Gateway to the West

I thought the name "the Gateway to the West" was so apropos for this occasion. In talking with people to the east of the Mississippi, they don't know the goodness of the West, and believe me this trip showed a lot of good. My son decided to go into the Army at the great old age of 33. Now 33 doesn't seem like being really old but when you are competing at basic with 18 & 19 year olds, you are considered a grandpa. So my husband and I decided to make it a mini-vaca for us. First stop of course was the St. Louis, Cardinal v. Philly game. Gary had never been to a major league game and so it was really fun to be there in the humidity and all. It really wasn't that bad, and we thoroughly enjoyed the game. BTW - The Cardinals won!!

Can you see the arch mowed into the grass. It's amazing what us Westerners are amused with.

On our way back to our hotel, we noticed the full moon.  This picture just does not do this arch justice, it was really beautiful.

The next day we went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Gary and I love going to gardens, maybe because it is a refreshing moment of not having to do our own gardening. I particularly wanted to go to these Gardens because they have Chihuly throughout. Now if you don't know who Chihuly is, you are probably living in a bubble (if you only knew I just made a joke, I am so funny), but he does huge glass sculptures throughout the world and in particular a lot of gardens. As we entered we saw this absolutely gorgeous light fixture he did. It has over, I believe, 600 pieces. Plus the big deal of this day was we went on the only day it is free in the garden. It was Mr. Shaw's (founder of the garden)birthday, what luck.

 

This is a pin garden. These gardens are about 4 to 5 feet in diameter, and they are planted every year. They are laid upon rock that drains the water, but there is an underground watering system. They use sucklings. I thought they were quite unique.

They had a huge Japanese garden. Unfortunately, I was unable to walk the entire thing.

They had a large Solarium called the Climatron. I asked Gary if Mr. Shaw would be totally impressed to see how large these plants were. Again you see Chihuly throughout this as well.

Mr. Shaw's home. That is one thing about a large garden, it is too large to take just one picture of everything in it.

Off to Fort Leonard Wood, 2 1/2 hours outside of St. Louis, so Gary and I took our time getting there, but when we did we were invited to a banquet for the troops graduation. Here is my son and his lovely wife and great kids.

 

Some people believe there are good angels and bad angels on your shoulders throughout your life, and this is a great example of it. On Nick's left was a drill Sergeant that Nick got a long with, they weren't essentially buddies, but he wasn't so hard A___. On Nick's right was another story. This Sergeant made the comment to the unit that he does not take photos with the privates at graduation, so as a joke Nick and the Drill Sergeant on the left encouraged this photo with the other Drill Sergeant. The unit thought this was pretty funny.

After graduation, we went off to have lunch and play with the kids.

Gary got a little aggressive in twirling Jack and so he was a little sick, but recovered quickly when he knew he could play on my tablet.

It was a great trip. I was very impressed with my son and his wife, the kids were down right adorable and fun, and I believe we even got along with the step-mother.

I love you Nick and I am very proud of you and hope the best for your future!!