Sunday, 18 April 2021
Before leaving the KOA this morning I stopped to get my propane tank filled. It was only half empty, but getting propane here was easier than trying to find it somewhere along the road. I'd tried yesterday but they didn't have a qualified propane pumper then, so I was happy to find someone on duty today. But that was just the beginning.
When I went to close the door covering the propane tank access, it wouldn't close. This door is a smallish rectangle hinged on the bottom; I turn levers on the top to release the door, it hangs from the hinges, the guy refills the tank, I close the door. But it wouldn't close. I thought maybe some of that mud/gravel mixture - which of course had gotten into this area too - had fallen into the hinge, so I pulled out a stiff brush and tried to brush it out. But it still wouldn't close. I went and got help from another KOA employee, who thought of the same thing and got a brush of his own and worked hard at it, but it still wouldn't close.
Then the propane-pumping KOA person came back and said having problems? and we explained and he too tried. Finally, one of them thought of using compressed air to blow out whatever might be in the hinge that we couldn't get to, so they tried that and - presto! - I could close the door. I felt a little like Eeyore when he puts the burst balloon into the empty honey pot and takes it out again, and puts it in, and takes it out. Such simple pleasures. I opened the door, and closed it again, and opened it, and closed it again.
I'm telling you, something very very strange is going on in my world right now. I just wish I knew how much longer it was going to go on, or even whether I've already had the worst of it.
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| today's route |
From Eureka, I went west on I-44 for 14 miles, then branched off west on US 50 near the town of Union, pop. 10,204. This is one place where the AAA map erred, because it shows Union as the same size town as Leslie, farther along the road, which has 171 residents. In Union I saw a happily blooming wisteria - so pretty.
I passed a road that, according to the sign, was named "LITTLe sparrows." Really.
I've always enjoyed driving on Sunday morning because the traffic is very light until about noon. But not today. For some reason I found plenty of traffic, which was a shame since US 50 wasn't an easy road - curves and hills and narrow lanes. But I saw lots of blooming dogwood.
I went through Gerald, pop. 1,345, where they had banners all over town proclaiming this to be "A Rock Island Town." I can't find a clear answer why online, but I do know the Rock Island railroad line was built through town in 1901, that the Fitzgerald family donated the strip of land for the rail line, and based on that the town decided to call itself Gerald. Also that the townspeople saved the depot from being razed when the railroad line went bankrupt in the '70s and that it's now the only remaining original Rock Island depot left on the line (which still exists but has been rendered unusable by the state). I guess all that history justifies their banners.
The White Mule Winery has a large operation along this road - several large vineyards plus the winery buildings.
I passed 4 Trump signs today and 3 Jesus I Trust In You signs.
Just outside of Linn, pop. 1,459, we took a break in the empty parking lot of the State Technological College of Missouri. It's obviously a big deal - a very large campus with separate large buildings labeled "Health Science Center" and "Information Technology Center" and "Vehicle and Power Center." Those were just the ones I could see from where we were. They bill themselves as "The Employers' Choice." And according to Forbes, it's the 3rd best college in the country among 2-year trade schools. I passed a lot of newly built apartment buildings apparently intended for student housing, and I think the school is important to the town's economy.
Linn is also a county seat, I found out by accidentally driving past the courthouse.
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| Osage County Courthouse in Linn |
Back on the road I came to the first climbing lane I've seen in Missouri. And it's not like I haven't seen any roads that needed one.
All the churches in all these little towns I passed this morning were well-attended.
I started seeing cows along here, though I hadn't seen any at all east of here. I saw horses here and there all day. I came to hills and green fields and that green grassy crop and trees separating the fields.
I crossed the Osage River, which was wide enough for me to think it's a major river in this state. But I guess it's all relative because, though it's 276 miles long, it's only MO's 8th largest. It flows into the Missouri River.
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| St. Peter Catholic Church |
Driving toward the capitol I saw this renovation in progress (at left). I've never seen scaffolding that looked quite like that, is why I took this photo. When I first saw it, I thought this was some new building technique that set a cage structure on top of a normal structure as the latest avant-garde look.
By the way, this and the other photos I took today look so gray because it was a really gray day. I had a hard time lightening them enough for the subject to be visible without making them so light the subject became invisible.
Just a few blocks away was the state capitol.
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| Missouri State Capitol completed 1917 |
As far as I can tell, this rounded side is the back entrance. It faces the Missouri River, with some artwork in between.
There's a law enforcement memorial; a replica of the Liberty Bell; a commemoration of the signing of the Louisiana Purchase agreement; and a fountain.
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| Liberty Bell replica |
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| Commemorates signing of Louisiana Purchase agreement |
Immediately in front of this piece of classicism is another work of art, also dedicated in 1927, but of an entirely different character.
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| Fountain of the Centaurs |
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| from another angle - so you can see where it is in relation to the capitol |
Since this is a pretty good sized fountain, no one photo can show all the detail, so I've blown some parts up.
