Today I was brave

Today was Evil Little dog's last day with me. The weather channel proved to be entirely wrong and it was an absolutely gorgeous day. We did go to Cahokia (yes my GPS tried to kill us). The thing with earthen works is they're not really lookers and unfortunately the immersive history center is closed and will be for at least a year. So we did a little wandering (as we know the history fairly well) We saw the twin mounds close to the center and then crossed the street to the large Monks mound which had the temple on it (and later a French chapel). It looks like a heap of dirt with grass (which it is, 22 million cubic feet of it) Serpent Mound is much more of a looker but the history of it is interesting. I climbed the stairs, slowly but I climbed them)

ELD went on her way from here and I went back to both Bellafontaine and Calvary Cemetery (finding the tour info after the fact) I did find the Busch (as in beer) mausoleum in the former and General William Tecumesh Sherman's grave in the latter. The storm must have hit in this area last night because there were trees down everywhere in the graveyards.

From there I braved Forest park again. If ELD and I thought it was crowded yesterday we were sorely mistaken. I went to the art museum which if I lived here I'd have a membership to this park because this museum alone could take a day or more to really go through it. It's three floors and they're like mazes. I went through pretty fast (like 2 and a half hours) but I would like to have had time to go through one floor a day and really read the placards etc. They had a cafe that made ube lattes (it was good). It took a good half hour to get out of the park it was so crowded.

By now it's something to four so my room should be read at the downtown Marriot. I found it and was the last one to cram into the drive up to unload. It's SO packed that the harried valet guy is like you can't unpack here unless you valet because of the back up. FINE. Sixty dollars for that (it's 30 normally) I get inside with my ridiculous amount of bullcrap to find the registration for room line is wrapped around the lobby about4 dozen deep (looked more like an air port security line) this took another 40 minutes because it's HAPS( my group) and all the cardinals/cubs fans. the latter were freaking out because this was putting them off getting to the game.

I get to my room (great view of an inner courtyard of crap and the tower next door) and I saw that there was a HAPS registration this way sign. I go over there and again it evoked the airlines going from one concourse to the next up this escalator down that one and I find it. I find I was wrong. We're NOT in the convention center. We don't have to leave the hotel. I'm thrilled. And I am thinking that's dealt with but I DO NOT want to go out with that game downtown (I do have to move the car tomorrow or pay another 60$) so I put doordash on my phone (we don't have it where I live, don't judge) and order a shrimp tempura ramen from two blocks away (I would have walked it but I am dead at this point)

It was yummy and I'm in my PJs before 8 pm. I am tired. I look over the conference stuff and the biology prof who helped me my first year at my school is giving a research talk and presenting a workshop. I'm totally doing that one. I want to say hello.

( finally some pictures warning there is one spider )

Grizzly Bears having a ball