Katy Trail

Found these pictures on my computer and thought I’d tell a story about Sarah’s and my trip on the Katy Trail this past summer. The Katy Trail is an old railroad that has been converted into a hiking/biking trail that spans most of Missouri from east to west. One cool thing about it is that since it used to be a railroad the whole trail is elevated off normal ground level so you have a nice view no matter where you are, e.g. the middle of a cornfield. So one weekend Sarah, Odin (the dog) and I decided to go for a two-day trip on it. Bike out one day, camp that night, and then bike back the next day. Now, to clarify, Sarah and I are just kind of getting back into biking and before this trail ride we would maybe go on half to one-hour bike rides. So, under the influence of our typical brash fervor, we thought a two-day bike trip would be a piece of cake. Just as side note, the process of decision-making that led us to taking this trip is similar to our decision-making leading up to household projects that end up costing twice as much and taking three-times as long as we anticipate (because we don’t know what the H we’re doing). I think we have a learning disability. Anyway, back to the point, we borrowed a kid carrier from a friend of ours for Odin, borrowed saddlebags from Sarah’s step-dad, small tent from a friend, and off we went to explore Missouri’s beauty. PROBLEM #1: Young dogs are more restless than children. We had to stop about every 30 minutes to readjust Odin by opening the screen, closing the screen, tightening his leash, walking him so he could pee, etc. All of this because he kept wanting to jump out of the carrier. He also felt it necessary to poke his head out the bottom of the screen when it was closed (pictured above). I thought he might learn his lesson of jumping out of a moving trailer on our trial run down the street by our house where he jumped out and was partially run-over by the trailer. Evidently not. PROBLEM #2: Biking in the dark is not fun, or easy. Happy as clams to make it HALFway to our proposed destination by the end of day one (yes, that’s right, I said HALF---see BRASHNESS above) we took our time eating dinner at a little deli 3 miles from where we were camping. By the time we had finished, it was dark and we had to ride like bats out of somewhere hot to get to the campground, bugs flying in our faces, both of us full from stuffing ourselves. PROBLEM #3: Dogs don’t take into consideration the size of their surroundings or your comfort level when sleeping with you. The tent was tiny, and Sarah and I laid like toothpicks all night. Odin, however, frequently stepped on us as if we were giant pillows before laying down cross-ways, above, on, between, and below us. However, despite our problems, we did have a good time and would probably do it again. Except next time I think we’ll sedate the dog.

Steph