March Walk at Weston Bend State Park

A green spring glade in Weston Bend State Park

Spring started in March this year. It wasn’t a wet March, and only sometimes was it cold. Perfect weather for walking/hiking in and around Kansas city.

We walked at the Weston Bend State Park near Weston, MO on a day we thought would be chilly. It was–for about fifteen minutes. Then, with the exertion from the walk and the sunshine, it became the perfect day. Rain from the weekend left the trail leading to the overlook slightly damp along the edges. The wildflowers were in bloom, but the trees hadn’t yet attained their summer foliage, and we were able to see through the woods to the bluffs and streams and out from the bluffs across the wide river bend to the countryside beyond.

Weston Bend of the MO River through the trees from the bluff.

I love old trees that have character. There were many of those along the trail. Some had hollows where the park fairies might live.

The trail led through a different ecosystem every quarter of a mile. Some were glade-like, some wild. Different trees and wild flowers grew in different parts of the park. There was a section where grape-vine covered the canopy and caused us to walk through a spooky tunnel. What a pleasant experience all together!

   The remainder of the day we spent in Weston, only a couple of miles from the park. We had a YUMMY lunch at the Weston Café and took the opportunity to visit our favorite shops for buying gifts and exclaiming over the fashions.

Three Fall Walks in the Kansas City Metro

1.  Where can you walk in Kansas City and see penguins along the way? At the Kansas City Zoo, of course. Four of us participated in the Run/Walk for the Orangutans in September. It’s a charity drive that benefits the zoo, but it benefitted us, too. We got exercise, a little breakfast, and an opportunity to see the animals.  The penguin exhibit is one of the newest. Those little birds are cute!  Lots of folks participated on a beautiful Fall morning.

2.  A trail from Sar-ko-par Trails Park along Little Mill Creek near Lackman and 87th St. in Johnson County starts in the park and crosses 87th to wind along the creek at the edge of a neighborhood and through various parks along the way. Some of the homeowners decorate both sides of the trail with seating and flower beds. It’s a lovely walk with plenty of variation–woods to grassy parks, to creek side.  I found another favorite tree, and this one had a lantern hanging from one of its branches. The tree didn’t get a hug, being surrounded by undergrowth, but it was beautiful.

 Love those asphalt trails that are so good on the feet and knees.

3.  I was feeling tired and rundown when we reached a community center on the Line Creek Trail that we took from Briar Cliff shopping area to Line Creek, up to the center, and back with a several block detour in North Kansas City for lunch. It was beautiful all the way, but my feet didn’t appreciate the concrete part of the trail. I guess those trails save money by needing less maintenance. Maybe I’ll have to have a podiatrist check out the feet and ankles and spend my money that way.

 We took breaks. One time we stopped by a rapid and thought we might have taken a wrong turn and wound up in the Rocky Mountains. Back near Briarcliff, the path becomes easier on the feet.  Happy hiking in the Fall.

 

Exercise and Exploration

As I’ve said before, summertime in Kansas City can be hot and sticky. This year, it was also rainy. Hiking is tricky when there are puddles to jump and insects to avoid. Some of us humans serve as gourmet meals for chiggers, and after getting their fills, they leave nasty bumps that itch for at least a week. The good news: insect repellant works wonders and muddy shoes can be cleaned. Go for it, summertime hikers.

Here are some Summer hikes we took and some of the great eating establishments we found:

1. Powell Gardens and Café Thyme– We visited to see the impressive Lego and butterfly exhibits. Thousands of Legos were used to build these amazing works of art placed among the plants and flowers of the gardens.

   But the rest of the gardens are so gorgeous that a visit with no special reason makes a hike into a day in Wonderland.    Our unusual amount of summer rain helped keep Powell Gardens green and blooming this summer.

As an added bonus, we discovered that Powell Gardens has its own café that uses fruits and vegetables grown in the gardens. Café Thyme’s food is as fresh and appealing as the gardens themselves. Yum!

2. Tomahawk Creek Hiking/Biking Trail— South of 135th Street in Overland Park, the Tomahawk Creek Trail follows the creek through woody green spaces near parks and south of the Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead and St. Andrews Golf Course. Its shade makes a summer walk a pleasure. Some of my favorite trees live alongside this trail.  To me, the mature trees represent my connection with nature. I want to hug them or climb up into them and visit often. I’d tell you their names, but they’d prefer you go visit them so they can tell you.

There are tons of eating places near 135th and I-69, but we chose to eat at the Gaslight Grill near 147th and Nall. The lunchtime specials are very special. YUM!