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| This is at one end, but both ends are the same. |
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According to Wikipedia, the creature in the left-hand photo is a sea urchin. The so-called centaur, in the photo at right, is actually an icthyocentaur, which you can tell because it has a sea serpent's body instead of a horse's body, which a centaur would have.
I'm citing Wikipedia for both of these because neither of them has any kind of label or sign or explanation so I had to hunt for it. I find the very close proximity of the LA Purchase commemoration with these sea creatures to be what you might call jarring and can't for the life of me figure out what they're doing here by the capitol, 1927 not being a time of high-class art, was it?
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| magnolias, the state flower, added to the Corinthian columns |
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| Corinthian columns and stone carvings |
As I was leaving the area, I saw a billboard that read, "Child Marriage Is Happening Here." I couldn't see anything else because of the traffic, but I looked it up and learned that the laws in Missouri about child marriages are the most lenient in the country, resulting in some horror stories. Here's some more information. https://www.riverfronttimes.com/child-marriage-is-a-ok and https://www.globalcitizen.org/child-marriage-legalized-statutory-rape
Driving north from town I noticed that the land was first quite flat, and then I was climbing steep hills on a road that had been blasted through rock walls.
I passed groves of white dogwoods and stands of magenta redbuds, all shining in the sun which had finally come out. I passed the South Farm, a research facility of the University of Missouri that supports a variety of projects for animal, plant and veterinary sciences, botany, biology and so forth.
I came to Columbia, pop. 108,500, home of the main campus of the University of Missouri or Mizzou as they call it. As far as I can tell, this is essentially a college town, with the very attractive campus taking up a good chunk of town, including its classroom buildings and fraternities and various support services, including a number of churches that surround the campus. In 2020, they had an enrollment of 30,046 - which is a pretty good chunk of the town's total population, if the census counts them here.
The campus was attractive, the students were attractive, and overall this place looked very Southern and very expensive. I looked that up and learned that for 2020 tuition was $10,720, and that among MO's 4-year colleges, it ranks 14th most affordable for in-state students. But for out-of-state students, the tuition jumps up 3 times the cost to in-state. So I guess expensive is in the eye of the beholder.
Just across the street is Stephens College, a private women's college and, founded in 1833, it's the 2nd oldest US women's college that's still a women's college. From 1937 to 1943, the head of its drama department was the first actor to play Barrie's Peter Pan. The college had a long line of banners hanging from the street lights with various messages. One was, "Be Yourself. Be Good At It."
At tonight's campground, I found that motocross enthusiasts constitute its primary use. The buzzing of those machines sounded like we'd landed in a swarm of insects, though the campground itself had many fewer campers than usual for a Sunday - there were maybe 9 or 10 of us out of 36 campsites total.
One of those groups was a couple with 2 sons - maybe aged 4 and 2 - plus apparently twin babies. I saw the father outside the tent with the 2 boys and a baby, and I heard another baby squalling inside the tent, presumably with the mother. Imagine - 4 kids under the age of 6. If I were one of those parents, I'd be sure we both got all the tubes tied we could find, though these parents had enough nerve to take the whole brood tent camping, so they're likely tougher than I am.
I accidentally injured some unidentified flying insect seriously enough that it couldn't get off the floor, so I used a flyswatter to end its misery. That was only the beginning of Gracie's though. I haven't used a flyswatter in a year and had forgotten how much they terrify my puppy. Even though the swatting was half-way back in the RV from where she was, she went into panic mode - went into the shower and back out again, tried to get out the side door, crawled halfway under one of the front seats - she was just UPSET. I spent quite a while trying to calm her down but can't convince myself I made much difference since I'm the one that started the whole thing.
I turned on my computer and got a message that it had only 3% of its battery left. This despite my having used it all day yesterday plus some time this morning - while plugged in for all of that time. Of course, I plugged it in again right away, but my computer didn't show that it was being charged, so I shut it down right away, afraid I'd accidentally use all of it and I wouldn't be able to access anything on the computer.
I had plenty of time to think about the situation and decided instead of going on tomorrow as I'd planned, I'd go back to Columbia, which was only about 10 miles away and which was clearly a college town with, presumably, ample computer repair services. I didn't see anything but small towns ahead of me on the route I'd planned and didn't want to assume any significant computer support in any of them.
So here I was yet again, the same day I hadn't been able to close the door to the propane tank, a few days after I hadn't been able to get my heater fixed, and still with the side door not right and the awning broken somehow. It just feels like everything's falling apart around my ears.
Although, to be fair, I can still think of any number of things that could go wrong that might be much worse than what I've got now. So I can rant and rave about cosmic forces aligned against me - though somehow that sounds like some of the political talk I've heard too much of lately and I really don't want to be lumped into that category. I guess I'll just add this computer problem to the lengthening list of problems I have to solve, and start solving them.
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