As Christmas neared, Kay caught an ugly bug.  A trip to the clinic resulted in an injection and prescription; bronchitis is not fun!  While she visited the clinic on the west side of the Village, I traveled to Memphis to see Harper, Jenny, and Brian, and purchase new hearing aids at Costco.  Normally, I would have bought these at the Costco in Pharr, Texas, but the Costco there has not had a hearing aid specialist for several months, and none is expected in the foreseeable future.  Kay’s condition worsened, and she was as sick on Monday, December 19, as I’ve ever seen her.  She gradually turned the corner, and by week’s end was feeling almost normal, though coughing virtually every breath. 

We celebrated Christmas with Karyn, Matt, Ridge, and Aker on Friday, December 23; regrettably Ron and Cheryl were on their way to join us when they received a call that Cheryl’s mother had fallen, and had broken an ankle/leg and severely sprained the other.  We had a great Christmas celebration, but missed Ron, Cheryl, Kaden, Jorday, Jenny, Brian, and Harper.  Changing times and two generations of blended families make the traditional Christmases of past extinct experiences. Having finished our Christmas “celebration” at home, we began de-constructing holiday decorations right after the kids left, and finished, with an empty looking house, that evening.  A tradition Kay and I have been practicing since before we married is to attend Christmas Eve service at church; this is usually a carols, candlelight, and communion service, and we cherish them.  After the service, we attended a “Methodist” spaghetti dinner at Jim and Jackie Morris’ along with Jackie’s sister and brother-in-law, and daughter.  It was a very enjoyable evening, and we appreciated being included.

We resumed “normal” activities after Thanksgiving, including Christmas shopping and beginning preparations for spending the winter in the Rio Grande Valley.  We schedule most of our “regular” medical appointments for late November/early December, and late May/early June to accommodate our travel schedule.  We both received clean bills of health.  We still have most of our teeth (hehehe), and two good news items for me is that the cardiologist has lengthened the time between visits to one year, and I celebrated 6 years being cancer free!  Kay did 99% of the Christmas shopping—well, maybe 100%.  We have most of our clothes and personal items accumulated, ready to be put in the motorhome, for the winter in Texas.  On the social front, this period of time is filled with holiday parties and concerts.  We saw Kathy Mattea in concert, and she still has a beautiful voice; her guitarist was unbelievable, and could put on a show by himself.  We also saw the Arkansas Symphony and the Hot Springs/Hot Springs Village Concert Band—both were awesome.  And, we’ve been to numerous banquets.
On Wednesday, December 14, The Book Club held their annual Christmas “meeting” and I participated in the Hot Springs Village Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count.  Our group (the Village has 5 groups) identified 40+ species, and the numbers per species were similar to previous years.  It was a fun happening, including the “banquet” on Thursday evening to accumulate numbers from all the groups.
Sorry, no photos.

Kay bought a Christmas tree and she erected it in the sunroom on Monday.  A turkey was smoked in the Big Green Egg on Wednesday, and it turned out beautifully.  After cooling, it was deboned, and a smoked turkey/sausage gumbo was made—the roux is the tricky part as it has to be constantly stirred over medium high heat WITHOUT burning. Kay made cheese logs and cookies for the “kids”, i.e. Jenny and Brian.

Jenny, Brian, and Harper arrived Wednesday evening to celebrate a combination Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Harper is growing so tall and is even prettier than before.  With great weather, we fished and played outside most of Thanksgiving Day, enjoying our family meal in the early evening.

Karyn, Ridge, and Aker arrived Friday morning, and we were all off to the Mid America Science Museum; the adults had more fun than the kids.

Back home, after lunch and naps, the three grandkids played and played—sharing toys, no fights, and no crying.  It is so fun to watch them have fun.

A new tradition of ours, started last year, is for the grandkids decorate the tree in the sunroom on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  As daylight waned, the decorations came out, and the grandkids had a blast.

After breakfast Saturday morning, the grandkids opened a couple Christmas presents each as a reward for decorating the tree (and for us to watch them open a few gifts).  Jenny, Brian, and Harper packed up and left for home, and Karyn, Ridge, and Aker followed a few hours later.  Wow, what a great weekend!

