Hello Mother and Gateway Arch National Park

View of Gateway Arch from our campsite!

After spending almost four extra days in Oklahoma, we knew we had some time to make up. On Tuesday, 5/5, at 2:30pm when we were pulling out of McAlester Oklahoma, we were actually supposed to be pulling into an RV Park in St. Louis, MO over 460 miles away. Since my Star Trek transporter was out of service, we had to do this the hard way. Our goal for Tuesday was to make it to Springfield, MO, about 250 miles away. In a car, that’s a piece of cake. In the RV, that’s a long driving day (for us anyway). To complicate matters, it was blowing like crazy. At one point, Rog pulled over and was ready to hang it up for the day. The wind was pushing so hard he was wrestling the coach more than driving it. He looked at the weather and saw that waiting wasn’t going to help, so he soldiered on.

We have some very specific goals for this trip. In additional to attending the Escapade RV rally in Fryeburg, ME, we orchestrated our route to pick up most of the states and the six National Parks that we’ve missed in the lower 48. We’ve actually been through some of these states when we drove across the country in 1989 with our travel trailer, but ideally we’d like to hit them in the Short Bus before adding them to our map. Since we had to cancel our stay in Kansas, we compromised by darting across the border on our way to Missouri. Check that box and keep driving! Lol.   

Proof! Lol.

We made it to our destination, a Harvest Host site, Mother’s Brewing Company in Springfield, MO around 7:30pm. We popped into the taproom for a well-deserved libation. We made it!! Mother’s was a fun stop, too bad the weather hadn't been better (it was windy and spitting rain when we arrived), they have a huge two-acre outdoor beer garden with lots of fun games and activities. As it was, we were just thrilled to grab a brew and relax for a few minutes.

Mother's Brewing Company.

Rog was extremely happy to relax and enjoy a sampling of Mother's wares.

Raney helped me pick out a t-shirt. 

On Wednesday, 5/6, we were back on the road and heading to Draftkings at Casino Queen RV Park. The RV park is in East Saint Louis, IL and right across the Mississippi River from Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis, MO. The Arch was designated as a National Park in 2018, just after our big year on the road trip so we needed to add this one to our list. We actually had a decent view of the Arch right from our campsite! Lol.

The stuff you see along the way...
It's not the destination, it's the journey. Maybe not today. Lol. 

 

We're parked directly across the Mississippi from the National Park.

Riley and Raney check out the view.

Gateway Arch National Park is the smallest National Park at 91 acres. Referred to as the "Gateway to the West", the arch symbolizes Thomas Jefferson’s vision of a unified continental nation and St. Louis’ role as a confluence and gateway to the American West during the 19th century. The park was originally named after Jefferson whose Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States, but was changed when it became a National Park. Here are some fun facts:

• The Arch was designed by Eero Saarinen, A Finnish-American who won the 1947 nationwide competition for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. His design was chosen from 172 entries to honor the westward expansion.
• The Arch is 630 feet tall and also 630 feet from leg to leg at ground level.
• Although the design was announced in 1948, construction of the Arch did not begin until February 12, 1963. The delay was due to a combination of funding shortages, the Korean War, legal battles over the design, and complex engineering planning. The Arch was completed on October 28, 1965, with no worker fatalities. 
• There are 1076 steps in the stairways of each leg, but they are used by maintenance and emergency personnel only.
• The tram ride to the top takes four minutes and guests are seated in a five-foot diameter capsule that seats five people (yes, it’s tight) that ascends either the north or south leg of the arch.
•  Guests have about 7-9 minutes to admire the view from the top through the small Lexan windows and then return on the tram.
• There are 16 windows on each side of the viewing area. Each window is 7 x 27 inches and 0.75 inches thick. Over 500 tons of pressure was used to jack the legs of the Arch apart for the last four-foot piece to be inserted at the top. Larger windows would not withstand the pressure.

Gateway Arch may be the smallest park,
but there is still plenty to see and do!

Gateway Arch over St. Louis.

