Hiking the Katy Trail

We have been fortunate to travel to many exotic locales, but sometimes overlook the beauty in our own backyard. On our regular treks to Michigan, we drive along I-70 through Missouri. Western Missouri is not particularly picturesque. However, as we traverse the center of the state, we always note a lovely area around Rocheport. Not long ago, we discovered that it is a trail head on the Katy Trail, the largest rails-to-trails project in the United States. The Katy Trail is associated with Lewis and Clark's journeys, and stretches from just west of St. Louis to Clinton (near Kansas City). We spent a lovely weekend hiking along the trail. Photos and comments follow.

Rocheport is a charming small town, reminiscent of western Michigan lake towns. Its main claim to fame - aside from hosting the 1840 state Whig convention - is the trail. We snapped the above photo in the park near our B&B. Note the sign on the ladder that looks like one of the many climbing toys.

Just west of Rocheport is a fantastic old train tunnel, a remnant of the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas railway (the Katy) that cut through central Missouri. The tunnel was clearly carved out with explosives and shored up by bricks and mortar.

After a short hike on our first day, we retired to the B&B's backyard hammock where Carter read us a book.

We began our second day early in the morning and planned to hike around 12 miles. In the end, we hiked 8.6 miles. Carter was especially a trooper on the long walk. He catalogued the wildlife that we encountered, tallying 168 frogs and toads (1 dead), a deer, a couple of squirrels, and many varieties of bird.

While walking along the trail eastward, the Missouri River (the "Big Muddy") was on our right, and the tall bluffs were on our left. We had spectacular views of both.

Close to Rocheport, a stream emerged from the rocks of a bluff. We cooled our hands and faces traveling in both directions. We really needed it coming back - it was a typical, steamy August day.

We found other surprises along the path. Somewhat hidden from view was this cave, with a brick entrance probably constructed by railway workers a century ago.

In the more distant past, native peoples drew petroglyphs high on the bluffs. A few remnants remain - you can see the red "swoosh" in the center-left of the photo below.

While the trail is popular, we had many quiet moments alone as a family. We took several breaks to rest, snack, and admire the scenery. We especially enjoyed the wildlife, some of which is captured below (including toad #1).

Our trip to the Katy Trail was a rousing success. We plan to return in the fall to see the trail when the leaves are turning.

Summer Visits

While our original plan for a trip to national parks in South Dakota was scuttled by Erik's call to jury duty, we enjoyed a brief visit to Michigan. While in Michigan, we picked up our niece Amelia for a Kansas adventure. Various photos and comments from summer excursions follow.

Carter and his cousins posed for a moment. The picture was in honor of their grandparents' 50th anniversary.

Unlike his dad, Carter loves playing in the water. He is a regular at the city pool, but in Michigan a sprinkler substituted.

An avid gamer, Carter plays a matching game with his cousins. He has many favorites at home from the simple (like Uno - see below) to the complex (like Risk).

After fun in Michigan, we hit the (long) road for Kansas. Carter and Amelia had a few sessions at the Lawrence pool during the hot days, participated in a Dog Days workout, attended the final Lawrence City Band concert of the season, and visited several parks and museums in the region.

Amelia listens to the city band above. While the concert was lovely, the most exciting part was the firing of cannons and launching of fireworks during the grand finale.

Carter learns how to fire the WWI-era howitzer.

Amelia gets in on the action, too.

We visited two National Park Service sites - the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve and Brown Vs. Board of Education. The kids both earned Junior Ranger badges at each site.

During Erik's Sunday hockey game, Lea, Carter, and Amelia strolled through Deanna Rose Farm in Overland Park, Kansas. This city park has many animals, and a model one-room schoolhouse. Amelia dons the dunce cap above.

Amelia has a great appreciation for art - especially contemporary abstract art. Here she seeks out a different perspective on a piece at the Spencer Museum of Art at KU.

Above and below, Amelia interacts with sculptures at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City.

We stopped for lunch at the original Winstead's, where Erik's dad Thomas worked the malt machine back in the summer of '45. The story from Tom is that Winstead's had to be closed on V-E and V-J days to prevent revelers from trashing the joint.

Council Grove was the last stop on the Santa Fe Trail before its eponymous end-point. We passed through it along the route to the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve and stopped for photos and dinner. The monument above honors women who led pioneer families on their journeys out west.

Small monuments to Native Peoples and pioneers dot the rural highways.

During our various trips, we took several nice shots of nature. Some were snapped by Erik, some by Lea, and others by Amelia. Erik took the butterfly above and lizard below.

Amelia took these great photos of the snake above and buffalo below.

Amelia also captured this insect on a sunflower.

Our final image showcases other temporary visitors to the tallgrass prairie. Cows from Mexico covered the landscape, enjoying the nutrient rich grasses before their less pleasant stay at feedlots in the western part of the state.

An Adventure from the Past

The news from Kyrgyzstan has been bleak in recent days, with hundreds - or thousands - killed in ethnic violence and hundreds of thousands displaced. The news coverage has implied that the brutality was somehow inevitable. But, it seems increasingly clear that the clashes were orchestrated and not "spontaneous."

Three years before we started our blog, Erik visited Kyrgyzstan to set up a classroom exchange with a colleague in Osh, the epicenter of the violence. While he heard remarks from some people "on the street" that suggested prejudice, his friends and colleagues were far more even-handed and tolerant of differences between the Kyrgyz and Uzbek communities. Differences between the communities, in terms of daily life and practices, were evident, however.

In fact, the nastiest comments that were expressed in his presence came from a museum guide in the capital city in the north. Her bigotry knew few boundaries: she had terrible things to say about Russians, southern Kyrgyz (she was from the north), Uzbeks, French, and Germans. Intolerance has prevailed at times - Osh was the site of smaller-scale violence in 1990. But, Erik still has fond memories of Osh and its people. This entry shares some memories of the grand, exotic Silk Road city.

When Erik and his colleague Ray were en route to Osh, Erik sat next to a Peace Corps volunteer on the plane from Bishkek. He asked the volunteer how she would describe Osh. Her answer was: "Osh is a village of several hundred thousand people." This was an apt description, as the city felt like a never-ending village and bazaar.

One of Erik and Ray's fondest encounters was in the market where some young bread vendors invited them to the bakery, hidden among the back alleys. They got a lesson in lepeshka-making (a traditional flatbread) and tasted some right out of the oven. A few pictures follow.

Dominating the Osh skyline is Sulaiman, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Erik, Ray, and their Kyrgyz colleagues Erkingul and Nurjigit took a walk to the top.

Sulaiman is reported to have many healing properties. This section corrects back problems.

At the base of Sulaiman is a vast cemetery which also provided a fascinating walk.

One of the landmarks that has been shown in news coverage is the Lenin statue. Here Erik poses with it (he has a collection of photographs mocking/matching Lenin statues all over the post-Soviet region).

Following are a few more photos of daily life in Osh and the surrounding area.

As a final note, we hope that our friends and colleagues are safe, and wish for peace and reconciliation.

A Renewable Energy Source?

Carter launched into summer with a full schedule, including Spanish camp, piano lessons, and the library's reading program. While he enjoys all of these activities, he also craves opportunities to exert some of his seemingly boundless energy. Yesterday was an especially active day, with time at the pool, his first experience at Dog Days, and the Lawrence City Band concert (where he ran around for a full hour with friends). Lea and Erik try hard to keep up with him!

The local newspaper caught Carter at two of these events, and the pictures are above and below (courtesy of the Lawrence Journal World). Erik is on Carter's right and Lea is the blue shirt on Carter's left at Dog Days.