Chicago February 2010

Jill and I spent a couple days in Chicago February 20-22. Took Amtrak on Saturday and met Oksana for supper -- she flew in from Minnesota. We didn't have much of an agenda -- just wanted to see the Art Institute and spend a little time with Oksana. The Amtrak ride was fine - except we missed our train and had to take the next one which was only about an hour later -- not too bad. We got into Chicago about 1:30 and took a cab to our hotel - the Allerton - on N. Michigan. We met Oksana for supper and had a nice visit. We had plans for us all to walk down to the Art Institute the next day but Oksana wasn't feeling well so Jill and I took a long hike through town. The weather was cloudy and foggy but not to cold. We spent some time at the Art Institute and at Millennium Park and Jill did some shopping. We got all the way down to Congress and the Roosevelt University and then walked back up to the Newberry Library...which was closed...drat. We were able to visit with Oksana again on Sunday evening and she was beginning to feel better. She had an important appointment on Monday so it was good that she rested. On Monday we finished up on some shopping and got back on the train at 2:30 and were finally home by about 11 PM.

October Trip to Lake of the Ozarks part 3

Wednesday

Rocky Top Trail -- The weather is changing and it will probably rain most of the day on Thursday so I decided to take one more hike at the state park. Rocky Top Trail is on the west side of Grand Glaise arm near the public beach. The trail is 2 miles long and goes through several diverse ecosystems -- this is probably the best trail I've taken this week. It starts by climbing up the slope to a dolomite glade with large rock outcrops and prairie grass. The glade is being maintained to keep cedar trees from moving in. It looks like an easy walk but it is almost solid rock and there are many places to trip or turn your ankle...I'm glad I had my walking stick with me. The trail crosses the glade and then enters the forest and starts a slow descent into a valley. The trees were very colorful...much more than I expected. Even on an overcast day the colors were all aglow. Before long the trail reaches a dry creek bed. The trees in this valley are mostly maples...somewhat unusual in the Ozarks. I'm used to the subdued fall colors of the oaks and hickory trees with the occasional reds of the dogwood trees but the maples were aglow in a bright yellow. The creek bed had a rock shelf that must produce a small waterfall when there is water flowing. We had so much rain last week that I expected to see some water but it was mostly dry except for a few pools and pot holes. The trail slowly climbs up out of the valley and then follows a ridge top that slopes away sharply on each side. The trail then comes out on top of a cliff overlooking Lake of the Ozarks and you get a full panorama view of that portion of the lake. Most of what you see is wooded so it must be state park land. There was a boat of fisherman across the lake and a few boats went by but it was very quiet and relaxing just sitting and watching the lake from that height. I stayed about 20 minutes and thoroughly enjoyed it. I scared up a couple deer while I was walking and saw something that might have been a weasel or a mink coming down a tree. I also saw a scorpion...people don't realize that we have scorpions in Missouri but they like rocky places like a sunny glade or a rocky bluff top. The trail turns back into the woods and follows the north-facing slope where there are a ;lot of ferns mixed in with the fall colors. Eventually the trail recrosses the valley and then follows the lake shore back to the trail head.

October Trip to Lake of the Ozarks part 2

Monday and Tuesday....

The weather has been beautiful but a little cool. I decided to go back over to Ha-Ha-Tonka on Monday and hike some of the trails. I took the Boulder Ridge Trail first and went about a mile and a half on a loop trail. It was pretty rugged and rocky and I was surprised that they had a sign saying no bicycles on the trail...they would have to be carried over most of it. The Fall colors were in full display and the cool nights pretty much killed off most of the bugs that you would expect. The rocky outcrops were dolomite and they have weathered into very strange shapes. At one point I came across a small rock with two eye-sockets eroded into it and the way the sunlight hit it it looked like a small skull.....kind of creeped me out for a minute.

I took the Spring Trail which was also about a mile and a half. It went along the shore of the spring branch up past the island and into the gorge. There was once a mill there but all that is left is the mill dam. The trail hugs the rock wall on a

boardwalk. The spring flows out from under a rock wall at the head of the gorge. The trail then climbs 200 feet on an extensive boardwalk stairway to the top of the cliff and then finally winds its way back to the starting point. The climb is pretty exhausting and I was dressed too warmly so I was soaked by the time I got back to the car. It was a good day and I was a litle worried that my knee might give me trouble but it was fine.

I got back to the condo and relaxed. I made a stromboli for supper...the first time I tried that -- and it was great. Watched the Phillies beat the Dodgers in the NLCS in the evening.

On Tuesday I made a trip back home to cut the front grass and take care of Watson. He is really lonely and couldn't get enough scratches and rubs. I feel sorry for him....I wish I could have brought him along. Jill gave him food on Sunday but his dish was empty and he was almost out of water. I got the grass cut and cleaned out Watson's litter box. The house looks good and it smell nice. The sunny weather makes it look even better. Watson and I had lunch together on the deck and he got some snacks when I left.

I got back down to the lake around 3 PM and went over to Lake of the Ozarks State Park to check out the trails they have there. I walked one that goes through an area that they are trying to reestablish the native savanah that was the prehistoric type of vegetation that was common throughout the Ozarks. Now the common vegetation is a scrub-oak jungle that is almost impenetrable but the savanah was wide open with trees spaced about twenty feet apart.The trail also goes therogh a prairie area with Big Bluestem grass that is nearly five feet tall.

I spent some time at the lake picnic area and worked on a cedar walking stick that I want to use on my hikes. I got back to the condo around 5:30 and later made some chicken and vegetables for supper. There is supposed to be a meteor shower tonight and I ought to be able to see it from my balcony.

