en route to oak ridge

my trip down to tennessee began on monday at 4 pm instead of the planned 2 pm. Andi and her family got held up in traffic because there was a big accident on the way here. we went by the accident on the way back and saw the traffic held up for 3-4 miles. I felt sorry for the people who were stuck. After a few hours we got to St. Louis where we stayed for a couple of nights. We spent the day at St. Louis visiting the Arch and the Budweiser factory. We spent a lot of time at the musuem underneath the Arch. I learnt more about US history there as they had a year by year info block. I took a few pictures. I actually figured out the exposure setting to take low light images of stationary objects. They came out pretty well actually, atleast on the small LCD display on my camera. After this, we did a quick lunch at the parking lot near the Arch. This was the steepest slope I've seen for a parking area. It was mildy scary to park.. And then we did the oen thing that people would be most jealous about. The tour and free beer at the Budweiser headquarters and factory. The tour was about an hour long and I learnt about the methods of preparation of their beer. I didn't know that their beer contained no preservatives and was naturally carbonated..And at the end of the tour, we got to try two free samples of any of their beer. I really liked their AmberBock. It;s a little darker but it was good. And then I got a honorary beer taster certificate for taking part in their little test to show us the difference between fresh beer and expired beer. And so that was my souvenir from the Bud factory.. And then we went to the Union Station and looked around and did dinner there. After that we head back tired and that was the day. And today we have been driving all day and we got stuck in a traffic clog here Nashville for an hour in torrential downpour. It rained quite a bit today while driving. Mrs. Ziffer is the only one who can drive so we feel sad for her to take such a burden to drive all the way.. I guess I have a few pictures so far from this trip that I'll post when i get the chance.. And tomorrow we visit Gatlinburg and then they leave friday morning.. And after that it's new people..