Stops in Missouri and Illinois

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We woke up Saturday morning in Harrison and had our next destination in our sights. The plan was to get to the St Louis area just over 300 miles away on Sunday night in order to get in line for our annual service of the motorhome bright and early Monday morning. We have used the Freightliner service center in Troy Illinois twice before and were pleased with the work. As full timers without a set traveling pattern, finding a service center that we feel comfortable with is difficult at times. Our first choice would be the one back at the place where our chassis was manufactured in Gaffney South Carolina. Of course that one isn’t very convenient when heading from Arizona to Upstate New York. The one in Troy would be our second choice and it fit into our route pretty easily. Since they don’t take reservations, we figure coming in on a Monday would give us the best chance to get service completed in time to continue on to Nappanee Indiana where we have a service appointment to have our solar system installed a week from Monday.

We knew there was a storm coming through the area later in the afternoon so we got an early start so we could get to our next stop and be off the road when the storm hit. The drive took us through Branson Missouri which is an area we have never visited. We know many people head there for lots of the entertainment in the town, but we were impressed with the rolling hills and suspect there might be lots of good hiking in the region as well. Maybe we can get back here someday?

Once we get to Springfield Missouri, we take Interstate 44 which will head north and east into St Louis. Just outside of the town of Cuba is the Meramec Valley Campground. It’s a big place with nearly 500 sites and being mid April, we weren’t too concerned about them having a spot for us for the night. Our site wasn’t the best, but it should work. In the late afternoon, our weather radio and phones started to sound all sorts of alarms. We watched the alert areas get closer to us and before we knew it, the campground had sounded the tornado siren located within the park. We weren’t positive exactly where we should head but the main registration building was closest so we ran there. The wind was really picking up and the sky behind us was an ominous green color.

The rain was starting just as we got into the building. There are lots of trees in the campground and this particular building had many large windows. Probably not the best spot to hunker down, but the more robust restroom building wasn’t very close by so we stayed put. We ended up having a couple dozen people inside with us. Some of the younger children were visibly concerned - as was Chris. The hail started to fall but it was difficult to see how severe things were getting outside. The wind was rather intense and the nearby trees were bending pretty good.

Sheltering in Campground Building

The storm lasted maybe 30 minutes but when the all clear was given, they shut off the siren and we ventured out. There was a large pile of hail about marble size sitting below the valley of the roof. As we dodged large puddles of water, we saw some hail that was golf ball sized on our way to the rig. We did a cursory look and it didn’t look like any trees or limbs had landed on either the motorhome or the Jeep. We had dinner and settled in for a much more quiet night now that the front had passed by. The next morning as we were getting ready to leave and hook up the Jeep, we noticed the front windshield of the Jeep had taken a strike from a hailstone that was large enough to crack the glass. Fortunately it was on the passenger side so wouldn’t interfere with us driving until we can get it replaced.

Hail Piled Up

Cracked Windshield

It was just over 100 miles to our next stop. The Granite City Elks Lodge is just across the Mississippi River from St Louis and only 15 miles from the service center where we are heading. We stayed here last year for a night with the same plans then as now. Spend the night and get up early Monday to be first in line at Freightliner. We had some extra time on our hands on Sunday afternoon so I headed out to get some geocaches in a few nearby counties. During this drive, I noticed that the windshield wasn’t the only thing to get damaged by the hail. There were some pretty large dents on the hood and roof of the Jeep. We had our old Cherokee for over 8 years without any damage like this but now our 6 month old vehicle has all sorts of hail damage! We called our insurance agent and explained that we’re were in transit and not going to be sitting still in any one location for very long but would be at our summer spot in a couple of weeks. We were told that wouldn’t be an issue and we could wait to report the claim.

Two of the Larger Dents on Hood

We got to the Troy Freightliner service center and headed into the lobby to get our name on the list. Turns out, they have changed how the motorhome service is handled since our visit last year so we had to go to a different part of the facility. Now it turns out that they do accept reservations for repairs and they were booked out a week. Yikes! That wasn’t going to work. The guy running the motorhome service area, recognized me from last year and was able to squeeze us in for our annual preventative maintenance. By mid afternoon, they were done but had found an air leak that should be fixed. Upon further inspection, there was some faulty valve that was not in stock but could be ordered and arrive first thing the next morning. We gave them the go ahead to order the part and planned to come in early Tuesday morning to have it taken care of. There are RV sites associated with this place, so we just pulled into one of the spots and setup for the rest of the night. 

The following morning, we went in to confirm the part had arrived and they were able to get us in. Yes, the part was in but another repair in process on a different bus needed to get done before we could get in. We decided to just leave the keys and they could move the motorhome when they were able to later in the morning.

We have done some exploring in the St Louis area during previous visits - the zoo, an Anheuser Busch Brewery tour and the Gateway Arch to name a few. But we knew there was much more to see so we would head out to explore while the work is finished on the rig. We remember from our visit to the St Louis Zoo, there are several museums located within Forest Park where the zoo resides. Options include the Missouri History Museum, St Louis Art Museum, and the St Louis Science Center to name a few. All of the museums are free so the price is right. The science center was our top pick, but as luck would have it, it is closed on Tuesdays. We decide to head to the history museum first, find lunch in the park then go to the art museum in the afternoon before heading back to get our motorhome. Forest Park is a very large place - bigger than NYC’s Central Park. And it is a very popular destination for locals and visitors. Parking wasn’t a problem and we go into the museum.

