puffy clouds, a big storm, and not seeing the City Museum

7/21 from Chicago to Warrenton, MO

Ever have one of those days when everything starts out all sunny with puffy li'l clouds and then...? Ah, we had one of those. We had a marvelous visit to Chicago and it was time to make our way to Jefferson City, Missouri for our next visit. It would be a long drive and mrs. a-go-go really wanted to see the City Museum of St. Louis. It was on the way and would give us a good place to stop for the night. The sky put on a real show of layer after layer of puffy white clouds as we crossed Illinois.
We sighted the arch at last and made out way to the motel where we'd rest for the night and make our way to the museum in the morning. Dark clouds were gathering to the West but we knew the storm should pass by morning.

The motel turned out to be a dud. The roofed over courtyard and pool made for a damp sticky wait at the registration desk. The clerk offered us what she called the last room available for a higher price than we expected. Ak. We took the room betting on the wi-fi service and a chance to upload some photos. Hmmm, maybe it wasn't such a hot idea to carpet these balconies where all the room air conditioners were struggling to pump more hot air into the center court and dribbled condensation on the squishy sounding carpeting.

After a few attempts at getting on-line it was clear the promised wi-fi was not going to work. That made the room price not so worth it. After some haggling at the front desk (where the clerk first tried to say we could not have a refund... that we should just log onto someone else's wi-fi. "There are lots of them in the area. I use them all the time!" says the clerk, deadpan.... that we could only have 10% back... ) we eventually got our refund and moved on. Boy, the motels that night were hopping. Everyone seemed to be booked up, and the rain was coming down. It was time to look for lodging at the next town down the road and give up on seeing the City Museum. Perhaps it was for the best. As lighting flashed we listened for the storm warnings on the radio. No tornadoes or anything severe, but there was a brief mention of the City Museum being struck. Never heard more of the story but perhaps the damage would have closed the museum anyhow. We hoped that the institution was not in flames and moved on.
Down the road came lonely Warrenton and in it the tattered Colonial Motel. It would do and the price was right. The storm had moved East as we drove West leaving us with a pretty evening sky. Eh, not such a bad day after all.