Biking with Friends on the Katy Trail

November 1-4, 2022
Cross-Country 2022

My husband and I have been taking one or two extended van trips a year in our retired life. Our first few trips were to National Parks in the West. Then, an East Coast wedding inspired us to drive cross-country in 2020, right before COVID hit. In 2021, we enjoyed fall foliage in Northern New England, and last year, in fall 2022, we traveled cross-country again from Virginia to California. Along the way, we met friends in Missouri for a few days of biking the Katy Trail in St. Charles.

The Katy Trail provided plenty of places to stop, rest, and visit with friends.

Getting There

My husband and I departed the John James Audubon State Park and Campground in our 1996 Pleasure-Way RV camper van that we had recently named Sweet Van-Ella Magnolia, or Ella for short. We soon crossed the Ohio River into Indiana. The landscape changed drastically from the hills and mountains we had traversed in recent days. Indiana (this part of it, anyway) was flat as a pancake. We drove north on U.S. Route 41 through Evansville to Warrenton, picked up I-64 West, and crossed the Wabash River into Illinois. Later, we crossed the Kaskaskia River. Then in St. Louis, we crossed the Mississippi River into Missouri.

We survived the thick St. Louis traffic on I-70 to I-170 to I-270 and crossed the Missouri River to St. Charles, where Sundermeier RV Park was just down the road from the exit.

In just over three hours, we traveled through four states and crossed three of the largest rivers in the United States.

We left the hilly landscape of West Virginia and Kentucky for the flat valley along the Missouri River.

Sundermeier RV Park

Sundermeier RV Park in St. Charles is adjacent to the Katy Trail (a popular rails-to-trails bike path). The commercial RV park has 114 side-by-side concrete sites, a combination of pull-through and back-in, with picnic tables, and is open year-round. Separate men’s and women’s restrooms with showers require a code. We felt safe, and the park was quiet except for the airplanes approaching the St. Louis airport.

The best part of Sundermeier RV Park was access to the Katy Trail just out the back gate and the St. Charles Historic District, also known as Frenchtown, an easy 10-minute bike ride away.

The Katy Trail is the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas railway.

A mix of RV travelers and full-time residents filled most of the park. Our neighbor, Nate, was on his first RV trip, a real greenhorn. He was on his way to Texas. His remote job allowed him to travel. He shared a few tips and apps with us, and I told him about our travel blog, which includes an article about our trip through Texas in pre-COVID 2020. If you’re reading this, Hello, Nate! We hope you’re still enjoying your time on the road!

Frenchtown is a historic arts district in St. Charles, Missouri.

The Lay of the Land

Missouri sits on a solid continental foundation known as the North American Craton, commonly called basement rock. Layers and layers of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rock sit atop the basement rock. During the Ice Age, 2.4 million to 11,500 years ago, the glacial flow cut what is now the Missouri River.

Archaeologists have evidence that indigenous cultures lived in Missouri at the end of the Ice Age, as many as 12,000 to 14,000 years before European explorers arrived in North America. (1) Diverse cultures—Chickasaw, Delaware, Illini, Kanza, Ioway, Otoe-Missouria, Osage, Quapaw, Sac & Fox, and Shawnee— not only survived but thrived. (2) The Pottawatomie, Sauk, Fox, and Osage were the original people of St. Charles County. (3) Tragically, the U.S. government and the Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced all native people to leave Missouri. Today, “there are currently no federally recognized tribes in the state of Missouri.” (2) While we enjoy the natural beauty of the Katy Trail, let’s acknowledge the people who once called this land home.

The Pottawatomie, Sauk, Fox, and Osage were the original people who lived along the Missouri River of St. Charles County, Missouri.

In 1865, Union Pacific Railroad built the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, known as The Katy. Just 128 years later, in 1993, Union Pacific abandoned the railroad. Shortly afterward, a group proposed converting the railroad to a multi-use recreational trail. (4)The 240-mile-long Katy Trail State Park is the longest-developed rail-to-trail in the United States. The Katy Trail closely follows the Missouri River and crosses a diverse landscape of river valley farmland, riverside buffs, woods, and wildflower meadows. Parts of the trail run along highways and cityscapes.

Travel and Friendship

When we plan RV van trips, we first select the region we plan to visit and then rough in a general route. Our unlux travel style avoids the trappings of densely populated tourist destinations—except for National Parks, which can be pretty crowded. From there, we look at the map and identify national and state parks and other places of interest, including friends and family who live along the way, also known as our Mooch Trail. Seeing family and friends adds flavor to our on-the-road lifestyle. Visiting a place is more meaningful when we create memories with special people.