Missouri History Museum

Fountain

There are quite a few large rooms within the museum, each dedicated to different aspects of the history of the city and state. St Louis was the home to the 1904 World’s Fair. There were lots of pictures and displays from the fair which took place on the grounds of Forest Park. However, there aren’t many actual remnants from the fair still in the park. As we wandered around the displays, one of the volunteers came over to answer any questions and had a wealth of knowledge to share with us about the fair, the other attractions in the park and other things to do in the St Louis area.

Old Carriage

We continued through the rest of the rooms and enjoyed the displays and history lesson. At one room, a volunteer was seated at the entrance and informed us that this room was for kids but is open to all ages. And here I was concerned he might “card” us to prove our age! They definitely had lots of interactive displays for kids but we behaved and didn’t monopolize any of them since there were a fair number of kids there. Next door was a room called “Coloring STL”. This one was a rather unique concept.  The walls were a series of large white boards and on each one, some building from the St Louis area was drawn in black with permanent markers. There were lots of stations that had many colored dry erase markers. The concept was to grab some and start coloring in the drawings. A museum where they actually encourage drawing on the walls! It was interesting to see the wide area of art added by visitors. Many of them decided to draw outside the lines and add monsters or dinosaurs to the scene.

Monsters Attack The Arena?

Beer Posters

Spirit of St Louis

We spent more time here than we anticipated and decided to head over towards the Boathouse for lunch. There were a few geocaches nearby so we got them and then sat down for lunch looking out over the lake. They had boat rentals and it was a nice enough day for that but during lunch, we got a call from the service center telling us that our repair was complete and they had parked the rig back in its spot and hooked us up to power. We weren’t expecting to get out of the area this early in the day and had originally assumed we would spend a second night at the service center before heading out. But we decided if the rig was ready, we could move on. The Art Museum could wait for another trip in the area.

Rental Paddle Boats

The more direct route from St Louis to northern Indiana would have been across Interstate 70 to Indianapolis then north, but we decided to take a different route and head north to the state capitol of Illinois - Springfield. It was only 85 miles away and they have a large campground at the state fairgrounds that wouldn’t be even close to full at this time of the year. We had 5 days to drive the 440 miles to Nappanee going this route, so we would be able to spend a few nights in Springfield to check out town. It was an easy drive and the rig was driving good after the service - set for another year. The fairgrounds has about 300 sites and there are probably only a few dozen campers there when we arrive. Most of the full hookup sites were already taken but since we are staying for just 3 nights, we can survive without sewer and use the dump station on our way out. We pick a spot and get setup.  It was too late in the day to explore so we simply made our plans for the next 2 full days we would have in the area.

Our first stop the following morning was the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. Abraham Lincoln moved to Springfield Illinois in his late twenties and setup a law practice. There are four city blocks surrounding the home he lived in designated as this historic site. We arrived and headed into the visitor center to see about signing up for the free guided tour of the house. We got lucky and was able to get in the next tour group so we only had to wait a few minutes.

Lincoln Home Visitor Center

The tour starts with a short movie in the visitor center. Since I’m not a big history buff, I learned a lot about Lincoln’s early life in Springfield as a lawyer and subsequently a politician before becoming the 16th president of the USA. Our tour group was just over a dozen people and we walked down the block to the entrance of the old home. The park service has done a great job of keeping this home and the several others in the neighborhood in excellent condition.

Lincoln's Home

The interior of the home was pretty fancy for the mid 1800’s. The wallpaper, carpets and furnishings were not exactly tasteful in our thinking but some of the pieces are original from the family. Our tour guide was very well versed in everything Lincoln and never got stuck with any questions our group had. They do have the tour groups running back to back, so we needed to keep moving to not get overtaken by the next group.

Inside the House

Bedroom

Kitchen

As we made our way thru the house and into the backyard, we had a bit more breathing room to hear more stories and ask more questions. The old outhouse was a three stall unit that likely wouldn’t do so well nowadays.

Three Stall Outhouse

Side View of Lincoln Home

After the tour was over, we headed over to a couple of the other old homes that are open to the public. There are more displays and information about life here and the other neighbors that lived in the area. After exploring these buildings, we went back to the visitor center to see some more of the displays we had missed when we first arrived.

Log Cabin Wagon

We repositioned the car a few blocks away and walked over to the state capitol building for a tour. There were hundreds of people from various groups there to support whatever their cause was so it was a rather loud and chaotic scene. We eventually figured out where to enter and go thru security before finding the desk where we could sign up for a tour. We were told the next tour would start in 10 minutes and to just wait in the vicinity of the desk. There were so many people milling about the desk that I thought this tour was going to be a mess. When the tour guide came out to collect us, it turned out that our group was just the two of us, another couple and the guide. So all the people inside were simply to show support for a cause that was being debated that afternoon by the legislators.

