perfect weather for a hike at Catalina state park in oro valley where we did the challenging Romero pools trail, 2.2 miles each way and lots of rocks, mountains, glorious views.
We ate a much deserved early dinner (we missed lunch, while out on the trail for 4 hours). I had very good carne seca at rosa’s and good pizza the night before at skordatos.
Filed under hiking, Tucson, Uncategorized
Just talked to our dear friends in London, Francine and Russ, and they want to do Ragbrai 2014! We’re thrilled and this time hoping my husband and son will want to do as well!! Registration has just opened for Ragbrai as has the unveiling of the way-cool Ragbrai 2014 biking gear (corn camouflage…clever!) although no word on the route for awhile.
Filed under bike trails, biking, Iowa
The DM Register has a good profile of the new owner of the Hotel Pattee – a one-of-a-kind gem of a boutique hotel in Perry, Iowa, about 45 minutes west of Des Moines. Here’s hoping he succeeds! In another Register section is a story about the Whiterock Conservancy – a developing tourist attraction about 30 miles west of Perry in Coon Rapids that will offer trails for mountain biking, hiking and horseback riding (more below – it would be great to visit on a perfect fall day like today in Des Moines where the autumn foliage is spectacular this year!). Put these two together and maybe there’s a successful weekend travel package (which has been part of the issue with the Hotel Pattee…since there are limited things for tourists to do there).
In 2000, when I wrote a story for the NYTimes travel section Historic Hybrid in Iowa, NYTimes 11/26/2000 about a stay at the historic Garst Farm in Coon Rapids (which now falls under the umbrella of Whiterock Conservancy and is still a lodging option from what I can glean from the website whiterock conservancy website ) we went on a very memorable 2.5 hours horseback ride with our kids. They were very little (ages 8 and 7) to be riding on such big horses by themselves so I was a bit of a wreck but they survived. I ended the account of our trip with a visit to the Hotel Pattee. It can be done!
Another good activity option near Perry is the High Trestle Trail with it’s awe-inspiring 13-story high bridge, hidden in the middle of nowhere, spanning a glorious river valley.
Next summer Whiterock will embark on the construction of our long-planned 35 mile backcountry trail!
The entire new backcountry trail will be open to walkers and hikers as it meanders among the forested slopes above the Middle Raccoon River. Sixteen miles of the trail will be a winding single track designed specifically for mountain bikers. 
Another seven miles will be for equestrians.The final twelve miles will be double track shared by all users, including those using low power vehicles to allow those with mobility restrictions the opportunity to enjoy nature. 
Trail users will also be able to access nine miles of other existing trails which connect to downtown Coon Rapids and many more miles of river upstream.
Filed under Agritourism, bike trails, Des Moines, hiking, Iowa
We weren’t exactly sure where the closed section of the Neal Smith Trail was, so when we arrived on the trail yesterday – a gorgeous fall day for a bike ride – at the Sycamore Access Trailhead just north of Interstate 80 on NW66th in Johnston and found a big barrier and closed for construction sign, we were bummed. But a man with a strong German accent peddled up and told us how to get around the closed segment, giving us classic Iowa instructions: continue east to the Casey’s (a gas station), turn right, ride for awhile til you get to a short bridge over the Interstate, then take the first right, go past two white farmhouses and you’ll see a black pickup parked next to the trail entrance.
Sure nuf’!
We peddled east on NW 66th, turned right on what my map suggests is NW26th, through a strange no man’s flatland of fields and sandpits and the occasional old house, across a short bridge with battered pavement over I-80 and took the first right at the old white farmhouse (on a street that is NOT on my map) and voila – the trail. OPEN!
Funny that we got this information from a visitor to Des Moines. He spent his first 30 years in Munich but now lives in Wisconsin and was rendezvousing in Des Moines for a bike trip with his brother, who lives in Omaha – and also has an equally strong German accident….He peddled up soon after we started talking. Good to see out-of-staters enjoying Iowa’s trails – they had rode the day before on the High Trestle Trail, the one with the stupendous bridge.)
Just fyi: This from the DNR: A portion of the Neal Smith Biking and Hiking Trail will be closed for repair beginning Aug. 21. The trail will be closed from the Sycamore access to Morningstar Drive in Polk County, a distance of about three miles. Trail repair is expected to be completed in late October, depending on weather conditions.
Filed under bike trails, biking, Des Moines
Wallashuck campgrounds, Lake Red Rock, Iowa. Pitching our tent.
Friends talked us into camping with them last Saturday at Lake Red Rock, outside the pretty Dutch Iowa town of Pella, and we’re glad they did. It was gorgeous there and perfect weather. My only issue was sleeping in a tent – which I haven’t done in several years, for good reason I learned. Even though we brought padding, my bum back couldn’t get acclimated to the still-hard ground beneath my sleeping bag. I finally gave up at about 4 a.m. and sat in a lawn chair outside our tent, wrapped in my sleeping bag, reading a magazine with a flashlight under a full moon and waiting for dawn which, when it arrived, was very welcome. I walked down to the late through a clearing in the woods and found the lake lovely – still, very pale blue with mist rising, only me and the geese paddling and crying out.
