9/12 and other observations

I'm sitting here tonight trying to recover from my first root canal.  Now seemed as good a time as any to make my first substantive post in some time.  For anyone who has read this blog in the past you'll notice there is a new title.  Anyone who has been reading this blog I'm sure knows, but I passed the bar last year and I figured that referring to myself simply as a roaming J.D. is n loger fully sufficient. 

Anyway.  Most of the forthcoming posts will have to do with things that are long past within the last year.  However, my first post concerns something fairly recently.  On Saturday I attended the 9/12 march on Washington.  For those who don't know, the 9/12 rally and march was inspired by a number of separate groups, primary among which were the various tea party groups that hav sprung up around the country, as well as the 9/12 movement.  The 9/12 movement is a group that was begun by Glenn Beck in an effort to get back to sense of American unity and Patriotism we had on the day after the September 11 attacks.  There has been a fair amount of discussion regarding this march.  However if you haven't heard much coming from the media, I wouldn't be surprised.  So far most all the coverage outside of Fox and talk radio seem biased and understated.  The official count courtesy of the NY Times/AP is around 60,000 people.  From having been there I can tell you that that is inaccurate.

Normally I don't post pictures that I haven't taken.  However, sometimes I just can't get certain shots.  This particular picture was taken from a camera overlooking Freedom Plaza in downtown D.C.  Freedom plaza was where a pre-march rally was to take place at 9:00 am before marching down Pennsylvania Avenue to te Capitol at 11:00.  The first people began showing up before 7:30 am and as a result of the sheer number of people, the march began around 10:00.  For those familliar with the D.C. metro, I got on the red line at Shady Grove and rode down to Federal Triangle, the exit of which comes out in the Shadow of the Ronald Reagan Building.

Upon exiting the Metro station, I came upon the scene to the right, the rally at Freedom Plaza.  I arrived there at 9:00 and there were thousands of people in an area that was not designed to hold nearly that many.  People were streaming in from Pennsylvania Ave., E Street and 13th Street Swelling the crowd even further.  All around me were people that were greatly concerned with the future of their country.  These were not hateful people.  These were not Nazis (thank you Ms. Pelosi). Neither were they Evil Mongers (Mr. Reid) nor Brownshirts (Congressman Baird, D-WA).  These were everyday Salt of the Earth American who were tring to make a difference.  All around me I saw people who were trying to recapture the spirit of the original tea parties.  There were many tricorner hats and Gadsden flags evoking memories of the original tea partiers in 1773.  Then as now there was a govenrment which was governing without consent by raising taxes and encroaching upon the will of the people. 

It was a very well behaved protest march up Pennsylvania Avenue.  That was a theme that was to continue through out the day as not one protestor was arrested.  Pretty impressive for a protest demonstration.  In any event I arrived at the Capitol Lawn by 10:30 and took my place on the right wing of the capitol lawn, just across a wide fenced off sidewalk from the backstage area.  I was able tosee and hear everything.  Most of the Speakers at the event were grassroots (dare I say) Community organizers from all across the country.  There were doctors, Coal miners, radio hosts, attorneys and others.  The speakers came fromall walks of life.  There were a few members of Congress and one Senator who spoke, Reps. Tom Price M.D. from GA, Mike Pence from IN and Marsha Blackburn for TN, Sen Jim DeMint from SC.  The most impressive speakers were not the senators.  Two who really stood out to me were a Marine from Charles County, Maryland and a Pastor from Louisiana. 

For all who say that conservatives are a bunch of racist bigots, I would suggest that they look at who it was that spoke at the rally.  I can tell you that these to were some of the best received of any of the speakers at the rally.  Conservatives, true conservatives don't care about race, they care about principles.  These two men espoused true conservatism.  What true conservatism is about is Greater individual freedom, less government intrusion, lower taxes, the protection of the weak (specifically the unborn and the elderly), in short the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness (not the right to happiness itself).  The primary, but not only issue of the day was the health care bill (H.R. 3200) in the house.  This bill would undermine all of those key principles in ways to numerous to count. 

