Columbia, MO - Jun. 14 - 18, 2006
After our house-fracturing experience on I-40 we decided to have a TrailAir pin box (the device on the RV that attaches to the hitch in the bed of the truck) installed on our home to air cushion the impact of rough roads. Admittedly, this was closing the proverbial barn door after the horse has bolted, but… Bill ordered the pin box from the manufacturer and had it shipped to an installer in Columbia, Missouri. The installation only took an hour, but since Susan was determined to ride a portion of the Katy Trail, a 225-mile rails-to-trails bike path that runs just south of Columbia, we stayed five days.
We fell in love with Columbia a lovely town of about 160,000 built around the University of Missouri (or "Mizzou" as the locals call it), founded in 1839. We spent one day biking the Katy Trail along the Missouri River, another touring around town and the university and Rock Bridge State Park. On Saturday we headed for the Farmer's Market then furniture shopping to replace the wretched chair we bought in December.
During our time in Columbia Bill made arrangements with Thor California, our RV's manufacturer, and Truck Builders, a RV repair outfit in Marion, Iowa, to have our RV inspected for structural damage and the tear in the fiberglass side repaired (remember the bad roads we mentioned coming out of Memphis). Our original plan would have taken us to St. Louis then on to Illinois, now we will head for Iowa instead. But first, meet me in St. Louie, Louie.
