April 26, 2012 by Rae

The St Louis Gateway Arch

The St Louis Gateway Arch was built in the early 1960s to symbolize America’s westward expansion. In the 19th century, St Louis was the last big city before the unexplored western frontier and was soon established as a railway hub. The Arch is a weighted or flattened catenary arch that measures 630ft.

My first reaction upon seen it was vertigo. I thought, “There’s no way in hell I’m going up that thing!”

As it turns out, the tram to the top is completely enclosed, so the ride up and down in a cramped car is not terrifying in the least. At the top, there are narrow windows through which you can view the Mississippi River and the city, but it’s almost impossible to look straight down. So folks with a fear of heights shouldn’t be worried about going to the top of the Arch.

To tour the Arch, you have to enter below it. There is an airport-style security checkpoint (I got through without incident). You then buy your ticket ($7 today even though it says $10 on the website) and are told when to line up. They are very strict about being at the gate on time and not a second before. You are assigned at tram car, then hustled up to the tram doors.

The trams sit five and are very small. It’s a four minute climb to the top and you can spend as long up there as you want. When you are ready to come down, you are assigned a tram number. The ride down takes three minutes. I somehow managed to reveal myself as a full-time RVer on both trips and was even asked my blog address. If any of my fellow tram car passengers are reading this, please let me know in the comments! 🙂

The Arch tours are well organized, but the Arch was not constructed for the amount of visitors today. I was on the 9:25 tram and the ones after that had way too many people.

There was one more stop to make in the base of the Arch, but first I decided to take a coffee break. I’d run out of milk this morning, so I hadn’t had coffee. I decided to check out the general store that promised hot beverages. $2 got me a cup of truly excellent coffee made of beans roasted 19th century style. It made me glad I’d run out of milk or I wouldn’t have tried it. It tasted almost like what comes out of my French press and most definitely not like typical brewed coffee. So I’d recommend coming to the Arch first thing to avoid the crowds and then enjoy a coffee before continuing with your day.

standing at the base of the Arch

touching the Arch

the Mississippi River

St Louis

630 ft up, *gulp*

the Mississippi River

okay, that’s a long way down

the Mississippi River

St Louis

the tram doors were 4.5 feet high and surrounded by steel so we had to duck!

coffee from Levee Mercantile

about how coffee was brought to the west

perfect and yummy!

April 26, 2012 by Rae

St Louis Almost Charms the Pants Off Me

I just got in from a full day spent touring St Louis, Mo.

Before I get into the good stuff, I have to get something off my chest. Missourians, why do you hate tourists so much? Driving in St Louis was horrible! I have driven in much bigger cities and never been honked at once. Just about every time I stopped at a red light, I was honked at if I didn’t hit the gas the second the light went green. I earned multiple honks for being cautious when turning left with tons of oncoming traffic bearing down on me. But my absolute favourite nasty habit was that every single time I would signal to change lanes, and I mean every single time, if there was a car behind me in the next lane, it would speed up when my turn signal came on, making it impossible for me to make the lane change and causing me to miss exits and turns. What a way to cause accidents, folks, by getting tourists really frazzled! The other thing that irked me was inconsistent signage to tourist-related things. For example, there is an inexpensive parking lot for visitors of the Arch. You get a few signs indicating which way to go, then good luck, you’re on your own! Even though there is a nice big RV lot, I would not go there without having first plotted out the route and having a navigator.

Okay, enough of that! When I wasn’t hopelessly lost with an equally confused GPS, I was having an amazing day! St Louis was on my bucket list because of its place in American expansion history, but I never really read up much on it. I had no idea that its touristy part would feel so quaint and old worldly. I love walkable cities and appreciated St Louis’ acres and acres of green spaces, walking paths, and easy to navigate city streets. If someone had told me that I would one day visit St Louis while traveling east in a modern day covered wagon, I would have laughed. It just goes to show that you need to leave room in your life plans for surprises.

This post is just generally about my day and I will shortly follow up with individual posts about each attraction, with most of the information given in the photo gallery for each post.

The first thing on the agenda was to find the right parking lot that is just $6 for the day. I’m not sure I found it, but I did find a lot that said $5 for the day that was reasonably close to the Arch, so that was good enough for me. I put a $5 bill in the machine and that got me two gold coins back. Once I was parked, I looked at them and realised they were US $1 coins, which I have only seen once, back in 2007, and which I had a dickens of a time getting people to accept. So, I had put $5 in and got $2 back in change. Why? I went back to the entrance and read the fine print on the sign. Early bird discount! I’d left early to be one of the first up the Arch before the throngs came and it paid off. 🙂

It took a bit of guesswork to find the Arch, but I finally did and was on the last uncrowded tour. I came down and went to the Museum of Westward Expansion, which is in the base of the Arch. It was still really early at that point, so I decided to do the City Museum. The gal at the information kiosk under the Arch said that the City Museum wasn’t walking distance, but it was only about 17 blocks, of which I’d have to walk three just to get back to my car.

By the time I was five blocks or so from the City Museum, it was just past 11:00 and I was hungry. Since the City Museum is interactive and promotes physical activity, I decided it would be a good idea to have lunch first. I was walking down Washington Avenue, a major thoroughfare, so I figured I’d come across a few restaurants. I did, and one of them was a sushi bar, Mizu. It was hot out, so I didn’t want anything too heavy, so this was perfect! The sushi was excellent; I was very impressed! $18 including the tip got me a miso soup that was included in my lunch combo of a tuna roll with four pieces of nigiri, and I added one piece octopus. The salmon sashimi was particularly memorable as it literally melted in my mouth, the way good sashimi should. Mizi Sushi Bar was definitely an expected surprise and I am so glad I gave it a try!

I then spent a couple of hours at the City Museum until the chaos of the children variety drove me out of there.

It was only about 2:00, so I ambled back to the car, and, after much trouble, made it to the Forest Park section of town to visit the Missouri Museum of History. I got out of there in about an hour and decided that I was done for the day. So, I set the GPS for home, was promptly squeezed out of the lane I needed to merge into, and found myself detouring through a section of St Louis I’m pretty sure tourists aren’t supposed to see. I would have taken pictures, but I was afraid to stop the car. 😀

More below:

first glimpse of the Arch

first good glimpse of the Arch

old worldly kind of feel

Eads bridge

the Arch

the Drury Inn was lovely

Mizi Sushi bar; excellent!

Next to Mizi, a pub was serving a beer and cheese soup. If I hadn’t been so full, I would have been tempted. 🙂

nice building seen from the corner of Washington and Tucker

This guy was cleaning the street, and I mean cleaning it. I’ve never seen someone apply cleanser and then scrub a city garbage can before! St Louis was very clean and I complimente this man on his hard work.

Illinois is across the river

final glimpse of the Arch

ice cream truck! haven’t seen one of those in ages!

walking down to the river

Eads bridge, which spans the Mississippi River

May 31, 2011 by Rae

Grey and Yellow

Jody is really in tune with the delivery market in Lethbridge and so I was able to get through her a couple of routes delivering the CanPages phone directories. Like fliers, this pays minimum wage at best, so I didn’t over-commit to the project. Today, I did two flier routes, went out and did one phone book route, then finished up my day doing two more flier routes. It has been sunny and hot and I am done for the day even though I still have two flier routes to do tomorrow. I think I did a pretty good day’s work!

The phone book route I did today was just south of downtown proper (yay, free parking), in neighbourhoods filled with grand Victorians and cozy English-style cottages. This core part of Lethbridge is so pretty! It reminds me of Savannah, actually, with the number of people out on the porches enjoying the heat and sun, the friendliness of everyone I passed, and the huge trees dripping greenery over the street. It made me hungry for shrimp, sweet tea, and hush puppies!

May 25, 2011 by Rae

A Saskatchewan Education, Or Not So Humble Humboldt

This past weekend, I joined Gary and Jody on a road trip to visit some members of Gary’s family who live near the small town of Humboldt, SK, which is a little under two hours north-eastish of Saskatoon.

Gary and Jody have done this trip many times and know the Saskatchewan road quality, or lack thereof, very well. So, they decided that the less bumpy way to get there would be going through Swift Current, Moose Jaw, and skirting Regina, and we would come home by way of Saskatoon and Moose Jaw.

Mid-afternoon Friday I loaded my stuff into my car and headed to Jody’s workplace. There, I moved my gear to her car and we took off for Gary’s workplace. There, we loaded up their rig, a 20′ travel trailer and truck, and headed east. We were on the road towards Medicine Hat by about 6PM.

The drive to the Saskatchwan border was pretty uneventful. I looked forward to doing the bit between Medicine Hat and Moose Jaw on the TransCanada since that was the only section of it I haven’t done, except for whatever’s in Newfoundland. I have to say that south-east Alberta looks a lot like southwest Saskatchewan. 🙂

Back to Saskatchewan!