Illinois State Capitol

Our guide got us away from the bulk of the crowd to give us some of the history of the building and how the state government is run. We were able to get into the balcony overlooking the house because the session had not started yet. But the senate side of the building was under construction so it was off limits.

Overlooking House Chamber

Dome of Capitol

Lincoln Statue

Big Crowd at Capitol

After the tour was over, our guide suggested we head back into the balcony area to watch some of the session, but apparently this session was an important one because we were not allowed in without some sort of pass. We wandered around some of the other wings of the building before deciding we had seen enough and headed outside. I suspect this might be a more pleasant visit on a less busy day but we still enjoyed seeing the building from 1867.

Fountain

Another Capitol View

Colorful Wall

There were several geocaches in the downtown area that took us on a bit of a tour of the old buildings so we did a lot of walking all around town seeing various sights. The final cache containers were hidden in a park about a mile away, so we drove there to find them before heading to our next stop.

Chris and Abe

Old State Capitol

Union Station

It was mid afternoon by now but we decided to go to one more place before calling it a day. Lincoln’s Tomb is in Oak Ridge Cemetery on the north side of town. Besides walking around the impressive building with a spire nearly 120 feet tall, visitors are permitted inside during certain hours. Out front is a large bronze statue of Lincoln’s head. Supposedly, rubbing his nose brings you luck and from the polished look of his nose, everybody does so.

Lincoln's Tomb

Abe Has Shiny Nose

Inside the monument are quite a few displays and interpretive signs. We take our time and check it all out. There are several other geocaches within the cemetery so we head to other areas to see a war memorial and the original vault where Lincoln’s body stayed while the monument was constructed. It turned out to be a rather full day seeing some of the more famous highlights of Springfield.

Lincoln On Horse

Burial Site

Original Vault

War Memorial

The next day we had one more place Chris really wanted to see. The Dana-Thomas house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1902 and was finished 2 years later. This building is open to the public and is free to tour although you must register for a time slot ahead of time. This is a very large place - 12,000 square feet. The outside definitely has the “feel” of one of his designs.

Side View of Dana-Thomas House

Main Entrance

We’re arrived to get our tour with a handful of others. The outside of the home is pretty but the inside is absolutely gorgeous. Of course you will need to take my word for that because there is no photography permitted inside. That’s a big bummer since there were so many things that caught our eye as we toured the full house. Our guide had all sorts of stories to tell and explained so many details about how various themes were carried throughout the home. There was even a bowling alley in the basement! I have attached a few shots from the website for the interior but I suggest you make the visit here if you are in the area.

Stained Glass Doors

I’m sure there is much more to see in Springfield but 3 nights would need to suffice. We did take the afternoon of the last day to get some chores taken care of. The Jeep made it in for an oil change and rotation and Chris found a decent grocery store to stock up on since there might not be great shopping in the Nappanee area.

About halfway between Springfield and Indianapolis is Kickapoo State Recreation Area. The Plawer campground has over 150 sites so we weren’t too concerned coming in without a reservation at this time of year. The last two miles of the drive to camp did have an odd situation. As I turned onto that last road, there was a 20 ton weight limit. No problem, our rig weighs about 33,000 pounds - well under the limit. But one mile from the turn for the campground is a sign for 8 ton limit! I really didn’t have much choice but to continue since there wasn’t a side road and there was no room to turn around. We pull in and find the camp host out working in the yard. We paid for two nights and were told to just go find an open site. There wasn’t the need for anything more formal this early in the year.

Campground Entrance

We found a nice pull thru site close to some pond that looked more like a river. We got setup and then went for a short walk around the park. There were lots of spring flowers in bloom and the redbud trees were in full bloom.

View Near Our Site

Redbud in Bloom

The next day, we plan to do a hike to one of the older geocaches in the area. We had pretty good instructions on which trails to follow since it isn’t in a very popular area of the park. We pulled into the parking lot only to find a sign stating there was no entrance before 1 PM to non hunters. That would be us and we didn’t want to risk getting shot so we come up with a quick plan B and drive to a few geocaches in some counties just across the state border in Indiana. That trip delayed our return enough that we were able to get back at a safe time. We did put on some of our blaze orange gear just to be extra careful. The trail starts out by heading past Johnson Hill Cemetery. Unlike most remote cemeteries like this one, we were pleasantly surprised to find this one is maintained reasonably well.

Johnson Hill Cemetery

Start of Trail

It was a nice walk in the woods. We did come upon another couple that was just leaving the area. They said they had been looking for mushrooms but didn’t have any luck. We managed to make all the proper turns and get to ground zero for the cache. This one has been here for over 22 years!  We did enjoy seeing all the flowers. There were many trilliums blooming but they were the very dark red ones that aren’t quite as showy as others. It was decent even though the weather was quite overcast. We did manage to spot one morel mushroom. We were debating about picking it and trying to figure out how to prepare it but decided it might be too much effort for just one mushroom.

Trillium

Closeup of Redbud

Morel Mushroom

We were still 230 miles from our next stop in Nappanee where we will be having our solar panels and lithium batteries installed. More on that in the next post.