Awesomely Terrible Tourist Traps!

Post 4

Lewis & Clark Outfitters in Springdale Arkansas, best show yet!!! As far as our presentation is going, everything is starting to click. I feel like the audience was entertained and that they really enjoyed themselves. I know that everyone walked away having gained a little piece of backpacking knowledge that they previously didn’t have. Same goes for the Indianapolis show. People all took home at least one piece of gear from our great sponsors if not multiple pieces. My favorite part of the presentation is when we let five lucky people test an inert Sabre Frontiersman Bear Spray. Everyone really gets into it, it’s interactive, entertaining and informative. Who doesn’t like talking about bears? No one I know!

In between these two shows we had a nine hour drive. What is the most touristy thing we can do en route? Take the tram to the top of the St. Louis Arch of course. Wow! What an experience. It was so awesomely terrible I’d never do it again, but find it extremely humorous how lame of an experience it was. You stand in line for an hour, even though you have tickets for a specific time. You and four others are then crammed into a tiny tram car that resembles what I would picture a space shuttle re-entry pod to be. Four excruciatingly long minutes later you’re spat out at the top of the swaying Arch along with 40 other claustrophobic weary travelers. But the skyline view from the top is worth it right? The crink in your neck tightens as you try to hold an uncomfortable yoga pose to position yourself to see out the rectangular 4”x12” sorry excuse for a window, that for some reason is positioned along the angled wall, three feet from the floor. The whole experience seemed like an inside joke by the architect and designers of the Arch. Well played!

Sorry for my sarcastic writing style and humor. I did in fact enjoy myself, maybe specifically because of how awesomely terrible every aspect of the experience was. All joking aside, the Arch viewed from afar and directly next too, is truly awe-inspiring. But I would skip the tram to the top, unless of course you’re itching for a disappointment.