Cross-Country Road Trip! Day 58-60, Mile 8552: Meet Me in St. Louis.

This trip has turned into not only visiting dear friends along the way, but also visiting and reconnecting with family.  St. Louis was no exception.

This is my dear niece, Monika.  She is now in her mid-forties and the last time I was her she was a wee 6 years old. Due to some uncompromising family situations, we had not been in contact with each other until she reached out to me about 4 years ago.  Since then we visit regularly via phone and we've been absolutely giddy about seeing each other in person.  

When we first saw each other we hugged for quite a while and then just stared at each other for about the first half hour or so.  We delighted in each other's company and talked non-stop for the couple days we were there.

One evening we had an adults only dinner with Monika, her husband, Dennis, and their eldest, Gabriel.

The first day we were there, I accompanied Monika to the bus stop to pick up Jacob and Izzy, her two youngest children from school. Jacob hopped off the bus and asked if Uncle Peter was home and as soon as we said yes, he took off running to the house and rarely left Uncle Peter's side the entire time we were there.

Uncle Peter shows his shiny watch to a fascinated Jacob as Izzy looks on.  

Jakob was quite excited to learn that I have two kids and gave me two of his prized Pokémon cards - "one for my boy and one for my girl".

Two affectionate and loving little souls.  

Izzy is quite the seamstress and set about sewing a purse for me and a stuffed toy for Uncle Peter.  She worked diligently while we were there so we could take our swag home with us.

The finished purse.

Meet Quidget. P chose the mismatched eyes and Izzy made sure his arms and legs were mismatched to...match?

His warty back protects him from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

Alas, we have no photos of all of us together nor of Izzy's older sister, Zoey. 

Apologies for the lack of photos - we were so busy talking we forget to take photos of everyone!!

On our last day in St. Louis, we drove across the Mississippi into Illinois to visit the Cahokia Mounds.

This huge site was once the largest city of the Mississippian culture, a ritual center with about 20,000 inhabitants. We know very little about this once-thriving civilization since fast-spreading European diseases killed over 90% of the population before Europeans ever even visited the area. 

And since the city was built mainly wood and mud brick, almost no signs of structures remain other than the huge mounds themselves, monuments to a vast amount of hand labor.

The plain in front of the mound was flattened clear out the the ridge you can see about a mile away. 

The precise alignments of the mounds and the amount of work put into creating the site reveal an advanced civilization on the level of the Mayans or Aztecs. 

Izzy and O climb the tallest mound.

In the distance, evidence of what we hope is a more permanent civilization.

Back in St. Louis, we had lunch by the lake in Forest Park, which is about twice as large as Central Park in New York.

We were sorry to say goodbye to Monika and her sweet family, but we hope to see them some day soon in Boise!

O. and P.

Cross-Country Road Trip! Day 56-57, Mile 8293: Adventures in Nativeamericanapolis!

From Kentucky, we made a special detour north to Indianapolis to see a special friend. 

Martha is one of Teresa's oldest and best friends, and over the many years we've known her, she has become very dear to us as well.

The visit was pretty much non-stop laughter, with occasional breaks for food. It turns out that Indianapolis boasts some great restaurants.

 

Marty's home is in a historic neighborhood with many beautiful old homes. She calls this the Addams Family house.

We spent a lot of time talking and bird-watching on her front porch.

We visited Newfields, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, built on the grounds of the Eli Lilly Estate of pharmaceutical fame. They have a good sampling of American and European art as well as one of the most interesting collections of African art I've ever seen.

Goodbye, Marty, thanks for all the laughs and for introducing us to another fascinating American city.

P.

Cross-Country Road Trip! Day 54-55, Mile 8135: The Pleasures of Pleasureville!

Brothers!!  Oh my, another reunion!  Jesse is 4 years older than I and we had not seen each other in 25 years!!!!!  The reason hardly matters now, what does matter is that we are reunited and quite happy to be so.  This is my brother, Jesse and his lovely wife, Millie.

Brother sister love!  Or maybe he was just thankful I was the one doing dishes.

Jesse and Millie were excellent hosts. From their home just outside the tiny village of Pleasureville, Jesse drove us all over the beautiful hills and valleys of Kentucky, with a special side trip to the state capitol in Frankfort.

 

It's a majestic building.

And a reminder that those with money and power always do well for themselves.

Jesse and Millie's home sits on five acres of wooded hills, home to deer, feral pigs, and poison ivy vines five inches thick. 

It's a beautiful spot in a beautiful part of the world.

It was a lovely visit with much healing and laughter.

