A small, roadside craft brewery off of old Route 66 was a surprisingly wonderful overnight stop — and a great alternative to noisy, dirty, and possibly dangerous overnight stops like a Walmart parking lot or truck stop.

We did a lot of traveling in 2018. We’re home-based in upstate Illinois, roughly 50 miles due west of downtown Chicago, in a small, rural city named Sycamore. Our RV holding tank cleaning business takes us over to the Elkhart, Indiana area (proclaimed the “Home of RV U.S.A.,” since so many brands are headquartered and/or manufactured there) at least a half dozen (or more!) times each year.

In 2018, however, we branched out and worked a rally in Amish-settled Iowa, two in central Oklahoma, and even one in California. Yep, it was a year of a lot of traveling. In fact, our count of miles put on our truck, Big John (a Ford F-350 King Ranch) were well over 15,000. That’s a lot of driving and towing of our Airstream, Ginger (named after one of our late Collies).

On our way out to Oklahoma one trip (because there were two separate ones!), we decided to spend an overnight at a brewery outside of St. Louis.

Huh? Overnight at a brewery?

Well, it was a part of an unnamed (because they don’t like anyone mentioning where their overnight partner’s properties are at) travel cooperative that features vineyards, breweries, family farms, and even odd museums offering free overnight stays for RVs in exchange for you patronizing their business.

Hence, we came to find one of the best little gems in RVing, the Point Labaddie Brewery, located just off of I-44 (and old Route 66!) in Labadie, Missouri (why the different spelling?). Owned and operated by brothers Andy and Bob Grimm, its a pretty successful craft brewery started — as most are — by two home brewers.

Beer, beer, and more beer

Situated on 17 acres of pasture and woodland, the brewery opened in September of 2016. The brewery specializes in saisons and other sours, and they are some of the best we have ever had. During warmer weather (and we were there in September), they have an outside grill going. Stopping for lunch and a tasty beer alone is a fantastic idea. Their “smash burgers” are to die for and definitely order them with their homemade rarebit cheese sauce on them. We go there around lunch time, had burgers for lunch — and then came back a few hours later and had them again!

The grounds contain a covered, outdoor “beer hall;” really a bunch of picnic tables arranged German Octoberfest style under a permanent canopy. There’s also a large fire pit and outdoor stage since the brewery hosts quite a few small music festivals throughout the year. Be sure to check out their Facebook Page (and become a Fan!) for a list of upcoming events.

As for parking our RV, as a part of the afore-mentioned, unnamed overnight parking cooperative, we phoned a few days ahead, spoke to the owner, and arranged an overnight (no hook-ups of any kind — bring solar, a very quiet generator, or good set of batteries and use proper electricity conservation strategies). The field wasn’t the flattest and we ended up moving more toward their graveled parking lot, but the ambiance of relaxed pasture, fine, craft beers, and friendly staff made the stop one of our “go to” places when we’re in the area.

If you’re passing by, certainly stop by for lunch (or dinner), check to see if there’s a festival while you’re there, and, if you want to stay an overnight, be sure to join that cooperative — it’s one of the best-kept secrets (and greatest values!) in all of RVing. Just know that you can’t stay overnight with your RV unless you are a member of that RV club. FYI.

Like to see what your municipal tax dollars could accomplish? This urban Japanese garden is unlike anything you’ve ever seen at a water reclamation plant.

We were in Los Angeles this past fall, visiting our daughter. It’s a funny place — so sprawling, so diverse, so many things to see and experience. So imagine our surprise when our daughter said, “hey, go to the water reclamation plant!”

Known as the “Garden of Water and Fragrance,” this exclusive Japanese garden is located next to the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, California. Nested literally amongst the typically LA collection of old strip malls, small residential neighborhoods, funky shops and restaurants, light industrial, and new condos, you’d never, ever know this place existed if you drove down Balboa Boulevard.

The idea for the garden started with the city engineer, Donald Tillman, whom the plant was named for. Built in the early 1980s by Dr. Koichi Kawana, a renowned landscape designer, and professor of Japanese design at UCLA, it’s well worth taking a long afternoon to wander around.

Enchanting waterfalls, trees of every shape, size, and configuration, winding pathways, and plenty of places to stop and contemplate meditate, or just wonder at the incredible sights you are experiencing await. There’s a large aristocratic Shoin building that seems to serve as an event space. A Shoin was a type of audience hall meant to be a study or drawing room.

There is a working teahouse and tea garden (staffed by volunteers on the weekend), a neat zig-zag bridge over an iris pond, and four types of traditional Japanese stone lantern, all hand-carved by artisans in Japan.

You’ll see plenty of wildlife, mostly birds, including the American Coot, with their squatty look and funny honking calls, egrets, and various species of ducks.

The administration building starred in a number of Hollywood productions, perhaps most famously as Star Trek’s Starfleet Academy. The gate to the garden was the one where the Karate Kid’s Miyagi told Daniel to paint. And the back wall of the facility was featured in the movie, Escape from New York.

The garden has a small entrance fee and there is a bookstore/souvenir shop. Be sure to ask the attendants there about their favorite places in the garden — each one seems to have something different they favor. Parking can be pretty tight, so leave the RV elsewhere and be patient.