Today we took a spin into St. Louis to give it a sniff. It is about a 20 minute drive from our current RV park in Arnold for locals who know their way around. Unfortunately, we are not locals so we ended up discovering many ways to not get to the Arch, down on the waterfront. We would think we were on the correct path and would encounter a temporarily closed exit or a closed street with no detour shown. We eventually gave up on the GPS and tried to get to the Arch by dead reckoning and received glimpses of the faraway city icon. Eventually, we got to within about 2 blocks but found no way to get closer and no place to park. We mutually decided to delay our view of the Arch until we had driven back across the Mississippi into Illinois.
Our aimless wanderings in downtown St. Louis did yield some benefits. We got to cruise the poorly maintained city streets and check out the fabulous architecture. Most of the older construction is masonry but there are a few steel buildings and some really artistic modern structures unlike others we have seen. We stopped in at the St. Louis Basilica, a truly impressive structure with fabulous stone structural components and mosaic interior finishes. It is too big to get a picture from the outside without resorting to aircraft.
From the basilica we headed toward St. Louis’s central park and on the way we passed a truly impressive array of palatial mansions that were built by old St. Louis’s robber barons using funds they fleeced from idiots, like me. According to Zillow, many of these shacks have interior areas exceeding 10,000 square feet.
Once we made it to the park, we drove over to take a look at the beautiful St. Louis Art Museum which is a big classical Roman building but with interior lighting and flush toilets. There is a big statue of St. Louis right in front. I am not real skookum on Catholic requirements about what it takes to be a saint. In St. Louis’s case, he was honored for being the king of France, probably by a full complement of quite compliant cardinals sharp enough to realize that not making Louis a saint would separate them from their heads in front of a crowd of rag-clad Frenchmen.
After leaving Louis in the mirror, we headed back downtown to check out something called the St. Louis City Museum. It is a unique collection of stuff both inside and out. It appears that a whole phalanx of welders got together to create a huge array of fantasy structures tying together regular items like school buses and jet aircraft. One school bus projects out from the corner of the roof of the 10 story structure, giving the brave an opportunity to look out the window and 100 feet to the ground. There is an enormous metal praying mantis up there, too. If it wasn’t 98 degrees today, we might have stopped in for a bit at this place, just for a better look.
We set up the GPS again to get to the Illinois side of the river for a view of the Arch unobscured by berms, rural electrification and impressive buildings. The GPS could not find a way to the other side of the Mississippi that was safe for our vehicle regardless of the amount of tampering and tomfoolery we used so we tried Google maps and eventually made it the 5 miles or so into Illinois. We did get a nice view of the Arch from a park in Illinois where we also discovered a series of rotten bridges, low bridges and tight turns that probably scared our Rand McNally wayfinding thingy.
On the way home, we did stop at a local Target store so we could replace our portable ice maker which gasped its last yesterday in the torrid temperatures. The new unit was on sale so we also got a new skillet to replace our current non-stick pan that stuff sticks to regularly. We also got a whole room stand fan because we met some folks in Pennsylvania who were using their similar fan to keep the insects at bay when sitting outside. We love the idea of sitting outside our traveling home but the bugs can be daunting, particularly here in the midwest where the variety of bugs is truly extraordinary. We are going to try to blow them away, once the temperatures get down in the tolerable range and we can go outside.
We took a few pictures in town. To see them, click the asterisk *

We were back on the road today. We left Fitzgerrell State Park near Ida, Illinois, and continued west on I-64. The weather was quite bizarre; the air temperature was in the mid-80s but it was raining pretty hard most of the way. The roadside crops looked very happy and damp. We finally drove out from under the stifling cloud cover when we approached St. Louis. It quit the drenching rain but the temperature and humidity were still brutal. Opening a truck window was like sticking your head into an autoclave.
We turned off I-64 onto I-255 and headed southwest toward Arnold, MO. We crossed the mighty Mississippi. It was mighty brown. Drinking from this river may be problematic. We tried to get a picture of the famous St. Louis Arch but the road surface on 255 was so cratered we couldn’t get the landmark to stay in the viewfinder. We will go give it a leer maybe tomorrow.
In Arnold we pulled off into the Covered Bridge RV Park. It is right next to a highway that we hope doesn’t have a lot of nocturnal truck traffic. The individual spaces in the park are quite large, they have full utility hookups, there is cable TV, a laundry and their wifi is a zinger compared to that which we have recently had. There is a herd of American goldfinches here and they are gorgeous. Should be called yellowfinches, though.

