Hannibal & St. Louis, MO

At the conclusion of our trip, we stopped in Hannibal, MO, the hometown of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). It was exciting to walk through the caves that he wrote about in his famous literary works.

After Hannibal, we drove to St. Louis, MO to check out the famous Gateway Arch, the tallest national monument in the United States. It was interesting to tour the museum and learn that the arch memorializes Thomas Jefferson's role in westward expansion. Hence the term "Gateway to the West." Riding the elevator to the top was interesting, too, though you can see from the photo below, that Mom wasn't as excited about the little bubble of an elevator that took us up and down. To her credit, it was a little creepy and seemed unstable, but was fun nonetheless.

Compared to April, this employee in the museum gift shop looked like a giant, and it was a perfect photo op. Apparently he didn't think so, because as unamused as could be he said, "I am not an exhibit." Oops.