My wife and I stopped outside of St. Louis at a motel on the way home from a Utah elk hunt. I unloaded our generator, started it, plugged it into the freezer in our cargo trailer, chained the generator to the axle, and locked up the truck and trailer. 5:00 Pm broad daylight. Went in to our room, had a beer, and headed across the parking to a restaurant. Walked over to the truck to check the generator. Driver's side rear window in the crew cab truck was smashed in. Two rifle cases open and thrown onto the pavement. Two Muzzle loaders and two centerfire rifles laying on the pavement. All the contents of our bags in the truck were tossed. The latch on the truck cap was busted, and all the contents of our gear there had been tossed. Items stolen : our passports, our Utah hunting licenses, my Canadian firearms license, a couple hundred dollars in Canadian money, my extra truck keys. Cop said it happens all the time. Crooks target out-of-state and rental vehicles. I asked why they didn't set out a decoy vehicle, and catch the a*%holes. He said they didn't have time. He then said, "This is East St. Louis you know. You have to expect these things". I'll not print my response to him as I am quite certain I would be banned from this forum.
I pulled my truck and trailer up under the motel entrance canopy. The night clerk moved his chair out there. I ran a cord from my freezer in to the lobby. We will never stopped in a big city again.