We had a comfortably warm and sunny day biking the Katy Trail in St. Charles, Missouri.

We have visited friends we’ve had since childhood, former coworkers, and people we otherwise probably wouldn’t see again outside of a random drive-by visit for a walk in the park or a cup of coffee, wine, or a gin and tonic.

The Katy Trail is popular with bicyclists, walkers, and runners.

Some friendships are situational, people you meet along the way and may never see again—golfers, RVers, and camp neighbors. We friend each other on Facebook and exchange phone numbers. We keep tabs on each other’s locations for a few days, then contact wanes until they’re a distant memory in the rearview memory.

One of the most interesting people we met on the road was Sam Billings, who made violins out of the back of his van. We met him at Elmore State Park in Vermont. In New Hampshire, our camping neighbor knew one of Roger’s old college friends. Most people we meet on the road are warmhearted and open to chatting about their travel experiences.

We rode at an easy pace, so we could chat and catch up along the way.

Some of these visits have turned out to be poignant. Sadly, we lost a few friends and relatives shortly after our visit.

Other visits have been a way to reconnect with people who were once important in our lives but drifted away after they moved or retired.

When you meet someone, you don’t know if that person will become a friend or for how long. You also don’t know if you will ever see that person again when you say goodbye. We never regret taking the time to visit friends when we have the opportunity.

Biking with Friends

During the 90s and 2000s, K&K worked with Roger as Alaska Department of Fish and Game fish techs on trout research projects. These projects estimated the abundance of cutthroat trout in remote lakes in Southeast Alaska or counted fish migrating through a weir. Over the years, Roger developed strong friendships with K&K, lasting through retirement and across many miles.

K&K are active bicyclists, so when we added the Katy Trail, a prime biking destination, to our itinerary, we called to see if they would join us. The trail was a reasonable driving distance from their new home in Minneapolis, and we were overjoyed when they said yes.

On our first day of biking, we were excited to see K&K again for the first time in a few years. We met them just outside Sundermeier RV Park's back gate in a Katy Trail designated parking lot. After joyful hellos and hugs, we started for Frenchtown, the first capital of Missouri, today an art district in historic St. Charles and just one mile down the trail. Located along The Katy Trail, Frenchtown welcomes bicyclists looking for a meal, a cold drink, or a resting place. The cobblestone and brick streets were easy to manage.

The trail to Walnut Depot bordered farm fields.

We rode to La Belle Vie, an elegant yet cozy cafe on North 2nd Street. Roger ordered The Lake Bake, a stack of crispy hash brown patty, chopped bacon and sausage, an over-easy egg, and sausage gravy. K1 ordered the brown butter crepes, and K2 and I each got the veggie omelet. We enjoyed a relaxed meal catching up.

With bellies full, we continued riding as far as River Bottom Trailhead, then returned to the RV Park.

We considered ordering delivery and having dinner at the RV park; however, the plane traffic was too disruptive, so we returned to Frenchtown on our bikes and had dinner on the balcony at Lewis & Clark, an American-style restaurant. We sat on the balcony and enjoyed the sunset river view.

After a day of biking the Katy Trail, we enjoyed a happy hour beverage at Sundermeier RV Park.

I ordered the chicken cognac. Roger got a cheeseburger, and K&K shared a spinach salad and eggplant parmigiana. The restaurant was a popular destination for locals as well as tourists. Families held celebratory gatherings, and the couple seated next to us was having a date night. Our server was amiable and attentive.

The next day, we rode in the opposite direction to Black Walnut Trailhead. This section of the trail went along the Missouri River on the east and farmland to the west. A massive flock of starlings filled the air and trees with their cacophony of calls at one rest stop.

Black Walnut Trailhead was the end of the line for us on our second day of biking the Katy Trail.

We were not in a hurry and enjoyed the benches along the way to visit, snack, and take in the scenery.

We returned to Frenchtown and the Big A Bar and Restaurant for dinner. The atmosphere was loud and busy. I ordered the pasta special, chicken carbonara, but the server told me they were out. I didn’t understand how they could be out of it at only 5:30 pm., but I didn’t complain and ordered the taco salad instead.

The Katy Trail in Missouri is a destination for RVers who like to bicycle.

Restaurants have been having difficulty recovering from the COVID pandemic with worker shortages and other consequences. We’ve entered a new era of dining and shopping. I’m not sure if it’s a change from COVID, economic conditions, or a different work ethic of the younger generation. Some people say the younger generation does not want to work. That’s jumping to conclusions. Another way of looking at it is they have different priorities and are unwilling to give up their personal lives for their jobs. We don’t know the extent to which COVID has impacted families. I’m sure many people have had to make significant adjustments.

