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TwoMaineiacs

Near Freeport, Maine

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Joined: 04/08/2006

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Posted: 06/03/07 05:18pm

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OUCH! These old feet are hurting tonight. Time to put them up and have a libation to ease the aches. We've walked most of today and enjoyed just about every step of it. Started out with the saucer separation this AM of the Lance from the F-350. The ability to separate is the reason we got the TC instead of anything else. This time we lowered the Lance much lower than in Lexington and it isn't as shaky feeling. Like having the individually controlled Atwood jacks to make up for slightly uneven ground. Level front to rear and side to side is right on.

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Drove into St.Louis early Sunday AM, and walked all around the downtown area by the Arch. Parking was a bit problematic as we felt the F-350 with the lights on the cab was too tall to comfortably get in the parking garage by the Arch. Finally found an open parking lot down by the old restored area being used as night life spots and restaurants. A bit quiet on a Sunday morning in that area, much more so than the revelry at night. The RV parking area was closed due to construction but of course the city hadn't taken down the signs leading there or given an alternative! We walked through the grounds around the Arch and suddenly - there it was! 630 feet of gleaming stainless steel. It almost made you dizzy to look up from under it. I didn't realize that the Arch is a national park. NPS St. Louis Arch information

Our NPS Golden Age pass got us into the underground Museum of Westward Expansion inside the arch for $0. The tram ride up to the top and the IMAXX movie was a grand total of $22 for both of us. The Museum of Westward Expansion is part of the NPS entry fee of $3. We spent about an hour and a half in the Museum reading the interpretive panels that went with the maps, artifacts and exhibits taken from the original diaries of Lewis and Clark and western pioneers. Also went to the "American West" IMAXX movie with incredible fly overs of western canyons and wild areas.

Joe sort of held his breath for the four minute ride up to the top of the Arch on the tram as he is a bit claustrophobic. Tram is not what we were on but in tiny little five passenger pods shaped like an egg. Totally closed in and stuffy with the accompanying noise of going up through a metal tube. We both could feel the wind effect at the top and were suprised at the small view windows. Guess they are small and almost bullet proof for the wind. Joe did breathe going down

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We did the tourist thing and took the Tom Sawyer river boat out onto the Mississippi. Only an hour ride and we've both spent too much time on the water to be excited about it. It was interesting watching all the barge boats go by and listening to the NPS ranger talk about the history of St. Louis.

Too late in the day and a bit too tired to go to the Zoo or Botanical Park. We'll leave those for over the next two days. Also found two archeological parks and one park that shows how the dam and lock system works. Isn't it great being a kid again?

Anne and Joe
http://otrafrommaine.blogspot.com

2011 Chalet Double Slide on a 2013 F-450 Diesel DRW
On the Road Again from Rural Maine
Our travel blog with photos

Steelheadbuck

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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Posted: 06/03/07 08:18pm

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Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

Wally and Kary Herrala
2004 Superduty PSD
Lance 835
www.wallyherrala.com

skatewake

campbell, c.a

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Posted: 06/03/07 08:28pm

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Thank you for posting the wonderful pics of your adventures. Keep them coming.

Charles

2001 F350 PSD CC, Rancho 9000x's, Torklift tie downs, 57 gal transfer flow replacment tank, 2004 Lance 1130, Rickson 19.5 Elimiators with goodyear G124 245/70's G rating and a Jody Tipton 4 pos chip.">

Happy camping

TwoMaineiacs

Near Freeport, Maine

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Posted: 06/04/07 06:36pm

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Last night we were balls of fire compared to tonight! Got to the St. Louis Zoo at 8:30AM and didn't leave until 3PM. Other than a short lunch break where we fought the birds for the hot dog buns, we were walking and taking in the different parts of the zoo. Fortunately it was only about 75 degrees and not humid to these northerners. The zoo is huge and broken up into areas by types of animals. We especially enjoyed seeing all the baby animals, especially those that are part of endangered species breeding programs, shared by zoos around the world. I think the zoo did an excellent job on education, having good postings at each enclosure explaining where the animal lived and what is being done to perpetuate the species.

Throughout the zoo are bronze statues of various animals. The old buildings have been restored and their facades refreshed with sculptures of what lives inside such as the elephant house or the reptile house. Joe was totally shocked that I went into the snake house. Shudder.

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Standing in front of the American Alligator enclosure and looking for the gator, I just about had a heart attack as it was only a few feet away and hidden in the grasses. A moot is in place so the gator couldn't get out but I sure did jump back. Cannot imagine living in Florida and having these prehistoric beasts as a neighbor.

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We also enjoyed the cypress swamp with very colorful birds, the butterfly dome and the grizzly bears. Today was a school field trip day and the different classes had on the same color T-shirt so the teachers could spot them easily. Fun watching the kids in awe of an elephant or a gorilla. I'd been wanting to come to this zoo since I used to watch Marlin Perkins and the St. Louis Zoo on early TV. Well, well worth the time and driving to get here. It was so easy to drop the TC off the Ford and drive around St. Louis to the Arch, Zoo and gardens.

Decided to drive over to the Missouri Botanical Garden(http://www.mobot.org/hort/gardens/overview.shtml) just to see where they were and how to get there tomorrow for a tour. For some reason we decided to just go ahead and walk a few more hours. Just missed a narrated tour but did peel off a few more layers of foot skin by walking most of the garden close to the Climatron geodesic dome. This was inspired by the design of R. Buckminster Fuller. "Covering over a half-acre, the Climatron houses some 1,200 species of plants in a natural, tropical setting." I could have spent a lot more time in there but it was probably 90 degrees, humid and very crowded. The Japanese garden was gorgeous. Joe and I have a large garden of day lilies and wrote down a lot of names of more we would like to have.

