Nearly Pennsylvania

If all goes well tomorrow this will be the last night in a motel for awhile. It's a Motel 6 and quite a nice one not too far from Columbus, Ohio, and willing to cut a deal for a few gray hairs. My mental references are now almost all pointed toward Pennsylvania. One short moment while still in St. Louis my mind tried to think of home in a westerly direction; then, it smiled and said the opposite.

My sister Susie...

...and I crammed in a whole lot of looks at St. Louis, the county, and beyond; all in a very short while. Our drive through Ferguson, Missouri, in St. Louis County revealed one riot-burned building along Old Florissant Road, but I learned that the awful events that occurred there last year happened in a section of town that Ferguson annexed a few years ago. The town I knew and the homes I lived in during 1940s look very similar to those times with quiet streets, modest and well-kept homes and businesses. The people I saw as we drove through to see family homes were diverse, and that wasn't true when I was a child. I hope that the events there will be the tipping point for better things to come for all.

Ferguson...

My first school.

There are family photos somewhere of my mother's class on the steps in the background, and some of me there, too. There were no fences in the '40s.

The school sits up above a steep bank where I helped roll giant (3-4 ft. diameter) snowballs down the bank trying to hit passing cars.

My home on Tiffin Avenue apx. 1942-45.

My cousins' Jackie and Jim lived here.

Susie lives in a different part of the county...

This is the amazing dogwood island in the condo-land where Susie lives.

The colors of spring along Missouri I-70 were splashes of chartreuse, white, grass green, red bud pink, and dark cedars among large grey and white limestone outcroppings. Road cuts never looked so good.

One of the things on my list was the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers that occurs north of St. Louis, near Alton Illinois where there is one lock in a series of locks on the river...

...and a new bridge across the Mississippi.

And, yes, that is a pelican. There were hundreds in the area.

The carp grabbed the hook before this Saturday fisherman even had bait on it. 

Looking south. Mississippi River on the left, Missouri River on the right.

No visit to St. Louis is complete without a trip to Missouri Botanical Garden...

It rained the entire time at the garden, but that didn't matter a bit. While walking through I was reminded of the beautiful gardens I've seen over the last year; St. Louis, Philladelphia, Dallas, Des Moines (Dezz Moinzz - in joke), Ames, and somewhere out there--the tall grass prairie in Iowa. I loved every one of them.

On our way to the Old Courthouse in St. Louis we drove by some of the houses in St. Louis that I love so well...

The Dred Scott Decision is in our nation's history and happened here...

Dred and Harriet Scott bronzes silhouetted in front of the Old Courthouse in St. Louis.

From the east steps of the courthouse.

South of St. Louis lies Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, where our Grandfather Morice came from. 

The Bolduc House built around 1735 has withstood floods and a change in the course of the Mississippi River.  Bolduc was an Acadian from Canada.

It grows late and I want to get home tomorrow...

Wendy sent this morning. Two more adorable goat babies to see when I get back. 

...so I'll say goodnight to all and extend thanks for following this journey. It always brings a smile when I think of you out there in your part of the world. Vaya con Dios.