Since we were arriving in St. Louis a day late, we had only one day to visit the park and we made the most of it. While visiting the Arch and museum are free, everything else requires a ticket. The entire Visitor’s Center, including the museum, movie, tram rides and extensive displays are located under the Arch and I mean under, as in underground. After looking online, I purchased “Ultimate Explorer” combo tickets that included the tram ride to the top (40-60 min), the “Monument to the Dream” documentary film (35 min), the “Cobblestones & Courage” virtual reality experience (10 min), and a St. Louis Riverfront Cruise (one hour). You pick each event time when you purchase the tickets, so our first activity was at 11:20am and we finished with the cruise at 3pm. That gave us plenty of time to explore the museum and just hang out staring in awe at this superb piece of engineering genius.

Happy Campers under the Arch. 

From a distance the Arch looks pretty cool, but get up close and it’s mind-boggling. The documentary film that talked about how it was constructed was fascinating. The ingenuity and precision craftmanship were absolutely amazing. It’s also hard to photograph up close, my camera kept distorting the view so please forgive any weird looking pics. Lol.

See?? It just looks weird. Lol. 

It was a beautiful day too, perfect for visiting the park. On a clear day from the top of the Arch you can see 30 miles to the east or west. We could see the Short Bus parked across the river to the east and a gorgeous view of St. Louis to the west. Looking straight down was a little trippy. Lol. The ride up in the tram is also interesting. The capsules have a glass front so you can see what's on the inside of the Arch as you ascend and they rotate so the riders remain level even though the capsule is moving at an angle. Pretty cool design. 

Going up!

 

Looking east across the Mississippi, I spy a Short Bus. 

Looking west across St. Louis.

Looking straight down. Yikes!

It felt good to get out and walk, seeing and learning new things. That is one of my favorite parts of our travels. The nearby famous landmark, The Old Courthouse, was donated to the National Park Service in 1940. Several controversial rulings came out of the court including the Dred Scott Case. The sculpture, The Captain's Return commemorates the return of Lewis and Clark. They landed on the riverfront in St. Louis after their exploratory expedition that had lasted two years, four months and nine days. But who's counting? Lol. 

 

The Old Courthouse.

The Captain's Return.

Different perspectives. 

The riverboat cruise was interesting, the captain provided information on landmarks, bridges, and the shipping industry during our sail. We sat on the top deck where we had a great view of the cityscape. The Mississippi River continues to be vital to the shipping industry, we watched tugs pushing huge rafts of barges loaded with grain and other goods.  

Gateway Arch Riverboat Cruises.

This was our boat for the cruise.

Arch view from the riverboat.

After the cruise we walked downtown to Salt and Smoke, a BBQ restaurant just outside of Busch Stadium. With full tummies, we headed back to our car and our patient pups. I sometimes worry that they feel neglected when they’ve been in the coach most of the day. But they are so chill, we had to pry Riley off the couch. Rather than feeling neglected, he was annoyed that his nap was disturbed. Lol. They really are the best travel pups.

Salt + Smoke, a great name for a BBQ place. 
(Sauce tip: Mix the "I Can't Even" with the Hotangy", Yum!)

Woohoo, we are now back on schedule. (At least until the next snafu! Lol.) We have a travel day and then another (new to us) National Park to share. Mammoth Caves here we come!

Goodbye Texas and Stuck in Oklahoma

Sunset on Lake Eufaula.

Our last stop in Texas was two nights at a fabulous Harvest Host site. We arrived at Out 2 Pasture Ranch in Waxahachie, TX on Monday, 4/27. Danna and David were lovely hosts, they have several acres of land and have five HH sites with 50-amp power and water ($30 a night if you want hookups). They also generously invite guests to use the pool and wraparound porch. Wow!

Out 2 Pasture Ranch.

What made this stop special was the opportunity to interact with their adorable line-up of critters. A coop of very cool looking chickens, the “real” horse, Toby, two miniature horses, Elvis and Hope, a vocal little donkey, Amigo – all rescues. And let’s not forget the very impressive herd of longhorn cattle. Danna provided treats so we were able to feed everyone, including the cattle who were nearly as slobbery as our dogs. Lol.

What a cast of characters.

 

I have treats and their undivided attention. Lol.