This snapshot of the trail map (in green) shows the section of trail we road.

We returned to the RV park just as darkness settled in and, sadly, said our goodbyes to K&K with the possibility of visiting again this summer in Southeast Alaska.

Keep In Touch!

We all have good intentions of keeping in touch, but distance grows as time passes. Roger is better than I am about keeping in touch with family and friends. We’ve never regretted taking a few minutes from the day to stop and say, “Hello, I’m thinking about you. How are you doing today?”

Tomorrow is not promised. We only have today, now, this moment. Let’s make it count. 1-2-3 Go!

“You meet people who forget you. You forget people you meet. But sometimes you meet those people you can’t forget. Those are your friends”

― Mark Twain

Notes:

1. “The Tribes of Missouri Part 1: When the Osage and Missouria Reigned.” Missouri Life. Missouri Life Magazine, accessed August 2, 2023. https://missourilife.com/the-tribes-of-missouri-part-1-when-the-osage-missouria-reigned/

2. “Indigenous Tribes of Missouri: Missouri’s Native Peoples.” Library’s Reference Guide, Jefferson College, accessed August 2, 2023. https://libguides.jeffco.edu/missouritribes

3. “The Osage.” St. Charles County History. Dorris Keeven-Franke, July 20, 2013. https://stcharlescountyhistory.org/2013/07/20/osage-indians/

4. “History of the Katy Trail.” Friends of the Katy Trail, accessed August 2, 2023. https://katytraildallas.org/history

© Copyright 2023. Patricia E. Harding. All rights reserved.

Updated 8/15/2023.

Caves, Creeps, and Monsters: Halloween in Kentucky

Recap: My husband and I drove our Pleasure Way RV van, Sweet Van-Ella Magnolia, from the East to West Coast. On October 22, 2022, we left Midlothian, Virginia, where Ella had been in storage. We drove through West Virginia to Kentucky. Our destination was Palm Springs, California.

This Halloween, we were unexpectedly haunted—not by the tricks and treats of playful goblins and witches, but by the troubling truth of destructive development and the ugly parts of United States history.

Mammoth Cave National Park—October 31, 2022

Mammoth Cave National Park was missing from our original itinerary, but we adjusted our schedule when we saw we were going right by it. Never a good idea to drive past a National Park without stopping.

We enjoy traveling in our Pleasure-Way RV van during the shoulder season. Little did we know, this would be our last trip in our Sweet Van-Ella. More on that in a future article.

We arrived shortly before the visitor center closed and purchased tickets for a Mammoth Cave tour the following day. The park offers many types of tours, including a fully wheelchair-accessible tour and a limited number of self-guided tours. We lucked out because many of them were sold out, and we found space for an early one that would allow us to get on the road the following afternoon.

The campground was sparsely occupied and quiet. Our only visitors were a doe and her fawn—not skittish at all, foraging the perimeter of our campsite. (I took a video of the deer instead of a photo. I’ll upload a clip here when I have it ready.)

We built a fire and used the wifi to check in with friends and family. When my son heard where we were, he sent a link to a video he had recently watched—the animated Internet Historian movie “Man in Cave” about the 1925 two-week attempt to rescue Floyd Collins, who had been trapped in a cave. Was it a coincidence or spooky serendipity that Joe had recently seen the movie, and we just happened to visit Mammoth Cave?

“Man in Cave” had been released on Youtube just one month earlier and already had 7.8 million views. The video is currently being re-edited. I will add a link after it has been re-uploaded to Youtube. 

Ranger Josh prepared the tour group for its trip underground.

In the morning, Ranger Josh guided us on an entertaining tour through the cave, complete with stories, some true, some probably not so true. This cave was much different from Carlsbad Cavern, with narrower passageways and little (if any) water.

We explored the cave via lighted, paved walkways.

The same limestone that makes the best Kentucky bourbon is what made Mammoth Cave the world’s largest known cave. Or, I should say, the lack of limestone made the cave when 10-15 million years ago, water running across the earth’s surface seeped through cracks deep into the ground and eroded the softer limestone away from the rigid rock walls of more than 400 miles of explored cave passages.

After the tour, we pulled into one of the picnic areas. We made sandwiches while watching the squirrels scamper through the crunchy fallen leaves.

Paradise, Kentucky

Our next stop was a real Halloween adventure. We went to a ghost town with a history scarier than any Stephen King novel. If you’re a John Prine fan, “Y’all know the story behind it.”

