St. Louis

Today Jeff and I took off for Missouri/Illinois (with brief stays in Iowa and Kansas). We have made it a tradition to take at least one vacation a year without the kids. I feel that it has been extremely important to have this time to simply be husband and wife, not mom and dad or business partners. We didn't get to have the traditional newly wed experience. Instead, we've had to manage getting to know ourselves as individuals and how we click as a married couple on top of meshing two very different parenting styles. Needless to say, I treasure these vacations when we can just be together without any other distractions. I have enjoyed the trips we've taken thus far...and look forward to many more. This year we decided to head to Nauvoo. I have always wanted to visit Nauvoo. My third great-grandfather, Charles Shumway, lived in Nauvoo in the early 1840's. The members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints fled to Nauvoo after the governor of Missouri issued an extermination order (basically making it open hunting season on Mormons). The members were welcomed into Illinois and built a beautiful city on the Mississippi river. There they were able to live peacefully for about 5 years before tensions again increased and they were again forced to leave their land and belongings to head west. Charles was the first Mormon pioneer to cross the Mississippi in February 1846 (two years after the martyrdom of the prophet Joseph Smith). I feel an overwhelming sense of pride when I think about my early pioneer ancestors. I marvel at their faith and conviction in the face of relentless persecution. I admire their perseverance and positive attitudes amidst the trials they endured. I can only hope that my actions and choices in this life will make them proud of me as well. In any case, we flew into St. Louis Monday afternoon and headed to Gateway Arch. There wasn't much that interested me in St. Louis, but I did want to see the arch that stands as a monument to the westward migration. It is a pretty impressive monument, especially when you consider how intricately the builders had to follow the plans so as to get both sides to meet directly in the middle. Jeff and I took a few pictures of the exterior before heading inside to take the tour to the top - 630 feet in the air. We entered the museum area and were escorted to the doors of the elevator that would allow us to go to the top. Because the structure is an arch, the elevators were unique. In fact, they looked like some space bubble out of the TV cartoon The Jetsons. When the elevators doors opened to reveal a small pod-like cabin with five seats, I started to worry that my claustrophobia might kick in! Luckily, I sat by the door which had a window to look out at the interior of the arch and the ride was only 4 minutes so I didn't have to breathe into a bag or meditate to stop from hyperventilating. The view from the top was pretty impressive! It looked down on the old courthouse (which we didn't have a chance to tour) where the famed Dred Scott case took place (that was a catalyst for the Civil War). Also from the top, we could see the St. Louis Rams' stadium and the St. Louis Cardinal's stadium.

This is the little elevator pod to go up the arch! Crazy huh?!

View of the Mississippi on one side.

The skyline on the other side.

After touring the arch, Jeff and I checked in at our hotel before meeting up with one of Jeff's old friends from Craig, Colorado, Rick Furniss. We met up with Rick and his family for dinner at a near-by mall. It was funny to listen to Jeff and Rick reminisce about their glory days...or maybe not so glorious days. Rick's wife, Ann, and their children were such a pleasure to be around. I was glad we had the opportunity to meet up. It was a great start to our vacation.

Jeff hardly ever likes to be in pictures so when he requested that I take a picture of him with the oversized hamburger, I knew I had to put it on the blog. 

Jeff wit Rick and two of his kids, Rachel and Simon.