

or do some rad skateboard moves
(without the skateboard).

There are tubes everywhere.

And you never know where you might pop up!

I found my old boyfriend, Bob.

('Used to work at Bob's Big Boy as a hostess and waitress during summers between college.)

We found an organ grinder and his monkey

and the world's larger pair of underwear.

Back outside again

climbing up to explore the suspended aircraft.

Inside of the wing
(I think that this "museum" must have been designed by someone who
liked to hide in the clothing racks while his/her  mother shopped
at department stores).

Now, back to Forest Park
and a stop at the Science Center.

They were exhibiting the "Body Worlds", but
Chels found the regular museum less daunting.

Nathan became a reptile.

'Just kidding!

There's a whole computer section.
(Chels and N8 are checking out binary codes.)

We just scratched the surface of the exhibits...

and then ran off to do baptisms

at the

St. Louis Temple.
(We, from Fallon, were unknowingly placed with a group from O'Fallon
whose bishop has a brother who
lives here,
in Fallon.)

The following day, we made a visit to the Anheuser Busch Factory.

We definitely don't use their product but,

it was interesting (and smelly) to see their factory.

It was built in 1875.
(The factory premises are old and very large.
One building takes up a full, square block.)

We did like their horses, however,

and N8 wouldn't mind giving their little truck a spin.
Enough time there, now we're off to...

St. Louis' Union Station
(built in 1894, once the largest and busiest railway stations in the world.)

In 1980's it was converted to a marketplace.

'Watching a fudgery sing while making fudge

Ooooh, sitting in the throne of love!
(And looking so excited too.)

Visiting Zoltar!
(Please don't wish to be big!)

Riding on a caboose,

or taking the Hogswart Express,
it's an interesting place.

The amazing "Grand Ballroom" was my favorite.

The acoutics were perfect--you could hear so clearly,

and the archectiture was gorgeous.

'Yep, I really liked that room.



And so, we see that our  St. Louis AVMA Convention trip was a smiling success.




You got that right!



One last note:
On our flight from St. Louis to SLC, guess who we saw?
It was a neat experience.
'Glanced up and there they were standing right next to us.
We all shook hands.
Sister Bednar remarked, she was glad to see that Chels and N8 had braces.
(Their son is studying to be an orthodontist.)
Elder Bednar gave Chels and Nate some apostalic counsel.
Too wondeful!

That's it!
(Are you still awake?)
Man, that was way too long!  ('Promise not to do that again!)

'Make sure you stay tuned next time when we report on
a new-used car (?),
a secondhand account of "I survived BSA Scout Camp,"
and
a trip to Pismo.
See ya!