Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2004

Off this morning early to the Falls of the Ohio river. We went through a piece of Kentucky, including Louiseville, and then to the falls, which are in Indiana. The falls are really a collection of rapids, with the Ohio river skittering over layers of strata containing millions of fossils from the Devonian and the Cretaceous periods. A full skeleton of a mammoth was found there as well. Fascinating and well done exhibit center, with a 14-minute movie that was really informative about the area's geologic past.

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2004 (Day 2)
Dear Journal,
Today we packed up and began driving. We first stopped at the Falls of Ohio. We had to leave the observation point because they opened more of the Dam's “gates”. There were fossils everywhere!!! Then we had a late lunch and went to a place with instruments that ran on paper rolls or holes or bumps. They were awesome!!! Then we dumped our stuff at our motel room and went to “The Arch”! First we watched a movie about how it was made. Then we took an 8-car gondola up. I was petrified! The view was great, once I stopped trembling in the middle!!! Then we rode down. Now that I wasn't scared, it was a real lot of fun. After that, we checked into our new hotel and went to sleep.

Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2004 (Continued)

On towards St. Louis! But we stopped at 12:30p to picnic at a nice rest area in Indiana. There we saw a pamphlet for Dr. Ted's Musical Marvels - a sort of mini Musee Mechanique - that was just a short way from the exit we were on, so we went. It was fabulous! There were two docents, and one of them, a little old lady, took us around and showed us each of the mechanical marvels: player pianos, Hurdy-Gurdys, Wurlitzers, old Victor victrolas, and any number of wonderful music makers. Dr. Ted is a real doctor, and he got the music maker bug when he bought an antique organ and has been collecting and repairing them ever since. I must write to him (at 11896 US 231, Dale, Indiana 47523) to ask him about that wonderful toy where you have a revolving platform like a record player, with holes in the top, through which you can place peg soldiers to pluck notes from the tines below.

A great museum, with a good movie about how the St. Louis arch was built. Then we rode up on these tiny round cars in an 8-car train. Each car was in the shape of a closed tiny tin can gondola, sitting 5 people very close together. It was really very claustrophobic, even for me. Aron asked with a worried face whether we would have enough air. The car was completely enclosed, except for a tiny window in the doorway, so you felt like you were powerless in a tiny can. Through the tiny window, as we rose, you could see the dimly lit stairs (all 1,076 of them) that the arch workers could use. At the top we could see the baseball stadium all full of people watching a baseball game. Aron was pretty scared at first. He didn't want to go up in the arch. He didn't want to get in the tram car, and he certainly didn't want to look out the windows at the top, but he relaxed after awhile and had a better time. We went up on the north arch leg and down on the south arch leg.