Our last stop before some solid driving to GA to work on Annie was Missouri and the Katy Trail. The Katy is over 237 miles long and we had originally planned to visit several sections of this trail during the fall. Since we were a bit earlier than planned, the weather was quite warm so we opted to tool around on just two sections this time around.
On our way to Missouri from Kansas we stopped off at a Conservation Area to wander around and spend the night.
We saw several familiar critters...
Red Admiral Butterfly
Red-spotted Purple Butterfly
Leopard Frog
Here is an as of yet unidentified (possibly new-to-us) hopper.
Red-headed Woodpecker
and a beautiful Zipper Spider doing its thing
We enjoyed our time at the conservation area. If it hadn't been so darn hot we would have spent a few more days relaxing and exploring.
Our first day on the Katy Trail wound up being a short one with a late start.
When we arrived at the trail we discovered that Hop-a-long's slimed tire had gone flat and its battery had also drained completely.
After throwing an old school patch on the rear tire we set to riding. With a late start, a serious headwind and no battery assist though we opted for a short trip this go round. Thankfully, we later discovered that in running out burrito wrap on the bikes we had accidentally turned on Hop-a-longs headlight and that was the reason for the drained battery.
Our second day on the Katy Trail we started off from this awesome Depot in Sedalia.
There was some metal work and sculptures around the depot so we walked a bit.
Then it was on to riding...
It was a nice day...
We spotted this Three-toed Box Turtle hanging out in the grass on the side of the trail.
It is not often that we are quite distracted by fruit but we kept seeing these trees along the way. The fruit on them was like nothing we had seen before. So, we took some shots and did some investigating.
These are Osage Oranges (Maclura pomifera). The Osage tree is the sole surviving member of the genus Maclura. It has a wide variety of uses with its wood being favored for the making of fences and wood bows. You may want to do some research however before you decide to sample of its fruit.
A short side trail led to a lake where we sat and had lunch.
There were plenty of hoppers down near the water.
In the butterfly realm we saw all of the usual suspects like this Variegated Fritillary,
this Common Buckeye and
and this beautiful Question Mark Butterfly.
We also spotted Papillio polyxenes - a Black Swallowtail.
Back at the depot we made a new friend
We also spotted a new-to-us cocoon which we are pretty sure belongs to friends or family
of this unfortunate but new-to-us caterpillar (we did a quick edit to remove most of his guts). They both belong to the Common Buckeye Butterfly.
We had a pretty decent couple of rides on the Katy Trail. One day we may head back and complete some other sections.
For now though the thought of possible major repairs on our girl and getting her safely back to GA was on our minds and thus became our priority.
Since Annie was still acting up we thought it best to get to moving so as to not get caught behind the eight ball.
In our usual style we drove mostly two lane back roads and a few days later found ourselves (and Annie) safely in GA and ready to get our girl ship shape.
Well, that just about catches you up on our travels from April to Sep. We spent a couple of months in GA helping out Darlene's folks and working on Annie before zipping down to our present location in FLA where we are enjoying exploring and spending time with Nicole's family.
Stay tuned...