Another day another state Capitol! Duke and I have visited several state capitols on this road trip. Our last Capitol for a while was the Capitol of New Mexico in Santa Fe. We spent Monday night just north of Santa Fe at Buffalo Thunder.

 

 

Tuesday morning we visited the capitol building in Santa Fe. It is the country's only round capitol building. Duke and I did a self guided tour and enjoyed all the art and unique architecture.

 

 

Sunday night we were in Oklahoma City, the capital of Oklahoma. We had a great dinner overlooking Lake Hefner and then found a relatively dark place near the lake to watch the lunar eclipse.

 

Monday morning we toured the Capitol. When it was built they ran out of money so for about 100 years it didn't have a dome. Starting in 2001 they added one.

 

 

The statue on top of the Capitol is 22 feet 9 inches tall. The replica I am looking at is 9 feet tall.

 

 

We took the self guided tour. It is a beautiful building.

 

 

Now we are on our way to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We are going 535 miles today. This is day 30 of our road trip. The only day we drove farther was back on day 9 when we were in Canada going from Moose Jaw to Kenora about 1200 miles north of here.

 

Our car is headed west towards Reno. There are only a few days left in our five week road trip. Saturday night we were in Little Rock, Arkansas. Since it was the weekend the Capitol building was not open but we explored the grounds of the Arkansas Capitol.

 

We also visited the Clinton Presidential Library and enjoyed local beers overlooking the Arkansas River.

 

 

 

Duke and I just spent two fun days in Memphis with my sister Elizabeth and her family.

 

Yesterday we went to the civil rights museum. It is built around the place where Martin Luther King was assassinated. The museum was enormous, very well done and moving.

 

Last night for dinner we had fabulous Memphis barbecue. This morning Duke helped hang my Grandmother Gibson's mirror.

 

 

Now we are on our way to Little Rock, Arkansas.

 

As Duke and I were planning our road trip and discussing places to go I suggested St Louis because I had never been there. So yesterday we drove from Springfield, Illinois to St Louis, Missouri. The first sign of St Louis was the Arch in the distance. It is enormous.

 

 

Wednesday our first stop in St Louis was the Budweiser Brewery. We took a free tour and got to see Clydesdales and their stable. The old brewery buildings are red brick and ornate. Of course the beer tasting was fun too!

 

 

Genealogy is a long time hobby of mine. I'm working on an article about George Robinson an ancestor of mine who was in Massachusetts in the 1600's. Before I left Reno I identified some books that I need to review that I can't get in Reno. All of them were available at the St Louis Library so Wednesday afternoon we went out to their main library. I went to the back of the library, up some steps, around a corner and up some more steps. And then I was in heaven. Oh, what a genealogy section they have! And I got the information I needed. I wish St. Louis was closer to Reno.

 

 

 

This morning, Thursday, we walked to the Arch and went to the top. The little capsule we rode in to the top was tiny. On the way up there were 5 of us jammed together for the four minute ride.

The top was small too and so were the Windows. But oh what a view! The museum at the base is closed because there is a big reconstruction project going on. After coming down from the viewing platform we watched a movie about the construction of the arch. What a accomplishment!

 

 

Next we took an hour long boat ride on the Mississippi. It is a beautiful day and we learned about all the bridges and traffic on the river.

 

 

Now we are on the way to Memphis to visit my sister.