Category Archives: Outdoor Fun

Fit and Healthy on Route 66: Queeny County Park

November 15, 2024Outdoor Fun, Route 66, Uncategorizedbiking trail, dog friendly, Dog Museum, dog walking, Fit and Healthy on Route 66, Fitness Opportunities on Route 66, hiking trail, Manchester alignment of Route 66, Manchester Road, mountain biking, pet friendly, Queeny Park, roadside attractions, Route 66, Route 66 Trip Planning, St. Louis Countychasenfratz

Originally published on February 27, 2012

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.

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.

Photos of Queeny Park

Queeny Park Web Site

Fit and Healthy on Route 66 – Floating the Meramec River

November 15, 2024Outdoor Fun, Route 66, UncategorizedAllenton Acess, boating, canoeing, Eureka, Fit and Healthy on Route 66, Fitness Opportunities on Route 66, float stream, float trips, kayaking, Meramec River, Meramec River access points, Missouri float trip, Pacific Palisades Conservation Area, paddling, put-in points on Meramec River, river safety, roadside attractions, Route 66, Route 66 Trip Planning, St. Louis Adventure Group, Super Smokers, trip report, water recreationchasenfratz

Originally published April 15, 2012

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).

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.

See photos of our float:

Carolyn’s photos

SLAG member photos

Fit and Healthy on Route 66 – Rogers Parkway to Memorial Park

November 15, 2024Outdoor Fun, Route 66biking trail, Brentwood, Broughton Park, cycling, dog walking, Fit and Healthy on Route 66, Fitness Opportunities on Route 66, Hanley Park, Lee Wynn Trail, Lustron houses, Manchester alignment of Route 66, Memorial Park, Oak Tree Park, pet friendly, Rogers Parkway, Route 66, Route 66 Trip Planning, St. Louis County, Tilles Park, walking trailchasenfratz

Originally published June 30, 2012

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.

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.

Fit and Healthy on Route 66: River Des Peres Greenway

November 13, 2024Outdoor Fun, Route 66architecture, bike trail, Chippewa, engineering landmark, Fitness Opportunities on Route 66, historic sites, River Des Peres Greenway, roadside attractions, Route 66, Route 66 Trip Planning, South St. Louis, St. Louis, Ted Drewes, walking trail, WPAchasenfratz

Originally published March 15, 2009.

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!

Links:

Metrolink Station

My photos from my ride

Garden Themed Party Favors

May 31, 2024Events, Gardening, Holiday Crafts, Outdoor Fun, Paper Crafts, Rubber Stamping, TutorialsBotanical Interests seeds, decorative tags, eco-friendly crafts, floral crafts, garden theme, garden theme centerpiece, garden theme crafts, garden theme gift, garden theme party, gift tags, lettuce seeds, paper crafts, party favors, rubber stamping, Schnarr's Hardware, scrap styrofoam, seed packets, spring paper crafts, summer paper crafts, tag art, terra cotta plant potchasenfratz

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.

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!

Eclipse Doodle

April 9, 2024Aquariums and Water Gardens, Art, Events, Gardening, Outdoor Fun#doodleart, adult doodling, American Water Willow, arm injury, doodle art, eclipse, marker drawing, nature therapy, pen drawing, physical therapy, revovery from injury, scribble art, temporary disability, Voynich Manuscript, water garden, Zentanglechasenfratz

Yesterday my Dad and I went to Hawn State Park in southern Missouri to watch the eclipse. I took my drawing and doodling supplies with me to help pass the time while waiting for the main event. We left fairly early because we knew there would be a lot of traffic and we got there about two hours before the sun started to get covered up. The state park had a nice parking area for us in a mowed field. We had a little picnic and I sat on a blanket doing an eclispe inspired piece of doodle art with colored ink pens and markers.

I am very grateful that I was able to do this. I’ve been in physical therapy for the last several weeks for an arm and wrist injury. I’ve been severely limited in my usual activities for the last couple of months but I’m getting better. I’m slowly adding in my normal activities one by one as I do exercises to get stronger. I’ve added back in crafting, gardening, and now drawing. A week ago my wrist hurt so badly that I could barely address an envelope. This is my first drawing since the injury. I did it without pain and my injury doesn’t feel worse this morning. I’m on the mend and I’m very thankful. I think sewing is the last normal activity to re-try.

When I started this doodle, I knew I wanted to do something inspired by the color wheel. I decided to make each color inspired by a stage of the eclipse. I just doodled whatever came into my mind. As we got closer to totality, I started setting the stopwatch on my phone to go off every 10 minutes – then I’d look at the sun through the eclipse glasses and draw something inspired by that phase.

I kind of had a vague image in my mind of a weird foldout from the Voynich Manuscript as I doodled.

Without looking at a copy of any of the manuscript pages as I drew, I was just trying to get the feel of it, trying to imagine how someone trying to penetrate deep mysteries without the answers that we take for granted now might have reacted.