The woman to the right is Betsy McCoy.  The book she is carrying is in a copy of the House Health care bill.  It is a huge bill that is over 1000 pages long.  It imposes itself upon the american people in numerous ways, ways which are dealt with in an analysis by a professor at Duke University:

http://www.classicalideals.com/HR3200.htm.

The major issues, beyond those raised there are the fact that it would allow for:

1. Planned Parenthoof run clinics inside public schools - H.R.3200, Sec. 399Z-1

2. Requirement for Abortion coverage by insurers - Because it isn't specifically addressed and rejected, it will be required as part of reproductive care require of insurers.

3. Rationing of care to the old and infirmed - This comes from two places.  One, the president want's to pay for this via cuts in Medicare, since money is only spent on this sick, this neccessarily means a rationing of care for the elderly who are sick.  Two, The White House Health Policy advisor Ezekiel Emanuel, the man who would likely set policy for the rationing body in Washingon has gone on record that some medical services should not be guaranteed to those “who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens....An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia.”  He also advocated basing medical decisions on a system which “produces a priority curve on which individuals aged between roughly 15 and 40 years get the most chance, whereas the youngest and oldest people get chances that are attenuated.”  Of course He's also the man that suggested that doctors think to much about their patients' needs and take the Hippocratic Oath too seriously, but that's another matter...  Ultimately the bill places too much power in the hands of Washington. 

This bill is just one of the kinds of power grabs that the we who came to Washington wanted to fix, and I certainly hope that we are well on our way.  All in all the experience was one of the most amazing things I have ever been a part.  It truly made me proud to be an American.  I truly believe there is a major change comng to tis country.  I'll leave you with some more pictures from the rally.  The Daily Mail over in England reported the number around Two Million.  Whether it was that high or not, I certainly believe it was much closer to being accurate than the NY Times/Washington Post/CBS/NBC/ABC Mainstream Media would have you believe.  And Washigton continues to ignore the American people, there will be atleast two million next 9/12.

Blog Revival

Well,
It's been over a year since my last post. Since I returned home, things got busy and I never came back as I expected to at the time of my last post. I have done some local excursions in the last year and have a trip to the far east planned for next year. Over the next few weeks I hope to finally do a wrap up of my trip last year as well as posting pictures of what I've been up to in the last year. Talk to you soon.

The Road goes ever on and on (I hope...)

I have finally returned to the Eastern Time Zone. I'm currently back in Louisville, KY, staying at the Galt House (courtesy of Hotwire). Since last I posted, I came through some very beautiful country. I traveled through the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky (in that order).

During my high speed eastward trek, I passed through some very different parts of the country. In Utah I went through an area that upon first glance might appear snow-covered, but is in fact salt-covered. I encountered this almost immediately after crossing the border from Nevada. If anyone is familiar with the Bonneville salt flats, that was the part of Utah that I passed through. I also had the chance to visit the site of the completion of the trans-continental railroad at Promontory point, about an hour north of Salt Lake City.

From there I continued on into Wyoming and Colorado. As much as I had wanted to drive into Denver to see the radical left wingers who were protesting, the city streets coming into Denver were almost completely blocked of to outside entry. So instead, I continued on south to Colorado Springs. I was able to drive up to the summit of Pike's Peak. It was an awesome experience. The summit of Pike's Peak sits at 14,110 feet. The drive up was breathtaking, especially when I was descending the mountain and had the chance to look out on the surrounding valley. I didn't have the chance to stay long in the open at the summit as a thuderstorm was coming in, and the summit of a mountain like Pike's Peak is nowhere to be during a thunderstorm.

