The rest of yesterday

So I was eventually able to sleep after that near miss, but now it is time to reflect on everything else that went on yesterday.

I really enjoyed St Louis. The arch was cool and I was able to make it to the observation deck up top. There was also a gateway to the west museum in the basement that was pretty cool. I made it to the Anheuiser Busch brewery but didnt take the tour. It was an hour long and was a little too much time for me to spend on Budwieser. This place was enormous, seriously the entire magic hat brewery could have fit in the welcoming center, the security desk was the size of the long trail bottling line. It was pretty intense, next time I go to out there I have to go again. After that I made my way downtown and except for a run in with a guy having a psychotic break everything was enjoyable. I went to an irish pub which apparently is run by a non profit which helps give addicts and such on the job experience, it was a nice place with good food and I felt good about having gone there. St Louis was a really nice city, it reminded me of a western Hartford or Baltimore's inner harbor (the good parts of hartford or baltimore, not the murdery parts). It has been the only city that I have seen so far that I really have to go back to. I know what you are thinking "I though Cleveland rocks and Canton was awesome?" They were pretty cool but St Louis was the only place so far that I wished I could have stayed longer. Who knows maybe ill go back to watch the Rams loose a game.

Around 1 I left St Louis and spent about 4 hours driving through MO. Apparently there is nothing better to do on I 64 than advertise. There were billboards everywhere for tourist traps, outlet stores, truck stops, and places with names like "The Pleasure Zone." It was an uneventful ride at 70MPH with a stop in Springfield, MO for a burrito. Once I got back on the highway after Springfield I saw something rare, the sun, which I chased until I saw a great sunset just as I was passing into Kansas. I had apparently been driving through some of the worst rains that the midwest has seen in years. There was widespread flooding along the highway and during my stopover in Kansas most of the roads were washed out, the rivers were overflowing, and it looked like the school was flooded. I was only in Kansas for about half an hour, leaving the highway to get a breakfast burrito at Sonic (i love that place). I then headed towards Tulsa at the Oklahoma speed limit of 75. I didnt realize how big Tulsa was until I got there, that place is pretty expansive, plus I think it is lined up along the highway. I grabbed a burrito at Riocardos Mexican joint (which was clearly a former burgerking). It was good, but not Sonic good. I then headed down to Oklahoma City and passed through unharmed. I figured that I would drive for another hour so that today's drive would be less. I almost made it to Weatherford where I was going to stay before my near accident. Im just glad that it is over, nobody got hurt, and that my car is ok. The scene with the local sheriff was very funny, he was obviously a good old boy who didnt really care that these kids got in an accident. He lectured them on how getting hurt could impact their sports carreer. When I told him I was from NY he did the double take and like that old salsa commercial "New York City?". At that time I explained that there was more to NY than NYC, he promptly asked me if driving wasnt exciting enough in New York. I made it to the nearest hotel and crashed, now im going to go get a haircut then head out to Albuquerque and eventually on to Chinle. Hopefully my driving excitement is over and I can make the next few hundred miles uneventful.
-O