Summer Vacation

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 11:19:11 -0500

Okay, the last post was winter vacation and now it’s summer vacation. You must think that either a) we go on a lot of vacations, or b) we don’t have much news. I can assure you that it is b, because we don’t go on anywhere near enough vacations. We hear that it wasn’t oppressively hot while we were gone, but I’m sure you didn’t get to play in the snow!!

The other end of the Lewis & Clark trail was a blistering 75° and sunny for a solid week! If the Oregon beach had a little less wind it would be heaven. The skies in northern Washington were crystal blue and the wild flowers were brighter than the sunshine. You might have noticed by now that we were impressed with the great northwest. If you are a lover of Missouri you might want to stop reading now.

The weather and scenery were not the only impressive parts of our trip. There are farmers markets everywhere in the northwest that have a tremendous variety of vegetables and baked goods with great flavor and at very reasonable prices. In addition there are food co-ops in most towns of good size that are teaming with customers like our supermarkets! When you drive through the countryside you notice that the farms are not just corn, corn, soybeans and corn, they grow a wide variety of vegetables and fruits.

The waterfronts on the Columbia River manage to do as much or more commerce than those on the Mississippi without looking looking like garbage dumps. There are bike lanes everywhere and people that are not to large to use them. There were solar panels on a Holiday Inn Express in Port Angeles!!!

Things aren’t perfect there of course. For some reason salmon farmers can’t be convinced to stop raising Atlantic salmon in the Pacific and the endless parade of ferries plying Puget Sound with a hundred people and their vehicles are a tremendous waste of energy. Even with these drawbacks it is getting more and more difficult to maintain the midwest life.

Winter Vacation!!

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 11:35:39 -0600

The snowfall of Jan. 11th cost us a day of wandering, but we saw creeks, rivers, springs, swamps...even sink holes! The only thing Missouri doesn’t have is an ocean, and once you’ve seen one of those they all look the same.
The trip started with lunch in Fredericktown at the Cowboy Coffee Company. Good food and good folks. I wanted one of their souvenir T-shirts because the artwork was just so compelling, but they didn’t have my size. Turns out, owner Ruth Ann Skaggs drew the picture of two horses that appears on the T-shirts, when she was in college 30 years ago! I hope she’ll have them reprinted, and maybe on organic cotton?, so I can gift a few to friends. Very cool.
After lunch we stopped at an antique/resale store on Main Street and found an Aqua Rain Gravity Water Filter for $3.95 brand new. It wasn’t clear what this was until we got home and Googled it, but clearly we were intrigued. Could this be a new item for Home Eco? We shall see.
From there we headed to Greenville. Being who we are we had high hopes for a town called Greenville. Unfortunately, we went to new Greenville. Old Greenville, now on the national register of historic places, was relocated 2 miles north when Lake Wappapello was built in 1941. I wouldn’t call it a disappointment, so lets just say it still has a lot of ground to regain. On to Lake Wappapello.
We stayed the night at the 70s era Twin Oaks Resort. Rustic setting and nice people but much more for the fisherman than the tourist. There really isn’t much of a town of Wappapello so we spent a few minutes admiring the lake and headed off for Mingo NWR.
Only in the dead of winter can you walk through Mingo without stepping on a snake or two. A swamp in winter is an eerie landscape with flocks of birds in the sad cypress trees. We can’t wait to go back and see the same sights in spring!
Poplar Bluff was an eye opener. The good news is the Amtrak station is being rehabbed thanks to stimulus funds. And it occurred to us that the local Housing Authority has some real opportunities to go green. The design and layout of the low-mod housing stock was such that you could easily put cozy, productive food gardens all over the place. Right now the houses all boast beautiful, permanently installed umbrella drying racks in the yards that any homesteader would appreciate.
In fact, from the look of it, Poplar Bluff’s housing “project” could be a nice little eco-community someday.
From there we went to look at a piece of property we’d heard was for sale, but it was not what we’d hoped. So, hoping to salvage those extra few miles, we sought out the tiny hamlet of Ellsinore. Given the season, it was no real surprise that the Ellsinore Pioneer Museum was closed, but we were totally bummed that we couldn’t hook up with the proprietors of the Raven Center for the Arts. A leisurely chat with a very hospitable woman (she could have been the mayor-- I didn’t ask) at City Hall concluded with our determination to return sometime between May 22 and Sept. 4 when things are a little more...active.
Next stop was Van Buren--first of the three “floating capitols of Missouri” we passed through on our trip. The Current River had plenty of water and even a few daring floaters on this 53° day in January. The Rose Cliff Motel was our stop for the evening. The original was built in the 1920s, but had to be removed when the new US60 was put in its place about 20 years ago. The new one is not as cozy as the original, but has lots of modern comforts, including a concert facility.
We took a short ride up Skyline Drive at sunset and stopped at Sun-Bear Trading Post a purveyor of vintage cast iron cookware and stoves. The stoves we already sell and we are on the fence about the cookware (drop us a line if you have an opinion). The owner has recreated his own little piece of Colorado here in Missouri when he moved here 30 years ago. And between his handmade turquoise jewelry, dreamcatchers, and beadwork bags and the incredible views of the river valley below from his deck, I thought I was in Sedona again.
In the morning we went south of town to the biggest spring in the U.S. of A. logically called Big Spring. This park was our initiation to the only species of native bamboo in Missouri, though the locals call it Cane Break. I don’t know if it is good or bad that it doesn’t grow nearly as fast as its Asian cousins, but my guess is that it’s a good thing. You can’t make a floor out of it, but it doesn’t push our beautiful oak trees away either.
Back into Van Buren for lunch at the Stray Dog BBQ & Pizza. If you could get good cheese in Carter County this would be a great little restaurant. Lot’s of good dog art makes up for it though. Next it was off to Eminence through some awesome pine forest and a quick stop at McCormack Lake. If you stop in Wilderness Mo. don’t miss the 7UP machine, it is the only sign of modern life.
Saturday night was spent at the Rivers Edge Resort on the banks of the mighty Jacks Fork (Eminence was the second of the “floating capitols of Missouri” we passed through). This is THE place to stay whether you want rustic or modern, they have it all--not to mention some amazing recycled iron art and an organic garden (in season). We spent the evening catching up with an old friend who moved to Winona Mo. a couple of years ago and is now our expert on the rural life. She has lots of fun stories and lots of scary ones, but don’t we all?!
On the return leg of the journey we stopped at Blue Spring and the Devils Hole. Water, water, everywhere there was water!! The only wildlife we spotted was one of our new Missouri armadillos, a couple of whitetails and the occasional raptor. The bears and snakes are all asleep and the cougars are apparently on vacation in Chesterfield. After passing through Steelville (the final “capitol of Missouri floating”), where we passed the HQ for Pioneer Forest’s L.A.D. Foundation, we made it back to I44 and were homeward bound. Check out our trip picks on Home Eco’s facebook site.

