Queeny Park is just a few minutes north of the Manchester Road alignment of Route 66 as it traverses West St. Louis County. The park has two entrances. If you are traveling West on Manchester, turn right on Mason Road and look for the entrance that says “Dog Museum”. If you are traveling East on Manchester, turn left on Weidman Road to access the park. There is no way to drive from one entrance to the other without leaving the park, but you can walk between the two entrances.
Queeny Park in Summer
When I was young, I used to love to go to Queeny Park to play on the very advanced and unusual playground equipment for the time. Lately I’ve used the park for biking and hiking. There are some paved trails and some gravel surfaced trails. The park is hilly so either way you’ll get a good workout – it’s especially good in my opinion for practicing hill climbing if you’re new to mountain biking. You’ll get enough of a challenge to give you something to work toward but most of the hills are not so difficult that you’ll be overly discouraged. The park is large and there are enough trails to enjoy a moderately long or short excursion depending on what you are looking for.
Yes you read the first paragraph correctly – at the Mason Road entrance there is indeed a Museum of the Dog. I remember the controversy surrounding this Museum when it was first proposed. A lot of people thought it sounded ridiculous – I haven’t visited it myself. It consists of a collection of artwork devoted dogs in an historic circa 1853 house. I’ve had very enjoyable visits to a barbed wire museum and a vacuum cleaner museum which probably sound like very odd attractions to most, so who knows, it might be good – perhaps it’s worthy of the tradition of eccentric attractions on Route 66. There are lots of dog walkers in the park so there does appear to be a large built-in audience! If you’re traveling Route 66 with canine companions this might be an especially good stop to make – dogs are allowed in the museum and you can give your pets and yourself a workout on the trails.
On Saturday, April 7, 2012, I joined members of the St. Louis Adventure Group (SLAG) for a float on the Meramec River. The Meramec is a prominent feature of the Route 66 corridor from Phelps County to St. Louis County, where it makes it’s way toward the Mississippi River. It is visible from Route 66 in St. Louis County and crosses paths at Valley Park and Route 66 State Park. Once you leave St. Louis County you will have to travel a little way off of Route 66 to see the Meramec River at spots such as Onondaga Cave State Park, Meramec State Park or Robertsville State Park. In between the parks are additional points where you can put in and take out boats.
The Missouri Department of Conservation has provided maps to show where the put-in points are. On our April 7 float, we put in at Pacific Palisades Conservation Area (147.3 on the map below) and Allenton Access (154.2).
Meramec River Access Points
This was a fairly short float. We stretched it into about three hours by really taking our time. It was also easy – there are only a few spots where you really have to pay attention to navigate around snags that always seem to be right where the current is swiftest! Our group was made up of experienced paddlers but the Meramec River should always be respected regardless of experience level – it is deep and fast enough to drown people, so if you are going to float it please be sober, make sure you can swim, and use a personal floatation device. You might consider carrying a knife on your person to cut yourself free in case you get tangled in anything. Read here for more safety tips and legal guidelines.
After the float, several members of our group headed to Super Smokers (a Route 66 Association of Missouri Business Member) for a delicious BBQ dinner. We were very impressed by the swiftness at which they served our large group. The food was fantastic!
If you would like to try one of Missouri’s many beautiful float streams but don’t own a boat or need a shuttle, check out our list of Business Members – there are a couple of outfitters on there who will happy to tell you about their offerings.
If you’re traveling on the Manchester alignment of Route 66 through St. Louis County and are in the mood for a short, easy bike ride or a walk for you or a canine companion, try the Rogers Parkway in Brentwood, Missouri. Brentwood is a small city but has a lot of little parks, most with water, some with restrooms. You’ll pass through several during the route I’m about to describe. You won’t see anything spectacular, but you’ll enjoy charming older suburban neighborhoods with large trees and pleasant shade. The trail is pet-friendly with plastic bag dispensers for waste and a water fountain with a basin at dog’s height. If you don’t know the area well you’ll want to download and print out this map to take with you.
If you’re traveling west on Manchester, start looking for the trailhead shortly after you cross over Hanley Road. The trailhead will be on the right, in between American Locksmiths and Brentwood Place Apartments. You’ll find an asphalt trail heading north that takes you to Broughton Park. Follow the trail until you reach Swim Club Road, where you’ll cross over to the other side of the street.
