Hello everyone, it’s ya boi – Brian. This week was a good one but there were some definite crummy nights. As an overview of where we went during the week: Kansas City, The Mark Twain National Forest, Saint Louis, Chicago. Can’t get any more midwestern than that!

When Kate ended the last post she mentioned that I got to indulge in my first authentic Kansas City BBQ experience. 12/10 Would recommend to anyone. Before I jump right into the glorification of slow and low, smoke-cooked meats, let me first bring up our first foray into Kansas City. When we arrived we found a place to park and then walked around a few blocks scoping out a collection of murals that were painted on the sides of buildings and in alleys. A friendly local told us we could catch the free trolley downtown if we wanted to get in some more high quality sight-seeing. We had only set aside an hour or so before we wanted to get dinner and head back out to where we’d be sleeping that night. So let’s talk about some delicious barbecue!

Now, those of you reading who have followed for a while and those of you who know us in person may be saying “… wait a second, I thought they trended vegetarian?” You’d be completely right in that. Normally we do. Generally speaking we don’t buy any meat for ourselves when we grocery shop, and we usually try to order vegetarian friendly meals when we’re at restaurants. However, on my list of ‘experiences-I-really-want-to-have-on-the-trip’ enjoying some authentic BBQ had always been pretty high on the list from day one. Just as one would want to be sure to try the local food traveling anywhere else in the world, American BBQ is a destination all its own. Without going into too much detail there are several styles of BBQ throughout the South and Midwest and generally speaking when people think of “American BBQ” it is the Kansas City style they are thinking of.
… So what did we get? All of it. Well, kind of. We went to Slap’s and it was everything I’d want it to be. Considering that we don’t have a place to store leftovers we knew we had to only order what we thought we could finish. So instead of getting a meal each, we got one meal and two extra sides and split everything. We ordered the Cattleman’s Plate which came with brisket, sausage, and burnt ends. I would have also gotten ribs but Kate wanted burnt ends and I wanted sausage so we settled on the menu item that had one of each of the things we wanted. I’ll have to get ribs some other time, which is just fine by me thank you very much. For sides, we had: mac ‘n cheese, cheesy corn, baked potato casserole, and baked beans. This isn’t a food blog per se but allow me to wax poetic about this delectable meal. The meat was perfect, burnt ends especially. Flavorful, succulent, juicy morsels of meat cooked for hours over hickory – topped with your choice of sauce. “Brown is sweet, red is heat.” The person at the counter advised another customer. Both sauces were divine but my personal preference was for the spicy. The sides were unmatched. The shining star was the baked potato casserole but in truth, Kate and I ended up mostly mixing all the sides together into a hodgepodge of gooey goodness. Again, topped with your choice of sauce. We filled ourselves to the breaking point all the while washing it down with some local blonde ale, the cans adorned with promotion endorsing the Kansas City Chiefs. It was heaven.

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The rest of the trip was pretty good too I guess.
Well, catch you next week!

JUST KIDDING!

We left Slap’s and headed slightly out of town to crash for the night. We ended up sleeping at a truck stop. Truck stops and rest areas are likely to become pretty common as we start to head into the part of the country that has fewer free campsites available. We’ll also probably be trying our hand at stealthily parking our car in neighborhoods and just trying to blend in with all the other cars parked overnight.
The next day we went back into KC as there were still a few things we wanted to see and do. Among them was visit the Kansas City Library …Parking Garage!! “Why?” I hear you all collectively groan in my head – even though in reality you’re probably all just reading this silently, occasionally breathing out a little more forcefully through your noses – where was I? Oh yes, the parking garage. The Kansas City Library parking garage is cool. It is decorated on the outside with books, GIANT ones! The residents of the area voted on which titles would be represented and now there is a collection of book spines, some of them 22 feet high and 9 feet wide, forming a giant bookshelf in the middle of the downtown area. Even the steps are formed to look like a stack of books on their side. It is a sight prettier than most other parking structures. We took some glamor shots and then headed into the library itself. We hadn’t planned on seeing anything cool, but as it happens libraries are pretty cool on their own. We were pleasantly surprised, however, when we discovered that the library was running an exhibit featuring the works of Ralph Steadman. Mr. Steadman was the artistic partner to Hunter S. Thompson for over 3 decades, helping to provide “Gonzo journalism” a distinct iconic visual style as well. For being an unexpected exhibit, this was a really cool and really lucky find.