Finally back to the campground about 6:30PM and debated about staying another day in St. Louis and taking in a few more sights. Also debated about loading the TC tonight or tomorrow when we were fresher. I'm happy to report that the TC loaded in about 20 minutes with a minimum of strain. Between Ted's DUH and some chains we added as guides, it was a pretty easy load. Does this mean we have finally gotten over Fear of Loading? Posted the chain pictures into the message group about Ted's DUH.

Tomorrow we will head Northeast, not having a clue where we will end up for the next few days but eventually arriving back in Maine for a while. Time to plan the next trip already?

Anne and Joe - loose in the USA

bigjimcruising

Western Washington

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Joined: 02/22/2007

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Posted: 06/06/07 11:28am

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I can't believe you didn't invite us all along?? [emoticon]

Maybe next time? [emoticon]

Sure looks like a great trip! And that's exactly the main reason I wanted a camper too!! [emoticon]

Hope to see you on the road!

2001 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4, 5.9 engine with winch and service body. Getting it ready for a new camper and then hit the trails!

TwoMaineiacs

Near Freeport, Maine

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Joined: 04/08/2006

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Posted: 06/06/07 06:28pm

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Route 66 is slowing disappearing. We bought a neat little book on Route 66 from RV Bookstore and hope to one day try to follow it all the way. Book on Route 66

We found part of Route 66 in Granite City, IL but couldn't cross the Mississippi on it because the bridge was under repair. We did walk out on the bridge so both our wheels and our feet hit Route 66.

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Long two days Tuesday and Wednesday travelling east with the goal of getting home before this weekend. Traversed Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and part of NY and saw every type of road construction and repair piece of equipment that exists. LOTS of road construction and progress driving was slow at times. Indianapolis in particular was difficult but we persevered. We wanted to stop at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH but we would have cut ourselves too short on time to do it justice. Next time?

Tonight we are in a RV park associated with Turning Stone Casino owned by the Oneida Indian Nation near Vernona, NY. This is a much "plusher" camp than we usually make with huge spaces among groves of mature trees, walking trails, ponds with flocks of geese and an absolutely immaculate bathhouse. We took a shuttle bus over to the casino and walked around for quite a while to loosen up the old joints. Loud, smokey and frantic people throwing money away trying to beat the odds. I'd rather throw my money away on diesel fuel.

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Should be home tomorrow and the poor Lance and F-350 needs a major de-bugging and washing. We've kept the inside pretty clean but bug splat will take some time. Once again the rig worked just perfect for the types of roads we have been on including those goat paths through the WV mountains. Getting into the WV state park and camping there was among the highlights of the trip. The St. Louis Zoo and the Arch met all expectations. Having a TC with the ability to take it places like a regular truck would go made all the difference. We talked to so many C and A owners who were not towing vehicles and were stuck at the camp places. We are parked tonight near another TC - a F350 with an older Apache - towing a full size car. !!!

We're all ready to hit the road again and we aren't even home yet. The West calls this fall?

* This post was edited 06/06/07 06:38pm by TwoMaineiacs *

xp8103

Maine

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Posted: 06/06/07 06:40pm

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Sounds like some awesome times Anne! Did Joe find any H.O. train stores?? [emoticon]

Nik
2011 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD "Outdoorsman"
CC, LB 4x4, SRW, 6-spd Auto, 3.73LSD, Timbrens, TorkLifts and HappiJac QwikLoads
2005 Lance 1010

Member - Cape Lookout Mobile Sportfishermen

TwoMaineiacs

Near Freeport, Maine

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Posted: 06/06/07 07:10pm

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Only model train store was the one in my old VA home town. We stayed so busy sight seeing I didn't even get to any quilt or yarn stores. Had lots of evening chats with other RVers and ended up with a file full of places to go see. I hear it has been raining and cold at home in Maine. House sitter hadn't even been able to mow the grass until today. Better that then the 100 degrees due in VA tomorrow.

Anne

TwoMaineiacs

Near Freeport, Maine

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Posted: 06/07/07 04:45pm

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Home again, home again.....15 days, 3,451 miles, 289.2 gallons of diesel, $828.09 in fuel, averaged 11.93 mpg or 24 cents per mile, average of $2.86 per gallon of diesel. Lots of mountain driving which lowered the mileage a bit. This was the first "long" trip in the TC and we both weathered it well as did the truck. Kindness of Ford Dealer in WV got the Ford's passenger window up from stuck position and in KY, the LineX dealer put heavier bolts in the airbags. Other than that, no truck or TC problems. We'll change the oil and filter, clean in and out well, and stock it up for the next trip. In all we only saw a dozen TCs in that whole trip, oddly enough five in one day along the upper edge of NY - probably fishermen as four were towing boats.

Met some nice new people, got to see sights we'd thought of for a long time and found places we would like to return. Can't ask better than that! Unless this trip had been with a pod of TCs.

Got to fix my signoff picture and map where we've camped. Tomorrow....

Anne

AidenJ

Adirondacks, NY ,USA

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Posted: 06/08/07 04:52am

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Sounds like you had a great trip, some nice photos. I saw your rig yesterday at about 7:45am. You were heading east on NYS thruway when I spotted the big white Ford and Lance.I'm sure you didn't see me in a big yellow bus, blinking lites and waving. It is hard to believe our big trip of the year is less than a week away. Take care Dick

2014 Dodge Ram 3500 CC, CTD, SRW
2010 NORTHERN-LITE 10-2 SPECIAL EDITION)
Libby, 2 yr Boxer/Hound mix learning to travel