Intersection of Trails
Continue until you get to an intersection of asphalt trails. Turn right, and you’ll pass some handball, tennis, and volleyball courts. This is Hanley Park. You’ll see some signs along the way suggesting different fitness exercises that you can do if you like. The trail splits in two, and the more interesting route is to the right. You’ll cross a creek and follow along it for awhile on the Lee Wynn Trail until you get to Oak Tree Park. If you feel like doing some hill climbing, you can continue past the park and up a ridge to explore the streets a bit. If you’re not in the mood for climbing a hill, head back the way you came until you get past Hanley Park and back to the intersection. You can turn left here and get back on the Rogers Parkway, or you can turn right and continue for a short distance into Memorial Park. If you’re hungry or thirsty, there is usually a snack stand set up here. If you care to head toward the huge American flag toward the northeast, you’ll come across a large shopping center that has a Trader Joe’s and a Target, both places where you can pick up some items for a picnic lunch. (If you turn right at the huge flag and continue for a few blocks, you’ll see some light rail tracks – turn left and there is the Brentwood I-64 Metrolink station if you want to explore more of the St. Louis area – bring your bike on board). If you don’t want anything from the shopping center, I recommend turning around in Memorial Park and heading back the way you came at this point – you’re roughly 2/3 of the way through the entire route if you’ve taken no detours.
If you’re on foot, you’re probably satisfied with the length of your excursion, but if you want a little more, you’ll notice some dirt trails on the right as you head back. Explore the small wooded area if you like.
If you’re on a bike, you might want to extend your ride considerably. If so, I recommend looking for Eulalie Ave. (this is the spot where you crossed the road previously upon reaching Swim Club Road) on the way back. It’s a little confusing because if you look left, the road is called Dorothy and if you look right, the sign is missing. Nevertheless, take a right turn and you’ll come to an intersection with Brentwood Blvd. Use the light and cross Brentwood Blvd. here with care – it’s very busy and the drivers are not necessarily attentive to cyclists or pedestrians.
Once you’ve crossed Brentwood Blvd., continue west on what is now Litzinger Rd. Look for four Lustron houses on your left. Continue for several blocks on Litzinger until you get to Tilles Park, a large park in the city of Ladue with a nice trail, more fitness stations, water, restrooms and more. There is a small lake with a shelter if you’ve brought a picnic lunch. Go around the park as many times as you like, then head back to Brentwood Blvd. on Litzinger and cross back over. Make a right when you reach Rogers Parkway and you’ll be back to the trailhead shortly.
Let’s face it, Route 66 trips have the potential to be hazardous to one’s waistline. We sit in a car for hours a day and when we stop, it’s often for delicious road food – fried chicken, BBQ, burgers, fries, shakes, mashed potatoes, pie, biscuits and gravy, omelettes, hash browns, onion rings, bratwurst, Cozy Dogs, Mexican food, pizza, breakfast burritos, Ted Drewes concretes, mmmmm! I’m not one to deny myself a treat when I’m on a trip. I’ve also been on a fitness kick for the last couple of months and have been trying to work in some kind of exercise every day. Since I live close to Route 66, a lot of the places I go are convenient to people who might be looking for a place to get some exercise while on a Route 66 journey. This is the first of what I hope will be an ongoing series on places to take a walk or a bike ride to work off a little of that road food.
River Des Peres Greenway Trail, looking south just after crossing over Chippewa.
I had an excellent bike ride yesterday on the River Des Peres Greenway in St. Louis, which is also suitable for walkers. A good place to park is the Metrolink Station at Landsdowne and River Des Peres Boulevard. It’s easily accessible from Route 66. As you’re heading west on Chippewa, shorty after you leave Ted Drewes after having your concrete, you will cross the River Des Peres and come to an intersection with River Des Peres Boulevard. To get to the Metrolink Station, turn right. Park, cross Landsdowne Ave., and start off in a southerly direction on the paved trail that is to the right of River Des Peres Blvd. You will shortly come to a bridge with a sidewalk that crosses over Chippewa where you can get a good view of Route 66 in either direction. Depending on your time and inclination you can keep following the trail for several miles.
Along the way you will see the historic River des Peres Sewerage and Drainage Works, a designated National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. Don’t let the name scare you. Although the portion of the river you will see is not in a natural state, it is not ugly or smelly. (Having said that, if anyone asks you to join the River Des Peres Yacht Club, decline.) The river channel itself, rocked in with limestone by WPA workers in the 1930s, is an impressive sight and the small rustic buildings you see here and there are quite attractive. New structures such as entrance gates and bridges have been constructed in a harmonious style. The trail runs parallel to River Des Peres Boulevard in a wide grassy area with scattered trees between the road and suburban neighborhoods. I found the trail to be smooth and suitable for either mountain or road bikes. Enjoy!