Jody ran the deli Friday night and I was so hungry by that point that I didn’t think to photograph my dinner until I was halfway through:

the remains of my Friday dinner

It was coming onto 9PM when we hit Swift Current, and Gary was beat, so we pulled into the Walmart for the night.

Jody made up for the previous night’s late dinner with this breakfast:

breakfast Saturday!

Complemented by oranges, coffee, and yoghurt. I have been well fed since landing in Lethbridge! 😀

Gary and Jody’s rig; much shorter than mine!

We pushed on eastward through Moose Jaw, the Qu’Appelle valley, and then we skirted around Regina before heading north. The roads were so bad I thought we would be launched into orbit!

I was put on deli duty and discovered that is not easy to make a sandwich in a moving vehicle. Notice how smooshed my lunch is:

lunch Saturday (made by me!)

We passed through the town of Engelfeld, which hosts an annual pig roast to raise money for charity.

the Englefeld pig

I really enjoyed this drive; there is just something about the Prairies that awes me.

We arrived in Humboldt in late afternoon where I was introduced to my hosts and was settled into a guest bedroom. We were served a very yummy dinner and then my hosts took us out to see the sights. I think that might actually have been more for my benefit. I’m very thankful!

The first thing we saw were pelicans! I had no idea you could find pelicans this far north! Unfortunately, they were super off in the distance and even my trusty zoom wasn’t able to get a good shot of one.

pelicans!

We then went to Waldsea Lake. Saskatchewan has been very wet the last few years and there has been a lot of problems with flooding and rising waters. So, this lake, which used to have a nice day use area and lots of cottages around it, was allowed to spill out from its berm. The cottages were all moved to a temporary holding area and will be relocated. The road to the lake just… ends.

Waldsea Lake

cottages pulled from the shores of Waldsea Lake

We then drove around Humboldt a bit so I could get a feel for the layout, seeing some of the major stores, the schools, hospitals, etc. The town is almost full-service and has a population of 6,000.

Before heading back, our hosts pulled into the drive-thru at McDonalds to treat everyone to shakes. This drive-thru has to be unique since it has an alley cutting right through it!

We ended the evening with a dice game that was very quick to learn. Beginner’s luck was not with me!

I was the first one up Sunday morning and I took the time to get some work done. I had internet through my USB modem, but it was a very sloooow connection. It seems like Dawson City has better cell coverage than does rural Saskatchewan!

Once we were all up we had a HUGE brunch. I didn’t even want to think about food until early evening!

The afternoon was a bit lazy and I caught up on my reading.

Late afternoon, friends and family showed up for a bonfire and wiener roast. What a perfect day for that; we’d hit the mid 20s, with sunshine!

Before dinner, I was taught how to play a gruesome Saskatchewanese game of Russian origin called Bunnock, or Bones. Originally played with horse hooves, this cross between bowling and curling is now often played with plastic bone replicas. I was quite good!

After that, a little boy wanted me to go with him to check out the barn cat’s hideout. There, he discovered tiny kittens no more than a couple of weeks old. They were so cute; no bigger than a mouse, with eyes still shut.

For dinner, I learned how to roast hot dogs over an open fire. Or, rather, how not to. The first one was a tad burnt. 😀 I also enjoyed some burnt marshmallows, but that was on purpose. Marshmallows just aren’t worth eating if they haven’t been set on fire first.

We ended the night chatting around a campfire. One person showed up with a mini marshmallow thrower and I got to learn how to use that. I was a natural, hitting my target (Gary) with my one and only attempt.

The evening wound up around 11. Everyone seemed intent on sleeping in Monday, so I stayed up late to finish a book. Of course, everyone else changed their mind and I was the last one up!

Our hosts live on remote lake-side acreage that is partially flooded right now. Access to the house is through a narrow causeway. When Gary awoke to rain, he was worried we’d get flooded out, so that propelled the early start to the day.

my hosts’ causeway

We were fed another ginormous brunch and then it was time to hit the road, sometime in mid-morning. We drove straight through to Gary’s workplace, stopping only to get fuel and use the bathroom. We were all stuffed from breakfast and only lightly snacked all day.

This was an awesome weekend. Thank you!

LOTS more pictures below!

driving over the edge of the world?

Yup, the earth is definitely flat!

Back to Saskatchewan!

the remains of my Friday dinner

Saskatchewan sunset

breakfast Saturday!

