Here Comes the Sun (doo da doo doo)

Today, my dear reader, Missouri had temperatures reaching the 60s. SIXTY. That is a freaking heat wave. And the sun was shining.

And I was working all morning.

Right? This can never happen when I am off work all day. No, those days are rainy or cold. I'm looking at you, upcoming Thursday with thunderstorms predicted. This girl cannot catch an outdoor break right now.

So I left work early. The level of stir crazy I have reached means I need to cram as much outside time in as quickly as possibly.

Apparently the rest of St. Louis was feeling the same way (and can you blame them?) because the Grant's Trail was full today. 

Oh, glorious non-snow covered trail 

My sister texted me that she and the kiddos did 2.25 miles today. So of course I had to do 3. This brings me to a whopping 9 whole miles since 2014 started. Ouch. I do have a lot more indoor miles under my belt, but who wants to count stuffy indoor miles in this challenge? Not I. 

However, I have been doing a lot of indoor miles to try to prepare for the Katy trip. I am itching for getting outdoors with my bike to start training that way. I have until the end of May to get myself in shape and ready for that. I fear that Q will kick my butt and I won't be able to keep up with him. Speaking of butts, all my reading and research has indicated that it doesn't matter how awesomely in shape you are if your bike seat is not comfy. I need to invest in some bike shorts, pronto. 

Today was a much needed boost for me. I feel better physically having spend even just a few miles worth of time outside. I am certain it was all in my head, but I was just imaging the vitamin D being soaked in by my body and I was so happy. I am just going to ignore the snow in the 10 day weather forecast for right now and revel in the fact that I got to be outside walking, in the sun, with just yoga pants, long sleeved shirt and a vest on. And I got hot. It was amazing.

Tomorrow I work in the afternoon so I am planning on hiking in the morning to maximize the outside time this week and to get more miles in to beat my sister! 

I am probably jinxing this weather by being so excited, but let's face it. Missouri is a fickle, fickle lady when it comes to her temperatures, so I will celebrate this as much as I can while it lasts. 

And I will be humming this song while I do so. 

Mid-Winter Waiting

I feel like this post should be sub-titled, "Praying for warmth again."

It is that time of year, folks. And this winter has not been kind. Today the temperature was in the 50s and I was trapped indoors all day long working. Tomorrow when I have the morning free, it will be 12 degrees. 12. That...is sick. 

This is what I cannot stand. The constant back and forth of weather. Feels like Spring one day. Eight inches of snow the next day. Sub-zero temps after that. Oh hey, 60 degrees.

No wonder everyone is sick. 

Since the last post I have managed to find a few decent weathered days when I had free time and the ground was not covered in snow to go hiking. One of those days was actually quite nice. It was in the 50s, sunny and not windy. The other one was only mid-30s but I decided that was good enough. After wind chills of negative degrees, mid-30s feels quite pleasant. Plus, its all about the layers! 

I have found a new favorite place to hike courtesy of one of my good friends at work. I have fallen in love with the Chubb Trail, which is located near Lone Elk Park. The trail also connects to Castlewood State Park. Both days I hiked here, I was there for close to three hours. It was not nearly enough time. I am itching to get back when I have no time restraints and can spend a good chunk of the day exploring.

Look at the beautiful Winter Sky

My adventure urges have been building up and getting rather intense lately. I need Spring to happen soon. Or for my body to learn how to handle the cold.

New challenges of 2014:

Race to 500 miles against the sister. Which of us shall make it there first?! (insert dramatic music here..)

Bike the entire Katy Trail at the end of May with my buddy, Q. 

Explore more, learn more, be active more. 

The big ol' 2013 Summer list fizzled because we may have been aiming a bit high with all the goals. This seems simpler and totally achievable. 

Bring it on, 2014. My Adventures await!

   

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!  

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.

 

But I Would Walk 500 Miles...

...and I would walk 500 more.

As you may have seen from my summer 2013 list my sister and I decided that we will both walk and/or bike 500 miles this summer (see number 5). In order to not kill ourselves since neither one of us are super amazing athletes (sorry, R, but it is true...) we are actually starting now with the beginning of day light savings time marking the start of this challenge. I am not sure when the end date is, probably September 21 since that is the end of Summer. Maybe August 31 because honestly September does not feel like summer to me. 

Today we walked 6.8 miles on the Katy. We have no sense of distance. We first realized this while driving to Colorado 2 summers ago and amused ourselves in Kansas by trying to guess how far away buildings and windmills were in the flat fields. We were always wrong. Today we thought "oh that was probably 3 miles." No wonder my feet were tired. 

I really dug the part we walked on today, I had never been on it before. Some really nice forested areas. Some more open, flat areas, which today was great to have the sun beating down since it was not entirely warm. I found a house I am madly in love with and want to now somehow buy it someday. We almost made it to Greens Bottom trailhead but I had a time crunch and needed to get home. Next time. 

That added to the 3 miles from Monday at Graham Cave equals 9.8 miles. Only 490.2 more to go...

And yes, I will be listening to this song the whole entire time. 

Da da da da (da da da da).

What are your goals for this summer/spring? I would love for more people to join in the 500 miles challenge! 

Missouri State Parks: Graham Cave

Had to grab a picture as we left the park

Today I was bumming a bit, so my sister said we should go on a day trip. We decided on Graham Cave State Park because it is only an hour west on 70 from St. Charles and we had never been before. So she packed up the baby and headed over to my neck of the woods and we were off!

Now, unlike this past weekend when it was 50-60 degrees outside today was a nice 35. Brr! We had on hats and gloves and the baby had on his little bear suit (seriously the cutest winter outfit ever) and after we chatted with a lovely woman at the park office and gathered a trail map (along with with pamphlets) we started on the hike. 

All I can say is thank goodness for hiking boots with gore-tex. A few weeks ago Graham Cave (along with lots of Missouri) was hit with over 12 inches of snow. That is all gone now, but that means the trail was mostly sludgy mud and the springs were flowing. Despite most plants still being dead, the hike was lots of fun. We did several loops that ended up equalling 3 miles total...which was plenty with the not so pleasant weather. We first hiked to the cave. Really, the word cave is misleading. It is more of an overhang so do not be disappointed if you are expecting an actual cave to go through. If you want to go cave exploring then check out that link for the 3 Missouri state parks that offer excellent cave tours (more on that some other day- I love caves and bats!). 

Oh, that's me! Posing in front of Graham Cave. 

The "cave" from afar

From there we kept on hiking. I cannot wait to come back when it is actually Spring or Summer when things are alive. Despite the trees being still rather bare the hike was still lovely. I am pretty in love with the wilderness of Missouri, though. Constantly I am shocked by how beautiful this state is and I feel it does not get the attention it deserves! 

The trails were rather diverse. We had to cross little springs, hiking up and down some steep hills, cross bridges, walk next to steep drop offs, and saw water falls. We could see part of the Loutre River and walked next to swampy areas. I love it when hikes aren't the same ol' same ol' the whole time. 

Walking down some stairs!

We looked at the campsite to see if it would be a place we would want to camp this summer, and I am not so sure. The campsites are really close to each other, and that sort of seems to be a trend in a lot of Missouri camp grounds (and probably lots of camps all over). I am sure I will camp there some time even if it is just to say that I have, and I am sure camping during the week would make it better than being there on a crowded weekend. Anyone have any opinions of whether or not it is a good place to camp?

Today we walked the first 3 miles of our 500 mile goal. More on that later!