After I left Pike's Peak, I paid a visit to Focus on the Family. Among the many ministries that they have is a weekly radio drama called "Adventures in Odyssey." I've been a fan since I was in elementary school. While marketed primarily at kids, it has a lot for adults as well, and it continues to hold my interest even to this day.

Upon leaving Colorado Springs, I drove east to Grand Island, NE where I spent the night. I chose this town to stay in because my family and I broke down in the town 12 years ago on a family vacation and thought, at the time that it was a nice little town that I wanted to go back to at some later point. In Grand Island is located the Stuhr Musuem of the Prairie Pioneer. This museum is somewhat unique as very little of the museum is a tradional indoor exhibit musum. Most of the museum is living history exhibits. These consist of a Pawnee earth lodge, several farms, a church, a one room schoolhouse and a small railroad town. Unfortunately I didn't have as much time as I wanted to spend at the museum; in fact I probably could have spent the whole day there.

On the drive between C. Springs and Grand Island, as it was well after midnight when I pulled in to Grand Island, I had a chance to really see the stars. I was hoping to get a similar view of the stars in Arizona/New Mexico, but the moon was too bright. However, parts of western Nebraska were almost as dark as the AZ/NM desert. I have never seen stars like that before in my life. It was dark enough that I could see the halo of the Milky Way. The sheer number of stars was striking. It gave me a much clearer understanding of the verses in the Bible that reference the vastness of the heavens. Back in Maryland, there is so much light polution that I have never been able to see more than a relative pittance of stars when compared with what there is to see.

I got back to Chicago on thursday and spent a few more days with my sister and brother in law. Having had my second helping of Giordano's pizza I feel the need to plug it. It may have become my favorite pizza of all (provided it's warm). If you're in Chicago, you really must make a point of trying it. It is excellent. If you aren't going to Chicago anytime soon, you can order the pizza and have it overnighted to you from Chicago (http://www.giordanos.com/main.php).

While I was in Chicago, Senator McCain announced his choice for VP. As I'm sure many of you know by now, he selected Sarah Palin, Gov. of Alaska. I only started looking at her as a possible VP in last week or two, and it was immediately apparent to me that she was who Sen. McCain should select, which was why I was so surprised that he actually picked her. She is a committed evangelical Christian Washington outsider who is pro-life, pro-family, pro-gun, pro-drilling, anti-tax, anti-corruption. She is everything that I wanted in a VP candidate and will go a long way toward McCain winning the election (which I maintain he will do, as I have maintained ever since Obama secured the Dem. nomination).

After leaving Chicago, I went back to Louisville, where I am now. Tomorrow I am traveling south to Chattanooga TN. Hopefully, I will continue my journey south to Florida. Provided that there are no unforeseen circumstances stemming from Gustav refugees that prevent m from going further south (no gasoline, severe traffic congestion) I will continue on to Jacksonville.

Wagons East

This trip has taken more of my time and energy of the last week than expected. As a result, I have not been able to journal as I had intended. As the title of this entry suggests, today, I have begun my return toward the eastern time zone. However, it was quite a journey between the last time I posted and now.

I had the chance to go to the Grand Canyon. Grand is certainly the right word, though perhaps it understates the matter slightly. The Grand Canyon is almost incomprehensibly big. I was at the Canyon a few days before the flooding, though it did rain quite a bit on the way back from the canyon. My visit to the Canyon allowed me to cross off two life goals. The first was to visit the Grand Canyon. The second was to visit and eat at a Harvey House, or rather at a former one (since the Fred Harvey company was bought out in 1968. The El Tovar Hotel, a former Harvey House, is owned and operated by the company who bought it out and maintains the traditions of the Fred Harvey Company, though the waitresses don’t wear the original uniforms anymore. I’d been wanting to eat at a Harvey house ever since seeing the movie “The Harvey Girls” (a great MGM movie Musical). Had I been looking to stay at the Grand Canyon, I would have tried to get a room at the El Tovar, though I would have had to reserve a room 6 months out. After I left the Canyon, I passed through Williams, AZ, the last city to be bypassed by the interstates. It still maintains a strong relationship with the Mother Road.

