I have a feeling I'm not in Kansas anymore... (23,24-Mar-2010)

Woah, kindof a late entry here; these past few days have been a whirlwind of new places and new experiences!

After departing St. Louis, I eventually reached Kansas City, MO:



Now, this has always confused me, but there is a Kansas City, MO and a Kansas City, KS and they're both situated at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers. Kansas City, MO is the larger of the two and is the one pictured above. Unfortunately I missed out on some highly recommended Kansas City barbecue, but hopefully one day I'll get to try it.

After passing by Kansas City, I made my way into Kansas:



Passing through Kansas was hillier than I expected at first, but as I got further into the state, the terrain began to flatten out:



I was able to see some of the old technology seemingly still in use:



And the newer technology. In fact, there was a huge field of these giant wind turbines. I've heard you can hear them turn as they cut through the wind but the weather was so windy/rainy that I couldn't hear anything else. Still very cool to see:



The rolling fields of Kansas had a certain charm and beauty to them which I felt even on this rainy day. I hadn't planned to do much else besides take in the natural beauty of this state when I accidentally came upon this:



I saw signs for it as I was heading west on I-70. I figured, why not check it out? It really was well-worth the side-trip, everything was put together so well and they had all these little exhibits of all different versions of the Wizard of Oz from all around the world:











They had the 1939 movie playing continuously in a special room and I learned quite a bit about the movie that I never knew. Apparently, Judy Garland wanted to adopt Terry (the dog who played Toto) from the studio as she had become attached to him, but her request was denied as Toto went on to star in other movies.

After a brief stop in Oz, I continued my journey westward. I needed to stop for gas and I happened upon this memorial right next to the gas station:



I've looked this up online and I can only surmise that this is an unofficial memorial commemorating those fallen in this battle of WWII (it was the only battle in WWII where the American casualties exceeded Japanese). I believe this one was to honor local soldiers from the area. In any case, I'm glad I had the chance to see it. It reminded me of the freedom I have to just get up and move, unhindered across this great country. It is a freedom that I take for granted far too often but deeply appreciate.

This ends this chapter of my voyage. I am currently in Colorado and will update you all on my adventures here from today and tomorrow, tomorrow evening.

Thanks for reading!

-Dan

Way out west... (22-Mar-2010)

This day was spent in St. Louis at the Gateway Arch Riverfront/Jefferson National Expansion Memorial! This monument was erected to honor Lewis and Clark and the westward expansion of the United States. At 630 feet tall, it is the tallest monument in the world and is situated right in front of their old courthouse on the Mississippi River.









I actually didn't know you could go inside the Gateway Arch until a few years ago. I'm so glad I finally had my chance to do so! You take a really tiny tram car to the top that only fits 5 people and 8 of these trams go up at a time. Here is a photo of the observation deck all the way at the top:



And of course, the fantastic view from the top. I really lucked out with sunny weather that day as you can clearly see the impressive shadow the Arch casts:



Just seeing the Arch in-person was so surreal. I remember seeing pictures of it in my first grade social studies book and I always told myself that I would see it one day. However, my experience on the Riverfront became so much more that day. I had no idea the who, how, and why about this structure until actually visiting.

I was able to view a documentary about the building of the Arch and all the planning, reinforced concrete and 900 tons of steel involved. The stainless steel actually came from Pennsylvania and triangular pieces were assembled and then extensively secured upon one another and welded together. I was able to take a photo example of a welding seam:



For you math geeks out there, the Arch is actually one giant hyperbolic cosine function:

y = A(cosh(Cx/L)-1)

and it is a bit of an optical illusion with the width of its base equaling its height (it appears taller than it is wide).

There is a whole museum underneath called the "Museum of Westward Expansion" featuring artifacts from the Lewis and Clark Expedition and photographs and and quotes inspired by the idea of Westward Expansion and American curiosity and wonder...



Here is a map featuring the Lewis and Clark Trail which began here in St. Louis, Missouri:



After touring the Arch and museum, I walked around the whole park area and down the steps to see the Mississippi River:



I also had the chance to walk down to an older part of town where some of the restaurants are...



And I sampled some of the famous rectangular pizza! It was delicious and for you Rachael Ray fans, there was a note on the menu which mentioned that this pizza was featured on her show:



Today was really special for me. Getting the chance to see and feel a part of something I've always been curious about really touched my spirit. While I wouldn't dream of comparing my current experience with Lewis and Clark's, I did feel connected to them in my own journey westward that day.

"A grand, gloomy, and peculiar place" (21-Mar-2010)

Okay, so that picture above was supposed to be the "Welcome to Kentucky" sign, but I didn't quite take the picture in time as my car passed. I would have just pulled over to take the photo, but there was a surprising amount of road construction in this part of the country, so oh well; it was nice scenery and a sunny, warm day though.