Sometimes when I’m stuck for ideas I’ll make a themed collage out of rubber stamped images combined with other images on paper scraps. My approach is more like an all-over pattern in the manner of a fabric print or wrapping paper rather than a fine art collage with a focal point. This all-over pattern collage is easy and I can almost do it on autopilot. When the collage is finished I usually get inspired with ideas for how to use it. If not, I scan it, put it in a folder, and I know it will be there for later when I need it.
To begin select some stamps that fit a theme of your choice and stamp them in black ink on different colors of paper.
Stamp credits: Art strip CarolynHDesign, paintbrush by Stampa Rosa, Art from Dream Slab by Postmodern Design, paint tube by Tin Can Mail, Art Capital A by Hampton Art Stamps, Limbert’s Arts and Crafts stamp unknown.
Tear out the images you just stamped into small pieces, then do the same to some decorative paper and found images from your stash. To go with my art and art tools theme, I picked some black and white papers.
Black and white decorative papers by CanvasCorp.
I start gluing down paper pieces in the middle of a piece of backing paper, then work my way gradually out to the edge.
There are usually a few gaps left here and there after the paper is nearly full, so I cut or tear some pieces to size to fill in the last few spots.
I usually end up cutting the resulting collage into smaller pieces to use in paper crafting projects such as cards. But before I do that I scan the image so I have a digital file of it that I can use in graphic design projects.
Try inverting the colors in some graphic editing software such as Photoshop for unexpected color combinations.
After inverting, I slid the HSB (Hue Saturation Brightness) tool to get additional fresh color combinations. I stopped on this, my favorite, to export a sample I want to use right away. I think after this article goes live I will use it for awhile as a Facebook cover graphic.
Here are some crafted and digital projects I’ve made in the past that make use of themed collages using the same process.
Rubber stamped paper frame around a collage on an art journal page.I made the collage based on an activity prompt by Somerset Studio Magazine. The stencils for the collage are by The Crafter’s Worshop and Tim Holtz. The rubber stamps in black making up the frame are of my own design. The background paper is by p13.
I made this rubber stamped paper frame for an art journal page. You can make one like it for that purpose or other projects such as scrapbooks, greeting cards, photo displays and more.
When I placed my collage on this piece of decorative paper for my art journal, I thought it needed a little more so I decided to make a frame for it. I used tracing paper to draw out the size and shape I wanted. Then I transferred my drawing to scrap card stock and cut a template to use for tracing.
I traced around and cut out four frame pieces.
I wanted black and near-white rubber stamped images to glue to the frames, so I got a bunch of stamps out that are of my own design and stamped them in black stamping ink on cream color card stock. Some of these stamp designs are available in my Etsy shop, and some only exist as hand carved stamps.
Tearing the stamped cardstock into strips for making smaller mosaic pieces
I tore the stamped images into small pieces, and glued them to the frames.
After trimming the frames were done and ready to mount in my art journal.
I’m working on a lesson plan to possibly teach at Thomas Dunn Learning Center. I plan to make another, more polished sample. You might enjoy seeing the steps I took to make my prototype.
I took a piece of paper and drew lines in pencil to roughly divide it into 7 vertical sections – one for each letter in ROYGBIV, the way were taught to memorize the colors of the rainbow when I was young – Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet.
I made each divider line a double line, then hand drew some overlapping bird silhouettes in pencil. I treated the birds as negative space and the sections above and below as the positive space. I outlined and then filled in with black pen doodles the top and bottom sections above and below each bird. I erased the pencil lines.
ROYGBIV starts with Red, but I wanted Red to be toward the middle and not the end since the warm colors draw the eye more. I started outlining the negative space on the inside edge with red colored pencil starting with the fourth line from the left. I outlined each divider line in the successive rainbow colors in both directions and for about half the bird shape on outline on either side. I gave the outlining a soft graded treatment so that the white birds would have a “glow” to them and come forward visually when the background was filled in and darkened.
I colored in a mosaic of color patches in colored pencil roughly following the rainbow progression. For example where it’s supposed to be violet, I colored with violet and analagous colors such as purple and pink. The only thing I left white was the middle of the bird shapes.
Colored pencil leaves kind of a waxy surface that doesn’t take pen or marker ink well sometimes, so I sprayed the piece with Workable Fixatif to treat the surface to accept marker and pen.
Here is how it looked with the background textures partially filled in.
I wanted a darker background so the birds would stand out. Some of the doodles I drew lended themselves to filling in the negative space in solid black. Other patterns I had to get a little creative with to find a way to make them darker. I looked for ways to add solid black areas to those patterns.
Here it is all filled in. I’m going to make a neater sample on sturdier paper as a sample then schedule the class. This was a test to see if the concept would work, and I think it will! Do you have an suggestions? Please comment if so!
