July 11, 2010
We woke up and hopped in the car to head the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, MO. I had prepaid for the tickets online the night before so the whole thing was very easy. We parked in the specified parking lot and walked straight to the arch which is in an open park. So we get to where we are waiting for our tram and we are all lined up in front of the small doors that will open to let us in. I have to say, the whole thing was kind of freaky. Like we were being herded to our deaths. Just as I was thinking these paranoid thoughts, a kid around the age of 6 just a few feet from us, starts wigging out. I mean he was seriously freaking out. He started by saying things like, "mommy you never told me we were going do this." He was begging to leave, yelling that he was afraid, screaming to let him go and that his parents were breaking his arms. Everytime he would say something it was getting louder and louder to the point where he was shrieking with fright. At first, Steve and I just looked at each other like, oh he is having a little temper tantrum. Then it became very obvious that the kid did not want to be there and that he was terrified. Steve told me that they needed to take him out because he was scaring the other kids. Are you kidding, he was scaring me! I could tell that Steve was becoming more and more uncomfortable with the situation and so was everyone around us. At the height of the childs screaming, Steve could take it no more and in a loud voice he asked the man to take his son out. The guy gave Steve an attitude and made a few arguments but eventually he took him out. I don't know if they ever got on the tram.
Shortly after the episode the doors slid open and the people coming down exited and we got in. Then i freaked out. There is only room for 5 people and the trams are kind of podlike and small. I immediately became very uncomfortable. Did I mention I am claustrophobic? The thought of those tiny doors closing and being trapped in that tiny pod of death was almost overwhelming. I was a second from getting out but I knew I had to be brave or Madeline and Abbey would see a scaredy cat mommy. Luckily when the door slide shut I saw that they had tiny windows in them. They were the only thing helping me hold onto my sanity. In less than four minutes we were up 635 feet at the top. From the observation windows you could see down to the Mississippi and over to St. Louis. There has been some flooding there and you could see trees and debris floating down the muddy river. My fear of heights started kicking in and we decided it was time to go back down.
Once we got down, Abbey and Madeline earned a new junior ranger badge (Abbey's ninth) and then we were off to hook up the trailer and head to Dara's house.
We woke up and hopped in the car to head the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, MO. I had prepaid for the tickets online the night before so the whole thing was very easy. We parked in the specified parking lot and walked straight to the arch which is in an open park. So we get to where we are waiting for our tram and we are all lined up in front of the small doors that will open to let us in. I have to say, the whole thing was kind of freaky. Like we were being herded to our deaths. Just as I was thinking these paranoid thoughts, a kid around the age of 6 just a few feet from us, starts wigging out. I mean he was seriously freaking out. He started by saying things like, "mommy you never told me we were going do this." He was begging to leave, yelling that he was afraid, screaming to let him go and that his parents were breaking his arms. Everytime he would say something it was getting louder and louder to the point where he was shrieking with fright. At first, Steve and I just looked at each other like, oh he is having a little temper tantrum. Then it became very obvious that the kid did not want to be there and that he was terrified. Steve told me that they needed to take him out because he was scaring the other kids. Are you kidding, he was scaring me! I could tell that Steve was becoming more and more uncomfortable with the situation and so was everyone around us. At the height of the childs screaming, Steve could take it no more and in a loud voice he asked the man to take his son out. The guy gave Steve an attitude and made a few arguments but eventually he took him out. I don't know if they ever got on the tram.
Shortly after the episode the doors slid open and the people coming down exited and we got in. Then i freaked out. There is only room for 5 people and the trams are kind of podlike and small. I immediately became very uncomfortable. Did I mention I am claustrophobic? The thought of those tiny doors closing and being trapped in that tiny pod of death was almost overwhelming. I was a second from getting out but I knew I had to be brave or Madeline and Abbey would see a scaredy cat mommy. Luckily when the door slide shut I saw that they had tiny windows in them. They were the only thing helping me hold onto my sanity. In less than four minutes we were up 635 feet at the top. From the observation windows you could see down to the Mississippi and over to St. Louis. There has been some flooding there and you could see trees and debris floating down the muddy river. My fear of heights started kicking in and we decided it was time to go back down.
Once we got down, Abbey and Madeline earned a new junior ranger badge (Abbey's ninth) and then we were off to hook up the trailer and head to Dara's house.
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