Toby was all about those treats.

I loved the longhorns, slobber and all. 

The stare down. We need gunslinger music. Lol.

We had two nights scheduled at Out 2 Pasture and on the second day things got interesting. Early in the day Rog and I drove into town. Waxahachie has a fun downtown with some amazing older architecture. The highlight was a stop at Georgie Boy’s for ice cream. Quality, small batch, homemade ice cream in some very interesting flavors. Just my kind of place!

Waxahachie, TX.

 

Very cool downtown.

Toys for big kids, and...

...ice cream too! This is my kind of town. 

By the late afternoon, Mother Nature was back to her old tricks, offering up the potential for everything from rain to severe thunderstorms with damaging hail, to scary twisty winds! Rog was monitoring the weather constantly and there were huge storm cells over the Dallas/Fort Worth area heading in our direction. A community less than 100 miles away was flattened by a tornado and it looked like we might be in the path. One of the guests had already decided to leave early. We prepped everything for a hasty departure and kept an eye on the storm trackers. We were just outside the tornado warning box, but we were most concerned about hail. There were reports and pictures of hail that was up to four inches in diameter! That’s softball sized!! Lots of broken windows and damaged vehicles. Our solar panels are built to withstand one-inch hail, so Rog used tie-downs to cover the panels with our outdoor rugs. We figured better safe than sorry! I am happy to report that all we got was some heavy rain and a really cool light show. The lightning was nearly nonstop and went on for hours. Whew! (Click play and then full screen to view the video.)

Precautionary measures were taken.

 

On Wednesday, 4/29, we said so long to Texas and made our way to another Harvest Host in Durant, OK. Lost Street Brewing Company couldn’t have been more different and yet it was also a splendid experience. We were parked in a gravel lot across the street from the family run brewery in downtown Durant. The folks that own and operate Lost Street were a delight. We had a sampling of their brews and dinner in the taproom and picked up some swag. I even got some kitty cuddles from Jax, one of the brewery cats.

Lost Street Brewing Company.

 

The delightful Jax, Brewcat Extraordinaire. 

Downtown Durant.

Our next stop, on Thursday, 4/30, was *supposed* to be a two-night stay at Arrowhead State Park on Lake Eufaula in Canadian, OK. The park covers 2,200 acres and borders Lake Eufaula, the largest man-made lake in Oklahoma. It looked like a great spot for a couple days and the weather was perfect! Sunshine and 70’s during the day and dropping to the 50’s at night. We got in and set up and it felt a little weird because the campground was deserted. I mean it was us and one other couple in a campground with about 50 sites! We weren’t complaining, we just weren’t sure why. It’s not something you’re likely to experience in the PNW, where getting into a state park can feel like winning the lottery. Lol. Oh, and it was about $16 for a W/E-50amp site. Talk about a deal!

Great campsite at Arrowhead State Park.
I still do not understand why the campground was empty!

Rog got us hooked up and did his walkabout checking on the coach. Uh-oh. There was a small puddle forming under the diesel engine compartment. Either the Short Bus was getting incontinent in their old age or we had a leak. Rog couldn’t see for sure where it was coming from, but he was confident it was antifreeze. We had no issues with overheating on the drive in, so it looked like a recent issue. We pulled everything out from under the bed so Rog could access the engine from the top. He was able to identify the source of the leak – the lower coolant return hose on the turbo. He started calling diesel repair places but it was after hours and he didn’t have much luck.

Uh-Oh. The Short Bus is dribbling.

Once the engine cooled down the drip stopped, so we took the pups and headed down to the lake. Riley made a bee line for the water and the blissed out look on his face was precious. We also celebrated Raney’s fourth birthday! She wasn’t thrilled with her “Birthday Bitch” sash, but she did like her new chew toy. Lol.

Riley is one happy boy.

 

Waiting for Daddy to skip stones. 

Daddy does not disappoint. 

Raney was not a fan of the sash.
Maybe next year I'll try a tiara. Lol.

