St. Louis was HOT. Really hot, but we made the best of it.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, it would be easy to surmise that our life in the camper is all “popcorn and crackerjacks”, and that every venture works out great.  Yeah, not so.  And one of the biggest factors for us to deal with when we were in St. Louis, MO, was the weather.  And much like the rest of the country it was hot! Damn hot.  And when your life is spent living in a metal clad storage container with a king size bed, it can get even hotter.  Such was the case on our way to St Louis.

Our first boondocking was a “roasting” experience.  The term boondocking refers to staying for a night or two without using any resources from outside the camper.  No electricity to plug into, no municipal water supply, we are completely self-sufficient.  And our camper is well equipped to boondock for many nights.  We have a generator to power equipment, we have solar panels to keep the batteries charged and the lights on during the day, and we can carry 80 gallons of fresh water, for showers and preparing food, as well as another 5 gallons of water for drinking.  But what I didn’t know, I didn’t know - was that extreme heat can be a real problem for boondocking. 

And there we were, at a lovely Walmart parking lot in Terre Haute, IN just off interstate 70, on our way to St. Louis, MO.  The planning for this first boondocking stay had been done months earlier, as our trip had us passing through Indiana and Illinois on our way to Missouri. We were in a well-lit, flat parking lot, way out in the south-east corner with some grass in the parking lot median strip.  An easy location, we could even hear the frogs in the nearby stream.  All was well until the mercury hit 105 degrees.  We had no shade, we were in a dark black parking lot, and we just baked inside the camper.  We tried to cool down the camper by running the generator and turning on the AC.  We have two, and now I know why.  But we cannot run two AC units on generator power (another important tidbit of information), so we tried using only one AC unit, but it was just too hot.

What do you do when it’s 4:00 pm, its 105 degrees outside, and you’re temporarily situated in a rather large mall parking lot?  You go shopping in stores with abundant air conditioning. We strolled, quite leisurely, up and down the aisles, basically just wasting time, but staying cool. Besides a Walmart Supercenter store, there was a Kohls, a Panera Bread restaurant, and a shoe retailer, and we loitered as long as we could in the hopes that the setting sun would allow us to cool off the camper.  But it did not.  It was a very hot night, and it was difficult to sleep. I believe we had even gone back into the Walmart sometime around 7:30 pm or so, found a bench near the Prescription refill section, sat down for a spell, and played video games for an hour before returning to the camper after dark. (we called this the “Bundy” method for staying cool in reference to the TV series “Married with Children”.  Google it if you’re not familiar).  We survived. We showered the next morning, had some coffee, cleaned ourselves up, and set off for St Charles, MO, just outside of St. Louis.  Although it was hot in St. Louis, we were able to plug into “shore power”, at 100% capacity and were therefore able to run both AC units, and all was well.  Lesson learned.

In many ways our stay in St. Louis was really a mixed bag.  We had some one of a kind great experiences, and then there were the everyday kind of experiences that you really wish you would really not ever like to experience again.  Yet of course we will.   Let me take you, my fine reader, on the see-saw of life.

Absolutely, the most memorable happening was getting to St Louis and immediately being able to purchase tickets for Kansas as part of their 50^th anniversary tour, at the Fabulous Fox Theater.  The renovated theater only holds 4,500 people so this was a very intimate affair.  To be honest, Judy & I only knew like 5 of the most popular songs, but there were 4 original band members on the stage (not for the entire concert), and these guys were in the 70’s.  We bought the tickets at the box office, then scouted out a restaurant for dinner, and returned a day later for a wonderful night’s entertainment.

Absolutely the worst is seeing the “check engine” light come on again, for the third time this trip, which means that there is something wrong with the “Beast” and it needs to go to the dealership for repair.  Again!  And this time we were kind of stranded in or around our camper and vicinity for a couple of days.  Our camper is a hefty 16,500 pounds when fully loaded and the “Beast” absolutely needs to be in optimal working conditions.  “Check Engine” lights and reduced engine power means immediate attention is required.

