St. LOUIS!!

Day 24 (Jan 12) Madison
Don't really remember what I did…. Except for GOMERoke again! Went with Alex and Mo.


Day 25 (Jan 13) Madison - Chicago - St. Louis
I was so tired all of that day because my bus from Madison to Chicago was at 3:30am. We arrived in Chicago at 6am. They had wireless on the Megabus, which I loved, but they didn't have any outlets so the laptop didn't survive the whole journey. I hung out in Union Station in Chicago for a bit, then took my next bus to St. Louis. I arrived in St. Louis around 2:30, and took the train to Yvonne's house, where I was couchsurfing.

There were a lot of people living there, 7 adults, 4 kids, and some pets too. I thought some Frenchman who commented that their place wasn't really ideal for couchsurfing was just being too stuffy about it, but I had to agree when I got there. The people themselves were great, but the place was a bit more than I could handle. I spent my first evening there getting to know the people who lived there, and just chilling to music.


Day 26 (Jan 14) St. Louis
I woke up bright and early as I usually do, not wanting to miss an opportunity to see all I could before it got dark. I walked all around Forest Park, where the St. Louis World Fair was held in 1904 (?). I then walked from the park to the Gateway Arch, stopping a few other places to see along the way. Google it, it's a fair distance. In all, I walked about 6 hours nonstop that day.

I was going to go to Soulard, which is supposed to be a nice little French area a'la the French Quarter in New Orleans, but I was too tired at the thought of walking a single minute more. I went back to Yvonne's, and hung out for the rest of the evening. I watched a movie with one of their friends, Willy, who always hangs out at the house.

Day 27 (Jan 15) St. Louis - Collinsville, IL - St. Louis
On my list of places I've always wanted to go was the Cahokia Mounds Site in Collinsville, Illinois. It's actually listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, one of the few in the US. The mounds were part of the Mississipean culture that surrounded the Mississippi River area, and disappeared shortly before the Europeans began exploring that area.

It would have definitely been better if I'd been able to go there during the summer to see the mounds in their full greenery, but I made do. The interpretive center at the mound site was really interesting, and I spent some time there learning about the Mississipeans.

After that, I went back to St. Louis, and decided to walk around Soulard for a bit before returning to the house. My feet were COMPLETELY dead afterwards.

At night, there was a party at the house because a couple people were celebrating their birthdays. Yvonne's boyfriend's birthday was that day, and he's a DJ, so he played some great music. Some of the other people who live there and hang out there play music, so we all had a great time. I got to bed around 7 or 8am.