Friday morning, Rog found B & H Truck Service in McAlester, OK about 20 miles away. They had excellent reviews and Cody said come on in and they’d take a look. Sure enough the hose had rubbed against the turbo enough to wear a small hole. Getting a replacement was no small feat. Cody called all around and finally sourced the part in Tennessee. Ideally it would arrive Monday and if not, Tuesday. Note we were supposed to leave for Kansas on Saturday, so my lovely spreadsheet was about to get overwritten (again). Lol. We went back to the state park and extended our reservation. On the up side, we were completely alone and had the entire campground to ourselves, so the pups had lots of off leash play time.

We're a little old to be swingers. Lol. 

Pretty girl!

On Saturday morning Riley gave us quite a scare. The morning started off just fine, both the pups had breakfast and potty walks and then came back inside for first naps while Rog and I had coffee. Raney was cuddling us on the bed when Riley came back to Rog’s side of the bed. He seemed distressed, panting, and agitated. Rog commented that his right eyebrow was twitching and then noticed that his eyes were moving side to side, a condition Rog knew was called Nystagmus. (It is so great having a medic on hand!) Riley tried to walk and staggered and fell. We got him comfortable and Rog started looking up his symptoms.

We found that the most likely cause is a disease called Old Dog Vestibular Syndrome. It’s a non-progressive balance disorder caused by issues that affect a dog's vestibular system in the brain, including the inner and middle ear. This condition is often seen in older dogs and can cause mild discomfort or dizziness. The good news is that it isn't painful or dangerous and is likely clear up on its own without treatment with most symptoms resolving in 24-72 hours. After about an hour or so, Riley was calm and able to walk without too much trouble.

By the afternoon he was getting up and down on the couch and able to navigate the steps in and out of the RV. Wow. He acted like nothing had happened. We’ll be keeping a close eye on him, but he’s eating well and seems to have no other deficits. Talk about scary, though. He’s had a couple incidents lately where his balance has been a little wonky and his rear end isn’t the powerhouse it used to be.  Riley will be nine in June which is a fair bit past middle age for a mastiff. I’ll repeat Rog’s manta, “Love ‘em while you got ‘em.”

Riley sure gave us a scare! But he's all better now.

On Saturday Rog and I went back to McAlester for the Farmer’s Market. We just missed their Armed Forces Day parade, but lucked into the Chuck & Cluck Grillmarks competition. Several downtown blocks were cordoned off for the BBQ and an Artwalk. There were 23 teams preparing rib eye steaks and chicken for the competition.  Apparently, this is a really big deal with thousands of $$$ in prize money. They were just setting up all the booths so we weren’t able to stay for the judging and free samples (dang!) which were later in the day. We chatted with some of the vendors and took home a bag of baked goods from the Farmer’s Market, so still a good day.

Not much fresh produce yet, but lots of yummy baked goods.
I can live with that. Lol.

What a fun event!!

Couldn't resist. They were adorable and I love random street art. 

We had a chill day on Sunday. The pups had more lake time. Rog and I did a workout and we were just hanging out and hoping we’d be on our way sooner rather than later. Ok, that’s not totally true. I was stressing out that the parts wouldn’t arrive (catastrophizing is my superpower) and looking at alternate routes and cancelling reservations that we knew we couldn’t make. When Monday, 5/4, came I was raring to go and prepping for departure. We hadn’t heard anything from B&H, so Rog finally called. No parts today. They should arrive around 11am Tuesday. Arrrrrrrgh. Not what I wanted to hear, but, as Rog pointed out, there are far worse places to be stranded. 

Please note, these guys were fine with staying longer. 

On Tuesday, 5/5, we decided not to wait for a call and had the rig at B&H by 11:30am. They drained the coolant, removed the defective hose and we sat waiting for the new hose to arrive. One silver lining, we were able to hang out in the coach, so we didn’t have to load up the pups and leave. The part was finally delivered a little after 1pm and the guys set to work. We rolled out of there by 2:30pm. On the road again! Yay!!

B & H Truck Services came through for us!

Look ma! No more leaks. Yay!!

In the next post we’ll share how we unscrewed this mess to get back on schedule. We had a National Park visit coming up that we didn't want to miss! Spoiler alert – Rog deserves a medal. Lol.