We were so pleased to host Winter Texan friends Al and Sharon Crawford from near Hamilton, Ontario, for a few days in mid-November (we visited them in August earlier this year), and the Arkansas weather was great during their visit.  Fall is late coming this year, and consequently the trees have just begun to change, though there is little color compared to previous years—hot, dry summer and early fall.  Al and I overloaded on golf, Sharon attended The Bookclub meeting at our house, and we all played bridge every single evening.  We were having so much fun that regrettably, the only photo we have is one of the “super” moon.  Oh, what fun we had, and Kay and I were so disappointed to see them leave.  They will be visiting Portugal this winter; we will miss them greatly in the RGV.

We diverted on the way home from the bike trip (Oct 29) to pay a quick visit to Jenny, Harper, and Brian.  It was a great visit even if brief.

The following two weeks were used to recover from the ride, catch up on medical appointments, and for Kay, to catch up on her very active social life.  Of course, I returned to the golf course!  We also did pre-winter maintenance on the motorhome, including an oil and filter change, winterizing the pipes and tanks, and filling the batteries with distilled water.

On Friday, November 11, I rode the Arkansas River Trail while Kay shopped at the Christmas show in downtown Little Rock.  Afterwards, we collected Ridge from daycare, and he spent the weekend with us.  Saturday, on the way to the Museum of Science and Discovery in Hot Springs, he got sick; we thought he was really ill, but after several phone calls to his mom, she informed us he was car sick, and after a few stops to walk around, we got back home and spent a quiet Saturday and Sunday morning watching action figure shows on Netflix.

First, there are not enough superlatives to describe the sheer exhilaration and excitement I experienced on the trip (Kay’s Take follows in an immediate blog entry).  It far exceeded any and all expectations I had for the trip.  And, despite my obesity, I fared much better than imagined. 
There were too many good things about the trip to mention, but here are a few.  First, Road Scholar knows how to do senior travel; it is fun, busy, and not terribly expensive—experiences on both our trips were overwhelmingly good—and we plan to do a Road Scholar trip annually hereafter.  The trip coordinator, Pam Ronkoski, working for and through St. Charles Community College, was fabulous and seemingly had thought of everything; her attention to detail was magnificent.The “support” staff—Rochelle, Don, Terry, Bob, Tim, and Steve—were amazing and took care of the actual ride, transportation, SAG stops, and our bikes and luggage.

The SAG stops were spaced perfectly, and snacks and lunches provided at these stops were very good and timely, meeting energy and hydration needs.  The trail was in very good condition with few ruts and soft spots, and despite the dry conditions proved not too dusty.  The weather was good, though the steady 12 mph headwind and drizzle on the 54 mile ride was daunting.  The side trips and lecture—Bothwell Lodge, Sedalia Depot, Missouri State Capitol Building, Stone Hill Winery, and lecture by Dr. Anita Mallinkrodkt—were interesting and provided good diversions, though most of us were there to just to ride; but we probably desperately needed the breaks!  Lodging ranged from great (Country Inn and Suites in St. Charles, Hotel Bothwell in Sedalia, Isle of Capri Casino Hotel in Boonville, Capital Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City) to adequate (Harbor Haus Inn & Suites in Hermann and Super 8 in Washington)—all were the best available given the location and setting of the KATY Trail.  The food was good to adequate, though nothing to write home about; however, The Mother In Law House in St. Charles was quite good—again, all were the best available give the location and setting.