O. and P.

Cross-Country Road Trip! Day 52-53, Mile 7777: Rock n' Roll Ain't Noise Pollution.

Next stop: Niagara Falls!

We didn't make it here for our honeymoon, but we're here (purely coincidentally) for our 34th wedding anniversary.

We weren't originally planning to come here on this trip, but O mentioned she'd never seen the falls, so we added them to our itinerary.

We were glad we did. The day was gorgeous and the falls keep falling. When I first saw them in 1978, I was underwhelmed. They seemed so much bigger in pictures. This time, with adjusted expectations, they seemed much more impressive.

The sheer power of the vast wall of falling water is magnificent.

American Falls, just a short walk away is a bit smaller, but also spectacular.

Having checked off Niagara, we headed for Cleveland, a beautiful three-hour drive down the shores of Lake Eire.

We got there just as a big demonstration protesting the coming overruling of Roe. We cheered on the demonstrators as we drove up to our hotel.

The forecast had threatened rain, but the afternoon was perfect for walking. I meandered around downtown Cleveland while O studied for her class. 

Like many mid-western cities Cleveland sports grand architecture that echoes a time when it was a wealthy, thriving metropolis. 

And like those other cities, it's doing its best to revitalize the downtown core.

Once the sixth largest city in the country, Cleveland fell on hard times in the 1960s, devolving into a shell of its former self and a poster child for the environmental and employment woes of the Rust Belt. In 1969, the Cuyahoga River was so polluted that it actually caught fire, providing impetus for the passage of the Clean Water Act.

These days, the city is a much cleaner and attractive place. There are several streets downtown that are filled with shops and restaurants, but outside those few blocks, there are still many areas filled with magnificent old buildings that are vacant and boarded up.

Still, the center of downtown is a lovely spot to stroll through. This huge Civil War memorial dominates the main square.

The old Greyhound terminal is a monument to streamlined modernity.

For our anniversary dinner, we found a small neighborhood restaurant with big ideas. Salt + offers an interestingly-stocked bar and a really remarkable selection of small plates that taste even better than the menu sounds.

We started with a white bean puree on grilled bread that was so delicious that it vanished before we thought to take a picture.

Then there was this delicious concoction of asparagus, buttery leeks, fava beans, hazelnuts, and crispy prosciutto.

That was followed by a stellar oxtail tostada and miso-braised pork short ribs with an incredibly flavorful 'nduja sauce. 

It was definitely an anniversary-worthy dinner.

As part of its redevelopment effort Cleveland now has the world's largest rubber stamp.

And the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which I suspect contributes a bit more to the city's bottom line.

I dressed for the occasion in my Noogy shirt I acquired in Austin.

This is the reason we came through Cleveland. I was here for a machine tool show in 1977 and rather liked the town. They had great used record and book stores at the time. But these days it's all about rock.

The museum is huge and quite well put together. Their collection of memorabilia is really amazing-- Furry Lewis' guitar case, Lightnin' Hopkins' and Buddy Guy's guitars.

Hank Williams' iconic suit.

Johnny Cash's ditto.

One of Little Richard's jump suits.

One of the Ramones' leather jacket and a rather disturbing painting by Dee Dee.

Alice Cooper's boots.

Angus Young's school boy getup.

Even Jim Morrison's Cub Scout uniform.

And six floors full of so much more. It took us about two hours to go through it all, two hours of great fun and great memories. There was a 30-minute retrospective video on American Bandstand, from its beginnings in 1952 to its final episode in 1989, hosted since 1956 by the eerily unaging Dick Clark. What a great lineup of bands appeared on that show!

I was excited to find that the famous Hofbrau Haus of Munich has a branch in downtown Cleveland with an extensive menu of German food and beer.

Unfortunately, they offer only a very limited menu on Sundays. No sausage platters, grillhendl, or sauerbraten. We had to settle for a brat on a bun. 

And deep-fried sauerkraut balls. 

Still, the hefeweizen was refreshingly delicious.

After lunch, we explored one of Cleveland's architectural treasures: the Arcade, built in 1890.

It's now a Hyatt Regency with a few shops, offices, and restaurants, but mostly deserted.

But what a beautiful space.

We've had so many great visits with family and friends on this trip (with many more to come). This time, we met our friend Rachel and her dog Maddie, a former presidential candidate. Maddie lost her bid for president, but she remains a good girl. 

They live in a calmly beautiful historic neighborhood in Shaker Heights with old brick houses and flowering trees. Truly idyllic.

Rachel was a delight, and we spent many hours catching up. We are so blessed to have so many wise, intelligent friends. It has be such fun visiting with them along our way.

P.