Day 19 - to Iowa City

No more storm activity overnight to speak of but last night's weather left quite a bit of debris around St Louis - including branches and tons of leaves in this park near the St Louis Gateway Arch.

Thought we'd have another shot at getting to the top of the Arch today before we departed to Iowa City.  So we got up earlier (than normal) and queued up to enter the Arch.

As you can see, misty low cloud was hanging around the Arch and the likelihood of a good view from the top was low but it was now or never...

We were keen to climb the 1000-odd steps to the top but they wouldn't let us, so we had to join the masses and squeeze into this tiny 'pod' that took us up inside the legs of the arch  There were five of us in the pod and it took four and a half minutes to complete the one-way trip to the top.

So here we are at the top, looking 630 feet vertically down. 

And here's the view.  We're looking right down onto the Mississippi River - not that you can see it through the fog.  You might be able to make out buses and cars directly below.

It was pretty tight for room at the top and hot too.  But well worth the visit.

Here's the Eads Bridge over the Mississippi River.  It was completed in 1874 and is a combined road and railway bridge that connects Missouri to Illinois.

It is 6,442 feet (1,964 m) long and was one of the first large bridges to use steel as a primary structural material.  The Eads Bridge foundations are still among the deepest ever sunk and were responsible for 15 deaths due to divers getting the 'bends'.
 

Here's the bridge over the Mississippi at a place called Louisiana, Missouri.  The bridge was closed due to a recent accident so we had to make a detour through some lovely (but narrow) country roads.
 

We stopped here for fuel and were a little surprised to see the petrol attendant smoking a cigarette.   When questioned, the petrol attendant said she wasn't allowed to smoke inside...  Hmmm.

Signs - signs and more signs.  There are signs all over this country....

Here's a little off-shoot off the detour road to Iowa City.  It led us to a scenic view of the Mississippi River that we couldn't see because it was too foggy!

 

Here's the Mark Twain Paddle boat at Hannibal.

And Hannibal itself.

More of downtown Hannibal.

Here are some old buildings across the road from Mark Twain's house.

And here's Mark Twain's house.

A very narrow alley...

And finally, a reflection in a puddle...because it rained so much today.