This post covers our first week in St. Joseph.
Tuesday
This was our first full day in St. Joseph. We started by going to Cindy’s favorite coffee shop, Hazel’s. Ever since we were first here in August, all I have heard about is Hazel’s. Cindy finally got her fix and I’m sure we will be there many more times.
Our next stop was the St. Joseph East Hills Library. Because of Covid, we could not go inside. So why would we be stopping at the library? So Cindy could pick up her new library card. She wanted a library card so she could use the remote check out and get some reading material in case we got stuck indoors because of weather. But what are the chances that could happen?
Next we went to a grocery store named Cosentino’s Price Chopper. We wanted to check it out for meal ideas so we could make some meals at our place. It was a brisk 29 degrees out, but manageable with very little wind.
I didn’t think I would like a store named “Price Chopper,” but I have to admit I was impressed with it. They had a large pre-made food area, in addition to the normal meat, deli, bakery, etc. They also had a decent wine selection at reasonable prices.
By this time we were getting hungry, so we picked up some sandwiches for ourselves, and Scott and Lauren Culver. We ate at their house and caught up a bit. They live less than a ten minute drive from our Airbnb.
We did some shopping and Cindy really needed a mirror she could use for her make-up and drying her hair. I suggested we get a lightweight dollar store type mirror and I could hang it with a single nail. Obviously, I would repair the nail hole before we left. Cindy was having none of that. So we did buy a mirror at one of the dollar stores and I figured out a way to hang it so it didn’t do any wall damage.
Unfortunately, a wire coat hanger was sacrificed during the process.
The weather was pleasant most of the day. We decided to check the forecast to see how many meals we would need to eat in: Wednesday looked great; there was a rain/snow mixture forecast for Thursday, so possible stay in day; Friday looked cold, but clear so going out was in the cards; Saturday was forecast as cold and snowy, a definite stay in day; Sunday and Monday were WTF………..
We made our shopping list and loaded up at the ole Price Chopper so we would have plenty of food on hand.
Wednesday
Our Toyota hit 5,000 miles on the trip out and kept giving us the “maintenance required” message every time the car was started. We assumed this was the first oil change and since we have “Toyota Care,” the service would be free. I made an appointment at the local Toyota dealer and we took the car in. While it was getting serviced, we walked around a nearby shopping center. Once the car was done, they told us they had found a screw in a tire and were able to patch it. Since our car uses synthetic oil, it turns out the 5,000 mile service is nothing more than a tire rotation. The oil change will come at 10,000 miles. At least it was done and all of the tires were back in tip top shape.
We spent the afternoon driving around the area looking at houses for sale. We are not specifically looking to buy anything, but we enjoy seeing what is for sale and the prices. In the evening, the Culvers came to our place and we caught up over a glass of wine. We then dined in the downtown area at Boudreaux’s Louisiana Seafood & Steaks. We had “alligator bites” as an appetizer. It was small cubes of deep fried alligator you dipped in a spicy sauce. It was delicious. Cindy tried one and was done and Heather would have no part of it. If you are in the St. Joseph area, this is a must visit if you want a great Cajun meal.
Thursday
We expected the day to be cold, rainy, icy, and possibly snowy, so we planned this as a stay in and relax day. That turned out to be a pretty good call. After a short rain shower at about 5:30 in the morning, this happened for the rest of the morning until about 1 pm.
By the time it stopped snowing, there was at least an inch of snow covering the ground. While that may not seem like much, for Californian’s like us, it was a huge amount. It was about an inch more than we are used to seeing. So we enjoyed our inside day looking out at the snow.
We also discovered something interesting about our kitchen when cooking dinner. We made some stir fry beef and vegetables and used the hood vent over the stove to vent some of the smell outside to avoid having a place that smelled of stir fry. When we turned the vent on, we realized it sucked the air in from the bottom of the vent and shot it out of an opening at the top of the vent right back into the kitchen. If you are going to vent the air from the kitchen into the kitchen, are you really venting the air at all? The answer is no, you’re just moving the cooking smells around in the same place. We were able to place a box fan near the back door and open the window in the door to vent the odors out. While not a perfect solution, it worked.
At the end of the day, we checked the weather forecast to see if it had improved at all. Nope.
Friday
The weather was very nice, partly cloudy with temperatures in the low to mid 30’s. It was time to get our sightseeing on. We went and toured the Pony Express Museum, located near the old downtown area.
This was a fascinating museum that is a must visit if you are in the St. Joseph area. Here are a few general pictures from the museum.
This is Cindy pumping an old fashion water pump.
This clear top allow you to look down into the 22 foot well.
Here is the employment flyer looking for Pony Express riders. Note how “orphans” were preferred.
Here is a map showing the route the riders took.
This is a Colt Model 1851 .36 caliber cap and ball gun. It was the gun carried by Pony Express riders.
We also learned a lot about the Pony Express that we did not know. Here are a few interesting points: The Pony Express only operated for a year and a half; a rider typically rode around a 100 miles a day, before handing off to another rider. The riders would change horses every 9 to 12 miles; the Pony Express operated from St. Joseph, Missouri to San Francisco, California, going both ways; the first westbound rider was 19 year old Johnny Fry.
A 16 year old named William Frederick Cody claimed to have been a Pony Express rider. You may know him as “Buffalo Bill” Cody.
“Bronco” Charlie Miller claims to have been the youngest rider at age 11. He outlived all of the other riders, dying at the age of 105 in 1955. James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok never worked as a rider, but did work for the Pony Express as a stocktender in Colorado. He could not be a rider because was older and heavier than the other riders.
And the most important thing I learned was no one should ever name their child “Dorcas.”