Our equipment performed well.  The bicycles (TREK DS 8.3 for me, and DAWES for Kay) met the demands of the trip, though many adjustments in handlebars and seats were made.  Kay’s new DAWES bicycle required a pedal about midway through the trip due to a “frozen” bearing in the bike’s existing left pedal.  Kay complained that her seat was uncomfortable, and that she wants gloves with more gel cushioning.  Given prior knowledge, I would have taken the TREK FX 7.6, outfitted with wider tires, as it has better components; I took the TREK DS 8.3 because of wider tires and suspension, but the suspension considerably slowed the bike, and I turned it off for most of the ride.   We did not need or use front or rear lights, and the support staff had all the necessary tools and parts for repairs; thus, we left ours in the car at the hotel in St. Charles.  Biking helmets were required and ours were adequate; I wore a cycling skull cap under mine for perspiration, sun protection, and warmth as needed.  I used toe clips on the pedals, and wouldn’t go again without them.  My old Keen hiking shoes worked well, but developed a horrible stink.  Using unflattering, but useful, cycling jerseys we also wore mock Ts under the jerseys much of the time; cycling jerseys have rear pockets for holding various items.  We had both chamois cycling shorts and chamois cycling underwear; I much prefer the  shorts.  We began using Chamois Butt’r a couple days too late; it proved to be a life saver for our butts!  Our Marmot breathable jackets worked, particularly for wind, but moisture still developed inside; good breathable cycling jackets would have been great.  We both carried cycle bags on rear racks, and they were needed.  We both also used Camel Bak hydration systems, excellent for drinking on the go.

To be honest, I’m a mediocre cyclist. I like riding my bike but at my leisurely pace. 

More about this later.

Recently we participated in a Road Scholar cycling trip to Missouri. I would say the vast majority of participants were bicycle enthusiasts.  Many tolerated the extra activities not related to cycling but, for the most part, they wanted to be on the trail and wanted to be riding. I welcomed the extra activities and enjoyed them.  We met interesting people from all over the country.  

There was one lady from Canada, one from California, one from Maryland, one from New York , and even one lady from Alaska.  All in all, there were 36 participants. I enjoyed meeting all of them and many of them had cycled in the United States on lots of different trails and in Europe and other countries.  The couple that I thought were amazing was a retired Methodist Chaplain and his wife.  They had been cycling for over 50 years; had taken over 30 cycling vacations all over the world – Ireland, Great Britain, China, Europe, and all over the U.S.  He was 82 and she was 78 and they could leave me ‘in their dust’ without any trouble!  LOL.  My heroes!

Enough about the interesting people.  Back to the cycling.  On day one, I rode 20 miles and stopped at a SAG rest and rode the Sag Wagon to our evening stop.  There were 3 or 4 of us – so I wasn’t the only one who was not intent on riding every mile.  My butt was tired and I battle with my hands going so numb I can’t shift my gears.  If I get off my bike and exercise my fingers and take the pressure off my tail bone every 5 miles or so, I do much better.  Most of the other riders just ride – they seldom stop.  I guess it’s kind of a ‘race’ to see who can finish in the first group.  Not me!  Usually I finished in the last group.  On day two I road 24 miles with a Sag break after the first 10 miles.  That is the longest I’ve ever ridden in one day!  On day three I rode 20 miles in a cool drizzling rain.  I was pretty miserable and the Sweeper rode with me the last 5 miles.  He’s the last person to come in so he can help anyone who has trouble and so no one gets lost.   I didn’t like being the last one to finish a segment.  My tailbone was so sore on the 4th day, I only road a 7 mile stretch.  I rode the Sag wagon before and after and just rested up.  The 5th day I rode a total of 14 miles, taking advantage of the Sag wagon in the middle.  So my grand total was 85 miles for the week.  I was disappointed because I had set a secret goal for myself of 100 miles.  I just hadn’t ridden so many back to back days before and my sore tailbone was an unexpected hindrance.  I was really proud that Donald rode his own pace and he completed every mile, 182 of them.  He’s got that competitive spirit and he truly loves cycling.  I like it – but not like he does!  I don’t like hills; I like flat roads.  I like paved trails – those  crushed limestone trails (chatt) are much harder riding.  I averaged about 7 miles an hour on those.  

My saving grace was the SAG Wagon.  There were usually 3-5 of us riding it for one segment or more each day.  The drivers Terry or Don were really great and we learned a lot about the area we were in and Missouri history.  

The planning and coordination of this program was outstanding.  On a side note, Donald ordered me new pedals and a new gel bike seat.  I’m also going to try some compression gloves.  I would go again on another trip as long as I had Sag support and the riding segments weren’t over 25 miles.

