Sunday Afternoon Post: Back to the East

Today will be the start or a wonderful tradition of not writing too much on a Sunday, mainly because I wrote too much yesterday.  

What is the primary difference between western and eastern North America?  Water.

In this case, as if the forests were not indication enough (not many hickories and white oaks back in Utah or Nevada), there are sometimes huge thunderheads, and not the weak kind that growl once and leave during the Arizona "monsoon".  No, this is Missouri, right near about where northern continental air masses meet Gulf air masses.  Specifically, this is I-44 eastbound about 50 miles from Saint Louis.  

The route is a lovely drive, very hilly, not quite hillbilly, not quite mid-western, not quite much of anything clear cut.  While not quite the true Ozarks, the northern edge of them is a nice, green, rolling invitation back to the humid and temperate east.  

I had always envisioned Saint Louis as being your typical big Mississippi city prone to flooding and stretched out across a gentle landscape, when in fact it is rather compact for a city its size and located in a rather scenic area.  

They do indeed have a river.

And even a giant arch!

Let's head north tomorrow.