EDIT 5/15/24: I’m going to have to come back and revise this section. Now that my water garden has grown in a bit more this spring I can see that the cattails sprouted where the Water Willow was last year and what I identified as Water Willow in this article is Cattails instead.

I was also inspired by some plants in our outdoor water garden. I have a small stream as part of our outdoor pond. It acts as part of our filtration system because I run water through lava rock and plants that are in it. One of the plants I grow is a Missouri native called American Water Willow. The stems have really interesting cross sections. I was also thinking about these stems as I was drawing.

Cross sections of American Water Willow stems in my water garden. I don’t know why it’s called water willow. The flowers seem orchid-like, and the leaves seem iris-like. Oh well, its beautiful and native so what’s not to like?

Sitting in the warm sun on a perfect day in a beautiful park with my Dad was a treat. And I proved I can draw again so I can resume my plein air drawing group activities and watercolor painting classes that I was taking before I got injured. That’s a big weight off my mind! I also have a class coming up that I’m teaching – my first since the COVID pandemic – and I’m relieved to know I’ll be able to do a good job.

I haven’t wanted to talk about the injury unless I absolutely have to because it’s scary and I was embarassed. For example I wasn’t able to brush my hair and it got so tangled I asked my husband to cut part of it off. I have about four hairs in each follicle for every one that most people have, so my hair dresser has told me. It doesn’t take much for it to turn into an inpenetrable mat. So I was looking like a Harpy Eagle or like I was trying to audition to be in Night Ranger until I got it fixed. I’m slowly getting my life back together and resuming normal activities. That is a relief because I’ve been very stressed out by not being able to do what I normally do. It’s easy to feel isolated if you have an injury. If you ask for help you don’t know if you are going to get helped or attacked because people think you should be getting well faster. It’s humbling and it really makes me have additional empathy for other people who are strugging with something similar, whether permanent or temporary. I’m more grateful than I can say that the therapy is working.

Here is an article I wrote nine years ago – how do you think it holds up today?

April 11, 2022Conservation, Food, Gardening, Holiday Crafts, Outdoor Fun, Personal Care Products, Upcycling#whydidntyouwarnme, Carolyn's Creative Connections, Christianity, community gardening, community gardens, creativity, DIY, DIY culture, e-newsletter, Eco-chic, eco-friendly, financial hardship, financial health, financial sustainability, food security, food shortages, frugality, green marketing, handmade gifts, health, health benefits of crafts, health benefits of DIY, health benefits of gardening, independence, mental health, personal newsletter, preppers, regaining agency, sustainability, victory gardenchasenfratz

In 2013 I wrote an article for the first issue of a personal e-newsletter I used to publish. The newsletter was called Carolyn’s Creative Connections. Other than a typo or two that I fixed, I didn’t change anything since I originally wrote it.

“Creativity, Eco-Chic and the New Frugality

As a retailer and business person, it’s not really in my best interests to discuss hard economic times. One would think I’d be more likely to try to persuade you that employment is going to go up and taxes are going to go down and prosperity is just around the corner so you’ll spend money on what I’m selling. I wish I really believed that, it would make the future seem a lot brighter and the daily tasks I need to perform in order to try to grow my business and that of my employer would weigh on me a lot more lightly. The human capacity for creativity has a way of working around obstacles put in our way. I don’t know if there has ever been a more important time to nurture creativity in our society and apply it to issues that we have to deal with.

DIY culture has always been popular in certain segments of society – hippies in the 1960s, punkers in the late 70s and early 80s, zinesters in the grunge era. DIY culture might have to become more mainstream for survival reasons. I hope I’m wrong but all indications point to survival rising by necessity to the top of more and more peoples’ priority lists.

So I find myself as a purveyor of goods and services in 2013 in the paradoxical position of urging people to be more careful with their resources and to consume less! In my opinion the key is not to stop consuming entirely because you can’t do that and remain alive, but to consume more intelligently – and to consume in ways that make you stronger and better able to face the challenges we will have in the future. My personal experience has taught me doing something proactive to alleviate whatever events or conditions that you fear makes you feel stronger and more capable. There are some things in life we can’t control but in some cases I believe people have been brainwashed into believing they are more helpless than they are.

Save money the easy way - grow a garden. It's thrifty - it's patriotic - plant to-day! According to Thomas Jefferson, “Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bonds.”

If you find yourself unhappily in the position of having no choice but to be frugal, creativity can make your situation a lot more palatable. Loss of income is associated with a loss of status in our culture, but frugal practices are often beneficial for the environment so you can disguise your frugality by being eco-chic, an attitude made fashionable by entertainment elites. In a culture where the appearance of something is as good as the real thing, the celebrities only have to appear to be eco-chic but in your own life being more environmentally aware has real benefits for you. Take control and use eco-friendly practices to gain more autonomy in your life.

Here are a few examples and suggestions:

Organic gardening