3. Gregory O Grounds Park at Lake Remembrance  east on I-70 in Blue Springs, Missouri– This is a beautiful new trail that we walked for the first time this summer. It’s a ways if you live on the other side of the Metro, but the beautiful views and shady asphalt series of paths make it worth the drive.  After the hike, we drove to old downtown Blue Springs to find lunch. Lucky us, we also found Inklings Book and Coffee Shoppe. The lovely proprietor of the Bookstore took six copies of my books to sell, and I will be signing my books there December 2. What a great place to browse for books, trade in you old ones, and find books by local authors (such as ME, yay!) We also found yummy gelato in the coffee shop. Great day!

4. Turkey Creek Streamway Trail — One of our favorite trails passes along Turkey Creek through greenways and parks. We began the trail at 75th Street and I-35 and walked north to a Sonic where we bought diet limeades as rewards for the hot walk. Yum. The walk is pretty in the good ol’ Summertime, and much of it is shady.

Because it’s one of our favorites, we drove to the Twisted Sisters Coffee Shop on Johnson Drive for lunch. Yummy and very reasonably priced lunches.

5. Kansas City Streetcar tracks — We hadn’t walked in downtown Kansas City for a while, and we wanted to see how the new streetcar tracks were coming along. So, instead of our usual downtown walks, the Riverfront Heritage Trail, Union Cemetery, or our winter Crown Center and Union Station walk, we decided to follow the streetcar line. We started in the City Market parking lot, walked to the beginning of the line and followed the tracks to Union Station along Main Street. There is still plenty of construction going on at this writing, so we had to cross and recross the street a couple of times, but we made it to Union Station by walking across the pedestrian bridge that crosses the tracks between the freight yard restaurants and the back of the station.

The bridge led us into the station through the model trains display–fascinating. After pausing for a short history lesson from one of the Union Station volunteers, we crossed the street to Portfolio, a kitchen design store. If you want to remodel your kitchen or design a new one, they have impressive ideas.  

On the way back to the City Market area, we stopped at Bob Jones shoe outlet. (We are shoppers as well as hikers, you know.) Then we stopped to see our attorney friend, Michael Dailey, at his office. (I think he missed his lunch by taking time to talk to us, but he didn’t complain.) Finally, we crossed the highway into the River Key area and ate at Harry’s Country Club. My spinach salad was delish. Yum.

My goodness, next week we’ll be starting our Fall, 2015 walks. Ever onward, fellow hikers.

Camp Branch Glade Trail

Rain, family commitments, heat, and trips have limited our summer walking trips this summer, mostly to trails I’ve featured before on this blog. However, we did try one new trail in southeast Johnson County, the Camp Branch Glade trail.  We went on a very warm day, but it had been rainy the previous week. We found mushy places on the trail because most of it is natural and doesn’t have a wood mulch cover. The nature trail has diverse areas and would be a pleasant destination for a picnic and short hike on a nice day. Are you aware that prickly pear cactus grows in every state except Maine? Well, along this trail you can observe some of the Kansas prickly pear.

Due to road construction (this is the summer road work season, you know), my walking group ended up on State Line Road and had lunch at one of our favorite places, Jovito’s Italian Cafe and Bakery. My advice, try one of the Italian lemon cookies. Yum!

 

Mission, KS Walking and Twisted Sisters Eating

This morning the group walked a trail starting south of I-35 and Metcalf. It’s a continuation of the Turkey Creek Trail in Merriam, KS, but the trails don’t connect under the interstate. The map of Northeast Johnson County trails shows the disconnect and also the access points. It’s hard to believe the highway is only a short distance away on the other side of those beautiful trees. It’s a nice walk, though traffic noise makes conversation a little difficult for a group of people.

After enjoying the short walk, we drove south on Metcalf to the Target parking lot south of Johnson Drive. Then we set off along the trail on the south side of the Target, along Turkey Creek, and into Mission. It led us close to Johnson Drive and Nall where we found the delightful Twisted Sisters Coffee Shop.   We each had a satisfying (YUM), well-priced lunch and enjoyed the cozy, convivial atmosphere. The service was fast and friendly.    One of the owners, Sandi, took the time to talk with us and tell us about the shop.

Tomahawk Creek Trail in the Springtime

In the high sixties, low seventies by the time our hike was finished, dry, and sunny–beautiful–perfect. Springtime at its best. We hiked the Tomahawk Creek Trail from 119th Street almost to Metcalf and back.

