March 2023 - Plews

Louisiana, Missouri

Our first trip this year was to sell the Trapper's plews (if you don't know what plews are I suggest watching Charlton Heston's movie The Mountain Men).   

Northeast Missouri was our destination.  Stayed at Cuivre River campground.    Got there around 4:30 and as it was a rainy miserable day it was almost dark by the time we pulled in, and it was cold about 34 degrees.   Of course, the furnace in the camper didn't work.  Fortunately that was fixed by replacing a fuse which I did while the Trapper started dinner. 

Time for a nice hot shower, except the water heater wasn't working either.    No hot shower after a long day of travel was most annoying, especially since our shower at home had been in renovation all week and we had only had sponge baths all week long.  Fortunately neither of us smelled, so sponge bath again, as the water was not turned on in any of the bathhouses at the campground due to the possibility of freezing. 

Saturday morning we set off early to go to the fur buyer where the Trapper got an excellent price, and a very good compliment  about his finishing skills and had a nice visit while I napped in the truck.   By the time he was finished I really had to go to the bathroom, so off we went to Louisiana, Missouri (not only for a bathroom but because the interweb indicated they had a Hardees Red Burrito and I am always up for some fast food Tex-Mex). 

After lunch we drove through the little town of Louisiana, which was very interesting.  Right on the Mississippi River you could tell that during the Victorian era it was a bustling town with a lot of wealth.  The houses and downtown area were fascinatingly intact with Victorian houses and buildings from the late 1800s.   Many of the houses are falling into disrepair and it made me wish for lots of lottery money so I could buy one and fix it up.   According to Wikipedia in 1946, 7 scientists who were brought to the U.S. during "Operation Paperclip" worked in Louisiana to research making liquid hydrocarbon fuel.   I wonder how they were received by the locals. 

After a nice drive through the area admiring the little towns and farms we headed back to camp where a check on the water heater revealed that during winterization I had turned the switch in the back off.  It's the small things you forget.  A flip of the switch, a push of the reset button and whoosh, the hot water heater lit and I had visions of a long hot shower, only to find that we were almost out of water.  So while I did get a hot shower, and I think I got all the soap rinsed out of my hair, it was most definitely not a long shower as the water started sputtering about halfway through.  The poor Trapper had to do with a sponge bath from the water containers again.   But to compensate him he got first use of our new walk-in shower when we got home. 

Now, off to plan the next trip.  When and where will we go?