Walking in the Rain

July 7th was Regis' birthday, so we we arranged our day to arrive at a city where we could take her out to celebrate. St. Louis Missouri was a perfect distance away, getting us there early enough to relax and plan the evening.

We found an RV park right downtown (a very unusual thing). It was just a big asphalt parking lot, but in the RV with temperatures of 30 outside, we mostly stayed inside with the AC cooling us off after the days drive. The folk in the office were friendly and the washrooms and showers were the best we have seen. Best of all, the major attractions, including the St. Louis Arch were within walking distance. The pleasant lady behind the office counter suggested a route downtown, and it proved to be wonderful.

Just as we were about to leave it started to rain, but was only a light rain, and the asphalt was so hot the rain dried as fast as it came down. We had two umbrellas so decided the walk would be fine. When you spend so much time in the truck it is nice to find opportunities to walk.

The route to downtown St. Louis and the Mississippi River took us down Washington St. The area went through an area of the city that was originally industrial, with warehouses and factories, but the city has encouraged developers to restore these old buildings and convert them to loft apartments and condos, with restaurants and pubs in the street level shops; so much nicer than tearing the history down and building new structures. It made for a very pleasant walk, and although the light rain continued, we folded our umbrellas and allowed the rain to cool us off as it evaporated.

Coming out of the restaurant after a lovely dinner, the rain had increased to a serious downpour. We had intended to visit the St. Louis Arch, but the rain was decreasing visibility, so we elected to add this to the next days agenda.

St. Louis Arch

Dad & Sharon decided to take a cab back to the trailer, but Regis and I decided to walk. It was raining very hard, and the streets were flooded in places, but the temperature remained warm, so we had a very nice walk back. Even on warm days the Nova Scotia rain is cold, but this rain was completely different; you got damp, but not cold, so "walking in the Rain" was a pleasant experience.

The Mighty Mississippi

The next day dawned sunny and hot again, and we drove down to the arch to save time, because we had a fair drive to reach Branson. The Arch was definitely a "must see". You ride up in little "pod", and the four minute ride takes you to the top, 600 ft over St.Louis, where you get out and can look through windows out over the city and the Mississippi River.

Photo By Kris Hanke

As we were going to the Arch in the morning, I stopped to take a picture of Regis & Sharon with the Arch as a backdrop. A gentleman asked if we would like him to take the picture so we could all be in it. We agreed, and I handed him my camera, and after a couple of attempts, he was obviously not happy with my Pentax, so said he would take it with his Nikon because it had a special wide angle lens and could get the entire Arch in the shot. I said he looked like a professional, so I hoped he wasn't going to charge us for the picture. He said that in fact he was a professional photographer, but he would not charge us and would e-mail us the picture. Another example of "Kindness of Strangers" (You did read that Blog entry didn't you?). Please visit his website www.krishanke.com When I get the photo I will add it here, because I promised him proper photo credits on the Blog. (See Bill I learned my lesson . . . .)