Hot Hilly Hannibal

May 23-24--Hannibal, MO

Yesterday I walked to town, which was quite a trip. I had to walk up a good-sized hill, then down even farther, then up and down a bridge before I got to downtown. Still, if it hadn't been so hot (it's been sunny and hot since I began), it wouldn't have been bad. I walked to Main Street, which is where the Twain on Main things are.

It's basically a street fair; lining the street were tents selling items as well as food. The buildings are general early-20th century small-town structures, although once you get away from Main a lot of buildings are dilapidated (which is true for all the buildings here--many are in great shop, and just as many are falling apart or not taken care of). Most every building downtown has some sort of Twain connection, although there's also the "official" Twain residence, which since I didn't want to pay to get in, I didn't see. I did eventually eat at the Mark Twain Dinette; I got the buffet, which wasn't worth it. The salad bar wasn't bad (although the ranch dressing was lumpy!), but the hot dishes were disappointing. The beef was good, but the catfish came complete with fins and tail and backbone, and had very little meat, while the ribs were rather fatty. Even the veggies were weird, but at least the apple dumplings were good. I still ate quite a bit, which was a problem since I did want to do see the Molly Brown house.

Margaret Tobin was born here and lived here until she was nearly 20. The house she was born in is up a hill, which with a full stomach was quite fun walking up to. I had to sit in the yard and pant a while before I went in. It's a very nice house on the outside (they've fixed it up at least twice), but very small. A bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, and a room that probably held livestock, for around 7 people. There was lots to read, which I enjoyed; she was quite literate for someone who probably didn't get a lot of formal schooling. And, by the way, the Broadway musical got most everything wrong--another illusion shattered!

I then waddled back down the hill and sat by the river a while. I walked to the Tom and Huck statue, near Twain's house, and then along the river. There's lots of levees here, for pretty good reasons. The openings in the levees are sealed with big steel plugs, basically, which sit next to the spots where they made be needed. The town flooded big time in 1973, and somewhat less so (mostly due to the enhanced levees) in 1993. Still, there are plaques everywhere showing the high water levels for the various floods, and some of them are quite high.

Then I walked home, which was really long and hot. I neglected to walk up to Lovers Leap, mostly because it looked really, really high (and apparently is--there's a race every year called the "Hannibal Cannibal", where people run from town to the cave then up Lovers Leap and back, which tends to "eat people alive"). When I got back it was rather warm in the RV; I don't trust the electric here and didn't want to leave the rig shut up with the cats inside, so I left some windows open (remember, it's in the shade). Still, it got hot, so I turned on the A/C, drank a lot of water, and relaxed and read the rest of the day.

Today I did laundry first thing (I do tend to do laundry first thing on Sunday, and for commercial machines these did really well). Then I decided to slack and took the trolley back to town. The trolley ride itself was fascinating, if only for the fact that I never would have known how steep the hills are around here. That trolley went up, down, and practically sideways along roads that were terrifying in good conditions--I'd hate to have to drive them in snow or ice! There's a couple of mansions around here, at least one of which is perched rather precariously on a ridge (although since it's been there for years, I suspect it's safe).

When I got back downtown I ate street fair food: a catfish sandwich (VERY good), a pulled pork sandwich (also good), a roasted ear of corn (so tasty!) and Pepsi (there's Pepsi everywhere here--there must be a bottler nearby or something). I also watched a Mark Twain impersonator tell stories, petted an alpaca, sat on the riverbank for a while, and also watched people get dunked in a dunk tank (hey, don't let my love of Broadway musicals fool you, I'm not highbrow). Then onto the trolley and back home, where I read some more. I'm almost ready to stop reading now, although I'm sure I'll be doing more tonight. The rig wasn't as hot today, by the way; there were lots of high clouds filtering the sun, and also there was a breeze for the first time--it's amazing how quickly a breeze can cool things down, and how good it feels.

The cats are just fine. They love getting on the upper bunk and looking out the windows, although when I was outside fiddling around the rig Puck got in the window and kept meowing at me; I don't know if he wanted to come out or for me to come in! Nell hasn't burrowed into the couch since that first time, even with lots of exciting things going on outside.

I'm also getting lots of comments on the rig. It's funny; I'm right by the main road, and if people talk there I can hear them, and I've startled people twice by saying hi to them out the window!

I'm leaving tomorrow and heading north; maybe to Nauvoo, and then up toward Wisconsin. It's actually supposed to rain tomorrow; that storm that's been raining all over the south is headed here, where it will combine with another storm coming through the Dakotas. Nothing severe, but I don't think I'll have to worry about the sun for a bit. And I guess I'll find out how the rig handles rain!

(yes, I intend to get pictures on here at some point--just not right now)