After our Pony Express Museum experience, we felt daring and tried a Mexican food restaurant named “Barbosa’s.” We tend to be Mexican food snobs and have discovered in our travels that once we are outside of California, we just never know what we are going to get. This experience was no exception.
I will start with the margarita. I ordered the plain house margarita and it was pretty good. And as simple as you would think it is to make a margarita, I have had my share of average or worse ones. So this was a good start. Next we learned the chips and dip were not complimentary, but something you had to order as an appetizer. We looked at the menu and they had homemade corn or flour chips with a choice of 5 different dips. We chose the flour chips with the regular salsa.
Even though this was different to us, it was very good. So far, Barbosa’s was two for two. For me, the first test of any Mexican restaurant is their pork chili verde. Barbosa’s didn’t have that, but they did have a pork chili rojo that they called red pork chili. This came with flour tortillas and a tostada! I knew that would be too much food so I cancelled the tostada. The waiter could not believe I didn’t want the tostada, but still took it off of my order. Just the pork chili rojo and the Spanish rice was more than enough food.
Drum roll please…………..The verdict…………….The pork chili rojo was outstanding. The rice was average, but that is ok. They were now three for three, an impressive feat for any Mexican restaurant in the Midwest. The last test was Cindy’s order of cheese enchiladas with rice and beans. Probably the simplest item to make. We received a bad omen when Cindy asked if she had a choice of red or green sauce. The waiter explained the enchilada had cheese fried into the tortilla and a type of mole on the outside.
As you can see, that is not an enchilada. It looks more like a folded quesadilla. It had American cheese in it and Cindy said it tasted exactly like a grilled cheese. So we called it the Mexican grilled cheese. And that was not a good thing. Oh well, three out of four wasn’t too bad.
Saturday
We expected a cold, snowy day and were not disappointed. It started snowing around 8 am and didn’t stop until around 5 pm, dropping around 2-3 inches of snow. Around mid day, I noticed the road was getting covered with snow and ice and was getting slippery. I also noticed our car was parked at the end of a T intersection. Notice how the turning cars had left marks that headed toward our car then veered to the left.
I remembered Newton’s first law of motion. “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.” So what does this mean to us and our car? A car in motion going toward our parked car on a slick road will stay in motion until acted upon by being stopped when it hits our parked car! So I moved the car across the street. Notice the black spot where our car was parked.
By the end of the day, our walkway was completely covered with snow. I went out and gave it a quick shovel.
At 8 pm, I checked our forecast again. Besides the fact it was 3 degrees, with a real feel of -5, the rest of the week wasn’t looking so good either. Were we in Missouri or Montana? Oh, I checked. The Dillon, Montana area was actually warmer.
Sunday
The day started with another snow storm. Imagine that. We were supposed to go to the Culver’s house for the big game (I refuse to acknowledge the name; I protested this season and did not watch a single game), but that was in jeopardy. By noon, our back deck had so much snow, it was partially blocking the back door.
Luckily, it stopped snowing and warmed up to a balmy 7 degrees around 3 pm. That was our window of opportunity to head on over to the Culver house. All of the roads were plowed, except for the 200 yards leading up to the Culver’s driveway. There was about 6 inches of snow on the road, but we made it through. There ended up being a total of 9 people at the event. In California, we all would have been arrested and thrown in the gallows for a gathering that size. It was fine in Missouri.
Usually at this event, I bring my world famous award winning chili. Being away from home and not having access to what I needed for my chili, I was unable to make it this year. Scott also always makes brown stuff he calls chili, but is has beans, and corn, and other items that make it non-chili. This year, he made an all meat chili using some of my super secret chili spices I gave him when he left Cali. I feel as if my long time chili student has finally passed the test. It was outstanding!
And in case you were wondering, the reddish spots were diced tomatoes, not beans. Scott got two thumbs up and a snap in a Z formation.
Around 6 pm it started to lightly snow again and the temperature had dropped to 4 degrees, so it was time for us to get home before we turned into frozen pumpkins. We got home safely with no incidents, but it was starting to get slick on the roads.
Monday
There was no forecast snow for the day and it was supposed to warm up into the teens, so we made plans to meet the Culvers for lunch and then we would all go to a local museum. In the morning, Cindy and I went to Walmart to get a few more groceries. It was cold, to say the least.
There is a song that says one is the loneliest number. I believe two is one of the coldest numbers.
We met the Culvers for lunch and afterward headed over to the Glore Psychiatric Museum. It was closed because of the weather. We should have called, darn it. We went to the local mall and walked around to get some exercise. From there, we went to Hazel’s for hot coffee and tea, then called it a day. At home, I checked the weather forecast again. It was not promising.
It was this last weather check that made me realize what had happened. We must have gone to the St. Joseph in Antarctica, not the one in Missouri.
Tuesday
Another brutally cold day, imagine that. We stayed inside until the warmest part of the day, 3 pm. It had warmed all the way up to 14 degrees. We drove to our favorite grocery store, Price Chopper and bought mostly treats for ourselves while trapped inside. We returned home, had dinner, and watched some TV. At about 8 pm while watching TV, there was a knock at our door. This was the first time this had happened since we had checked in and we were not expecting anyone or any deliveries. I answered the door and it turned out to be a food delivery guy looking for the unit next door to us. That was the most exciting part of our day. I checked the weather report, and holy cow.
The good news was it was still 12 degrees outside (in what world is that good news?). The bad news was it was forecast to be -3 on Sunday. That’s so cold that if Aunt Barbara were here with us, she might have to wear a sweater. Now that is cold.
The next post will cover week two in this frozen hell, I mean vacation paradise. I will also discuss some things we have learned about staying in an extremely cold environment.