Tent Camping at the Meramec River

So, who takes a 16 month old tent camping?  We do.  It has been blistering hot all summer long with temperatures consistently near 100 degrees.  Put that with the fact that taking a toddler anywhere is a large undertaking and you get a big case of cabin fever in the summertime.  Well, I couldn't take it anymore, so I made an executive decision that we were going to find some nice, cool, running water in the form of a river.  The Current River would have been the most ideal for being cool and clean, but the Meramec River is also spring fed and is much closer.  

We fill the back of a full size truck with supplies and take off.  Paul, Brandon, Samantha & I leave the house around Samantha's nap time thinking that she could sleep during that 2 hour drive.  Think again.  She did not because she knew something new was going on.  We arrive at the campground and took one of Paul's favorite spots along the river where the water curves around the bend.  Normally, we would have set up right next to the river, but for safety's sake, we backed off a bit to give Samantha some running room.

Setting up was a sweat inducing event as it was at least in the mid 90's.  Samantha had a few cool down sessions with the truck's A/C before sunset cooled everything down for us.  Between those sessions, we all took turns playing in the water.  Paul took Brandon & I in turn up river with an inner tube, so we could float back down to the site.  Brandon and Paul played in the water near the site skipping rocks and splashing each other.  They were having so much fun out there that Samantha and I just had to join in.  We got into our swimsuits.  Hers had life jacket built in.  I aired up her little water seat and we got wet.  She didn't know what to make of all that water.  Her daddy and I put her in the seat and held on tight while she fussed and decided if she liked it or not.  It really didn't take her long to start splashing and having fun.  Paul and I even pushed her between us to create her first float trip.  

After that, it was time to eat.  We all came in to dry off and change clothes.  We went up to the campground restaurant to eat and soak up some A/C.  The restaurant is adjacent to the cave entrance, so after dinner, we walked over to look at cave artifacts and souveniers  for sale.  
In front of the restaurant we came across Jesse James and his brother along with 2 more outlaws Badlands Brandon and Samantha "the Panther" Price.  Samantha "the Panther" is well known for stealing the show wherever she goes, while Badlands Brandon keeps watch over her.