Driving through Appalachia these past few days has filled me with so much wonder and awe. Our country is so beautiful and I was feeling bit envious at those who lived in this region. Being surrounded by the mountains and rolling hills really brings you back to life and does wonders for the soul.

Today I explored Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky! It was discovered by the Native Americans more than 4000 years ago and is the largest underground cave system in the world. In fact, our guide told us that if the second and third longest caves in the world were joined together, Mammoth Cave would still be the planet's longest cave and have nearly 100 miles left over! Crazy.





Here is the entrance:



This room is called "Rotunda" due to its round shape and is the 6th largest "room" in the Mammoth Cave system.





This rock formation is called "Giant's Tomb" and using a flashlight and shadow techniques, our tour guide was able to "lift" the lid off of this tomb :)



Also, our tour guide described how tours were first conducted back in the day and he turned out all of the lights then lighted a small lamp. I don't recall experiencing anything that dark in my entire life.

This sign was funny. They actually named this section "Fat Man's Misery" due to how narrow it is. The ceiling also drops significantly so if you're taller than 3 feet, you'll be crouching. I hit my head pretty badly while taking this picture due to not watching where I walked :P



In this large room, our guide elaborated about the history of the cave when this part of the country was still under water (LONG ago; Mississippian Sea). The hard body parts of sea creatures made mostly of calcium carbonate settled into the sea bottom and pressure and heat transformed these sediments into limestone.



We also learned about the bats in the cave which are no bigger than your thumb. Most of them were hibernating this time of the year though. There didn't seem to be many insects or sources of food for the bats inside the cave so I asked the tour guide what the bats fed on while in the cave and he jokingly replied "lost tourists..." :) But then he said that they come to the surface at night to feed on insects while following the same flight path, night after night.

Here we got to see some stalactites. This part of the cave didn't feature many of these formations, but rather was focused on the vastness and history of the cave.



This last part of the cave was the way out. We had to climb this very large, high staircase to reach the surface as we had traveled more than 300 feet underground. I took that second picture near the top of the staircase as the group ascended.





Surfacing...



This last photo describes the cave system as a "honeycomb" formation, but our tour guide described it as a large bowl of spaghetti flipped upside-down. The hard, bowl dome is the surface and all the strands of spaghetti randomly weaving in and out of each other are all of the tunnels. We only did a 2 mile tour of this 367 mile cave system, so there is much more to discover. The quote title of this post was recited by our tour guide as the conclusion of the tour. An early guide named Stephen Bishop described Mammoth Cave as "A grand, gloomy, and peculiar place...". I definitely felt the "grand[ness]" of this place, but perhaps the gloom he describes was associated with the lack of lighting back in the early days?



If I had more time, I would have done one of the longer tours where you get to use helmets with headlamps! I highly recommend visiting this park if you are able. There are all sorts of different tours for all ability levels and interests.

I am now in St. Louis, MO and will write more tomorrow night!

-Dan

Almost Heaven, West Virginia... (20-Mar-2010)

I made it to West Virginia kinda late last night due to missing a turn. The scenery was amazing though, you are literally "in" the mountains when driving here. This morning I woke up, had the continental breakfast at my hotel and then drove to Point Pleasant! Why Point Pleasant? The Mothman of course! If you've ever seen the Mothman Prophecies with Richard Gere and Laura Linney, this is where that movie takes place and is based off of actual events.

When I arrived in town, a very friendly local asked "So...are ya in town to see the Mothman?" Apparently it's their claim to fame. She went on to tell me about lots of things to do in Point Pleasant, from the Mothman Museum and statue to biking along the flood wall (this town is right on the Ohio River). Here are some photos of the river and the mural on the flood wall:







Across from the Mothman Museum was the Mothman Statue:





After a short lunch was the Mothman Museum where they had actual props from the movie, eyewitness accounts and police reports, and a documentary. All very cool!







And of course, I couldn't leave without a T-shirt. Super-rad!



After Point Pleasant, I drove to Kentucky which is where I am now. Tune-in tomorrow night for some cave exploring!

-Dan

Oh Shenandoah, I long to hear you... (Friday, 19-Mar-2010)

Well, I made it to Virginia! It only took me 4 hours and change to reach Shenandoah National Park and it was well-worth the drive. I met a nice couple there who took my picture in front of the entrance and I did the same for the two of them. Another guy on his bike saw my bike attached to the back of my car and asked if I was planning to bike Skyline Drive. I really wish I would have had time; he highly recommended it!



There are more than 70 overlooks within the park and even though I only drove a small section of Skyline Drive, I got to see some pretty amazing views.





I really liked this one. There was a professional photographer at this one overlook and he pointed out the contrast between the blue of the mountains and the sky. The beautiful Blue-Ridge Mountains...



After spending a few hours in Shenandoah, it was time to head to West Virginia for a good nights rest...