Fri, Jun 26, 2026:  St. Louis, MO

Earlier in the week I drove over to Grafton, IL, to see the new D-Day memorial--Pont Du Hoc in Normandy.  Unfortunately, the trail up to the memorial was closed because of construction of a parking lot (sigh).  But the drive up there is beautiful along the Great River Road with all the cliffs on one side and the river on the other.  On the way back I stopped at Ellis Island, which is really a peninsula, to walk the trails there.  A beautiful day.  You could smell the vegetation, hear the birds and insects and hopefully see some wildlife.  No wildlife but a great walk.