S N O W!!!

Sundermeier RV Park, St. Charles, MO:  It actually snowed this morning. And they're calling for flurries tonight and tomorrow morning as well. Hopefully that will be the last of it??? We met with the general manager of the outfit that is doing the reconstruction of our foundation, deck, and family room. Very discouraging since they are still waiting on the permits from St. Louis County. We've been home almost a month now. But they did go in there last week and cleaned up some of the mess in the family room and packed up a lot of the stuff to take to their warehouse where they will clean them up and assess whether to keep or not. In the meantime, we're fine in the fifth wheel, albeit stuck inside during the colder days. Warmer weather will be very welcome. I think the high today will be 45. Time to go see a movie perhaps?

Big chunks of concrete on the floor.

One of the boarded up windows.

They righted the entertainment center.

The pile of stuff in front of the concrete chunks is our drapes. Or, I should say, was our drapes.

Chase Park Plaza

Sundermeier RV Park, St. Charles, MO:  Met with some friends yesterday at the elegant Chase Park Plaza Hotel in downtown St. Louis. Went to see Cinderella at the movie theater there. Amy and I loved the movie--a delightful mix of reality and whimsy. I think even Dave and Mike enjoyed it--although they'd never admit it. After the movie we had a light dinner at Cafe Eau in the hotel. A very pleasant afternoon, and it was great to get out of the "homeless shelter" for a while. Pretty chilly yesterday, but today is supposed to get up to 70 or so.

The beautiful, elegant Chase Park Plaza Hotel

Not a very good picture of one of the coffered ceilings.

Private elevator up to the private residences in the hotel.

Katy Trail

Sundermeier RV Park, St. Charles, MO:  What a beautiful day today! We got the bikes out and took off on the Katy Trail heading for St. Charles and lunch. A lot of people out and about--and why not? It was a beautiful, warm and sunny day. A stiff breeze right in our face as we headed out. A little bit of a slog, but we needed the exercise. Stopped for lunch at the Trailhead Brewing Co. and then headed back. Sat outside reading for a while. Too nice to go in. And the rest of the week will be in the 50s (ugh!). Mid-80s today.

Mike checking out something along the trail.

Sculpture of Lewis and Clark in a little park along the trail. They and the Corps of Discovery left from St. Louis (actually Wood River) on their incredible journey in 1804. Returned in 1806.

TRAINS, PLANES, AND AUTOMOBILES

Sundermeier RV Park, St. Charles, MO:  This park, which will be our home for the next couple of months, is kind of in the middle of a little industrial area. And we're situated just off I370 on the Missouri River. So, we have the traffic on I370, and there is a train trestle right next to I370 with quite a lot of train traffic, and we're on the approach to the St. Louis airport. I can tell when a train is approaching when stuff in the fifth-wheel starts to vibrate. But, it's also right on the Katy Trail State Park, which is a biking and hiking trail which goes clear across the state. And we're within walking distance of some of our favorite restaurants in Old Town St. Charles. So, all is good. Went for a walk this morning down the trail and off on a little nature trail which meandered through the woods next to the Missouri River. A beautiful, sunny day and I could hear the next generation of frogs chirping away. 

Bridge on I370 over the Missouri. Train trestle on the right.

Snapped this picture from our door.

Truck traffic on I370.

Another train!

Katy Trail

The little nature trail.

Sundermeier RV Park, St. Charles, MO:  Really cold again today.  But the sun is out, so I figured, let’s suck it up and go do the grocery shopping and check out our home. It was very painful out there in the cold—oh yeah, and the wind, let’s not forget the painful wind chill. But we did it and then stopped for a couple of drinks and some appetizers. One more night of bone chilling cold and then it lets up a little so we can turn the water faucet off, which we’ve had running non-stop so the water hose won’t freeze. 25 today.

Look at this crap!

I finished this hat just in time to wear it this morning.

OMG!  It's cold!

Sundermeier RV Park, St. Charles, MO:  Cold today.  And the slush in our site is now ice.  We got a dusting of snow is all. But it’s really cold. I think the high today was 21. Going down to single digits tonight. But it’s warming up next week, so the future looks brighter—starting on Saturday. In the meantime we’re hunkering down and trying to stay warm.

We call this foamy stuff Keys snow. It builds up on the lake and on the ocean shore when it's windy and then blows around like little tumbleweeds. It's a lot different than the snow we're encountering now.

KOA, W. Memphis, to Sundermeier RV Park, St. Charles, MO:  Well we made it here.  Encountered a lot of fog.  In Sikeston, MO, we stopped for fuel and food, and we couldn’t believe the brutally cold wind as we got out of the truck.  After filling up both the truck and our stomachs, we reluctantly left the warmth of Denny’s and Mike took over driving. Unfortunately, the fog seemed to get worse.  It wasn’t until 90 miles south of St. Louis that it finally cleared.  And warmed up a bit as well.  Left this morning at 8:30 and pulled into Sundermeier RV Park and were set up by 3:30.  We’re on a cement pad, but it’s covered in an icy slush.  Wish they’d cleaned it off.  By tomorrow it’ll be ice since the temps are going to plummet. After setting up we headed out for dinner and drinks. It took us 10 days to get home, what with the weather delay and the kitchen slide malfunction delay.  But we’re here safe and sound and now we’ll go see the damage to our house and go on from there.

C

Check out this fog!