It was another day of us doing almost nothing. I have been feeling a bit punky the last few days and Peggy was nice to let me lay low for another day. It may not have been a big sacrifice on her part because the torrid outside temperatures and stupifying humidity have made venturing outdoors unpleasant.
We did take a short spin to see if we could spot some deer and we were quite successful on that point. We also wandered about in the area just outside the park looking for diesel. We filled up because we are off tomorrow, continuing our westward progress.

Today we woke up and the outside temperature was already on the way to miserable. It never dropped below 76 last night and by the time the sunlight started trickling through the shade trees it was well into the 80’s. The humidity was much higher than we wanted to confront so we stayed pretty close to our air conditioned trailer.
We noted from our comfy chairs that there was a bunch of critters moving around outside so we finally let temptation get the better of reason and we ventured out as far as our air conditioned truck so we could take a spin around the massive campground complex here at Fitzgerrell State Park.
There are a few critter pix. Click the asterisk *

Today we left Indiana and headed west into Illinois. We again used I-64 for most of the drive because we are trying to sort of scamper across this part of the U.S. It is hotter than hell and the humidity is hard on us desert types who prefer the crispy west. However, the countryside along the road is gorgeous and I kept slowing down to leer at the surroundings. We figured Illinois was flat but the part we drove through yesterday was gently rolling hills. Due to recent rains, everything was bright green except the road which had lumpy bridge approaches.
About halfway between Indiana and St. Louis, we pulled into Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park. The park is located on some peninsulas protruding into Rend Lake, near Whittington. The lake is really a reservoir created by the Corps of Engineers but it is very pretty nonetheless. There are electrical hookups in the RV section but, strangely, only a few locations in the campground to get water. There are no sewer hookups. This arrangement certainly keeps big RVs from overstaying their welcome unless everyone camping chooses to go to the scattered public restrooms to go. There are no shower houses. The spaces are large and paved but the remainder of the area is lush grass and large hardwood shade trees.
I can get some satellite reception but it took some crafty compass work to get that. We don’t get all the channels but we do get an NBC broadcast from Evansville. Their news is funny because they really have very little to report in this farming country but they do an extensive local sports broadcast covering high school football hell weeks and they are showing the NASCAR races this weekend so I am pretty happy.

We swung into Evansville, Indiana, again today. We started out at Wolf Bar-B-Q where we pigged out at their wonderful buffet. It was only $9.95 a head without drinks and we found just about everything was very tasty although the chicken in sauce was dry. It’s a great bargain. We found Wolf’s in a book we have titled 1000 Places to See Before You Die. It was a good place to eat but I think the book author should get out more.
After turning away from the trough, we took another cruise into Evansvillle and we were dazzled by the abundance of fabulous old residences lining some streets. You can see that the tenants or owners of a few of these pretty buildings have lost out to the environment and their houses are falling apart. However, most of the buildings are well-maintained and beautiful. They are very large and maintenance must be expensive but the owners are putting up a valiant fight and their houses are testaments to their tenacity and dedication. The architecture is varied, creative and stunning.
We finally tore ourselves away from ogling the magnificent structures and headed along the Ohio River where we spotted and old LST (Landing Ship, Tank, in military parlance) Apparently, there were hundreds of these ships feeding the efforts of D-Day in Normandy in WWII and this ship is the last operating unit. They even take it out and drive it up and down the Ohio River during summer months, visiting shoreline communities but not landing any tanks.
We found a road across the Ohio into Kentucky and headed across to Henderson, home to John J. Audubon State Park. It seemed appropriate because we fancy ourselves birders, albeit woefully ignorant ones. Audubon Park is a gorgeous spot with some terrific birdwatching opportunities and, strangely, some gorgeous buildings built by the Works Project Administration back in the 1930s. They have a great observation room and I almost had to be blasted out of there because I was having a pretty good time speculating about what varieties of birds I was seeing. There were lots of them and they were very colorful. We thought this place was terrific.
Seethe downtown stuff. Click the asterisk *