Roger’s sister is into genealogy. When she heard we would be driving through Kentucky, she suggested we visit some kinfolk graves.

Roger’s fifth-great grandparents, Leonard and Martha Stom, are buried in the McDougal Cemetery in what was once Paradise, Kentucky. In the 1800s, they ran the ferry across the Green River at Stom’s Landing. Sounds idyllic, doesn’t it? At the time, Muhlenberg County was a lush, green countryside full of birds and wildlife with fish thriving in the Green River. [1]

John Prine’s song “Paradise,” tells the story of what happened next. “Mr. Peabody’s coal train has hauled it way.”

We Googled Paradise and the McDougal Cemetery to get directions. Findagrave.com sent us down Route 176 to where Paradise used to be. But we were too late. All we found was scorched earth and a mammoth coal-fired power plant that appeared to be closed.

A defunct coal-fired power plant is all that is left of Paradise, Kentucky.

The Kentucky Genealogical Society describes coal mining development in Eastern Kentucky on its website.

“Along with tobacco, racehorses, and bourbon, coal has long been part of the defining narrative of Kentucky’s history. Serious coal mining in Kentucky had its modest beginning in 1820 with the opening of a commercial mine in Muhlenberg County, but it wasn’t until the late nineteenth century that coal became a significant factor in the economy of the Commonwealth. By the time of the first world war, railroads had connected mountain coal and timber operations with urban industrial centers, and the die was cast.” [2]

Strip mining in Kentucky began in 1826 near Sugar Creek. Strip mining removes a long strip of land to access coal relatively close to the surface. “A coal company that owned the rights under your land could come in with explosives and huge shovels to remove the rock and soil, haul the coal away, and pretty much leave the area looking like the surface of the moon. And the landowner had little recourse” thanks to Kentucky’s “treacherous legal instrument in effect known as the broad form deed, which gave primacy to the mineral owner over the surface owner.” [3]

Our route from Louisville to Mammoth Cave, Paradise, and John James Audubon Park. Paradise is at the marker just east of Central City.

In the 1900s, the Peabody Energy Company, based in St. Louis, Missouri, strip-mined the land surrounding the town of Paradise. In 1959, the Tennesee Valley Authority (TVA) began constructing the Paradise Fossil Plant. The plant burned 20,000 tons of coal every day. [4]

This coal-fired power plant rained toxic ash on the surrounding land, poisoning the river and creating a health hazard for residents. In 1967, the TVA convinced the remaining residents to move out and built the world’s largest cyclonic-fired boiler. [5]

 A 2010 Abt Associates study attributed 93 deaths per year to fine particle pollution from the Paradise Fossil Plant. [4]

In 2019, the TVA board voted to close the coal-fired power plant by December 2020 because it was no longer cost-effective. [6]

Research tells us that doing nothing can sometimes be more economically beneficial than tearing up the earth and destroying waterways for short-term commercial gain. The waste created and human lives lost in exchange for a fossil fuel plant that lasted just 120 years boggles my mind. Imagine what Paradise might look like today had it been left alone.

In response to environmental disasters like Paradise, the United States established laws and agencies to protect us from the dramatic degradation committed by past resource extraction and development. Today, when considering applications for resource extraction and development permits, agencies compare the intrinsic value of the land—the value the land has in its pristine state—to the financial gain of the resource being extracted (lumber, gold, oil, coal, or other minerals.) In Alaska, for example, a historically productive watershed left intact will contribute millions of dollars to the local economy every year for centuries via the salmon it will produce.

In simpler terms, if we leave the river alone and do nothing, it will provide a living to many people for a long time.

Back to our story—the cemetery was supposed to be on top of a hill near the plant, but we never found it. This place gave me the cold creeps, and we wanted to get to our next destination before dark. We drove around the area, ignoring the WARNING-KEEP OUT signs. I felt like we were in an episode of Scooby Doo, driving our van to a deserted old factory to solve a mystery. Eventually, we decided to scram.

John James Audubon Center and Campground

We were disappointed we didn’t find McDougal Cemetery but had to keep moving. We checked into our campsite at the John James Audubon State Park and took advantage of the shower facilities and fire ring. Again, we were in the shoulder season, and the campground was quiet, just right for our unlux travel style.

The sun rose from behind the dam at our campground in Henderson, Kentucky.

In the twilight of the morning, I peeked out our rear window to see deer grazing on green grass in the foggy morning light. A sign. It’s going to be a good day. I had recently taken an interest in birding, and we were to visit the Audubon Museum and Nature Center. Supported by Friends of Audubon, the museum houses one of the largest collections of original Audubon paintings, prints, and artifacts.

