Katy Trail

Last week - you know, when we got TWO, ACTUAL days of fall, I decided to ride the Katy Trail.

There's a delightful town 10 miles away called Hartsburg with a cute cafe: Dotty's Cafe. Michelle and I rode there and back in the spring and it was lovely. She hooked the girls on her bike trailer on her bike.

THIS time, I decided to be nice and offered to pull the girls behind MY bike. We even borrowed a bike trailer from Neighbor Joe, who was a sweetie to offer it and to instruct us on how to use it.

Well... we drive to the trail (because Jeff City isn't smart enough to have a pedestrian/bike connection to inarguably the BEST idea Missouri has ever had - although it's rumored to get one next year) and hook up the bike, trailers, and girls (a 20 minute process).

I gleefully get on my bike, push one pedal forward and think, "Dear... God..." Adding 50 pounds of toddlers makes biking a less than pleasurable activity. Not wanting to look like a weenie, I carry on and after taking the first mile or so to convince myself I can, actually, make it to Hartsburg and back (total mileage: 20) while dragging the girls, I start to enjoy myself. The scenery along the bluffs is breathtaking. We ate a lovely meal at Dotty's Cafe (everything there is good) and played around in town for a while. When we try to load the girls up for a second trip in the trailer, they were not pleased.

The ten miles back was continual fighting, crying, pushing, pulling toys (and possibly biting) between poor Sophie and Anna who were both well past their nap time and smashed together so closely a blade of grass could not have passed between. At mile four, I gritted my teeth, ignored the scenery, and booked it. I pulled energy out of goodness knows where in order to GET HOME AND GET THE GIRLS OUT OF THERE. To add insult to injury, Anna fell asleep the last ten minutes and chose not to nap later in the day. Fun.

Would I do it again? Heck yes! With both girls in the same trailer? Never, never, ever again!

A closing story from the first time we rode last spring. We get nearly to Hartsburg and a pair of bikers says something like, "those must be the girls who lost their shoes." Both Michelle and I look at each other then look down at the kid trailer. Sure enough, Sophie had pulled off both her shoes and chucked them both out of the trailer. Evidently, her water bottle as well.

As we ate in Hartsburg, other riders commented on the shoes. Evidently, the shoes got a lot of attention on the trail. Here's why:


This is what we found waiting for us on the return trip by the Claysville Store sitting on the trail - about two miles outside of Hartsburg. Some kind soul had gathered them up and placed them where we'd see them.
Too cute.