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.

 

First Bike Ride

My pretty (although now dirty) new bike

I took my new bike out to ride for the first time today since it was in the low 50s. I quickly learned a few things. 

1) I am SO weak. I expected to be able to bike the way I used to when I hit the Grant's Trail on a regular basis. A 20 mile ride was no big deal. It was so silly for me to think that I would have the same strength that I had 4+ years ago.

2) The Katy Trail is much harder (at least when muddy) than paved trails like the Grant's Trail. Holy cow. I was not expecting that. My wheels were slowed down most of the time and then the parts that weren't as muddy were super bumpy.

I have a lot of work ahead of me if I think I am ever going to ride the whole trail. But you can't just expect to start running and run a whole marathon. I will just keep riding and eventually it will get easier again.

Now to find a way to make my lungs stop burning as much...

Welcome to St. Charles!

The main issue with the St. Charles part of the Katy Trail is all the construction going on at the Blanchette Bridge over highway 70. However when you get past that then it is fine. Just have to snake around the construction and you are golden.

See the construction signs through the tunnel? No bueno. 

Anyway, I have lots of work ahead of me, but I am excited to going! Let's go biking!