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After the library we walked the downtown area, checking out some architecture and public art. We hadn’t planned to be in KC for too long so once we hit the items on our checklist we agreed it’d be best for us to head out of town.

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That night we drove out to the Mark Twain National Forest and we nestled into the Brazil Creek Campground. A lovely little spot with no other visitors, save for a few people who seemed to pull in just to use the bathroom before leaving again. This is where we met the yellow jacket that terrorized us as we cooked. Hyperbole aside, this guy was way bigger than most yellow jackets or hornets or wasps that I’ve ever seen and it was just IN LOVE with our cooking supplies. It is very difficult to not burn the food you’re trying to cook when you can’t adjust the temperature because there is a stinging insect the size of your thumb hanging out on the control knob. It danced from item to item, olive oil, to utensil bag, to cutting board and back. Eventually we were able to eat without the bug making an attempt on us (likelihood that we’d be stung was pretty low in the first place, but still) and we didn’t see any more the rest of the time we were there.

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We lit a campfire, something we hadn’t done in a while, and settled in to listen to a few more chapters of the audiobook we have been listening to on the drive. (A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones {Book one of the GOT series}) Once it was time for bed, we put out the fire and crawled into the car.

This night was tough to sleep though. For both of us. It was just SO hot and humid. We cracked the windows and put up our mosquito netting but we only have a small battery powered fan and though it does help, it just wasn’t enough. Several hours of tossing and turning and a few bouts of snoozing were all we could manage before the sun came up again. It didn’t help that about 30 minutes into us lying in bed Kate noticed that the fire had flared back up again. I got out of the car and drowned it with water just to make sure that wouldn’t happen again. It left us a little on edge though.

The next day we agreed that it was just too hot to go hiking right away. We lingered around the car and campground for several hours trying our best to stay cool and hydrated in the muggy death that surrounded us. As it cooled a bit in the evening we regained our strengths a little and were able to enjoy a pleasant evening.

One last morning in the National Forest and we were going to be heading out to St. Louis. There was a lake conveniently a few miles away from our campground and after 2 days of sweat induced fever dreams, a dip in the cool water sounded like it would be delightful. Spoiler alert: we never made it to the lake. We drove through a few winding forest roads, truly beautiful area, and followed the GPS and street signs for the lake. After a few suspect turns we found ourselves slowly crawling down a steep gravel road with no semblance of maintenance to it whatsoever. This wasn’t the first time we have had to drive down a less than safe looking road, so we weren’t deterred at first. As we got toward the bottom and saw that the rickety wooden bridge we were expected to cross was blocked off with a single strand of caution tape, we immediately turned the vehicle around and slowly crawled back up the hill – our two wheel drive Lloyd doing the best he could. We had no problems skipping the lake and heading straight into town. First to a St. Louis Bread Co. (Fun Fact: The St. Louis Bread Co. got bought out and had its name changed to Panera but the ones in the area retain the original name.) Then to a thrift shop so that Kate could get some proper gym shoes as the canvas boots she brought were the next closest thing and the gym we frequent has a ‘No boots’ policy, and then to Planet Fitness (the gym), we had both needed a shower and some exercise after those sweaty hot humid days in the forest.

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This was another really bad night of sleep – for Kate. We had set up in the Planet Fitness parking lot for the night. As a lot of their locations are run as 24 hour gyms, it makes it pretty easy to sleep in your car in front of one. People may be coming and going all night; another car in the parking lot doesn’t seem out of place at all. This was another BRUTALLY hot and humid night though. Kate ended up sleeping for a grand total of about 2.5 hours and had to take two migraine pills at separate times in the night/morning. When we eventually got up in the morning she immediately expressed that she did not want to spend another night in that parking lot and that we should look elsewhere. Ahead of us the days tasks included seeing the Gateway Arch, and exploring the Saint Louis area. But first, we needed to eat and do some grocery shopping.

A few blocks away from where we had slept was Love Park. This was just a pit stop for us to make some food before continuing on to St. Louis proper, and as it happens we stumbled upon some kids playing in a cricket tournament. Again, what an unexpected but pleasant surprise. We cooked, sat, and ate while listening to parents cheer and kids whoop and holler before packing up and heading over to the grocery store, a few blocks back from where we had just come. Turns out the grocery store was right across the street from the gym. We eventually made it into the city.