Here is Dad in Open Art Studio with me at Thomas Dunn Learning Center a couple of days ago. He’s coloring in a black and white doodle he did last year.
Believe it or not I have another baby starling! No name yet. I guess I am trying not to get too attached in case it doesn’t make it. But I think it’s far too late for that isn’t it! Doesn’t take long to fall in love with these little ones. I got it through my online pet starling rescue group. The finder said it was sneezing and on Monday it was having bad breathing problems so I got it to Family Pet Hospital. They were able to see it on short notice (THANK YOU!) and prescribed antibiotics which I will give for two weeks. It’s doing much better. Please pray that it makes it!
Here is Family Pet Hospital’s FB page https://www.facebook.com/familypetstl They treat birds, chameleons, bats, geckos, snakes, fish, iguanas, o’possums, vultures, bats, scorpions, frogs, aardvarks, eagles, hedgehogs, turkeys, pigs, peafowl, monitors, etc. They have an aviary in there with canaries, finches and keets. My kind of place! Oh yeah dogs and cats too. Check out their patient photos!
My new little one is on antibiotics and is doing better. I still hear the lung crackling sound. Any suggestions for supportive care? I’m making sure it’s warm enough and I have a damp t-shirt partially over the bucket it’s in for humidity and quiet. It’s eating starling baby mix and I’m also giving it bits of apple and blueberry dipped in yogurt. Poops look good. I take it out once every 45 minitues to feed and change the paper towel so it’s not sitting in poop. It’s averaging one poop per feeding.
Now I’m going to back up a little and explain how I got to the point of adopting baby starlings. For people in the know about starlings, they are one of the most desirable pet birds you can have. They are admittedly high maintenance, but as far as rewards to the owner such as bonding, interactivity, beauty, singing, training and talking with human words they are everything a bird lover could want in a companion bird. Although where I live it’s generally illegal to posess wild birds, European Starlings, Sturnus vulgaris, are one of a very few exceptions because they are not native to the US and are considered invasive. In my area there are no wild bird rehab facilities or rehabbers that I know of who will take a rescued baby starling and raise it for release. If a baby starling needs help, the choices are to let it die, take it to a facility to be euthanized, or find someone to adopt it.
I acquired my first starling, Attila, in 2009 and my second, Pooky, in 2011. Attila is still with me but I lost Pooky suddenly to unknown causes last December.
I was distraught for a long time over losing Pooky, it’s still hard for me to look at that graphic above or to talk about it. My other starling Attila was very disturbed as well. She’s better now but she still faces the direction his cage used to be for several hours a day, I wonder if she’s looking for him still. To help both of us, Tom and I adopted two budgies, Thoth and Horus, and two zebra finches, Rocky and Adrienne. These are great birds and we love them. Attila and I needed their actions and song to help with our loss. They are not a substitute for starlings no matter how wonderful they are. So I found some starling rescue groups online and put myself on the waiting list to adopt one.
In late April one of my groups announced that there were three babies who needed rehoming in Tennessee. I was the closest person available to go get them, so I did it. Two of them did not make it. The finder told me they were looking bad while I was still on my way there and when I first saw them I didn’t have high hopes, so I was disappointed but not surprised that I lost those two. A lot of times by the time a baby bird gets into human hands they could have been through a lot. Going hungry, getting cold, sick, injured, etc. The survivor is doing great and his name in Theophilus.
Theophilus is Greek for “lover of God”. I was thinking while driving to go get him that if any of the birds survived I was going to give them a spiritual name. I had a lot of time to think about what a leap of faith I was taking by jumping in my car to take a pretty long drive to get birds that might not even be alive by the time I could get there. It was kind of crazy, but it felt good to do something crazy after months of doldrums from grief and inactivity from an arm injury and other problems from the last few years. I texted the finder along the way, letting him know that as long as any of them were still alive I was going to keep coming. If any of them had a chance, I wanted to give it to them if possible.
Here is a video of Tom feeding Theophilus about a month ago. He’s in superb health from what I can tell and is super active. So active he’s a handful! They calm down when they get older.
The new little one is unnamed as of yet, but I’m more and more hopeful that it’s going to survive so I’ve started brainstorming! It’s perching, preening, and flapping wings to practice. It still sneezes a bit and I think there is still a crackling sound, but it’s growing and the feathers look fantastic. It’s had six days of a two-week antibiotic prescription. I think it’s getting ready to jump out of the bucket it’s in. When that happens it will move to a baby cage / travel cage and I’ll take it with me everywhere I go until it’s eating on its own.