Today marks our final ride, creating both excitement and sadness.
After overnighting in Washington, Missouri, we shuttled back to Augusta for a lecture by Dr. Anita Mallinkrodkt, and expert in German culture in Missouri.  Her lecture today focused on the relationship between German settlements in this region and the Missouri River.  She was an excellent speaker and quite entertaining, though I have different views that those she expressed regarding water resources work by the US Army Corps of Engineers.

We walked to the Augusta trailhead for our final leg of this fantastic bicycle trip.  This portion of the trail featured many beautiful old buildings and trailside rock formations.





Trail traffic was much heavier than on any other day of the ride with young, old, and in between enjoying being outside on a nice fall day.  We enjoyed a good lunch at Wine Country Gardens in Defiance, Missouri, where we also had a group photo taken—what a motley crew!

The last segment of the day’s ride took us through Daniel Boone country—spending much of the last 15 years of his life here, he formed a town at the location shown in the photo, and his house (built by his son), still standing, is not far away.


The day’s ride, 33.8 miles in unseasonably warm weather, ended in St. Charles, Missouri.  This also marked the end of the KATY Trail ride.


After stowing the bicycles in the car, enjoying the hot tub, and relaxing for an hour or two, we met the rest of the group for dinner at The Mother In Law House in historic St. Charles.  The food was very good, but saying goodbye was not so much fun; we spent the last several days with 36 participants and 6 support team members in relatively close quarters, and enjoyed may great conversations. 









The Road Scholar KATY Trail trip was a blast, and one of my favorite all time things to have done—I’d do it again in a heartbeat.  Tomorrow’s blog will be a wrap-up of this fantastic experience—the good, the bad, and the ugly if you will.

A light breakfast buffet was served in a crowded, makeshift dining room at Harbor Haus.

Today’s ride is my favorite thus far—the cycling experience and trail were peaceful and serene as we rode through a tree tunnel much of the day.  There was practically no wind today, it was cool and overcast, and there was only 128 feet of elevation change over the 37.5 miles, making for near perfect riding conditions.  The sights along and on the trail were equally great.

There were two SAG stops, including lunch, before riding into charming Augusta—we’re still in the heart of Missouri’s German region.  Dinner was on our own, and we opted to eat at a Chinese buffet across the highway, before calling it an early night.

We awoke to a cool, windy, and drizzly day.  After breakfast, all but two cyclists opted to forego the ride from Jefferson City to Mokane in lieu of touring the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson.  The Capitol is a small replica of the US capitol building.  Statues are common on the grounds, but the real treat is the artwork inside.  We toured public areas on the first, second, and third floors. The Capitol’s first floor features the State Museum.  Paintings, pediments, and friezes decorate the Capitol’s interior.  A prime attraction is a series of murals painted by Thomas Hart Benton in n the House Lounge (we were not allowed to sit in the leather chairs per the Speaker of the House). The grand staircase is flanked by large heroic bronze statues of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and the third-floor rotunda is the site of the Hall of Famous Missourians, a group of bronze busts of many prominent Missourians honored for their achievements and contributions to the state.  Following the tour, we loaded the vans outside the capitol for the short ride to the Mokane Trailhead.

Still sore from yesterday’s 54-mile ride, we gingerly mounted bicycles for the day’s short ride (26.6 miles with an elevation change of 515 feet, average speed of 9.1 mph).

The trail generally followed the Missouri River downstream.  A large rock trailside showed markings of various historic Missouri River floods, several feet above our heads in the photos below.

Because of the short mileage today, we had only one SAG stop at Portland, Missouri, where we enjoyed sandwiches, etc.

Following lunch and back on the trail, these teddy bears were placed on a ledge trailside.

We crossed the Missouri River at Hermann, a town whose residents were largely of German heritage.  Our overnight accommodations were at Harbor Haus Inn and Suites, and eclectic array of houses, apartments, and rooms. 

Dinner followed an excellent tour of Stone Hill Winery.  Both the wine and the dinner were “just okay” but the tour was really good, largely due to the knowledge and friendly personality of the tour guide.