Camping: We spent four days in Weston Bend, MO last week, camping at the state park. Josie has proudly added "roasted not burned hot dogs" to her cooking repetoire. She is also learning that when the parental units suggest a nice, scenic hike, we might be gone a while.We once took a five mile hike at Ha Ha Tonka (Lake of the Ozarks) when we'd just planned a little look around. This time, an intended two mile hike along a bluff overlooking the Missouri River turned into a trek at least double that length. Whether she likes it or not, Josie is becoming a good hiker.
The park ranger we talked to earlier in the day suggested we walk the first part of the trail and turn back. I thought she meant we were wimps, so of course we kept going. The trail that should've taken us back to our car was overgrown, looping us onto a new trail. John had the water and the bubble gum, crucial to Josie's enjoyment of the trip, so he maintained her pace while I marched ahead. We encountered a woman with four pre-teen girls in similar straits: we all thought the new trail was the one we were to be on. She and John walked the hilly road back to cars while I stayed with the girls in the shade.
On the trail, we saw the promised dramatic vista of the Missouri (truly worthwhile), deer tracks, a lone cylindrical building across the river (Leavenworth?). Best part was the post-hike treat: a visit to a strawberry field where we ate and picked and ate some more.
Amelia Earhart: Same trip, different day--we visited Atchison, KS, a RR town (Atchison, Topeka, Santa Fe) on the Missouri, birthplace of Amelia Earhart. Went to the historical museum, birthplace home, Trinity Episcopal, an earthworks portrait of Earhart by a lake. It was a bigger deal to me than to John or Josie, a little like visiting the oil slick left in the wake of Pearl Harbor with John--a place one of us had wanted to see since childhood.
2 comments:
My mom bought me the neatest books when I was about 8 or 9 - they were mini-biographies of important people in American (modern) history. I remember reading about Louis Armstrong, Jonas Salk, and Amelia Earhart. I was always interested in Amelia as well.
And thanks, now I have Judy Garland in my head, singing, "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe"....
I loved bios as a kid, too. Had forgotten abt that song, a good one.
Josie is sort of interested in Amelia Earhart but watching The Miracle Worker w/her class made a bigger impression. She likes to close her eyes during dinner and ignore what I say--her idea of being Helen Keller. Hmm.
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