Meet me in St. Louis.

Had a few days off and decided to take a vacation. My father in law laughed that we were taking a vacation from our vacation of a life. Hey...I didn't have to work.

First day we went to Meremac caverns. It is a pretty cool cavern located about an hour West of St. Louis. It was a secret hideout of Jesse James. Nice tour guide, interesting geology and a heck of a lot cooler inside the cave than outside. Cheesy family fun.

On the way out we stopped at a little wildlife refuge that is just a mile or so down the road. Opened the door and just about left. The smell inside the gift shop was horrible. Mix a lot of mildew in with sweat and dog urine then heat to a boil. We went on anyway and took the tour. I was glad we did. They had a bobcat, some serval's, two tigers and a lion outside along with more alligators than I could count. Inside, they had a large variety of snakes, lizards and other fun creepy crawlies. Including a few notables. The largest snapping turtle I have ever seen. They say it weighs 150 pounds but I bet it tops 200. Some very friendly and communicative lemurs, the most active and interactive rattlesnakes I have ever seen. Well worth the trip.

We left there and drove on to the hotel, the only dark cloud on the trip. The Day's Inn off Lindbergh in Kirkwood was pretty miserable. I could detail it but trust me, miserable.

That night we went into town to find a place to eat. I was struck by how many buildings were boarded up or burnt out. I was also struck by how old the place appeared. I had no idea of the history and significance of St. Louis. We ended up going to the botanical garden, eating at the restaurant there and checking out their Jurassic Dark exhibit. The have a large geodesic dome greenhouse filled with lush tropical greenery. At these events they pump in some fog, light up some colored lights and show off some dinosaur sculptures they have planted at various spots inside. Pretty cool really, especially if you are a 4 year old.

Thus ended day one. Back to the hotel and sleep. I'll tackle day two later.

Fun day.

Sarah's birthday today. We went to go eat at Lambert's cafe, home of throwed rolls.

After the gifts and the ice cream cake Max and I were out in the grassy area in front of the rv. He would grab the ball and run away looking back over his shoulder and squealing. I would chase him and he would tuck the ball and just ruuuuun, squealing all the way. Tremendous fun. I thought briefly about how much fun it would be to be able to re-experience that time as a child and be aware of just how much fun and how precious these moments are. Then I realized that would spoil it. As a kid your job is just to experience the fun. I am the one who gets to realize just how precious the time is and just how much fun we were having. Being a dad is pretty darn cool.

Waxing poetic

I had a thought the other day while I was at work. Probably has very little to do with reality and is only mediocre prose but I figured I would share anyway.

I was sitting at the nurses station. A few feet across from my desk were the glass doors leading into the rooms of the psych patients that I was in charge of watching. One wandered and roamed about her room occasionally rearranging the contents of her luggage. The other lay on the bed having an animated conversation with a lifelong imaginary friend. Neither was aware of the other. Neither could see the other but I could see both. Each sat in there isolation with no idea how close they were to someone remarkably similar. Nor were they aware of the still larger community of the ER around them. Each sat wrapped in their own preparation for their solitary journey. One packed supplies and snacks. The other brought along a trusted companion. It was remarkable visual analogy of their mental state. Alone only because they couldn't conceive of what lay only a short distance away.

Ah well. Like I said, probably no relation to reality, but it struck my fancy.

Another adventure

I love this new lifestyle. It is conducive to adventure.

Today we were heading out to go to the grocery store. Planned a trip to Kroger and to drop Sarah off somewhere while I shopped for a birthday present to give her. About halfway out of the campground we changed or mind and decided to head out to Cape Girardeau. A couple of hours scenic driving later we crossed into Illinois and shortly thereafter we dipped our toes into the mighty Mississippi river. Except Max. He dipped his butt. Can't stop that kid.

We played in a pretty little park, at burgers and had some frozen custard. A good day. Spontaneous adventure is hard to beat. To think, I could have been mowing the lawn in Houston today.

Today's Adventure

Today we went out for some adventure. Last night we decided to head out and take a look at this place near Van Buren called Big Springs. It sounded cool and we didn't have any plans.

Woke up, had some coffee, packed up and headed out. About 15 minutes into the 45 minute trip we noticed some really dark clouds. Oops. Forgot to check the weather before we left. Oh well, we can always just drive out and do some research to see if the place is worth returning to.

The weather gets worse. The ripples in the dark clouds were beautiful. I told Michael that often dangerous things were beautiful and that is something he should remember when he gets older and starts dealing with high school girls. Sarah laughed, but Michael didn't get it. He was fascinated with danger though as any good 4 year old would be. The rain grew heavier and visibility dimmed.

Then I saw what looked like a climbing cloud of smoke off to the side of the road. I thought that was strange because you know...it was raining and all. As we drove a little closer we noticed the column of darkness was rotating. Wait....rotating? Yup. A FREAKING TORNADO. IT was forming about 200 yards off the road. We decided to keep on trucking right past it. It looked like it formed for a few minutes and we passed. I don't think it lasted long and we didn't see any damage when we passed back through on the return trip.

Other than that we took a wrong turn that led us down a gorgeous dirt back road where the glades opening up in the green wooded hills were shrouded in steam from the rains. We grabbed a turtle from the side of the road just long enough to show it to the boys before returning it to its journey. There was a muskrat, some wild turkeys and some deer. Big spring is really nice. Enough water rises from the spring that it appears to boil from the ground. Crystal clear you could almost read a book through five feet of running water. The spring feeds a 20 foot wide and roughly 5 foot deep stream that runs into the Current river. WE wandered and hiked before heading home to dinner made by Sarah and then ice cream made by our new neighbor who is another travel nurse at the hospital. Overall a great adventure day. I told Sarah I almost told her I wish we had done this sooner. Only I realized we left pretty much as soon as we could.

Back to work tomorrow. Life is good.

Family visits

My Mom and nephew have been here the past couple of days which has spawned a little more adventure than normal. Six people in the RV can get a little cramped so you actively seek out something that will get everybody out of the house. We went to visit the water park, the lake and Sarah took everybody out to a nearby spring while I worked. It has been a really nice visit.

Our nephew Nicholas is a great kid. Well mannered for a 9 year old boy and very friendly. It has been a pleasure to have him

We also learned that another of my co-workers from Houston will be coming in to Poplar Bluff next week. She is the nurse most responsible, I believe, for getting me traveling so that is cool. AND...we learned that Sarah's parents are coming up from Houston for her birthday. IT promises to continue to be an eventful and enjoyable month.

Spotty internet

Ahh the joys of RV parks. Our slip is almost the furthest from the wifi antenna so we often have no connection and when we do it is slow. I haven't figured out why yet, but the cable for the TV doesn't work. The park checked it out today and it works on their end.

Due to a communication error, our cell phones went dead the other day.

Life's little challenges don't go away just because you did.