It was a solid game aside from sloppy defense (no wonder the Royals consistently stink), but the Cardinals lost which was good since the Brewers blew it against the Twins. Korch wanted to head out early so, as we walked to our car, I used my MLB app to listen to the last inning on my phone as I updated disappointed Cardinals fans on the street.
We arrived at Horseshoe Bend State Park and had camp set up by 10:30 PM, which was pretty good in the dark and humid conditions. Bugs were all over which reminded me of Lewis and Clark's accounts of their experience. We joked about a campfire all evening, but given the heat and our exhaustion, we just laid on our sleeping pads staying cool using towels/buffs soaked in water as we talked over a productive first day.
I finally was in a deep sleep when Korch woke me up at 4 AM saying a storm was coming in. In a bit of a haze we broke down camp and hurried to a pavilion along the lake. We hung out there for a couple hours laughing, trying to clean up at a spigot, and listening to turkeys in a wooded area nearby, and looking at the birds (herons?) along the lake.
We jetted to a St. Louis Bread Co. nearby (apparently Panera started in St. Louis and as it spread it became known as Panera, but here it's the St. Louis Bread Co.). The rainy drive here reminded me of a vivid hiking experience as a 9 year old with my dad and family friends. We were hiking a rough area of the Appalachian Trail in the North Carolina/Georgia area. At the summit of a mountain named Cheoah Bald, there was an intense storm and as my friend Peter and I tried to sleep my dad held up the tent, rain seeping in due to heavy wind and rain. Eventually Bones, the underfed dog that adopted us on our 40 mile hike hopped in soaking wet. Even though Korch was happy we broke down and got moving before the rain came in, I sort of hope we have one memorable night of sitting in a tent during violent storms.
We're going to head out in an hour or so for the National Great Rivers Museum, which looks pretty cool and may give us a more engineering/science-y kind of view of water/river management.
I finally was in a deep sleep when Korch woke me up at 4 AM saying a storm was coming in. In a bit of a haze we broke down camp and hurried to a pavilion along the lake. We hung out there for a couple hours laughing, trying to clean up at a spigot, and listening to turkeys in a wooded area nearby, and looking at the birds (herons?) along the lake.
We jetted to a St. Louis Bread Co. nearby (apparently Panera started in St. Louis and as it spread it became known as Panera, but here it's the St. Louis Bread Co.). The rainy drive here reminded me of a vivid hiking experience as a 9 year old with my dad and family friends. We were hiking a rough area of the Appalachian Trail in the North Carolina/Georgia area. At the summit of a mountain named Cheoah Bald, there was an intense storm and as my friend Peter and I tried to sleep my dad held up the tent, rain seeping in due to heavy wind and rain. Eventually Bones, the underfed dog that adopted us on our 40 mile hike hopped in soaking wet. Even though Korch was happy we broke down and got moving before the rain came in, I sort of hope we have one memorable night of sitting in a tent during violent storms.
We're going to head out in an hour or so for the National Great Rivers Museum, which looks pretty cool and may give us a more engineering/science-y kind of view of water/river management.