Another travel day today. We continue our westward trek. We left Add-More RV Park in Clarksville and jumped onto I-64 again. I always thought Indiana was dead flat but, as usual, I was full of shit. It was a gorgeous drive west through southern Indiana with combined forest and farmland situated in gently rolling but not insubstantial hills. We are starting to pick up our pace so we are breaking our informal rule and using the interstate system to cross the midwest.
We pulled off near Evansville, another Indiana town on the banks of the Ohio River. We pulled into the Vanderburg 4-H Center. It looks like the location where a county fair or an NRA meeting might be held but they have full hookups and it’s fairly cheap. Our drive today only took a couple hours and we crossed over the dividing line between the Eastern and Central time zones a half dozen times before leaving the Eastern behind and cruising into the Central, gaining an hour.
We had so much spare time after setting up our trailer that we headed into Evansville to look around. Foolishly, I did not expect anything interesting but, again, I was the donkey because the first thing we found was Gerst Bavarian Haus which was a restaurant and a tavern and previously a hardware store. It is in a gorgeous building. The food was pretty good and they had a fabulous beer selection, so we took advantage of both. It wasn’t cheap but the food was worth it.
Then we took a cruise through downtown and for the third time today, I underestimated something and found a metro area oozing with gorgeous architecture of municipal, residential and churches that look like old cathedrals. The traffic was even pretty good. It seemed a very nice place.
There are a few pix for perusal taken today. Click the asterisk *

We did not do anything interesting today. We scheduled some future stays west of here. We drove to two gas stations to get some tobaccy for me. I dumped the tanks. It was mundane.

Today we had no pressing items on our agenda. As a matter of fact, there are rarely pressing items that we absolutely need to address anytime because we are retired and schedules are not really pertinent for us.
We decided to merely take a spin through that portion of Indiana near Clarksville and the Ohio River. We left our park in Clarksville headed to a good local meat market where we stocked up on some stuff to contribute to congestive heart failure but then drove east, trying to skirt the north shore of the Ohio River where it divides Louisville, Kentucky, from Indiana.
We were impressed with the birds and brilliantly green vegetation bordering the roads. As a matter of fact, we spotted numerous locations where there were big stands of marijuana or hemp intermingled with the soybeans. We didn’t yank any out because, not only was it the wrong time of year, the pot looked crummy. We did spot numerous forms of unique Americana along our path. It is very pretty here although the locals say it is extraordinarily green this year due to heavy recent rains.
You can see some pictures of this bucolic wonderfulness. Click the asterisk *

Louisville downtown was our destination for today despite the fact that I hate driving into cities because they have dreadful traffic, bizarre and arcane traffic rules inconsistent with those in other cities, an abundance of insane motorists and traffic-clogging construction. Louisville is no exception.
We headed south from our RV park in Clarksville in Indiana. There were many attempts to get us on I-65 which has a toll bridge crossing the Ohio River. It costs a bit over $2 if you are fortunate enough to have a transponder but costs twice as much if you pay by mail. There is no mechanism to pay in cash approaching the bridge. Since we don’t have a Louisville Bridge transponder, the local authorities will send a bill to my house which I will not receive since I am not there. I anticipate a warrant will follow. I hope I don’t go to jail for scheme to deprive the city of Louisville out of a $4 bridge toll.
We took an adjacent bridge today that does not have a toll. Instead, the local bridge authority is painting the iron components of the free bridge and they have winnowed the heavy traffic down to one lane each way. Traffic going north over the bridge is an absolute nightmare that snarls traffic all the way back into downtown Louisville.
Despite the traffic, Louisville has some magnificent building architecture of commercial, residential and municipal facilities. They have many statues of horses because L’ville is home to Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. Louisville Downs is an enormous complex, unlike the spartan Del Mar Racetrack near my home in San Diego. I think the Del Mar track and the entire adjacent Southern California Exposition fairgrounds would fit inside the buildings at Churchill Downs.
Intermingled with the fabulous homes and snazzy horse racing tracks are neighborhoods that look pretty nasty with lots of sullen folks sitting on their porches ogling the passing cars. We should not be amazed – cities are miserable places but the jobs there sure pay better than, say, West Virginia.
We got some pictures crossing the river and in the city today. Click the asterisk *