Living the Dream Part 3
As we made our way along Route 70 West we briefly discussed what if anything we wanted to see along the way. Being on the tight time frame that we were, I really didn’t have anything that I thought would warrant a deviation to our planned route. So I was a little surprised when Joe mentioned that one thing on his list was the St. Louis Arch. He said that as long as it wasn’t too far off the beaten path he really wanted to check it out. Now remember, this is the man who suggested we make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at rest stops, and sleep in two hour naps when we felt we needed it to keep on schedule. Alas, keeping in mind the fact that he was now doing all the driving, even in sunny, dry, and perfect conditions, I wanted him to be able to see it. As it turned out we didn’t have to alter our course at all . . . we couldn’t have missed it if we tried.
I kind of suspected for him it was more about the architecture itself and not the historical significance, as he is enthralled with extreme engineering, form and function. For me on the other hand, I thought it would be more about checking off a bucket list item that I hadn’t previously considered . . . I could take it or leave it . . . I was wrong. To say that the arch, sitting on the west bank of the Mississippi River; the tallest man made monument in the United States with a height of 630 feet, towering and gleaming above the cityscape of St. Louis, is simply breathtaking would be a gross understatement.
I don’t really know how to adequately describe the feelings that came over me when the St. Louis Arch, more affectionately known as “The Gateway to the West” first came into view. I was hit with a smattering of thoughts and emotions ranging from awe associated with the sheer magnitude of the monument itself and a kind of kindred connection with the cowboys, trappers, prospectors and miners that this magnificent monument was created to memorialize. Granted, we weren’t traveling in a Conestoga wagon or worried about unfriendly natives (at least not in the scalping sense). Nor did we have to worry about building our homestead before the harsh winter set in. We were, however, heading west into unexplored territories, at least by us, in search of a new life. We were full of hopes and dreams and an intense determination to succeed, just like the American Pioneers who traveled west some two hundred years before us.
There may be a lot of dissention among historians about whether or not Horace Greeley actually coined the phrase or simply popularized it . . . but the fact remains that even today the famed words “Go west young man and grow up with your country” still ring true. It was after all a position in the mining industry that was the catalyst in our journey west. However, as far as the growing up part goes . . . I don’t think either one of us is buying into that notion just yet!
