Rode into and through St. Louis, MO.  Crossed the Mississippi river into Illinois.  Left the highway to try to find a post office for an official photo.  Got lost in a neighborhood where we got more and more uncomfortable.  Finally found the highway and got out of there.  Then tried to find a place near the river where we could look across and photograph the arch.  Found ourselves in another neighborhood where we had no right being.

Gave up and headed west for about 60 miles and called it an evening.

We continued eastward through Missouri.  Had a nice lunch at a chain restaurant, Steak and Shake.
I've seen these around the midwest but have never had the opportunity to try one.  They are okay, pretty good food, but over-all I would say missable.

St, Louis, Missouri is an old industrial city.  As with many of our industrial cities, their glory days are in the past.  Huge, abandoned building are a reminder.

St. Louis is right on the Mississippi River.  There is a spaghetti tangle of bridges that have been built over the years that can confuse the travelor.
The arch is not to be missed.  It is visible from almost anywhere in the vicinity and is impressive.

We went across the Mississippi River into East St. Louis, Il. was our most optimistic point east when we were planning our trip.
East St. Louis is one of the poorest, harshest cities in America.  It makes Oakland seem almost okay.
Wanting to get a photo with a sign saying Illinois, I led us onto an off ramp when I saw two nice looking churches.
Surely, we can find a post office or ask someone for directions.  What we found was a neighborhood where we clearly did not belong.
The strangeness and the poverty made all of us very uncomfortable.  After about ten minutes of wandering, I found the freeway and we got out of there.

The best view of the St. Louis arch is from across the river in East St. Louis.  I took another freeway off ramp to try to find the frontage road to take some photos.
We found ourselves in another neighborhood where we felt uncomfortable and we soon turned around and got out of there.
We headed back into Missouri with the intention of getting west of St. Louis to end the day.

Finally, we were getting west of St. Louis and feeling more in our element.
Note the exit sign for Hannibal, Missouri.  Remember Tom Sawyer and friends?

The intrepid adventurers on the road.
Missouri is a no helmet state and it was HOT.  I broke down and threw caution to the wind on our way to dinner.  It sure felt good.
We stopped for the night in Warrenton