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!