Here are some past articles I’ve written about starlings:
Do you have a summer event coming up that could incorporate a garden theme? If so, here is an idea for combining my last two published projects, Make a Seed Packet Bouquet and Make Gift Tags Into Recycled Greeting Cards. Presented in a terra cotta plant pot, these “bouquets” could be a garden themed gift, party favor or table decoration. I made these samples because I needed Mother’s Day gifts in a hurry, but variations could be made for garden parties, weddings, tea parties, picnics and more.
In my project Make a Seed Packet Bouquet, I experimented with different embellishments for the corners of the seed packet holders. For this group I punched out a whole bunch of circles with a circle craft punch. Then I stamped a flower stamp on many pieces of colorful scrap paper. I cut the flowers out then glued each to a circle.
Flower stamp credt: 7Gypsies.
I then used the circles on the corners of the seed packet holders by punching a hole in the middle and attaching them with metal brads.
Stamp credits: Flower inside circle, realistic butterflies, bird egg, “Crazy Love” by7Gypsies. “Seeds”, brackets, “love” by CarolynHDesign. “Celebrate” by Making Memories. Scribble flowers and butterfly by Fiskars.
I selected two tags for each seed packet assembly, one smaller and decorative and the other larger and functional with “To” and “From” on the back.
I went to Schnarr’s Hardware to buy terra cotta plant pots and packets of lettuce seeds, then to JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts to buy a bag of natural moss. You can buy florists foam to stick the skewers into, but I had some chunks of scrap styrfoam on hand so I cut them apart with a hand miter saw and stuck a piece in each plant pot.
I wrapped each pot with tissue paper gift wrap that I had on hand, then placed some of the moss on top. I pushed each skewer in through the moss and tissue into the foam, then tied the tags around each “stem” with twine.
How did I decide which seeds to include? I chose a lettuce mix because it can be grown in a small container and harvested as micro greens. I bought two packets and divided the seeds up among the five smaller packets that I made. In order that the recipients would know what the seeds are and how to grow them, I scanned information from the back of the packet into the computer and used graphics software to make this graphic, which I then printed out.
These graphics came from the back of the Botanical Interests brand seed packets that I purchased.
After printing the above graphic I cut out the informational graphics out and glued one to the back of each homemade seed packet.
This project is adaptable to many varieties of seeds and many different themes. I hope you enjoy the ideas!
Two ways of making gift tags from paper scraps and free downloadable files that I’ve prepared. Rubber stamp credits for left image: “Love” and tiny heart by CarolynHDesign, butterfly and notebook texture by 7Gypsies, “celebrate” by Making Memories. Right image: “You are loved”, flower and butterfly by Fiskars, decorative border by CarolynHDesign.
Here is another entry in a series of articles I’m working on about things you can make from old greeting cards and paper scraps. Tags are a useful thing to make and keep on hand for gift giving and gift presentation. Great presentation is one of the best parts of getting a gift – some thought and care makes a gift personal and special.
Download and print out the template Gift Tags Set 1. Loosely cut out the tag shapes from the template and with the glue stick glue them down to the backs of parts of old greeting cards. Burnish well with a bone folder for a tight seal. To keep surfaces clean and to prevent ink and toner from getting onto surfaces, place the pieces you burnish between two pieces of clean scrap paper.
Trim around the outer edge of the tags to cut out. Now you have a tag with To: and From: printed on one side and a design or a plain color on the other, depending on what was on the recycled card.
After trimming. Some of the tags are interesting as they are. Most will need some more decoration.
Add strips of decorative paper to the sides of the the tags that need more decoration.
Give the edges of both sides of the tags a decorative treatment, with rubber stamps and/or paint markers.
Now they are done and you can write them out and tie them to the package with ribbon or twine.
Instructions – Method 2
Cut a bunch of tag shapes out of scrap cardstock and greeting card parts. If you think you will make a lot of tags, you might find it helpful to make yourself a set of templates for tracing tag shapes out of scrap chipboard or other thick paper scraps.
Here are tag templates I made for myself. Whenever I want to make tags, I trace around these onto scrap cardstock and old greeting cards. That gives me a supply of bases for adding embellishments.
Tear the To and From sections out, using a straight edge like a metal ruler as a guide.
Glue the To and From sections torn from the printed paper onto the backs of the tags.
Add decorative paper scraps around the To and From and trim with a scissors.
Decorate the other side of the tag if needed.
Stamping can be kind of time-consuming. A good shortcut to try when adding visual textureand interest is to stamp the edges of several tags at once by placing them next to each other on the work surface.If either side of the tags looked too bare, I added rubber stamp markings where I thought they were needed.Here are some tags with a Christmas theme.
