My husband has been saying he’d like to get a new picnic cooler, one with wheels and a telescoping handle, much like the wheeled luggage you see every day in airports all over the world. Tonight as we strolled through our local Costco, I suggested we see if they carried such a model. Sure enough, Harry returned proudly wheeling a new Igloo, destined to be used for many years on future alfresco dining adventures and lengthy road trips. We actually have a large wheeled cooler (though one of the earlier models with large wheels on one of the short ends) that’s served us well for over 10 years, and it is with a bit of a pang that I retire it. Every time I look at it, I’m reminded of a family road trip we took across the country in the summer of 2001. That summer we embarked on a three-week odyssey that took us across two-thirds of the country, visiting possible colleges for daughter Sarah, who would soon be entering her senior year in high school. We had already visited the University of Iowa, DePaul and Northwestern universities in Chicago and the University of Evansville in Indiana before we rolled into St. Louis, Mo., one hot, humid afternoon. The college visit we’d planned would be the next day, so we decided to take in one of iconic attractions of the city and made our way to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. What’s that? Well, most people are familiar with the Gateway Arch, which sits at the center of the park; fewer are cognizant that the Arch commemorates St. Louis as the gateway to the westward expansion following the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis & Clark expedition. There is a wonderful museum with lots of displays and interactive exhibits; and then, of course, there’s the opportunity to go up to the very top of the Arch itself and enjoy the views of the Mississippi River, Busch Stadium and historic buildings throughout the city.  We did it all, and then we returned to the car to get our cooler, table-top propane stove and cooking gear to enjoy dinner under the riverside park’s tall shade trees. A number of families were doing the same thing, and we couldn’t find a picnic table on which to set up our gear. We spread a few blankets, and then, in what I can only attribute to fatigue and road weariness, we placed the small stove on its wire legs on top of the (plastic) cooler lid and got ready to grill our burgers. A few minutes later I looked over to see a large white bubble expanding above the cooler as the plastic slowly melted in the heat from the little stove. Brief panic ensued, but we pulled the stove off quickly, finished our cooking on the ground, and watched as the bubble deflated gradually as the plastic cooled into smeary, irregular ridges on the cooler’s lid. It wasn’t long before we were laughing over this incident, and it became one of our favorite memories of that trip and, indeed, is near the top of the list of all our crazy travel moments. And in spite of its marred appearance, the cooler has done its job well over the past decade. So I will retire it with a little wistfulness and another fond chuckle — and at least one snapshot as a reminder of that family trip. — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor