Missouri State Parks: Lake of the Ozarks

This past weekend I went "camping" at Lake of the Ozarks State Park. I say "camping" because it was in cabins, which in my opinion is not actually camping, but I am not entirely sure what else to call it. We cooked over a campfire. We froze our butts off in the freezing (literally freezing) temperatures and we had to walk to the restroom/shower house. This all sounds like camping. But we slept in cabins that (thankfully) had heat and electricity. 

It wasn't entirely glamping because there still was not much that would be glamorous about what we did but still I feel like hardcore campers would not view this as camping.

Anyway. I digress.

I went to the Ozarks State Park for the first time ever with J and 18 other college friends for their 5th annual friend Thanksgiving there. 

I do not have a ton of experience in camping/cabin camping in cold temperatures and I have very little tolerance for the cold, so this weekend was a little rough. But so worth it and very much needed. 

The day time temperature barely got over 35 and the evenings were sometimes lower than 20, but as long as you layered properly and stayed close to the amazingly huge fire, it really was not too bad.

I loved the cabins and I hope I can get my siblings to go there sometime in the Spring or Summer for a family "campout". Each cabin holds up to 6 people with 3 beds. One bed is a futon style and is on the first floor. There is a ladder that leads up to a loft area where 2 more beds are located. Each cabin has a kitchen table area and counter space. There is also a heater that works decently well, but also a fire pot belly stove. Each night we would take embers from the big fire outside to get all the cabins' stoves lit. The state park provides wood for each stove and our cabin made the rule of if you got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, you had to put in another piece of wood in the stove. 

Thank god, I never have to pee in the middle of the night because I have a feeling I would have fallen down the ladder trying to get to the bathroom and would have somehow manages to ruin the fire or not close the door well enough and make smoke fill the cabin. This did not happen, thankfully.

I wish I had pictures of the cabins and the surrounding areas, but I somehow managed to not take any. Each cabin had a fire pit with a grill like most campsites have and 2 large picnic tables. We did all our cooking over the fire pit (foil packs, deer meat, chili for one night and a full Thanksgiving feast, including a turkey the other night) and massively relied on the fire for warmth.

It was so cold the veggies and dip in the veggie tray froze. And the beer froze. And all the water bottles froze.

This weekend made the "cold" temps while camping with my family in Johnson Shut-Ins feel like balmy summer night temperatures. 

I highly suggest these cabins to anyone who wants to spend time in a state park with a group of people but camping in tents is not the best option for you. 

I need to go back to this State Park to actually get a good feel of it still. Since it was so cold we did not do a whole lot of exploring around, unfortunately. I did some hiking around the lake, but that trail was in the cabin area of the park. Besides driving around, I don't even know much about this park, but I totally plan on returning to learn more.

We did spend part of Saturday at Ha Ha Tonka State Park, but I will talk about that and include pictures in another post. That is a park that is completely worth checking out. 

And what is a camping trip without stopping at a winery? We stopped at St. James Winery on our way back to St. Louis, which was a spur of the moment stop. Car trips are only fun if you randomly make unplanned stops.

I am now up to 3 state parks that I have stayed over night in this year and 7 all together that I have been in. Not too shabby. 

National Parks Shut Their Gates

Today, October 1, 2013 is the 123rd birthday of Yosemite National Park. 

And no one can celebrate it. 

No one can even go to the National Park's websites to look at all the amazing parks, such as Yosemite. 

The gates are closed. No one is allowed to enter. People currently camping at any National Park have two days to leave.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what has been eating away at me all day long because of the Government shut down. Earlier my sister posted on my facebook wall, "Happy birthday, NASA (sorry the government won't let you do your job)." and I replied back with, "Happy birthday, Yosemite! Sorry no one can party with you." Now, this is not a political blog, so I am not going to go into my ideologies and leaning and thoughts on how things should be run, but the National Parks being closed breaks my heart. To pieces. 

I follow National Parks News (@NPCA) on Twitter and have been reading all of their updates all day long and I just keep getting sadder.

I know, it is silly. It isn't like I have any NP trips planned out right now. All I have to go visit nearby would be Grant's Cabin or the Arch. But, so many people on Twitter are talking about their plans to go visit the parks and how now they can't. And that is just sad. I know how amazing those visits are. I know how special spending time with your friends and/or family in those breathtaking parks can be. I literally day dream on an almost daily basis of which park I want to go to next. 

To me, the National Parks are the happiest places on earth. And their gates are closed. How depressing is that? 

I am curious about those who did have big plans, what they are going to do now that their plans are ruined. I am crossing my fingers that this Shutdown is brief and everything will be re-opened shortly so it causes minimal harm to people's plans and to all of the people depending on parks being open for their jobs. The parks give employment to so many people between rangers and naturalists and people working in the lodges and food services. Then there are all the small businesses in the towns surrounding National Parks that need those visitors to stay open. My sister and I a few summers back took a (nearly) 5000 miles roadtrip out west where we visited and camped in many National Parks. We were one of those people who went to small super markets and stores outside the parks to re-stock supplies. We strolled the streets of Estes Park and went out to eat and played mini-golf and I bought a ring and book. We would not have done those things we weren't there to explore Rocky Mountain National Park.  

I know this blog post is not my usual type. I am not giving input on a particular location I visited. I am not sharing my likes and dislikes on how a camping trip went. I am upset about the National Parks and needed to share these thoughts. I hope and pray that things get resolved quickly for everyone so people can go back to their jobs, back to their parks and back to their adventures. 

100 Missouri Miles: Reaching the Finish Line

For the past week and a half I have been kicking myself in the rear to get my 100 Missouri Miles finished. As I have mentioned, and as you can see from my summer 2013 list, my original plan was to achieve 500 miles this summer biking/walking/hiking. The governor then created the 100 Missouri Miles challenge, and I had to join that as well. 

Well, today I have finished that 100 Missouri Miles goal! I walked my last 4.5 miles on the Meramec Greenway Trail with J today. He knew I wanted to be finished by Sunday (today) and I was feeling super lazy and bleh. He said he would walk with me and he chose this trail, because as much as I love the Grant's Trail, I had been on it 3 or 4 times in the past week and a half and needed something different. 

It was strange. It was the perfect Fall day today with sunshine and mid-70s for temperatures. But for some reason today I could not move as quickly as I normally could and my stomach was cramping up so I had to sit on a bench a few times. I felt incredibly lame, but I knew I needed to finish those miles today (the actual deadline for 100 miles is the end of the year, but this was my personal deadline since I epically failed with the 500 miles..). He was great and didn't push me and let me rest when I needed to.

Folks, this was just 4.5 miles. Normally that is not an issue at all for me, so I don't know what was up besides I stupidly ate a big lunch and then decided to go finish these miles. Also I felt a tad bit dehydrated. 

But I did it! I made a goal by my deadline. 

And now I get a medal.

I didn't even know I got a prize for finishing this challenge until about mile 80-something. That means the majority of the miles were just me being motivated by myself, which I find impressive. 

It will take a week or so for the medal to get here, but when it does, I will post a picture of it.

I am now challenging myself to do another 100 miles by the end of 2013. This will be a harder goal for me because I do not do well with cold weather. That just means I need to get as many miles completed while the nice Fall weather is around as I can.

The Grant's Trail

Being back on The Grant's Trail is like being home. This is the original trail that I spent countless hours on. This is the trail that made me push myself when I was younger, to keep biking, to get stronger. 

When I was younger (we're talking a good ten years ago) I would bike from my house to the trail, which was about half a mile away. Somedays I would just bike the section nearest our house and back. Other days I would use the trail to meet up with a girl friend of mine to walk around Grant's Farm. Then there were the days I felt like pushing myself and would bike the whole thing.

Turns out the trail is only 8 miles long, one way. 

Back then it seemed so much longer. Regardless, this trail is awesome for someone wanting a paved, mostly flat trail to bike, walk, run, rollerblade on. 

Yesterday I was laying around my apartment after getting off work and I needed a kick in my booty to do something active. A friend told me to go walk on the trail. I changed into active clothes and got into my car. 

I technically live close enough to the trail that I could walk/bike there, but I am not so comfortable with that anymore because I live on Gravois. A bit too busy of a road for my liking. I drove to Whitecliff Park near the fields where the Grant's Farm Clydesdale horses roam and parked. From there I walked the short walk to one of the trailheads. 

I opted to go towards Grant's Farm because I think that section of the trail is much prettier.  

Prettier, sure. But super buggy. I guess that is what you get for walking later in the afternoon. Now that dusk comes sooner, I feel like the bugs do too. Or it could just be a buggy trail, that is entirely possible as well. 

You pass by Grant's Cabin while on this section of the trail, which I still need to go visit and get my National Park's passport stamped there. Missouri does not have many options for NP stamps, and I already have one from the Arch. I have no excuse now since I live so close to the cabin not to go visit. 

The people on Grant's Trail seem very friendly, which is nice. I never know if I should make awkward eye contact with people on the trail, or if I should just smile or say hi. I don't want to throw someone out of their groove by interpreting them with a hello. I, however, always say hi back to people who greet me.

I really need to get my bike back from my sister's house so I can start biking on the Grant's Trail again. It feels good to be back!  

Missouri State Parks: Johnson's Shut-Ins

Located in Lesterville, MO, Johnson's Shut-Ins is probably one of the top 5 most popular State Parks in Missouri. Do not quote me on that, I am completely making that up, but I really would be shocked if it weren't one of the most popular in Missouri. Here's why:

1) It is completely new and updated. Back in Dec 2005, the Taum Sauk Reservoir had a major failure which resulted in over a billion gallons of water from The Black River flooding the entire park. Read about the flood and how the park changed here. The campground was totally destroyed and had been located near the river in the floor plains. It is now across the highway in a new area. And it is nice. These campgrounds opened up 4 years after the flood.

2) It is nature's own water park! How can that not draw a humongous crowd?! Playing in rivers is fun. Playing in a river full of boulders creating waterfalls, pools, and awesome rapids? Amazing. Dangerous if you aren't careful, sure, but amazing. 

3) Location. It is not a far drive from Saint Louis (2 hours) so it can easily be a day trip if you are not wanting to camp. If you are "day camping" here, though, be warned. It gets crowed fast in the summer months so come early to stake out your spot. The Shut-ins parking lot only allows for 100 cars so plan accordingly. If camping, it is close to Elephant Rock State Park and near Taum Sauk State Park. Elephant Rock SP does not have camping, but the hiking there is amazing. Taum Sauk also has some of the prettiest hiking in Missouri, plus you get to be on the highest peak in Missouri. 

Gotta catch 'em all! 

My sister (R), her husband (M) and the baby (PX) and I just went here this past weekend to camp. This is where I wanted to camp for my birthday weekend campout, so I am glad I got to go there before the camping season ended! This was PX's first EVER camping trip! He is not even 2 years old yet, but he is quite the adventurer. He loves being outside and playing in the dirt and running around, so this weekend was perfect for him. 

We opted to camp in the "walk-in sites" which are located in loop 5 within the park. We did these because by the time my sister went online to reserve the campsite, these were all that were left for the weekend. I was shocked since I would have thought the school year starting would make camping on weekends easier. However, this ended up being the best thing ever, and I would recommend these walk-in spots to anyone who needs a basic campsite (no electricity, no water, no sewer hook-up). 

We got to our part of loop 5 and the showerhouse was right across from the parking area. The facilities consisted of 2 shower stalls and 2 bathroom stalls. Not the best for the 8 campsites the bathroom was for, but not too bad either. The only issue was this was also for the special use area, which happened to have 20+ Boy Scouts between the ages of 11 and 16 and their parents. Oh, well. We never had to wait in line all too long. We purposely chose the closest campsite to the parking lot that we could, number 513. The only closer one was the handicap site, 514. The walk to the bathroom was about 250 yards. Not bad. 

We saw a push cart in the parking lot. It was like a giant wheel barrow with bike wheels on it. This thing was genius and kudos to you, Johnson's Shut-ins for providing such an amazing tool for your campers. We loaded it up and wheeled it to our campsite. The entire walk to our site my sister and I oohed and awed over how beautiful the area was.

Most helpful thing and a happy surprise!

Then we saw our campsite, dear 513. The thing was HUGE! And secluded! And, well, just look. Click on the picture below to make it bigger. 

and

and

We couldn't see any of the other campsites from our campsite. We had tons of space to spread out within the campsite plus they put in wooden deck areas for the tents to go on since the terrain is uneven and rocky. My biggest suggestion to people camping in these campsites would be to bring an air mattress. We only had camping pads and we all had ache and pains from sleeping on a wooden surface. However, the platform was really nice for other reasons. It was awesome not having mud right outside the tent. It gave us a designated area for the tent so we didn't have to search for the most level, best area for the tent. I have camped in the normal basic campground here before and it was nice, but like every other popular state park in MO, you are pretty much on top of each other. This felt so isolated and I will be coming back. 

The visitor center is located in the part of the park where the shut-ins are and it is very nice. It was built after the flood and has all kinds of information on the park, the history, the flood and more. I wish there had been better information on hiking, but for all I know the people working in there had maps behind the front desk. I just never asked. It is a bummer that you are no longer able to walk easily from the campground to the river since it is on the other side of the county highway, but at the same time I appreciate not being in a flood plain. 

We went down to the river and despite not being much above 75 degrees it was crowded! I cannot even imagine how crowded it must be during the hot summer days. Since it wasn't very warm, none of us besides PX had swimsuits on so we more so waded in the water as he played with his bucket and shovel and threw rocks. He loves throwing rocks. 

One complaint: There is a sign as you take the hike from the parking lot to the river and it states No coolers, yada yada yada, and no dogs. In fact, it is a rule for all of the state parks that no dogs can be in state park/historic site buildings, beaches and swim areas. There were so many dogs by the river! Not sure why this bugged me so much, but it did. Oh, well. 

We also spent part of the day at Elephant Rock State Park, but as this post is already getting really long, I will talk about that in another post. 

In conclusion, some things I learned:

1) If camping with kiddos, know that they will get dirty. There is nothing you can do about this. It is just dirt (or fire pit ash for PX) and it will wash out. Just let them get dirty.

2) Walk-in campsites are not as scary as they sound, and now I am super excited to go check out other walk-in sites elsewhere. 

3) If the weather says the weather will have highs of mid 70s and lows in mid 40s, do not stupidly only pack one light jacket. A long sleeve shirt or two would be useful. Maybe a heavier sweatshirt.The nights got really, really cold. I normally hate wearing socks to bed but I was grateful I had packed my wool socks. Those multiple pairs of shorts I brought were a waste and weren't worn at all. 

4) I am ready to put up a fight if necessary. We are all mostly asleep Saturday night when suddenly we heard (human) footsteps stop in front of our campsite. Then turn and go into our area. We then heard rustling. I grab my glasses and my flashlight and jump out of the tent to confront who was in our area (my adrenaline was pumping, I do not normally confront people) because it sounded like they were going through our stuff. But they were no longer there and we concluded they were just grabbing sticks around our space.  

5) Overhearing the conversations of young Boy Scouts is hilarious. "I've got my underwear!" or "You will lift the toilet seats up when you pee." Thank you, Scoutmaster for the sound advice. The rest of us sharing that bathroom with you all really appreciated it. 

Missouri State Parks: St. Francios

I meant to write this post a month ago, but apparently I got rather busy. So here we go.

My boyfriend and I spent my birthday weekend (July 20th weekend) camping at St. Francios State Park. This was my first time camping this summer and my first experience of St. Francios. I was very happily surprised by this park! We reserved a campsite for Friday through Saturday because I have learned the hard way too many times that camping on weekends in Missouri is not possible is you do not have a reservation. I should be excited that our park system is so popular, but I miss the days when you used to be able to spur of the moment plan a camping trip. St. Francios was not even on my list of places I wanted to go to that weekend, but every other place I tried to reserve a spot at was already full. 

Turned out we could have gone camping here without reservations because there were empty spots available in the basic campsite area, but I still would not take the risk of not having a spot. 

I did some research on the super handy state parks website and saw that St. Francios was on a river, so I decided that would be a good option for us since we were going in the middle of July. In Missouri. Which, you know, tends to be hot. The river (The Big River) was nice. The area had a nice beach and the water got deep enough that people were floating but also shallow enough that J and I sat in a few inches of water for awhile and enjoyed the day. However, I must say that I felt a bit overwhelmed with the amount of people (and the quality of people...) that were in the river. It was fine, and fun, minus one family that decided to set off a fire cracker only a few feet away from us. Because, you know, setting off a loud exploding thing is a smart thing to do on sand, around a bunch of people, surrounded by cliff walls. Plus, that is one of the few things that is not allowed in State Parks. 

We went on a hike Saturday morning and it was beautiful! I love hiking new places, and this did not disappoint. It had lots of hills and you had the cross the creek several times. There were a few times I requested we stopped and rest because I got tired. I would love to go back there and do more hiking. 

View of the creek during the hike

The worst part of the camping trip was the rain. It did not rain very long, but it was intense for the hour or so that it did rain, which was not that big of an issue because we just napped during that time. However, it made everything soaked. I felt like I was constantly trying to dry things out. We had gathered wood earlier in the day and it all got really wet, so dinner making was hard. It took us a long time to get the fire going well enough for cooking. We ended up having a late dinner that night (foil packs, yummm) but we snacked on local cheese and sausage that we bought at St. Francios Winery. If you are ever in that area, go to that winery. We stopped there Friday before getting to the park, and it was awesome. We did a wine tasting and bought a few bottles. They sold sausage and cheese from St. Gen, MO. 

This state park does not have much of a visitor center and it does not have a camp store. You can buy fire wood and ice, that's it. There is a Wal-Mart in a nearby town, which we made a run to for those forgotten items. But know that you would not be able to get any items within the state park. 

I will totally go back here and J and I already discussed wanting to go again next year!

Missouri State Parks: Meramec

Today my sister, the baby and I took a rather spur of the moment day trip to Meramec State Park. This has always been one of my favorite state parks, but I realize not everyone has been there as often as I have. For those of you who don't know, Meramec is down 44 from St. Louis in Sullivan, MO. We camped here A LOT when we were younger. It was also the last big family event before my dad passing away when I was 15. I have camped there with friends and family a lot and I am rather emotionally attached to this place.

We decided we needed to get away for the day and my sister suggested here. We packed up the car with supplies and food and hit the road. We stopped in the visitor center first to get maps and info (and the all important potty break). PX (the baby) was very excited about all the fish they have in aquariums there. He kept running back to that area to watch them more. 

We then moved on to the day use area to get ready for hanging out at the river. My sister got PX all changed into his swim gear while I changed into my suit in the vault toilet. I was a bit nervous going into the bathroom because, well, let's face it sometimes those things are straight up nasty. This one wasn't so bad. It obviously wasn't completely pleasant smelling but I could tell that they keep it clean. We could have parked on the other end of the day use area and used the actual bathrooms, but oh well. As we were getting ready a big ol' family pulled up in multiple cars and motorcycles to head down to the river. I am the type of person that if I am hanging out in an area, I would much rather there not be tons of people around, but it wasn't so bad. They set up their area in the only shaded area, which would have been nice if we had, but they got there first. 

We set our stuff down and started playing in the water. It was cold at first but we quickly got used to it and it felt wonderful. Today was about 90 degrees, so the water felt great. PX did not want to venture into the river with us but he had a blast sitting on the shore of the river where he could splash and throw rocks. We stayed there playing for a couple hours before finally leaving and went back to the day use area. We sat in the shade on a picnic blanket and dried off, got PX changed into clothes and had a snack. It was nice not being in the sun for awhile. The weather was totally perfect.

We then went to the store in the state park to see if there was anything that PX just had to have (there wasn't...which was probably a good thing) however the store is nice. Lots of toys and random touristy stuff but also food items, drinks, and camping supplies that you may have forgotten at home. It is nice you can get it there and not have to drive out of the park to run to the local Wal-Mart. We sat at a picnic table outside and had our delicious lunch.

The hike we went on was kind of intense. Okay, really, it was not that bad, but we were not prepared for the difficulty of it so it came as a surprise. It was called the Bluff hike or something, which we assumed meant we would be along the river. Well, we could see the river every so often, but more so we were walking up and down the river bluffs which can get steep. It was mostly in the shade which was nice. However, parts of the trail required waling through a lot of brush and plants and I am shocked we did not have any ticks on us.

A note to anyone wanting to camp at Meramec. The campgrounds are very nice and a bit on the large side. They offer night programs on the weekends which I always loved going to. Right by the campground is where the entrance to Fischer Cave, my favorite cave I have toured. Unfortunately the cave is closed to the public for the whole season due to white nose syndrome. I am very saddened by this news but I want the best for the bats of Missouri. There are still cave tours available at 2 other state parks, but I would suggest checking with their websites to make sure they are open. 

All in all, it was a very exhausting day but amazing. I may be a bit red on my shoulders and my sister totally burned her legs, but I think we both were very happy with how we spent our time. I would highly suggest going here to anyone. 

10 Lessons Learned: Biking Edition

Here are some things I learned from a 23 mile bike ride I went on yesterday:

1) My sister is a bigger BA than I am...

2) Toms, while wonderful shoes, and comfortable for normal day to day activities are NOT the proper shoes for such a long bike ride. You might be thinking, well, no, duh, why would you do such a thing? Well, my sister asked me to go biking and I agreed but I was not prepared so my choices were flip flops or Toms.

3) Bike shorts are a necessity. I have the chafe marks to prove it. I need to go shopping asap.

4) One water bottle is not going to cut it in the midwest summer heat. Again, another, no duh. I need to invest in a camelbak. Now. I dehydrate so easily and by 4 miles in I felt like I could drink my entire bottle. By 6 miles in I knew I was in trouble. Beyond that I was lightheaded and thirsty and felt a bit nauseous. About 11 miles in I finally got to refill my bottle and sat under the trail map/sign as it was the only available shade around near the water. I wish I had a picture to show just how pathetic I was, but it is probably better I don't. 

5) July...is hot. 

6) Not biking for about 2 months and then going on the longest bike ride you have ever been on without really working your way up to it could result in mix results. My joints hurt and I felt like my muscles were jello after. But kind of in the good way.

7) Wearing sunscreen is never a bad idea. In fact, it is probably wise. That being said, if you are going to decide you do not need sunscreen, be prepare for very bizarre tan lines from biking. And then be prepared to be made fun of by the lovely people in your life for those bizarre tan lines. Okay, fine. Burn lines.

8)  Pizza...is not the best breakfast option before going on a big bike ride in the heat of the midwest. 

9) It is crazy how big of a difference being in a shaded area makes. Wow. It made me love trees even more.

10) As far as hot days in July go, I cannot do much more activity than what I did. I do not understand how people can bike/run in super hot weather. This was hot (about 90) but let's be honest. It could be so. much. worse. On those days you can find me in the AC. Or better yet, in the pool. 

46 miles towards 100 Mo Miles. 144 towards the 500 goal. Need to get another big bike ride in this week...this time with better shoes! 

Keepin' It Patriotic: Flag Day 2013

Alright, if you haven't noticed by now, I love Missouri. But you know what I love even more than Missouri? America. Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. I love showing my patriotic side. A huge part of this stems from the fact I was born in July. I was practically born with the love of that holiday.

I honestly think the other reason I love America so much and am so patriotic is because of all the trips my family took growing up that revolved around roadtrips and camping around the country. 

If you spend any time at all exploring our amazing land, how can you not fall in love with it? Seriously, we have everything. Mountains, oceans, beaches, sand dunes, deserts, forests, lakes, rivers. Everything. And it is all gorgeous. 

So many people spend weeks, months, or even whole years studying abroad in other countries while in college. And that is great, I by no means am dissing on those experiences. But so many people do not even spend the time exploring and learning about the country they have spent their entire lives in. I am always so shocked by the amount of people who have not seen the majority of states.

Today, Friday June 14th is Flag Day. This is an entire day dedicated to honoring our flag, the good ol' stars and stripes. How awesome is that? 

Today I ate patriotic waffles at my favorite cafe, The Bike Stop Cafe (right across from Frontier Park and the Katy Trail in St. Charles). I wish I could say that I planned having patriotic waffles in honor of today being flag day, but I totally didn't. I just wanted waffles and they happened to come that way. But it made me so happy.

I then added two more miles to my total. That is now 8 miles for the 100 Missouri Miles and I believe 106 for my 500 mile goal. Holy moly, I need to start moving quicker. Fingers crossed this weather will continue being as amazing as it has been and I can up the times I go outside and be active. 

Today on Flag Day just take a moment and think about how amazing this country is. Even if you can't spend any time outside today, try to do something active this weekend then to really soak in how beautiful our land is. Ok. Cheesy moment over. 

Happy Flag day, all! 

Swift as the Coursing River: Flooding in MO

Spring/Summer in Missouri (and, well, the whole Midwest) seems to mean one of two things: drought or flooding.

Right now the rivers are flooding. Not like flood of '93 bad, but still pretty bad. I was only 3 or 4 years old when that flood happened but I have very vivid memories of that summer. My aunt and uncle lived in Washington, MO area and the bridge into this side of the river was closed for awhile so they stayed with us. 

This is not that bad, but I am sure all the houses and businesses that have water pouring into them would say it is bad enough.

Everything is looking normal at Frontier Park...

Oh, wait. Not so normal. 

See that body of water? Yeah, that would be the Missouri River. In Frontier Park. The river is supposed to be on the other side of the furthest trees. As in, not even visible from the park. 

Hope you weren't planning on going there anytime soon...

So, for obvious reasons, Frontier Park, and that stretch of the Katy Trail, is closed for the time being. I would assume it will stay closed until the river is back to the other side of the trees. You know, where it belongs. The crazy thing was that the water still had a current. I was expecting just pools of water, which we saw also on either side of the Katy Trail. But the park and the parking lot was legitimately the river still doing it's riverly thing. 

River is just chilling behind me

Okay, so that smile and pose probably is not the best because really, it was rather intense looking at all the flooding. What I did not take pictures of were all the homes along the Katy Trail that are under water. I cannot even imagine the water damage they must be suffering. And most of those homes are along the path that the tornado took last week. St. Charles is being hit hard by Mother Nature right now. As are so many other places in the midwest between the rivers flooding and the tornados and storms. 

This is a parking lot for the Amistar Casino off the Katy Trail

I wanted to get some good pictures of the tornado damage as well to show that, but the pictures did not do it justice at all. So many large, full trees just snapped and uprooted. I found roof shingles and house siding along the trail in areas that homes were not in sight. Time and time again I was just gasping at all the damage. I am so thankful I was not home when the storm hit because I would have been freaking out. I hate wind. And most storms in general. I am also incredibly thankful that the tornadoes did not cause as much damage as they could have. However apparently this one tornado touched ground for over 20 miles. That is incredible. And insane.

I have to give props to all the men and women who have been working so hard to restore power to everyone and also those who have worked crazy hard to get roads clear of debris. The fact that the trail was already cleared and ready to go so quickly shocked me. Mad props to the State Park department for that one. 

Anyway, I walked my first 6.25 miles for the 100 Missouri Miles. I have now gone 102 miles of my 500 mile goal.

In other words, I am am utterly and completely behind schedule.

Time to get a move on.

 

100 Missouri Miles

As I have mentioned before, Missouri was voted best trail state in the country. This still gets me very excited and proud of my favorite state. I would have thought that a state out west would have been given that honor, but I am pleased it is good ol' Missouri. 

My boyfriend gave me the "Trails of Missouri State Parks" book as one of my anniversary presents recently. I have only been able to page through it so far, but I am incredibly pumped to use it to learn about all my favorite trails and find new ones. It is broken up by regions and talks about all the different trails in the many state parks in MO. Pretty much the perfect present for me. He didn't even know that the Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites facebook page had been promoting that book like crazy since it is new.

Also since this award was given to Missouri, Governor Nixon has started a new program called 100 Missouri Miles. It is to get Missourians to spend time outside and active. Of course I am all for this program! The goal is to walk, bike, run, row, whichever form of movement you enjoy 100 miles in Missouri by the end of the year.

Sounds pretty easy, right?

Well, turns out most people don't really move all that much. If this is what it takes to get people to be active and healthy and learn to appreciate our beautiful state, then bring it on, Missouri! I challenge you to 100 miles.

I have already reached about that from my 500 mile goal... but I am not going to log any of those miles on my username on the website. Those will be all my new miles. 

My question is why am I not working for an organization that gets to come up with cool programs like these? 

I need to get some more miles in, but I got super sick this past week (allergies plus stomach bug equals no exercise) and then the tornadoes went thru St. Louis/St.Charles area. Thank God they were not nearly as bad as those that just went thru Oklahoma. My sister is still out of power in Edwardsville, but it seems like most of St. Charles is back to having power. Oh Mother Nature. You need to calm yourself. Don't you know we have things to do outside?!

So, log onto the 100 Missouri Miles website and start tracking those miles! You can also tweet pics and updates using #100MOmiles. Let the miles- and adventures- begin!

Dreaming of Camping

Okay, it is officially that time. Camping time. It is all I am thinking about. Seriously. It is like I have this little kid crush on some boy I just met. It consumes my brain. All I can think about is where I want to go. When can it happen? Who will go with me?

That is the tricky part. Finding people I can tolerate enough to go camping with who also have free time when I do. 

Not everyone is cut out for camping. More so, I do not think I am cut out to go camping with everyone. Not that I am crazy intense or anything. But I want to, you know, actually do stuff outside. I want to hike. Spend time soaking in the nature. I cannot be with people who need to constantly be tied to their phones (because we probably will not have service) and who aren't bored by the thought of going on hikes. Or spending time in the river/springs/creeks/lakes. Or just generally exploring the campgrounds.

One time a friend asked me what do I do when I camp. Do I fish? No, I do not fish. He was shocked. His family always fishes when they camp and they eat what they catch. Which is cool, I wish I knew those skills, but that is never how my family rolled when camping. Well, if you don't fish, what do you do to spend your time? He asked.

Oh, you know. Hike. He was appalled. 

I guess that does not sound very exciting for some people? Not that that is all I ever do, but it is so much fun. And you get to see all kinds of awesome scenery. What is there not to love about that? 

Or go on cave tours. I have randomly mentioned my obsession with bats and caves, right? Well, if not, it is true. I love them. Which is why Meramec State Park is my favorite MO State Park.

(But don't get my started on that horrible excuse of a place, Meramec Caverns)

I know which weekends I have free in June and I want to spend them camping. Want is not strong enough here. Need. I need to go camping.

I did not get to camp at ALL last summer. Not once. My beloved tent has never touched Missouri soil. This needs to change. And this needs to change right now.

How do you spend your time while camping? What other things can people do besides hike, play in water, or fish? Share your thoughts!  

Biking Illinois: Madison County Transit Trails

Missouri was recently named the best trails state by American Trails. I think this is a very well deserved honor for Missouri to earn. You may have noticed just how much I love Missouri and am a big fan of the state park system here. I have been to many places in the country, and time and time again it seems that other states just cannot compare when it comes to their state parks. 

This being said I must admit something to you all. I am in love with Illinois bike trails.

Yes, I said it. 

I have been cheating on Missouri with bike trails across the river. My sister and her husband live in Edwardsville and they are super close to a trailhead for the Watershed Trail, just a small part of the Madison County Transit Trails (MCT). The great thing about these trails is that you can do however big or small of a loop as you want. It is this interconnected web of trails that spans about 100 miles according to their website. That is a lot of trail that is connected.

I know, I know. I live right by the Katy Trail and that has 225+ miles of bike trails. 

But this. This is paved, which I love. Missouri has great trails and pathways, obviously. We would not have been named the best if we didn't. And the St. Louis area is working hard on making the trails around here even better. But that is all a big work in progress right now. Within a few years even more trails will be built connected current trails and adding to the web of them in our area.

Turns out I am really bad at taking pictures while biking. This took about  5 attempts. Half of those were blurry pictures of the trail on accident. That is my sister pulling the trailer. 

But until then, I am glad I have the MCT. The longest stretch my sister and I have done so far has been 20 miles. We could have done more that day, but it was PX's first time in his brand new bike trailer and he was not amused. As in cried and screamed for about 15 miles of the ride. The only time he was happy was when he was asleep in the trailer or playing at the playground we stopped at.

That is another thing. The Edwardsville/Glen Carbon/surrounding areas have awesome parks. 

Anyway, I have done 3 different bike rides on these trails now and each time it was something a bit different. I think that is one thing I really like about the area besides it being paved is that with so many connecting trails you get to mix it up. You don't have to do the same thing each time. First ride was 11 miles, second one was the 20 mile one and this past Friday morning we did about 7 miles. It was a colder morning and my asthma was acting up, so I had to end that one sooner. 

Our bikes at the playground for break time

My sister and I want to bike to Augusta on the Katy Trail, which is about 30 miles each way. We figure if we can do 50-60 miles on the paved trails we can do 30 miles on the Katy. It really is shocking how much harder the Katy is to other trails if you are not used to it. Granted it seems like every time I choose to go on the Katy is just days after huge rain storms. I am sure when it is perfectly dry it is not all the difficult. 

So until we are ready for our trip to Augusta we are going to keep training on the MCT. Most of the trails we have been on are wooded and beautiful. There are parts that go through flat field areas. I am very much looking forward to exploring even more of these trails and Illinois in general.

Don't worry, Missouri. You are still my main love. 

Missouri State Parks: Cuivre River

Recently (as in, say within the last two weeks...) my sister and I were feeling the need to go to another State Park to go hiking. This time we decided on Cuivre River in Troy, MO. That is about a 40 minute drive from St. Charles, so definitely a do-able day trip destination for anyone around the St. Louis area. 

Oh, hey. That's me chilling outside the VC.

I honestly cannot remember if I had ever been there before this trip or not. Our parents took us camping all over the state (and country) and I really wish I had a list of all the places I've been during my life. Alas I have to go off the memory of my siblings to get that information. My sister did not think we had ever been there as a family, but she and her husband had camped there one summer because it was the only place in Missouri they could find with open campsites that weren't all reserved. I will post about my feelings on reserved camping spots another time...

So I was all for exploring a new to me state park! The first thing we did when we made it inside the park was stop at the visitor center. We needed maps and suggestions of trails to hike. I think the woman behind the desk slightly under-estimated our hiking abilities because my sister had to lug the baby (PX) around. She has a nice carrier that can have PX either on her front or her back. Anyway, she suggested some short, not so difficult trails for us to do. We looked around the VC, used the restroom and then went on our way to find the trailhead we wanted to start at. 

PX was super, super amused by this random bird in the VC

Let me say this. The visitor center was alright. Not the worst I have been in, but by far not the best either. It could use some sprucing up and updating, but it does what it needs to do. It get info to the visitors and also teaches some about Missouri and the environment. I understand that budgets are not entirely overflowing right now anyway, especially for the Department of Natural Resources. I assume if a State Park were to get an updated VC it would be somewhere with high traffic- like Onondaga or Lake of the Ozarks (at least I imagine those are popular destinations). I can forgive all of that. 

HOWEVER. 

Is it really all that difficult to have well placed, clearly marked signs around the park so the visitors can actually find their way around the dang place?! We thought we were going the correct direction and then suddenly were outside the park limits. We got turned around so many times. The roads had street signs but the maps were not marked with any sort of street names on them. Not. Helpful. We had issues finding our way to the lake, which should not have been as difficult as it turned out to be. 

We finally made it, parked the car, got PX all set up in the baby carrier and were off on the first trail. This was a trail that looped around the lake. Very pretty view. 

Trail around the lake

 See? Very pretty, indeed. The day was warm but incredibly windy and the wind was even worse next to the water. My advice if you hike this trail is to wear some good sun glasses to help protect your eyes. With nothing to break the wind, we had to deal with sand and dirt being blown all over the place. We made it about half a mile and said dirt made its way into my sister's eye. Not fun. So we turned back for the car, put PX back in his car seat and moved on to a different trail that was in the woods. 

Well. The map did not make it totally clear where to go to get onto the trail. We suddenly were in the campground area. I asked one of the workers (not sure if she was a campground host or naturalist or what) where that trail was located. She pointed towards the electric campsite, told us to go that direction and we would find two different trails. So we went. What she didn't mention was there is no parking over there so again we left that area to find a different trailhead for the trail. By this point we were both frustrated and hungry (or at least I was hungry) and we had only had a mile hike. It was starting to feel like a bust of a trip.

We found the start of the trail and started on our way. It was nice! We were among the trees, the wind had calmed down and the scenery was pretty. We managed to get lost while hiking though and ended up in this creepy area with a bunch of empty cabins. We took a wrong turn on the trail and then we lost the trail so I am fairly certain we were off-trailing it for a bit. I didn't feel so bad though. Yeah, you should stay on the trails, but in Missouri you are not going to do a whole lot of damage. Unlike that time in Utah when I did 500+ years worth of damage to the ground by accidentally getting off the trail...

Apparently people need to mark trails better, jeeze. 

To be fair, MO State Parks' trails are normally really well marked and it is not an issue to find your way around. For some reason this trail was not always marked clearly, and we were not the only people we ran into that day who had similar issues.

See? Well marked part of trail!

Not so well marked part of trail...

All in all the day turned out well. We got about 6 miles of hiking in. Not as much as we had hoped but with all the getting lost that occurred, I was okay with 6 miles. Plus by the end of it I felt pretty blah from low blood sugar so I was totally ready to head into Troy and find some dinner. We accidentally skipped lunch. 

I was not in love with Cuivre River but would totally be willing to come back. And I do want to try camping there as well.

I really need to come up with some sort of rating system for the parks I visit...

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and 70 and I am off work so fingers crossed I will get lots of biking or hiking in. I need it. Lately all my days off have been rainy and gross. 

Until next time, happy trails! 

Last Few Weeks Smashed into One

Well, I am rather behind with posts for this thing. I have been super crazy busy. Since the last post I left my last job, finished my last class for my MFA, turned in my thesis, and started a new job. Oh, and I have been adventuring during that as well. 

Spring started with a bang and then turned into a blizzard. Not really, but it might as well have been. Suddenly 8 inches of snow fell when it had been nearly 70 degrees the day before. Not cool.

Snow from outside my apartment. In March.

Despite being crazy busy and dealing with snow, I did not let that keep me from going out and gaining more miles and being active. My sister and I walked on the Katy Trail some more (And discovered my new favorite cafe The Bike Stop Cafe. Oh my goodness. We stopped in there for a mid-walk snack and it was amazing. I got these waffles with apples on top. My sister had an egg and some veggie and cheese wrap. I made my boyfriend go there with me a few days later and I tried one of their other wraps. I totally plan on starting my day there whenever I do a big ol' Katy bike ride. 

On that walk we also hopped onto Main Street in Historic St. Charles. We walked by the First Capitol of MO site. It is a Missouri Historic Site. The store was closed but I took a picture of the sign. A few days later I was able to pop into the gift store. I now want to buy almost every book in the store. I plan on doing the tour some time soon. I feel like a lot of people do not realize (or remember) that St. Charles was home of the original Missouri State Capitol. I'd post the picture I took but something funky is going on between blogger and IPhoto. Most of the new pictures I just uploaded and edited are not showing up for me to pick when trying to load onto this. Oh, technology.

As the snow quickly melted we decided to go to Forest Park in St. Louis City. Seriously, one of the best places ever. Museums, Best free zoo ever, outdoor theatre in the summer. We chose there because the pathways are paved so we would not have to mess with as much mud and nastiness from snow turning the ground to gloop. Yes, that is a technical term. This plan worked out for the most part, but my minimalist shoes did not work so well with all the puddles. 

Not sure why there are two trails right next to each other...

I also spent time on the Katy Trail by myself. I had time to kill and wanted to walk at least five miles (which I did) so I started at the St. Charles main trailhead and walked until I reached Bangert Island Park, a conservation area that is owned by the Missouri Department of Conservation but is taken care of by the City of St. Charles. I love hiking in there. You get some nice views of the Missouri River and there are enough hills to keep it interesting without it being killer. I just remembered at this moment that I meant to call or email the parks department to let them know some of the trails were totally blocked by fallen trees. I ended up crawling under some of them but others I could not get through. So then I walked around some of the trees (yes I was off-trailing it...) but some spots were so bad that all I could do was turn around.. The nice thing about this park (when the trails are not blocked) is there are several trail loops so you can be in there for less than a mile or 4-5 miles without having to do multiple laps around the same trail. I will be spending a lot of time in there and it is SUPER close to my apartment. 

This was also my first experience of hiking in barefoot shoes. It was interesting. I would not suggest hardcore hiking with barefoot shoes (at least the type I own) because I think my ankles would need more support, but I was not planning on venturing into the conservation area and was not sure what the state of the Katy was due to all the melting snow and rain fall. My barefoot shoes are much easier to wash than my other shoes. 

Sidenote: I own those barefoot shoes but I also own a pair of tennis shoes that have a minimalist-style sole but the top looks like a normal lace-up shoe. I refer to those as my minimalist shoes because to me they are not straight up barefoot shoes. Those are Reebok but I cannot recall the style.

Truth time: this photo is not from this past visit but I left my home without my camera.

My new job actually gives me some weekends off whereas before I worked every single weekend. This is amazing news for me because I can go camping when other people are actually free to go with me! And I can do more weekend-related adventures. Bad news is this means I will have less middle of the week days off which means less sister and nephew adventures on a weekly basis. 

Here's to more time to adventure and write about it.