The Following day I drove the most mountainous part of the entire route on the stretch from Kingman, AZ to Oatman, AZ. It was absolutely beautiful. The high temperatures for this stretch of the Route were somewhere between 105-110 degrees. However, because of the lack of humidity, it was not unpleasant at all. In fact, 110 in AZ felt more pleasant to me than 90-95 degrees in Maryland. Oatman is an interesting town. It has two main claims to fame. First, it is the site where Clark Gable and Carol Lombard came for their honeymoon. Second, and more importantly, it is the town who’s most famous citizens are the wild burros who wander through town on a daily basis. They are the descendants of mining burros who were released into the wild when the mines no longer needed them.

After leaving Oatman, and then Arizona, I moved on into California. I made it from the border with Arizona to Los Angeles. The drive to LA is a very pretty drive, though there isn’t much to see, once you get past the Colorado river crossing, until you get to the outskirts of San Bernardino. San Bernardino is where the first McDonald’s was located and is the beginning of the Los Angeles Megalopolis.

During my time in Los Angeles, I was able to visit a bunch of places that I had heard of but had never seen. These places include Pasadena, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Sunset Blvd., Wilshire Blvd., and Malibu among others. I also had a chance to visit Disneyland for the first time. For those who have been to Disney World, I thought that individual rides such as Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad were better at Disneyland, but the whole package was better at Disney World. I also thought that the Disneyland Castle was kind of small.

At the end of my three days in LA, I drove out to Santa Monica where the end of the Route is located. I went by way of Simi Valley, where the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is located. If you ever go out to Southern California, this is a must see, if for nothing other than getting to go through President Reagan’s Air Force One.
I can’t say enough about the weather in southern California. It was never anything less than beautiful while I was there, clear skies and temperatures in the 70s. The water, however, was a bit colder than I’m used to when swimming in the ocean in August. It took a bit longer than normal to adjust.

I then drove from Santa Monica to San Francisco mainly by way of the Pacific Coast Highway. This is a must drive route for anyone who loves to drive, though, I have to admit that I was glad that I got to use the inner lane.

Upon getting to San Francisco, I made it a point to visit Ghirardelli Square. I had hoped that I would get to see them actually making chocolate. I did, though not on the scale I was expecting. They had a small amount of Chocolate being made as a sort of demo for people in the café. However, the big factory is out in San Leandro. I still had the chance to have one of the best brownies and biggest and best chocolate chip cookies (on two successive days, I should point out) I’ve had in a long time. I also got to attend a San Francisco Giants game. The ballpark is very well done, especially with the way it makes use of the cove out beyond right field.

I’ll be traveling through Nevada and Utah tomorrow. Hopefully, it won’t be another week before I’m able to post again.

Oh Lord I've never felt so small…

"And the Mountains Sing your Glory Hallelujah. The Canyons echo sweet amazing grace. My spirit sails, the mighty gales are bellowing your name. And I’ve got nothing to say…"


For those who don’t know, those words are the line to a chorus to a song penned by Andrew Peterson entitled “Nothing to Say.” Having had the chance to spend time in the southwest and in Arizona specifically, I have a much deeper understanding of what Andrew was saying. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

On Monday, I had a Chance to hang out with Brian Cannon. Brian was in New Mexico on a trip with his family. We met in Las Vegas (N.M.) and went over to Santa Fe. We had a chance to walk around the old town area around the plaza. Santa Fe is a very beautiful city. It definitely has a different feel than most cities I’ve experienced. It was a very artsy town. The architecture is gorgeous, especially the churches in town. One of the churches has a staircase that is fairly well known. The staircase has no supports. It is attached at the top of the stairs and on the floor, but is otherwise not supported. No one has been able to figure out how it works.

After leaving Santa Fe, I drove to Gallup, NM where I had a chance to stay at the El Rancho Hotel. The El Rancho bills itself as the hotel of the stars. Most of these stars were from the golden age of Hollywood. Among the many stars who stayed at the hotel were people like Errol Flynn, John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Stewart and Katharine Hepburn, among others. I, however, stayed in the room where Ronald Reagan stayed when he was in the hotel. The room was something of a splurge, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to stay where President Reagan stayed when he was here. In more recent times (read: one week prior), it was also the room where Sir Paul McCartney stayed when he came through the Route. After I left Gallup I drove on to Holbrook, AZ where I stayed at the Wigwam Village motel. For those who have seen Cars, the Wigwam village provided much of the inspiration for the Cozy Cone motel, except that instead of giant road cones, those who stay at the Wigwam village spend the night in a teepee; concrete, of course.

Next, I had the opportunity to see some real Indian dwellings in some of the most ancient places in this country. The indigenous cultures in the southwest have been here for over 1000 years. I’ve had a chance to visit sites that were inhabited more than 1000 years before Columbus arrived in the western hemisphere. I also had the chance to see the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the Country – Acoma Pueblo. The Pueblo sits atop a mesa in the New Mexico wilderness. It is an amazing site to see. Other native sites that I had the chance to visit were at Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly and at the Petrified Forest.

However, as impressive as these sites were, they couldn’t compare to the natural wonders of the Route. I hadn’t been in the Rockies in over 12 years. I’d forgotten just how massive they are. The mesa that Acoma sat atop gave a spectacular view of the surrounding valley. My trip to Mesa Verde finally answered why the site was called Mesa Verde. In Spanish, Mesa Verde means “Green Mesa (table).” Upon entering the park, the first thing one’s eyes are drawn to is a large wooded mesa towering over the surrounding area. From there, the drive to reach the visitors’ center and the cliff dwellings winds through a long mountain path that goes up over 7000 feet, offering spectacular views of the surrounding areas. The next day I had the chance to visit Canyon de Chelly. Canyon de Chelly is the second largest canyon in the United States (the largest being the Grand Canyon). It isn’t as spectacular as the Grand Canyon. However, in some ways it seems to me that it allows one to appreciate it more. I was able to go down into the canyon. It was my first time down in a canyon like this. To quote Andrew Peterson, I've never felt so small.

If anyone ever needs to gain a clearer understanding of their place in the world, they simply need to come out west and see just how big everything is out here, from the mountains to the canyons to the vast prairies that sit between the mountains. I was able to visit the Painted Desert today. It certainly lives up to its name.I came away from the last few days with a sense of awe and wonder at the creation, but more so at the Creator.

While it is appropriate to marvel at how amazing God’s creation is, it is still only his creation. There is a tendency to see the creation and forget the Creator, though I don’t understand it. I certainly didn’t come away from what I saw thinking “Look how great I am and how much I matter to the universe. One certainly does not come away from seeing such majestic sights with an overestimation of his or her place in the universe. I came away from the past few days humbled. Considering that the Grand Canyon is still upcoming, I expect that this will continue. Talk to you soon.

Deep in the Heart of (North) Texas

The last few days have been long and tiring. As a result, I haven’t been able to keep the journals I was hoping to for the last few days. Accordingly, this will be an extra long post.

Much of the last several days have been spent concentrating on going to places that have been icons of Route 66 for much of the last 50 years or more. I’ve had a chance over the course of the previous several days to do so as well, but there were other things beside the Route. The last three days have been spent almost exclusively doing Route 66 centered stuff.

