California 2021:
Day 23 - Heading Home

	Monday, November 22, 2021: Debbie woke up for a minute right before sunrise to get this great shot, ...
	... and then this one a little while later after sunrise when it was time to get out of bed.
	Here's the view of the Arch from our window in daylight, ...
	... and a close-up of the north end.
	The round structure in front is the entrance that we would be using for our timed tram tickets at 9:10 AM.
	We packed up our room, checked out, put our luggage in the van in self-parking, and headed to the grounds of the Gateway Arch National Park, ...
	... which was literally across the street from our hotel.
	We were first in line when the doors opened right at 9:00 AM, and we made our way downstairs, ...
	... through the museum, ...
	... and to the North Tram Station. We had timed tickets for 9:10 AM, and we were the first ones there at 9:03 AM.
	A little before our ticket time, we were assigned a tram car number: four. There are eight tram cars on each end of the Arch.
	Right at 9:10 AM, we were taken to a pre-boarding area, asked to stand with our family group on the circle with our number on it, and were shown a five minute video about the history of the creation of the monument.
	We were then taken downstairs to the boarding area.
	We stood in front of door number four, watiing for this little tiny door to open.
	They distracted us from thinking about how short the door was by playing facts about the monument on the door, like this one comparing the Gateway Arch to other monuments and famous buildings.
	At 9:20 AM, the door opened on our tram car, which was sort of barrel-shaped with five chairs, ...
	... and we climbed aboard our private tram car for two.
	The tram car door had a good-sized window, and we were able to see the inner workings of the Arch, ...
	... including the stairwell that at first circled the outer perimeter of the arch's leg, ...
	... and as we climbed higher it changed to a switchback-style staircase. The tram car also shifted every few seconds to keep it level, which was a very interesting feeling. The car had started horizontally in the loading area, travelled at an angle as we climbed the sides, and now was going horizontal again as we neared the top.
	Tom watched in fascination, thinking about all of the various mechanisms required to make the tram work, and what it must be like to have to climb all of those stairs.
	Right before we got to the top, the stairs briefly turned to a circular staircase, ...
	... and about four minutes after we boarded, the doors were opening.
	Everyone was masked, and the north end of the arch was roped off from the south end, but it was a free-for-all once we were at the top.
	There were informational signs above each set of windows that showed what was visible.
	Here's the view looking toward the waterfront in Illinois, ...
	... which is very industrial.
	Here's the view to the southeast, looking out at the St. Louis Downtown Airport, which is in Illinois.
	Closer in and to the southwest was Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals.
	Almost straight down and to the west is the Historic Old Courthouse building (in the center), and our hotel (the tan building with two towers, on the right).
	Completing the circuit, here's the view to the northwest, with The Dome at America's Center visible. This was the home of the St. Louis Rams from from 1995 to 2015. It is currently home of the St. Louis BattleHawks of the revived XFL.
	Our hotel room was right on the end of the tower, the bottom two windows visible in this picture. Such a great room.
	After being at the top for ten minutes, we took one last look out the windows, ...
	... waited for the tram to arrive, ...
	... and rode it back down to the bottom.
	We exited the north end of the Arch, ...
	... and tried quite unsuccessfully to recreate a photo taken of Debbie on her previous trip here in 1994.
	At 623 feet, it is the world's tallest arch.
	In this close-up shot, you can see the windows at the top of the tram. They are the dark, black rectangles.
	We walked around the grounds, headed back to the hotel parking, ...
	... stopping to get this photo of one of the best manhole covers ever. Very realistic wildlife. Clear messaging. Bravo!
	Just before 10:00 AM, we were out of the parking garage and heading across the Martin Luther King Bridge, ...
	... taking one final look at the Gateway to the West, ...
	... before crossing into Illinois.
	We stopped at the nearest McDonald's we could find for breakfast, ...
	... drove through the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, ...
	... and passed this adorable miniature arch in Vandalia, Illinois. It was built in the 1960s as the sign holder for a Travelodge Motel, but the sign has been removed.
	We were on a Historic National Road, ...
	... near the grounds of the Old State House (or the Illinois State House Memorial depending on where you look), which was the second state capitol of Illinois for a mere three years, from 1836 to 1839.
	We were here to see Illinois' Madonna of the Trail statue, our last for this trip.
	The text on this statue marks the western terminus of the Cumberland Road. The road started in 1811 in Cumberland, Maryland, and stopping here after 620 miles in 1837, the then-capital of Illinois. Cumberland Road was the first highway built by the federal government, and today, what is now known as US-40 follows its route.
	The statue also honors Abraham Lincoln, and credits his later freeing of the slaves with ideas formed when he was a member of the Illinois Legislature.
	There's a time capsule here! It was buried during Vandalia's Bicentennial celebration in 2019.
	We drove past the giant cross in Effingham, completing the trifecta of giant cross statues.
	In Casey, Illinois, we stopped to see the the world's largest rocking chair. It was the right thing to do, considering we had seen the world's second largest rocking chair at the beginning of this trip.
	By 1:30 PM, we were back in Indiana, ...
	... driving through Plainfield, ...
	... to finally get an Indiana historical marker for our photo collection. This one notes that the Quaker meeting house, known as the Western Yearly Meetinghouse, has been here since 1858.
	We were making a quick stop at Debbie's cousin's house to pick up items from a fundraiser, ...
	... and then, just before 3 PM, after nearly 6,400 miles, we were home.
	All hail Septimus the Sturdy for bringing us home safely! ** THE END **