To be honest, I didn’t know much about John James Audubon. I had heard about the National Audubon Society, but that’s about it. Juneau has an active Audubon Society. (You’d better arrive early to purchase their nagoon berry jam at the annual Public Market.)

John James Audubon was the best-known wildlife artist of his time. However, The National Audubon Society says he is also “a complex and troubling character who did despicable things even by the standards of his day. He was contemporaneously and posthumously accused of—and most certainly committed—both academic fraud and plagiarism. But far worse, he enslaved Black people and wrote critically about emancipation. He stole human remains and sent the skulls to a colleague who used them to assert that whites were superior to non-whites.” [7]

The Audubon Park and Museum are an oasis from the busy highway just outside its border.

Ironically, evidence suggests that John James Audubon, born in Haiti, was the son of his father and a mixed-race housekeeper. He was also a privileged fellow who went to France at the start of the Haitian Revolution and, years later, to the United States to avoid conscription in Napolean’s military.

Audubon worked as an unsuccessful businessman who bought and sold enslaved people. He operated a store in Henderson, Kentucky, where his family lived from 1810 until he was jailed for bankruptcy in 1819. Eventually, he published The Birds of America, 453 life-size paintings of North American birds. Audubon’s realistic paintings portrayed birds in natural poses and often included flora of the bird’s habitat. [8]

The National Audubon Society considered changing its name in light of Audubon’s racist views; however, its board of directors decided against it and announced the rationale behind the decision in a press release dated March 16, 2023. [9]

Three board members resigned in protest. [10]

We enjoyed the vibrancy of autumn colors as we traveled from East to West in our RV van.

I was taken aback by Audubon’s racist past. I only learned of it when I began additional research for this article more than five months after my visit. Neither Roger nor I recall this information as part of the exhibit at the museum. I can’t say it wasn’t there, but I can’t imagine I would miss or forget something as important as that.

Would we have included a stop here had we known? In hindsight, I am glad we stopped because if we hadn’t, we might never have known the truth about Audubon. We never regret learning the truth, no matter how troublesome.

Notes:

[1] Jenn Shockley, “A Creepy Ghost Town In Kentucky, Paradise Is The Stuff Nightmares Are Made Of,” Only in Your State, June 7, 2020. https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/kentucky/ghost-town-ky/

[2] Marsha Waggoner, “Loading Sixteen Tons: Tracing Your Kentucky Coal Mining Ancestors,” Kentucky Genealogy Society, accessed April 7, 2023, https://kygs.org/genealogy-tips/eastern-ky-coal-mining-records.html

[3] Frank Boyett, “Fifty Years Ago, Strip Mining Talk Rippled Through Henderson County,” Henderson Gleaner, USA Today Network, May 6, 2017, https://www.thegleaner.com/story/news/columnists/frank-boyett/2017/05/06/fifty-years-ago-strip-mining-talk-rippled-through-henderson-county/101255312/

[4] “Death and Disease Attributable to Fine Particle Pollution from the Paradise Fossil Plant” Paradise Fossil Plant, Global Energy Monitor Wiki, accessed April 7, 2023, https://www.gem.wiki/Paradise_Fossil_Plant#Background

[5] “Paradise, Kentucky,” Wikipedia, accessed April 1, 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise,_Kentucky

[6] “Paradise Fossil Plant,” Tennessee Valley Authority, accessed April 18, 2023, https://www.tva.com/energy/our-power-system/coal/paradise-fossil-plant

[7] “John James Audubon A Complicated History,” National Audubon Society, accessed April 10, 2023, https://www.audubon.org/content/john-james-audubon

[8] Bill Chappell, “Audubon Faces a Backlash After Deciding to Keep Name That Evokes a Racist Enslaver,” National Public Radio, April 10, 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/03/18/1164293652/audubon-faces-a-backlash-after-deciding-to-keep-name-that-evokes-a-racist-enslav#:~:text=The%20first%20to%20ditch%20the,it’ s%20now%20called%20Nature%20Forward

[9] “National Audubon Society Announces Decision to Retain Current Name, “National Audubon Society, March 16, 2023, https://www.audubon.org/news/national-audubon-society-announces-decision-retain-current-name

[10] Robin Bravender, “Backlash hits Audubon after Refusal to Drop Slave-holder’s Name,” Politico, March 16, 2023, https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/16/audubon-board-members-resign-00087423

© Copyright 2023. Patricia E. Harding. All rights reserved.