Ragnar's World: Entering Troy

With a halfway broken car (they did offer me a replacement, but I couldn't be bothered since it was so short time left), I headed for Saint Louis. And as usual, Interstates are boring. So I opted for the long road. Which took me through the backyards of America. Through small towns and forests. By rivers, streams and small lakes. And plenty of "dancing roads". The unfortunate meeting with the "Alligator" had made my rear bumper a bit unstable. I thought I had snapped it into place and that would be it. But after about 50 km, I saw in the side mirror that it was hanging in the wind. Flipping up and down. I stopped and snapped it into place. A few km later, it jumped off again. So I stopped at a gas station and bought some duct tape. If you can't fix it with duct tape, you haven't used enough. A couple of strips and it was stable. I also duct taped some plastic coverings under the engine. It was scraping on the road every time I drove across a bump.
I realized now why I had not seen so many "alligators" on the road. I had spent most of my time off the interstate. And of course, most trucks drive there. It's faster and more efficient. And thus I didn't have to worry about any more jumping up and "biting" me. So I could just enjoy myself. Even at much lower speed. It did of course take longer. I could have driven straight and been in St Louis in under 5 hours. But instead, I spent 12 hours on the road. But it was worth it. I finally arrived not long before sundown. And much to my amusement, the suburb I was staying in, was called Troy. I was entering the city of Troy in the belly of a car, not a wooden horse... That evening was spent on the bed, just resting before falling asleep.

Cool ridin'

Through forests

And small towns

The source of the interstate. This interstate actually
started here...

The day after I decided to go to the Gateway Arch. A ginormous arch by the Mississippi river. I knew that it was possible to take a ride in a small elevator to the top. Almost 200 meters above the ground. How can I resist that? So I drove to the parking garage of the arch, and walked towards it. It was truly a spectacular build. Simple in itself, but still. Simple physics meets engineering and architecture. 200 meters tall. Held up by simple forces pushing it together. Making it strong. A fact known for ages.
I walked down into a tunnel at the base of the arch, to get to the elevator. $10 for a ride. I asked for a ticket, and the lady behind the desk asked me "Do you suffer from a fear of heights, fear of closed spaces or do you have a heart condition?" "No" I said and thought "even if I did, I would want to do this, so I wouldn't tell you". Beside the ticket counter was a mock-up of the elevator box. It was TINY. With cramped space for five people. I smiled. This was going to be interesting...
I walked over to the line for the elevator. It was a long line. A girl asked a family in front of me. "How many in your party?" "Four". She gave them some plastic tags. Then she turned to me. "How many" "One". "One?" "One!". "Come here sir!" And she took me straight past the whole line. When we arrived at the elevators, she yelled to a girl "This guy is alone, he can ride in number four!". So I skipped the whole line, all the wait, and got straight into the really tight little car. And we were off. As we ascended, I marveled at the simplicity of the construction. And at the same time, the complex ride it took care of. We were going in a circle. And of course, when going in a circle, the box would tip over eventually. But it had a simple system that every now and then, tipped the box over to compensate for the angle of the track, so we always sat upright. We heard a "Gzzzzzkadunk!" every time. And the box shook a little. It was fun! Like a ride at a fun fair!
About four minutes later, we stopped, and the doors opened. The final few meters, we had to walk the stairs. And we were greeted by a staggering view! Small windows that let you look straight down to the ground. I laid down on my belly on the angled walls and looked down. My body was tingling from the view. I could see both ends of the arch. I brought out my camera and took some pictures. I loved the view. Simply loved it! I just laid there for minutes enjoying it. Taking lots and lots of pictures.
Then I moved to the other side and got to see the shadow of the arch on the Mississippi. It was beautiful. I laid there for several minutes. What a ride! What a view! What a feeling! I wanted to stay, but I realized I was holding up others, so in the end, I decided to give others some room too. And I took the elevator back down. Ah! One of my best moments on this trip. If you ever come to St Louis, and don't suffer from fear of heights or tight spaces, or suffer from heart problems, or don't care that you do, try it! You will not regret it. Unless you panic in the elevator and faint or throw up or start screaming like a maniac and bang on the doors. Then you probably will regret that you didn't care. But not the ride.