Absolutely the best major city park I have ever visited is Forest Park in St Louis.  It’s a park that has miles of walking trails, at least 2 public golf courses, gardens, and a half dozen really good museums, which are totally free to visit.  Forest Park was the area used in the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, and this is an enormous park consisting of over 1,300 acres (Central Park in NY is only 840 acres).  We spent many days at the park walking the trails and gardens and going to the museums.  The Art Museum and the Missouri History Museum got much of our attention and were great attractions.

Absolutely sucks to get sick no matter where you are.  After flying back from visiting Judy’s parents in Florida, Steven caught a good head cold and was in the camper being sick for 2½ days.  Seems it’s not possible to avoid getting a cold, even in retirement, and the only perk is that Steven finally has an unlimited number of paid sick days (LOL).

How lucky we were to find one of those more “urban campsites”.  This was a new experience.  The site was almost entirely paved, with little grass patches, there were no fire rings at any of the campsites, and campsite fires were not permitted.  On the other hand, we were a mile’s walking distance from downtown St. Charles, which is northwest from St. Louis, and just across the Missouri River.  So when the truck was in for repair and we had no vehicle, we were still able to shop, find a restaurant, and otherwise experience an active urban area.

We were very disappointed that we were not able to use the tickets that we purchased to see the St. Louis Arch.  We now have “rain checks” to come back and experience the Arch at some time in the next year.  The tickets we bought in advance with the expectation that we would be able to go the Arch had to be cancelled unexpectedly when the “Beast” needed immediate mechanical repair.  Damn it!

Of course, as we pulled out of St. Louis, the weather started to turn more favorable as the heat wave finally broke in the Midwest.  And the next boondocking experience in a Walmart parking lot in Cedar Rapids, Iowa was way more pleasant, included a comfortable night’s rest, and a stop at the Dunkin’ Donuts which was walking distance from our camper.  We were heading north to Minnesota to find cooler weather on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River.   So, join with us as we continue our journey as we tell… the Rest of the Story..

The state of Ohio continued to impress us as we visited both Columbus & Dayton in the south.

Having lived my entire life, all 59 years on the east coast, even through college, I would have to say that I have a decidedly east coast understanding of the rest of the United States.  Not trying to make any excuses, but how could I not.  That being said, Judy and I both agree that there is a lot to learn about the rest of these United States and we are well on our way to acquiring a greater insight of the mid-west.

After departing the Cuyahoga Valley, we headed due south to Springfield, OH which sits just about ½ way between Columbus, and Dayton, OH.  From this location we were able to explore two more Ohio cities. 

Our first stop was the Columbus Zoo.  We spent the better part of the day (6+ hours) wandering through the 6 different and distinct areas of the Zoo.  We did our homework before departing and found out that the zoo allows their patrons to bring in coolers and picnic lunches and doesn’t require that all food and drink be purchased on premises.  Knowing how big the zoo was we packed accordingly and brought along a soft-sided cooler where we kept plenty of water and drinks.  Worked out fabulously.  Here was a day where we logged almost 20,000 steps, and I think Judy’s Apple watch indicated that we walked more than 7 miles that day.  We have been to several zoos, and although we are obviously a bit partial to those zoos that have free admission, (hello, we’re still Jewish, so that’s never going to change), the Columbus Zoo is a great zoo, with the friendliest & most helpful employees, and one we would say is well worth the price of admission.