Gary and Jody’s rig; much shorter than mine!

weird 5er seen in Swift Current

Jody made me believe that’s snow. It’s actually salt!

more salt

entering Moose Jaw

the Moose Jaw moose

lunch Saturday (made by me!)

Qu’Appelle valley

the Englefeld pig

Englefeld

driving over a causeway; there wasn’t always water on both sides

pelicans!

pelicans! (just squint)

dramatic sky

Waldsea Lake

cottages pulled from the shores of Waldsea Lake

caboose in Humboldt

Humboldt cemetery

Humboldt Elementary School (looks like an insane asylum)

dramatic sky

home of the local plumber, who apparently charges $10,000 for a toilet 🙂

dramatic sky

my hosts’ causeway

geese on the road

fog over water

driving into the mist

in the mist

still in the mist

Saskatoon

Toon Town Tavern

approaching Swift Current

May 8, 2011 by Rae

Dinosaur Country!

Today was another road trip day with Gary and Jody! We headed into dinosaur country!!!!!!!

Before we could do that, though, there were some errands to be run in the Calgary area, including picking up a part for their trailer, and stopping at three RV dealerships to ask if I could leave some promotional cards for Full-Time RVing in Canada (all said yes, certainly).

Jody asked each dealership if they had toy hauler motorhomes and one had a Newmar Canyon Star. The salesman, who just happened to have been a Glendale Royal Classic seller back in the day, was really eager to get me into this rig! It was a nice rig, of course, being a Newmar, but it wouldn’t have worked for me since the garage was too small.

In between the dealerships, the Roving Deli opened for business. Gary had BBQed some really nice chicken breasts (among other things) last night, and they became very delicious sandwiches!

Mid-afternoon, we finally headed out to Drumheller. I’m saying finally only because we had left Lethbridge at 8:30! It ended up taking us about six and a half hours to do a drive that would have only taken an hour and a half or two as the crow flies. We could have gotten to Edmonton in that time! Ah, that’s what happens when RV enthusiasts start looking at rigs.

Shortly before Drumheller Jody turned to Horseshoe Canyon, an amazing place where the prairie literally drops away. It’s like my beloved Chasm, you wonder where the heck this hole comes from!

We arrived in Drumheller in very late afternoon, much too late see any attractions, but I made my list for when we come back later in the summer! The town is surprisingly seedy-looking, very rough and worn down. I imagine it looks better in the height of the tourist season when everything is open. We made a stop at the tourist info centre which is home to the biggest dinosaur in the world. We paid the $3 to climb the one hundred or so stairs to the top so we could see the view from the mouth.

After, I suggested we do the route to Wayne that takes you through eleven bridges in four miles (just over six kilometres). It’s a neat circuit since each bridge is different and the scenery is beautiful. There’s nothing after Wayne, though. This route is suitable for all but the largest RVs since the height clearances on the bridges is at least five metres (16.4 feet) and there is space to turn around tightly after the last one when the road widens and turns to dirt.

Next stop was the Star (coal) Mine Suspension Bridge. It’s not very high up over the river; I’ve actually jumped off of a taller bridge into a river. Needless to say, this one wasn’t hard for me to get across at all.

Following that, Jody took me to see the hoodoos, which are neat sandstone columns with a cap on them, all naturally sculpted of course.

We came back to the van and I put in an order at the deli for sandwich fixings without the bun since I’d overdosed on potato chips and I got a nice plate of chicken, cheese, and crudités. Aren’t I spoiled, what with a driver AND a personal chef? I should also add that in the morning I got a nice container of honeydew melon and my supper dessert was some of the best oranges I’ve had in ages. I only say this because Jody’s invitation to come today was about a paragraph long. They really don’t need to sell me on a road trip! 😀

It was getting really late by this point, with our at home ETA being 9PM, but there was still one more detour to do: Dinosaur Provincial Park so I could see the fabled Badlands! This is an area where more dinosaur remains have been found, and more species, than anywhere else in the world! It’s a World Heritage Site. Between that and Horseshoe Canyon I have to say that I continue to be astounded by the variety of landscapes in my country and how many treasures it holds. RVing is the only way to travel in this country and do it justice.

We descended into the campground and Jody followed a road that does a circuit behind it that really takes you out into the scenery, including a few places where a structure was built around dinosaur remains. What a great way to show off the fossils in situ. The campground is in a fantastic location; I’d love to spend a weekend there.

This was only a taste of dinosaur country and I can’t wait to explore it in greater depth! Thank you once again to my local guide and chef! 🙂