So here we are...looking geeky in our official eclipse glasses, gaping at the historic event. But where were we? We traveled to sunny, scenic Missouri...our neighboring state. Many months ago we signed up with a group of friends to ride our bikes on the KATY trail during the eclipse.
What's the KATY Trail State Park? It's our nation's longest continuous rails-to-trails conversion with almost 240 miles of trail from St. Louis to Kansas City. It has beautiful scenery and is super well maintained...and did I say it is blissfully FLAT?!
Cool stone railway tunnel behind us at beginning of ride. See how refreshed/unsweaty we look?
We drove to Missouri with 6 of our favorite bike buddies, 8 bikes and enough snacks/drinks/photographic equipment for a long expedition. Alas, we only rode for one day...but what a day!
The Total Eclipse of the KATY ride was organized through the Missouri State Parks. We signed up many months ago before our Spirit of Christmas Mystery Sampler even crossed my imagination. Leaving town the week before our September 1 shipment wasn't a great idea, but it was a once in a lifetime eclipse...right?
For a brief moment I considered packing my Spirit of Christmas Embellishment Packs but decided to let them rest at home and wait until I returned. The drivers will thank me for not distributing random beads and buttons in their back seats.
We began about 9 AM, cruising by cliffs on one side...
...and the calm Missouri river on the other side
Every time you pass through a small town on the KATY, there are charming little "depots" with important stuff like restrooms, benches and bike repair stations. And during this ride...SNACKS and DRINKS!
Check out these scientific eclipse cookies our friend Vicki made for us
My husband Alan (right) and 2 other K-State faithful in their purple
Alan wore a Kansas State (Go Wildcats!) jersey which was a great conversation starter along the trail. There were riders from many states and it's so fun to meet new people as you roll along.
Beautiful views everywhere!
But what about the eclipse??
We were in the area of TOTALITY, so we kept our geeky eclipse glasses handy as the eclipse began about 1 PM.
We would stop our bikes. gaze at the eclipse, then ride on
We managed to finish the 37 mile route about 2 minutes before TOTALITY. It might sound like good planning, but it was definitely accidental. It was getting really hot on the trail, and I just wanted to finish the ride.
We viewed "TOTALITY" with other gazers in Jefferson City, MO
Below are some pics our bike friend Bob took for us. Aren't they amazing? AND...he carried his camera on his bike!
After we were done riding, the organizers served us a hot dog/hamburger lunch with tons of iced tea/lemonade/water, which was great. I'm not sure a mini bag (alright...2 mini bags!) of chili Fritos have ever tasted so good. Then we waited to shuttle our bikes and ourselves (in separate vehicles) back to our starting point. During our wait we chatted with some of our 500+ new bike buddies about our adventure.
Now it's back to work on the Spirit of Christmas Mystery Sampler. Can you identify the goodies in the picture above??
LEAVE A COMMENT with...
* Your eclipse adventure
* What are the "covert" items in photo above?
What a wonderful adventure to view the eclipse! I was driving to my daughter's house across the state in Arkansas. I stopped to get lunch just about the time of the eclipse.I didn't have the glasses because I couldn't find them anywhere. I saw a man in the parking lot with a welders helment. He was kind enough to let me take a look. It was amazing to get to see it. I loved seeing the photos in your post too.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun way to celebrate The Total Eclipse of the Sun Day! And what beautiful scenery you had on the trail.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun! I watched the eclipse from work in the 91% range and am already looking forward to 2024 when the path of totality goes through my back yard!
ReplyDeleteSuch a wonderful way to enjoy the eclipse. We had about 80% here in the DC area. Still very cool to watch.
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