This is my final entry and my final stop was in St. Louis. Days eight and nine were travel days, with a stop in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Nothing to see there, so I moved on to St. Louis. I arrived in the evening and arranged a dinner with friends Brian and Greg. Observe Brian, the server’s nightmare (because he was a server himself) checking out his pizza and then yelling at the server:
Brian has been a friend since 1980. We were housemates for the school year 1981-82 at BSU. It was great to see him and Greg.
The next day, I connected with my cousin Cindy and we visited one of her favorite places, The Missouri Botanical Gardens.
The Fall colors were fantastic! And there were some summer blooms still hanging on.
Some architecture:
A rebuilt version of the original Observatory:
After a wonderful visit with Cindy, I moved on to Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, just over the border from St. Louis. Cindy’s Dad, my Uncle Orville, was a professor there. He was also an excellent photographer, with an MFA from Indiana University in photography. He is gone now, but he lives on through his art. There is an exhibit of his photography currently in the SIUE Art and Design West Gallery. It is entitled: “Visions of an Educator 1956 – 1969”
Here is his bio (I hope you can read it):
Here is some examples of his photography. I couldn’t take photos in the gallery due to the glare from glass in the frames. Here are some of his photos that I own. Please forgive some of the glare, some of these are stored in plastic.
This is at a farm auction in Missouri:
Those of you that have been to Nashville Indiana may recognize this intersection. Although this was taken in the 1950’s, the intersection is still essentially the same. It s the corner of Main and Van Buren, looking south. Miller Drugs is now the Hobnob Cafe, and the (recently closed) Nashville House is to the left, across the street. 
He visited the Soviet Union at one point in his life:
Outside the Gallery, there was, of course, more art:
The campus is rural, beautiful, and clean. Here is a final look. The Fuller Dome, I assume named after Buckminster Fuller, houses the campus Center for Spirituality and Sustainability. Note the saying at the bottom: “Love and Treat Your Neighbor as You Would Like to be Loved and Treated”
That’s all! After this visit, I headed back to Indianapolis. I hope those of you that have followed this trip have enjoyed it. Thank you!