two men shaking hands in front of columns

Rising into the Unknown

Life is a journey, let’s chase the summits and relish the adventure all along the way.

latest adventure posts

Diving Into Contemporary Art at the CAM 2022 Gala

Clayco is always proud to partner with organizations that highlight quality contributions in their communities, which is why we sponsored the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) 2022 Gala in St. Louis this past weekend. I was excited to attend the event and celebrate the CAM’s dynamic range of exhibitions, public programs, educational initiatives, and collaborations including its current exhibitions by Martine Gutierrez, Alia Farid and Gala Porras-Kim. Photo by: CAM STL

In Memory of Gyo Obata

I am saddened to learn about the passing of my friend, the gifted architect Gyo Obata. The son of renowned painter Chiura Obata and floral decorator Haruko Obata, he was born in San Francisco in 1923. Gyo was one of the most influential architects of our time, and a great inspiration to all who knew him. He co-founded HOK (Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum) and designed many buildings of international acclaim, including the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C., the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, and Sendai International Airport in Japan (among many others).

A Recap of the Year: Best of 2021

The Ruler of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Showing the display of Thomas Jefferson’s 18th century Quran at USA Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai.

An Enjoyable Autumn EuroTrip

Traveling is one of my favorite hobbies. It allows me to reconnect with old friends and make new ones, all while immersing myself in different cultures and spaces. I had an incredible time on a recent trip abroad with my wife Jane, where we ventured to Venice, Italy, Croatia, and Montenegro. We had an enjoyable time in Venice, crossing bridges and watching the gondolas glide through the city’s waterways. You can’t go wrong with rich culture and even richer food! BOB - ANYTHING TO ADD ABOUT YOUR VENICE TRIP?

A Reimagined Convention Center for St. Louis

Over the years, St. Louis has missed a lot of great opportunities to revitalize its downtown neighborhoods. From losing out on railroads to Chicago to failing to merge the city with St. Louis County, so many things have happened throughout the city’s history that still prevent it from being as good as it can be. With renewed attention on reimagining the downtown convention center, I’m calling for a larger, more ambitious plan to be considered that would completely transform the city for the better. With additional funding opportunities coming from federal infrastructure spending, a potential settlement with the NFL, and additional state funds, we have a real chance to think bigger and put forth even better ideas for America’s Center, like my proposal to build a convention center that would boost business and better connect north city neighborhoods to downtown.

20 Years Since 9/11

It’s been 20 years since the terrorist attacks that took place in New York City on September 11th, 2001. On the anniversary of this unthinkable tragedy, we’re reminded of just how much everything has changed in the years since. We also set aside time to remember the heroes, victims, and their families whose lives were forever changed after that day. The events of 9/11 are some of the darkest in our country’s history, but they also showed us our resiliency, courage, and commitment to come together and help get each other through an incredibly difficult and uncertain time. Together with stories of loss, we saw and heard about acts of great bravery as first responders rushed into the falling buildings to save others. It was a life-changing event that also reminded us of the bold spirit of America that we each have a responsibility to support and uphold.

ADVENTURE

Building Buttercup

a fence in a field with trees in the background

I can’t describe the powerful emotion I felt at this moment, for everything lost and gained in my whole life. It was a spiritual experience, from my heart.

ADVENTURE

Climbing Capitol Peak

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Adventure

Adventure is in my DNA

Ever since I read the stories of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, I’ve looked at all of my life as an adventure. Listening and learning from my father was amazing story in history over the course of 40 years taught me that adventure was in my DNA at conception.

I’ve always been able to keep calm and have a level head and every situation I can remember. The only exception of this rule is that I don’t believe a person should not panic if they’re drowning. I would definitely drown panicking.

Beyond that all of life’s twists and turns good and bad ecstatic or heartbroken all add up to the different color crayons in your crayon box. That was a quote from my dad upon hearing some shocking news about my own colorful life.