JIM COLYER IN ST. LOUIS

Karen and I ascended St. Louis' Gateway Arch, the morning of November 12, 1983. From the top of the Arch, we could see Busch Stadium on one side and the Mississippi River and MacDonald's riverboat, where we ate lunch, on the other. The Arch is huge. It is part of the Thomas Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. The museum below ground stresses the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition the following year. These events kicked off America's movement west. Karen took a picture of me in front of a stagecoach. I took one of her in front of a covered wagon.

Leaving the Arch, we sought out Forest Park and the zoo. We made a hurried tour through the zoo because of the weather and because Karen was pregnant. The highlight was the penguins. They were the first I had ever seen. We got a picture of a two-humped camel, the Bactrian. This was the 6th zoo Karen and I had seen.

July, 1977 - On truck with Chester. We saw the Arch, the symbolic gateway to the west.