We drove down to St. Louis on Sunday afternoon and stopped at the Whole Foods Market to see what they had. We got lunch at Qdoba, which is just like Chipotle Mexican Grill. We checked into the hotel, hung out for awhile, and took the shuttle to the airport. We met Mike and Racin as they got off the plane, got their bags and took the shuttle back to the hotel. We got a late dinner at Steak and Shake, which the Californians had never been to.
Monday morning we went to the Arch in St. Louis and we all rode the tram to the top, taking lots of pictures. It had been more than 10 years since I had done that. We went to the Anheuser-Busch bottling plant and took the tour. We saw the Clydesdales and various parts of the facility, then got our free beer at the end. We ate lunch at Red Lobster and stopped at the Petco and World Market. I bought a couple of balls for Gretchen. She doesn't need more toys, but she was a little short on ideal retrieving balls. We went home and hung about the house for the rest of the evening.
Tuesday it was sunny in the morning so I took Mike and Racin down to look at the eagles at the lock and dam. I gave them the 50-cent tour of Canton. We got out the truck, loaded up sleds, and went down to the sledding hill. There wasn't as much snow as one might like, but it was adequate. The ice-fishing sled was fast, but mostly uncontrollable, and we almost crashed it a couple of times. The Flexible Flyer was only marginal controllable, but slower. Both Savannah and Racin crashed on that. We got some good video and photos of these episodes.
We all went to see Sherlock Holmes at the movies that night. We followed that with the Avenue of Lights, which I hadn't seen in many years.
Wednesday we went down to Hannibal, first stopping at Stacey's workplace, Douglass Community Services, for the grand tour. We were going to go up and see Lover's Leap, but the road was closed. I guess it's too steep to plow. We went to the Mark Twain Cave just down the road. We saw a large flock of wild turkeys on the way in. We didn't have time for the full tour, but there was no one else there, so the lady took us on a short tour for free. We bought some stuff at the gift shop anyway. We took Stacey to a Dr. appointment, then had lunch at Fiddlesticks. We went to Quincy in the afternoon. I picked up my new glasses and gave them the grand tour of my office and labs, while watering my plants. When we got home, Mike and I started working on the Honda 70, which we put in the basement for warmer working conditions. Unfortunately, when we had to drain the fuel and clean parts, it made the whole house smell like gasoline. I opened the basement door and turned on a fan, which helped a lot. We ended up taking out the entire fuel tank and carburetor. A fuel line was plugged, and I happened to have some spare tubing, and we replaced it. Still, it wouldn't start.
Savannah breaks the rules (the sign says "Stay back 3 feet").
Thursday we had planned to go to the National Motorcycle Museum in Iowa, but the roads were closed. Instead, we opted for another round of sledding. This time there was a lot more snow. We also mastered the control of our sleds, and used the truck to shuttle ourselves to the top of the hill. Face first on the flexible flyer was the best ride, as the sensation of speed is enhanced, and directional control is much improved. We also discovered that the ice fishing sled could be controlled by using the heels of the feet like left and right brakes. We had just about had our fill and were getting ready to go to the top one more time, when a lady I know started screaming, "Call 911!" Her daughter, who we have known since she was little, had slammed face first into a concrete sign at the end of her sledding run. Blood was pouring out her nose. We did what we could until our first responders arrived. Joe LaCount administered first aid. I found out later she had broken her nose and facial bone. We decided not to take that last run down the hill, and went about running some errands. We did some more eagle photography. Mike and I worked on the Honda 70 some more, taking apart the carburetor and cleaning lots of parts. I found some crud in the fuel filter, which had a big hole in it. It still wouldn't start, and we moved on to other things.
Friday Mike, Racin and I went out to Lowell's. We walked nearly all the trails looking for cottontail rabbits. Racin had my .22 rifle, Lowell had his Thompson Contender, I had my bow, and Mike had a video camera. We flushed a rabbit right away. It stopped a short distance away under a cedar and I took a shot. I missed and it ran again, but we couldn't find it. Shortly thereafter we came upon a scene of death on the trail. A red fox was lying there stretched out, frozen stiff but without any blood or marks on it. The snow was torn up all around it like there had been a big fight. The other tracks were from a large canid, which suggests that a dog killed the fox. We saved the fox so that a kid we know can take the pelt. All I want is the skull. Not long afterward, we found a dead opossum, also frozen solid. It angers me to see that. People let their dogs run loose and they kill wildlife. Anyway, we saw bunnies at almost every turn, ending up with a total of eight. Racin shot at a couple of them on the run, but none of them would stop in range to offer us a decent shot. Lowell and I gave Mike and Racin the 50-cent tour along the way, showing them some highlights of the place. We saw a covey of quail, which is somewhat uncommon. At the end we stopped at Lowell's shooting range and put my old motorcycle helmet on a post. I had been about to throw it in the trash when I realized it would make a fun target. We shot many holes in it with the .22, then finished it off with a couple of shots from the .410 Contender. The .22 put holes all the way through it, but the shotgun pellets didn't even penetrate the face shield.
When we got back we set to work on the 70 again. Mike thought there was something plugged in the carb, as we couldn't get the bowl to fill with fuel. After much searching, we found that there was crud blocking the slow idle jet. We got that out with a piece of wire, reassembled everything, and it started on about the 4th kick. I rode it around in the snow and made donuts in the back yard. We celebrated with a beer. Meanwhile, Racin had gone to the movies with Savannah and Matt. They saw the Chipmunks Squeakquel.
Saturday we all got up early and drove down to St. Louis (except for Savannah, who had to work). We dropped Mike and Racin at the airport. They never called, so I assumed everything went well (and it did). We stopped at Whole Foods again and picked up a few things. We had brought Gretchen with us and walked her on the grass there. Mike had had a pair of boots from Target I kind of liked and there was a store right there so we went in to look for them. They were on clearance, but they didn't have my size. On our way home we passed another Target (at Dardenne Prairie?) and stopped there. They had my size, and they were even cheaper. My feet are much warmer while walking the dog now.
Sunday I didn't accomplish much, but did shoot some birds out the back window.
Monday I did a lot of odd jobs around the house. I was cleaning the snake cages and had the trash can full of newspaper and snake poo right next to me. I had a snake wrapped around my neck so I could work on the cage with both hands. Gretchen stood up on the trash can and knocked it over. I said, "NO!" And at that moment the snake stuck its tail in my mouth. Much spitting ensued. I went to the brush dump, unloaded our ashes, and picked up a small amount of firewood. I went to photograph eagles, but they weren't very cooperative.
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