October Trip to Lake of the Ozarks part 1

I scheduled a week vacation at a condo at Lake of the Ozarks starting October 16th as sort of a reward and transition for me getting my house on the market. I finally got just about everything major done and I have it officially on the market.

The condo is part of the Lodge of the Four Seasons complex and is big enough to sleep eight but I think that would be a little cramped if they were all adults. Jill came down on Friday and spent two nights but had to get back home for work on Monday.

Friday night we went out to Lil' Rizzos for supper and had a good time. The Lake area has changed so much since I last spent any time here. Lil' Rizzos has two locations now and neither one is where it used to be. We spent part of Saturday morning looking at an old photo album I found that had some of my dad's pictures from WWII when he was in Europe.

Saturday was a beautiful day and really the first full sunny day we have had in at least a week. We went over to Ha-Ha-Tonka State Park and looked at the castle ruins and hiked around a little. The castle dates from the early 1900s but it burned in 1942 and there is nothing left but the stone walls and the water tower. It sits on top of a rock bluff overlooking the Ha-Ha-Tonka Spring Branch that runs into the Niangua River arm of the lake. It must have been an impressive place because the ruins are still very impressive.

Ha-Ha-Tonka is actually a collapsed cave system that formed a deep canyon with steep rock walls, a natural bridge, springs and sink holes. It is one of the prime examples of karst geologic features in the US. We hiked along the trail to the natural bridge and made a short side trip to the water tower. The trail is actually a boardwalk for most of the way. The state spent thousands building wooden boardwalks throughout the park to enable people to access some of the difficult areas. Jill and I followed the trail to the natural bridge and then started climbing back up the hill. I lost my footing and stumbled on some wet rocks and banged my knee pretty bad. It was a hard walk back to the car but after I got back to the condo I got some ice on it and it was fine in a few hours.

Sunday morning we got a slow start but went over to Steak n Shake for a lunch and then Jill got on her way back home. I spent part of the afternoon at the outlet mall walking around and getting a few kitchen things I needed.

Haiku-isms: or how to pass the time on a long solo road trip

I find myself making solo road trips sometimes these days and have been trying to find ways to occupy my drive time -- listening to music or maybe an audio book works but even that gets old. So I've invented a mental past-time called Haiku-isms. I try to come up with a short description of a sight or a place or an experience in the form of Haiku. Some of it happens after the fact - on reflection. I don't drive very far each day so I have time to work these out and sometimes they are pretty crude and I have to go back and 'fix' them.....but that is part of the exercise too, I guess. Here is an example (sort of cleaned up) from a couple trips west in 2008.....not exactly Kerouac...

I head west to spring

Torn trees tell a tale of woe

A toll booth is next

I find what I seek

The seasons change in Tulsa

Plum trees in blossom

Oklahoma sucks

The wind propels - the blades turn

Electrons line dance

Soft bed and road noise

Someone locks a door nearby

Motel room at night

Abundant cow pies

Land of sun baked bovine art

Welcome to Texas

Cityscapes fade fast

Caddy Ranch reeks of fresh paint

Much remains to see

This place has nine lives

Burque wants them all at once

Albuquerque naps

Local time seems stuck

Atomic age relics glow

Route sixty-six shines

The desert shows bright

All roads lead to empty space

The river flows by

Coronado's camp

Bernalillo lives its past

My view takes it in

Clouds drift in blue skies

Shadows cross the mountain wall

as they always have

Ancient wisdom lives

Ruins mark the way they came

The padres brought change

Old Taos charms me

The blood of Christ surrounds me

A fish in my net

Santa Ana stars

They act like they own the place

That’s because they do

The trip home looms now

Time flies when you're having fun

The road goes both ways

Home before dark

We got out of Oklahoma City this morning right after a thunderstorm went through and we ended up following it to Tulsa. There was a substantial hail storm along the highway but we came along after it was over....we just saw the piles of hail laying in small drifts along the roadside.

It rained or threatened to rain the entire day. We stopped in Springfield for a late lunch and then headed north through Buffalo and Lake Ozark. We finally got home around 5:30.

We met Jill for super at Ria's and then came back and relaxed for the night. It was a rough couple of days trying to cover the distance and keep track of the weather. If the storm had arrived a day earlier we would probably still be stuck in Amarillo...most of the highways we were on are closed now due to the blizzard.

It looks like the snow will finally catch up with us. They are saying we will get heavy snow here tomorrow and then be back in the 50s on Sunday. I will get Paul on the St. Louis-bound Amtrak tomorrow morning so he should be home before anything goes too crazy.

As you can tell, we had a really good trip together and had a good time doing and seeing lots of stuff.

Trying to Out-Run the Weather

The weather in Albuquerque is cool but OK. The weather along our route back home is scary with blizzard watches and lots of snow expected. We left town and headed east climbing up out of the valley and through the mountains....it is surprising how far you go in a steady climb as you head east. The mountains were shrouded in fog and threatened rain but it never came. We were in sun most of the morning and had lunch in Tucumcari. We hit another band of threatening weather near Amarillo - but, again, we didn't get any rain. We noticed that there were no visitors at Cadillac Ranch on the day before an expected blizzard. We decided that Cadillac Ranch marks the center of nowhere -- the place from where all other no-wheres are measured. In Oklahoma the sky was overcast almost all the way.

We stayed near Bricktown and went there for supper. We were tired so we just ate at an IHOP and relaxed. Bricktown is the night-life center for Oklahoma City -- grown up around the ballpark. They have a little river walk section and a few blocks of bars and restaurants. It would have been nicer in warmer weather.

Watching the Mizzou - Memphis game.

That's about it for today....just driving. No pictures. Talk to you more tomorrow.