Hot Fun in the Summertime

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:14:56 -0500

For the third year now Home Eco has helped Poetry in Motion celebrate summer solstice by providing solar powered sound for a party in Soulard Park. This year, as always, it was really hot and it rained at 5:00 pm. On the other hand a lot of fun was had by all. Thanks to Raw Earth (above), Elemental Shakedown and Box of Nerves.

Great Fun, Great Exercise!

Tue, 1 Jun 2010 16:25:54 -0500

Every Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. in Carondelet Park in south St. Louis we have two hours of free entertainment. If you want to learn about bike racing or just watch the action you should come out and enjoy one of St. Louis’s great parks.

St. Louis Earth Day

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:37:56 -0500

Okay so the weather wasn’t all it could have been...lots of people had a great time. For the last few years we provided solar powered sound for the Cafe Stage. This year we provided sound for the Performance Stage and solar power for ATM services. It must be Karma because we were the only spot that didn’t get a drop of rain! Much fun was had. Thanks to Cassie and everyone at St. Louis Earth Day and to all the dancers and musicians that went on stage in the cold wind.

More River Fun

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 10:35:57 -0600

Okay, we’ve been on a river binge lately. Last Sunday we went to Clarksville, Mo. for the day. We didn’t see any eagles, but we had a great day. The Clarksville Station restaurant was a great stop on a cloudy winter day and we can only imagine how fun it must be on a spring evening around the fire pit with a Schlafly beer. Lots of fun artists and antique shops, barges and trains, just take some sunshine with you and you’ve got it made.

On the News Tonight

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:09:54 -0600

We will be on the 6:00p.m. news tonight to talk about energy efficiency. If you haven’t gotten a Belkin remote control power strip for your entertainment center or computer system you should come by soon!

The picture above is Terry hanging out a the town fountain in Blackwater, MO. last summer. If you’re headed out I-70 west be sure and stop by Blackwater and Arrow Rock for a bit of meditation.

Bellefontaine is Fun

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 10:27:04 -0600

If you haven’t been to Fort Belle Fontaine on the Missouri River you should go soon. The weather wasn’t what they had promised on Sunday, but we made the best of it. You can play archeologist, have a picnic by the water and watch the river birds with your binoculars.

Good to be Back

Fri, 8 Jan 2010 10:28:42 -0600

Our seven year tradition of spending new years in the woods lives on. This year we visited Devil’s Kitchen Cabins in southern Illinois near Devil’s Kitchen Lake. The weather was frosty, but sunny every single day. We returned Wednesday evening about an hour before the snow started!

Our trip, as usual, had it’s ups and downs. On the Up side we highly recommend Makanda, Il.. Just south of Carbondale and next to Giant City St. Pk.. Fun craftsmen, cute shops and home of the Makanda Inn, the first straw bale lodge we’ve encountered. There are quite a few wineries in the area also, though we only tried the Alto Pass Winery. Any other time of year this would be a fine tasting tour.

On the down side we were scared to death by Cairo. Some of the finest old housing and commercial real estate that now resembles Hiroshima in 1946. If the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers looks like this what’s next?!