July 22nd

Day 26 :  July 22          MISSOURI  - ILLINOIS - MISSOURI

Allan and Carolyn left very early with locals Jason and Kerri to go for another medical update on her eye problem and we arranged to catch up with them later in the day.  The local TV crew arrived at Vernon’s property at St Mary’s around 8.30 and conducted an interview, then 12 of the group boarded a people mover kindly supplied members of the River Hills Antique Tractor Club and headed to Saint Louis.

The vehicle was driven by club member John Meier, which is great as it prevents us from getting lost!  Then he collected another friend, Earl, who was a wealth of information about all things American.  The relatively short trip to Saint Louis was interspersed with stops at all sorts of interesting places – a look at the statue of ‘Popeye’ at Chester, then on to Waterloo, Illinois where we spent time with Charles (Butch) Klein who has an amazing collection of not only old tractors but magnificent vintage cars, some dating back to the early 1900’s.  An early lunch break was taken at the Monroe County Fair - an opportunity to see the livestock and have another photo shoot with Miss Monroe County Fair, a lovely young lass named Amanda.

Then we were in for a real treat – our new friends have ‘pulled some strings’ and received permission for us to visit a not yet complete tower being built to commemorate the expeditions of Lewis and Clark, who left from that area in May 1804 to explore the area west of the Mississippi, returning some 18 months later.  Their exploits earned Saint Louis the title of ‘Gateway to the West’.  This new Confluence Tower is some 180 feet high, has three lookouts at 50, 100 and 150 feet respectively and overlooks the junction of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. The lift power was turned on for us, but failed when we reached the first level, so most of us walked up the remaining two flights to enjoy the view – good for the hips!

Saint Louis is home to the Budweiser Brewery, which made it an obligatory stopover and the tours they run are not only free, but fantastic as well.  They can package up to 1650 cans a minute!  To cap off the enjoyment, they allow two samples of their wares at the end of the tour!  Then it was off to the pride of Saint Louis, the Gateway Arch.  This magnificent structure was completed in 1965 to honour the people who explored the country west of the Mississippi.  Tramcars take tourists (five at a time in small capsules) up to the top of the 630’ structure, allowing sweeping views of the city and at the time of our tour, a perfect shadow of the Arch.  We were pleased to catch up with Allan and Carolyn at this facility and relieved that Carolyn’s eye recuperation was progressing well.

The day was completed with a meal at a small bar downtown in St Louis called ‘Hot Shots’ which was enjoyed by all.  A very sleepy group returned to St Mary’s, Missouri at around 11.00 pm.  John then had a 50 mile drive to return home!  Thanks John and Earl for the day’s events.

Barbara admires 'N' Model Ford	Dick compares the USA breeds
AUSSIES copyright (courtesy of Paul Baillargeon)	Anne and George enjoy complimentary Budweiser beer
The boys at the Arch Tram	John Meier, guide to Saint Louis.
Group at the Confluence Tower.jpg	The Arch, Saint Louis