Many of these icons are in small towns along the road. For those who have seen Cars, this will seem familiar. The story of Route 66 for many of these small towns was that during the heyday of the Route, from its inception in 1926 to the time when the interstates began being built (different times in different places), it was a golden age. The various restaurants, motels and other attractions would get more than enough patronage to make the businesses go. However, as the interstates were built many of the towns were bypassed, causing many of those businesses to close. Getting bypassed even caused some towns to disappear almost completely. Some of them, such as the Rock Café in Stroud, OK, or the Eisler Brothers’ Store in Riverton, KS were able to remain open because of their popularity both within their communities and with people who would be willing to go out of their way to patronize the places. (The Rock Café actually burned down in May, but Dawn Welch, the current owner of the Rock, was insured and is committed to rebuilding the Rock Café, if you are interested, her blog is http://rockcafert66.wordpress.com/). Of those who were not lucky enough to remain in business, some were able to sell their business to others. However some simply abandoned their property, while possibly with intent to return, and never came back. While I have been immensely enjoying driving the Route, I get a bittersweet feeling when I pass a closed business, be it a motel, restaurant, pharmacy, museum, etc. that closed down, when it’s obvious that it had a rich history in serving the people on the Mother Road.

Among the many places that were thriving at one point, but have now been closed and/or abandoned, two stand out most immediately to me. The first is a swimming hole in Catoosa, OK, a suburb of Tulsa, the centerpiece of which is a large blue whale. It was initially a private gift of a man to his wife. The wife collected whale figurines. Eventually it was opened to the public, along with several other accompanying attractions. Eventually it became too much for the family to run and it was closed. The second is a Gas Station in what used to be a vibrant little town called Alanreed, TX. However, once the interstate came through, the town was bypassed and no one stopped there anymore. The town effectively died as almost no one passed through anymore. I don’t wasn’t to come as looking like I hate interstates. They certainly have their purpose; I have used them several times since I’ve been on this trip. However, there is so much more of this country to see than can be seen from the interstate highways. I would encourage occasionally taking trips that you make regularly on interstates on non-interstate roads. You might be surprised what there is to see that you never knew was there.

However, not all is doom and gloom. With the resurgence of interest in the Route since it was officially decommissioned in 1985, many of the businesses that had once been left for dead have been bought and are being restored. I have had the chance to meet several of these people in the last several days. One of these people, whose name escapes me, bought a row of stores in a tiny town in Missouri named Spencer. The row of stores basically constituted the town and has been abandoned for years. Just in the last few months he has made serious progress on restoring the Phillips gas station and I understand that the intent is to restore the rest of the stores as well. This could end up being a big draw as it happens to be stationed on an original 1926 concrete road. It has never even been asphalt paved and considering its age, looks absolutely gorgeous. Another, one Gary Turner, has set about to restoring an old Sinclair station which was named (yes, at least some of the Gas stations on the Route actually had names) Gay Parita outside of Paris Springs, MO. The job Gary did on the station is phenomenal. The third person I met on the route (I met others, but for the sake of time, I’ll limit myself to three) was Laurel Kane, a lady who was originally from Connecticut but moved down to Afton, Oklahoma to open a visitors’ center/museum on the route. She settled on restoring an old service station in which she also stores her collection of old cars(though because of the size of her collection, she only keeps a portion of them on display at any one time and rotates them in and out of the station), all in gorgeous shape. These are just a small number of people who have worked to keep the spirit of Route 66 alive.

Today I was able to indulge my love of American military history and visit the site of a military engagement during 1868 with the Cheyenne tribe in what came to be known as the Battle of the Washita. For a recap of the battle, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Washita_River. In short, the U.S. Cavalry under Gen. Custer was ordered to fight an engage the Cheyennes, he did so, but was unaware when he did that the band he was attacking was not the band of renegades, but a peaceful band of Cheyenne. Needless to say, the battle did not last long, though Custer did lose 21 men in the fight. I was struck by how gorgeous the country was, as well as how peaceful it was. Especially when considered against the violent history upon which it, as well as much of the rest of the west, was built.

I also had the chance, yesterday to visit the Oklahoma City Memorial. It was gorgeous. I’d urge anyone who goes to Oklahoma with even a minimum of free time to take some time to visit.