Dayton, Ohio is an absolutely fantastic city to visit.  I have no qualms or reservations about making such a statement (and no, I haven’t started working for the Dayton Ohio tourist authority either). First, it’s the birthplace of aviation, as this is where the Wright Brothers had their bicycle shop, and where much of the designing, building, and testing of their original airplane, the 1903 Wright flyer, happened.  True, the first flight took place in Kitty Hawk, South Carolina, but most of Wilber and Orville Wrights’ lives centered around Dayton.  While we’re on the subject, let’s talk about the myriad of industries that were developed in Dayton, OH.  How about National Cash Register (NCR).  I had no idea that NCR was basically the first and dominant cash register company for the better part of 100 years.  Oh, and then there’s that little company called AC-Delco.  Guess what DELCO stands for?  How about the “Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co.”  Without some of the discoveries made at Delco, we would not have electronic starters or the proper timing on the spark plug ignitions in cars. There were hundreds of advancements made in the early 1900s by the brilliant engineers and inventors of Delco.  Ohh, and then there’s that little company that goes by the name of Frigidaire, also incorporated in Dayton.  Are you kidding me, does anybody want to hear about how refrigerators and air conditioners were developed?  Yeah, not here, go read about it for yourself.

We visited two outstanding museums.  As far as we’re concerned the following are “must sees” in Dayton. Judy and I will be returning, at some time in the future, so that we may visit again because there was just so much to see, but so much more that we wanted to see.  

• Carillon Historical Park, which is a Dayton historical experience that we will not forget.  A park, spread over 65 acres, incorporated privately in 1942 by Edward  & Edith Deeds.  This park contains a Carillon bell tower that looks like this.  There is an entire building dedicated to the Wright Brothers complete with a bicycle shop, and the Wright Flyer III.  Just reading about the “Deeds” contributions was eye-opening.  

• National Museum of the United States Air Force has over 1 million square feet of space, consists of 5 building the size of 4 football fields each, and contains every conceivable type of flying machine.  Even ballistic missiles.  WWI,  WWII,  Asia Pacific, Cold War, and presidential planes were all part of the exhibits.  I have never been to a museum that includes the “needed” walking times between buildings and exhibits displayed on maps and directions.  Wow!  That about sums up our reaction, and we had to return for a second day, which included another picnic lunch so that we never had to leave the museum grounds.

We were also exposed to the sometimes “explosive weather” of the mid-west.  Picture this if you can.  We planned and spent what we expected to be a lovely day at Buck Creek State Park which included walking trails, and a rather large public beach on a good-sized lake.  We packed for both a 5-mile hike, which would be followed by a picnic at the beach.  The hike along the lake’s edge was great, and we turned our attention to cooling off down by the lake.  There were scattered thunderstorms in the forecast for later in the day, and I was looking at my phone app that provided weather radar, and although there were thunderstorms in the area, none were within 50 miles of our location. The beach was full, and then there’s a sudden crack of lightning and a tremendous boom of thunder.  There are 3 huge rain drops and the skies just open up with rain.  Apparently, the next pop-up thunderstorm was to appear directly overhead, and we were just pinned under our beach umbrella as heavy rain pelted us, and the thunder and lightning just rolled on through.  And then came the ¼” to ½” hail.  It was unbelievable, as the hail felt like it was being shot out of an elephant gun.  No less than 5 minutes from sunny and warm to the gates of hell.  And the beach was littered with people running for cover, making the dash back to the concrete bath house shelter, or their vehicles.  Eventually were able to gather up our belongings and limp our way back to the “Beast” where we loaded our waterlogged belongings into the back and drove back to our campsite where we started the process of drying out.  That was a new and different experience.

So, if you missed it in this blog post, I just lost my decidedly east coast understanding of the rest of the United States.  Never too old to admit that I lived a sheltered, liberal life on the east coast with scarcely an understanding about what the Midwest is all about.  But we are just beginning our exploration and have so much farther to roam and wander.  And maybe that’s exactly what retirement should be all about.  Judy and I spent 30+ years of our lives focused on raising a family and supporting our careers, so that now, in retirement, we should remove ourselves from what we know, and find all those things that we know nothing about.  So join with us as we continue to explore & discover more about ourselves and these United States, as we tell… the Rest of the Story.