Illinois surprised us – we actually didn’t realize we would pass through a section of it. Still loving the wide open spaces and all the rivers and lakes.

St. Louis

A few years ago, on another RV trek, we got off the freeway in St Louis to do a little sightseeing. We found ourselves on narrow streets that literally had no life.

Buildings were empty, graffiti everywhere, windows had been shot out, cars were stripped. To be honest, I was scared.

Once we got back on the freeway (which took some doing), I researched St. Louis and learned some disturbing things.

STL – specifically the area we were in – has the highest major crime rate in the country (like 3rd worldwide). In the early 1900’s, the city boomed to 856,000 people – its down to 300,000. Thats 556,000 people who left.

We didn’t stop this time but here are a few photos we took from the freeway.