We visited the Arch, took some artsy pics, and then went down into the museum underneath the Arch. It was a pretty great museum for having no entrance fee. We learned all about the arch, the area, the history, and much more. In a bizarre coincidence Kate alerted me to a video display showing interviews with Native Americans and who should appear in the video but the very same Lakota Sioux guy we talked to back at Wounded Knee. It was mildly shocking to see this random roadside stranger who had been trying to sell us wares featured in a video playing in the museum under the Gateway Arch. Talk about small worlds. Afterward we hopped back into the car a few minutes before our parking meter was set to expire and headed a bit west into the city. We stopped in the Grand Arts District. We had wanted to see the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, and the Contemporary Arts Center which is adjacent to it as they both offer free admission. Unfortunately they were both closed while they were installing new exhibits! Instead we ended up exploring a small sculpture garden and dog park nearby. We also walked the streets near the historic Fox theatre and poked around the university campus. That night we drove out of town a bit to another rest area. This was nicer than the Planet Fitness parking lot for sure, and also much cooler in temperature. It rained quite a bit but nothing that we hadn’t dealt with before.

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We ventured back into the city the next day where we planned on spending the whole day in Forest Park. Forest Park is amazing. Simply put, it is probably the best city park in America. I’ve been to Central Park in NYC, and for my money Forest Park is better. First, it is huge (1300 acres). There are so many things to do in the park. Read more about it here. We spent the first few hours there at the St. Louis Zoo (free admission) and we didn’t even see everything the zoo had to offer! Then we dined on some sandwiches back at the car before walking over to the St. Louis Art Museum (again free admission). Both the Zoo and the Art Museum could be full days unto themselves and we ended up having to leave the art museum before we could see all that we wanted just because it was closing time. We didn’t have enough time left in the day to see one of the other museums that Forest Park houses, the Missouri History Museum (again FREE), nor did we visit nearly 2/3 of the other open spaces that the park had to offer. After this and the previous day, we agreed that St. Louis might end up on our potential list of places to move to. Beauty everywhere and affordable attractions!

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That night we ventured up about and hour and a half north toward Springfield, Illinois as we were going to be making the drive to Chicago the next day and we could cut down on the nearly 6 hours of driving by making some of it the night before. Kate had found a really pretty free campsite right by Waverly Lake. There were a few other people there but all the campsites were spaced out a decent amount and we perched ourselves on a peninsula that jutted out into the lake a ways. Surrounded by water on our sides, we cooked and then ate before cooping ourselves into the car for the night. We had cracked a window and put in the bug netting here as well.

This was my night to NOT SLEEP AT ALL. It rained and rained and rained, thunderstorms doused us for hours on end. Lightning cracked the sky illuminating my short-lived dreams with visions of carpet-bombing. I also got about 2.5 hours of sleep total that night. Tossing and turning, sweating, and feeling every single bug bite I had accumulated over the week I just could not get comfortable. Additionally, I was getting soaked as we had rolled the window down too far when we set up the bug net for the night and water from the downpour was splashing in the window and drenching my pillow. I rolled the window back up enough to quell the waterworks but then it became too muggy in the car for me to sleep more than 15 to 20 minutes at a time, and not more than once an hour. As if by magic, when the sun came up the storm clouds dissipated as if never there in the first place. The beautiful campsite we had pulled into the night before was just as radiant and appealing as ever, maybe even fresher thanks to its recent power-washing.

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Another breakfast, another drive, another few chapters of Game of Thrones.

And now to where I write this from. We have arrived in Chicago. We got into town and stopped again at a Planet Fitness for some exercise and a shower. Then to the house of my good friend Dan and his wife Anne. We had attended their wedding back in March a couple years ago and hadn’t seen them since. They were settling in for the night, about to put their beautiful baby to bed. Kate and I were hungry and to celebrate us completing the first two months of this journey we went out to get some Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza. We opted for a place that neither of us had tried before. A little over a mile walk from where Dan and Anne live is a spot called Bellona’s Pizza. De-LISH! We got small spinach and garlic deep-dish pizza and a couple appetizers, intending to have plenty of leftovers for the week now that we’ll be somewhere with a fridge to store them. So tasty.

On the walk back from the pizza place, we talked about what cool houses and apartments we’d like to get and as a highlight, right out front of Dan and Anne’s apartment we saw two cute little chittering, squeaking, skunks! They were frolicking about and playing in the yard. We gave them distance and got so distracted by them we walked right past the apartment and halfway down the street before we realized our mistake and doubled back.

Kate will get to tell you about everything we get up to this week in next week’s post, as for me – it is time for bed. Goodnight everyone!