I finished out my day today (before heading to Amarillo, TX) by visiting the largest cross in the Western hemisphere. Route 66 is renowned for having giant things of many different kinds. The Cross, in Groom, TX, is a relatively recent addition to the Route. And it is big. It is hard to find words to communicate the immensity of this cross. Pictures won’t fully do it justice, but they will have to suffice.

Tomorrow, I’m meeting Brian Cannon in Santa Fe. Catch you all later.

Getting my kicks

I got up this morning to get on the road to head south. I went over to Charlie Parker’s Diner (Another place on D, D-I & D) for breakfast. It did not disappoint. The food was excellent and the people were friendly. I then got on the road to head south. My day today could be largely broken up into three segments: the road to St. Louis highlighted by a trip to the Cahokia Mounds; in St. Louis, primarily a Cardinals-Dodgers game (baseball for those less athletically inclined); and the road from St. Louis, the main attraction being a trip to Meramec Caverns.

Upon arriving at Cahokia, I was amazed at what I found. I had an understanding of what would be there, but to see it in person was another matter. It was a city of giant mounds built by a group of American Indians between 700 and 1400 AD. It was the largest native pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico. The tallest of the mounds was over 100 ft. high. I could see St. Louis clearly from the top of the mound. It amazed me what mankind, even in its primitive pre-European state, could accomplish. It also made me wonder what would have happened to the Aztecs and Inca if the Spanish had not come to the new world and conquered them. It wouldn’t surprise me if a similar fate had not befallen them and they would have just fallen apart.

I went on to St. Louis and was able to park right across from the stadium and go into the game. The seats weren’t bad; I ended up in left field, about 5 rows from the front. Since the Dodgers were in town, this gave me ample opportunity to observe Manny Ramirez up close. I ended up rooting for the Cardinals, as they were the home team, though as a Yankees fan, I didn’t care a whole lot for either team. As I was leaving St. Louis, I stopped for White Castle (quite good) and stopped to get ice cream at a St. Louis icon, Ted Drewe’s Frozen Custard. If you’re spending more than a day in St. Louis, you really must make time to get out there. I’d never had frozen custard before but I was very impressed. It’s thicker and heavier that ice cream, but just as tasty. I had a chance, while driving through town to see the Gateway Arch. The Gateway Arch, for those who don’t know, is part of a westward expansion museum centering on Lewis and Clark’s expedition. The Arch is an impressive building, as is Busch Stadium (where the Cardinals play) and much of the rest of St. Louis.

My final major stop was at Meramec Caverns in Stanton, MO. Much of what I saw there took my breath away. Part of the attraction of the cave is

history. It was the hideout of Frank and Jesse James during their crime spree; and before that

it was a Union Gunpowder factory. These parts of the caverns have been accessible for over 150 years. However, the rest of the Caverns were just gorgeous. Stalactites(Cave formations hanging down from the ceiling) and Stalagmites(Cave formations growing up from the ground) flowing like water from the ceiling and the floor. The cave contains the third largest stalagmite in the world. The cave’s drapery formations were immense and astonishing. The cave had a formation that so far as is known, there is only one other like it in the world. The thing about it is that these parts of the cave were only discovered about 60 years ago, while some of the formations in the cave have been growing for hundreds of thousands of years (leaving aside old earth vs. young earth creation theories). It got me to thinking about the caverns, and cave systems like it. It’s amazing when you compare what was in that cave to the mounds of this morning or the city of this afternoon. The other two can’t compare. God’s been working on that cave for hundreds of thousands of years, for nothing other than just to enjoy. No one else could see it but Him, yet He continued shaping and fashioning it into something that is something that is absolutely gorgeous. It gives me hope that if he continues to work on things that are, arguably, inconsequential that no one sees but Him, how much more will he work on what he has promised to work on and bring me and all others who are saved to completion.

Off to Joplin.