The creek looked clear and running but not overly full. The trees were in blossom and almost leafed out, and the trail was mostly asphalt. Now what could make for a better hike?

I forgot to mention the conversation and picture-taking opportunities, plenty of both. And then lunch at The Corner Bakery Café in Camelot Court shopping center.

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Don’t mind the construction. It’s still open and serving up good food. I really liked the lemon-chicken-orzo soup. Yum!

Winter into Spring

Ah, springtime. Time to get out of the malls and into the great outdoors. This winter we often hiked at Oak Park Mall and Crown Center. Once we went to Independence Center. Those are the three indoor malls big enough for a good walk left around the K.C. Metro. Crown Center and over the skywalks makes for a dandy walk. Union Station always slows us down because there are so many things to see. It was beautiful at Christmas time. The shops at the Mall draw our attention, too, but we try to wait until after the walk to do our shopping.

On one of our Crown Center walks, we drove out of the free parking after three hours and drove to Thirty-ninth Street where we ate some fabulous food at The Blue Koi. At the Oak Park Mall we usually eat at Panera, always a good choice for nutritious soups and salads. Independence Center is farther for all of us, but it was fun because it was different for us. We traveled to downtown Independence and found a nice restaurant new to all of us.

That’s not to say we were too wimpy to walk outside during the winter. Everything looks stark, but one can see more of the surroundings on winter walks because of the lack of foliage. The gray and brown landscape has a beauty of its own. Indian Creek Trail can be good in winter when it’s dry.  The Basha is a good choice for a place to eat after a cold hike.  All the outdoor trails can be walked in the wintertime. Just be careful of ice and wet places, and dress in layers. Enjoy.

 

Walking at Unity Village

“This is the best. Isn’t this interesting. I didn’t know about this.”

Those are some of the comments my friends and I made while walking the trails and roads in Unity Village, Missouri. That’s right. Unity Village is a town in Jackson County. It’s surrounded by Lee’s Summit and Kansas City and not far from Raytown, the small village has a lot more than one imagines just from seeing its tower from highway 350.  The tower, in fact, houses a spa. The central campus for Unity has a chapel, a town hall, an administration building, a library, a bookstore, gardens and fountains, and so much more that we were delighted.  The nicest surprise, though, turned out to be the walk we took around the village. We intended to walk the nature trail, but it was closed due to upkeep. Disappointed, we started off on a road. But our explorations took us through a wonderland of buildings, stone walls, fountains, pools, and other amenities built nearly 100 years ago.    There is a golf course winding through the grounds, and we spotted an old wooden sculpture which made us laugh.  As it happened, we were glad the wildlife trail was closed that day.

After our walk, our first stop was the Neighborhood Café  in downtown Lee’s Summit. It seems the café is a favorite of many workers in the area, and we could see why. Good, filling food, and nice service made our visit luxurious. The cinnamon rolls came with the meal!  Gooey YUM!

Onward to Cockrell Mercantile. What can I say? It’s so great for Christmas shopping (or any other kind of shopping) that I forgot to take pictures. You can take a gander here, or go there and spend some hours looking at all the merchandise.

Enjoy

Indian Creek Trail in the Wintertime

There is an advantage to walking a familiar trail during the winter–no leaves. During the summer, leaves shade the trail and provide pretty surroundings. But they block the view. During the winter, the hiker can see back into the woods, the streams, the stumps, rocks, and hillsides.

Indian Creek Trail from the tennis courts at 103rd and Marty, East to Roe, and back provides some shelter from the cold winds and nice views of the creek side during the winter.

 After a winter walk, a person is hungry. We found a good Mediterranean restaurant called The Basha. We each ordered the yummy lentil soup and shared the appetizer sampler, a feast of hummus, pitas, Baba ganouj, and stuffed grape leaves. The location at 7016 W. 105th Street, tucked away inside the block of businesses, is hard to find but worth hunting down. Pretty décor and excellent food.

 

Leawood Park/Indian Creek Trail

 What’s better than walking a lovely trail along a gorgeous creek on a beautiful day? Too gooey? I couldn’t help myself. Indian Creek Trail from Leawood City Park east to Wornall Rd. (where one must stop for a restroom break and a bottle of water, at least) and back is a short but nice walk. The views of Indian Creek from the trail, the water birds, and the varied terrain made for a nice walk in September.

A morning snack at SmallCakes in the Mission Farms shopping center can be a follow-up to this walk, or it could be a stop on the walk with a bit of a detour north along Mission Rd. Cupcakes, muffins, and coffee are the fare.