Eating half – yes, just half – of a Goldie’s Pork Tenderloin sandwich
We stayed at Wallashuck campground which was smaller than some of the others and nice and quiet and shaded, with easy access to a bike trail riding the lake which we rode in both directions, including to the city of Pella where we just missed getting the city’s famed fresh bologna at one of two markets in town (both closed at 4) – the only other place I look forward to bologna is in the western Kansas town of Lucas. But we did get some good sweets at one of Pella’s Dutch bakeries! (coconut and date macaroons at Jaarsma Bakery. We’re not Dutch Letter fans, an S-shaped flakey pastry filled with almond pastry, which is their real claim to fame). En route to Pella, we passed a cute b&b, The Cheesemakers Inn which I gather is run by the same folks that make gouda cheese sold at the Des Moines Farmers market (Frisian Farm.)
On Sunday, we drove to the nearby Neal Smith Prairie Life Center, looking for trails to bike and roaming buffaloes. Didn’t find either. We stopped in Prairie City at Goldie’s and tried one of its famous enormous pork tenderloins, most recently featured in the New York Times (I think we sat next to the same people when we were there!) NYTimes eats in Iowa It’s not my thing but I gave it a go – opting for the pork tenders (slightly less caloric because there’s no bun.) Cute place in former brick gas station on the edge of a quintessential small rural town in Iowa.
Filed under Agritourism, bike trails, biking, DINING, Iowa
We stopped at The (new) Hub Spot for a light lunch while riding along the Principal Riverwalk in downtown Des Moines on a hot Sunday afternoon and had a perfect light meal – a very good ham and swiss on a perfectly concocted baguette – and a great view of the river and downtown, including the Latino Fest going on atop a nearby bridge. What a great addition to the ever-improving downtown scene. As further proof of that expansion, we picked up a little free Des Moines Walk & Bike Guide (more excellent work from the Des Moines Bicycle Collective) to downtown at cafe – with walking tours of the city’s public art (including sculpture by Joel Shapiro, Claes Oldenburg, Jun Kaneko) East Village shops, downtown architecture, Capitol area, and four biking tours of downtown breweries, historic (and hilly) neighborhoods and “Chuck’s 18-miler” which follows almost exactly our favorite loop from home to downtown and back.
What a great idea!! But the highlight for us came towards the end of our ride along the Neal Smith Trail when we spotted a giant billboard featuring our neighbor and friend Sam! See below…
Filed under bike trails, biking, Des Moines
I’ve never heard of the Daily Meal website, but others have and so, I gather, it’s a fairly big deal that it named the Des Moines Farmers Market as No. 2 in the nation – out of 101 of the best markets. First place was Pike Place Farmers Market in Seattle (Des Moines sure can’t match the fresh fish available there – but we’ve got mighty good bacon!). After Des Moines, the bests were Chicago’s Green City Market, the Phoenix Public market, the St. Paul Farmers market and Omaha’s market.
Filed under Agritourism, Des Moines
Fresh tacos in downtown Perry Iowa!
We tried out the new spur of central Iowa’s Raccoon River Valley Trail on Sunday, riding 38 miles round trip from Waukee to Perry through the small towns of Dallas Center and Minburn. The trail was straight and flat (which explains why we rode so far) and pretty scenic, lined on either side primarily by fertile fields of corn and soybeans. (Perfect for a tutorial from my ag expert husband on how you can tell the difference, visually, between a field of seed corn, the kind grown to produce seeds that are planted to grow corn, vs. commercial corn, the kind grown to feed livestock.)
Having small towns to ride through every six miles or so helped keep the scenery from getting too monotonous. In Dallas Center, we spotted a nice b&b on a side street (The Yellow Swan, see photos above) and in Minburn, a little park at the edge of the trail had some cool old farm equipment that we sat in and posed for photos. In Perry, we chanced upon a terrific little Mexican restaurant off the main drag called Taqueria Villa, serving very fresh, well-seasoned, and delicious tacos (we had the “authentic Mexican” style, trying three kinds – Roasted Pork, Grilled Steak and Rotisserie Pork). The prices were almost embarrassingly cheap – a substantial portion of guacamole for $1 – yes $1. What costs $1 anymore? Add chips and it was $3. The tacos were $2 each. The owner took obvious pride in his food and service, which we greatly appreciated. Word has it you can find him and his food at this year’s World Food and Music Festival (part of the World Food Prize festivities) Sept. 20-21 in Des Moines’ East Village if you can’t make the trek to his little hole-in-the-wall in Perry. We were saddened to see the shuttered Hotel Pattee (hope that changes soon) but impressed by the Raccoon River Valley Bicycle Co., an unusually elegant bike shop in what was once the hotel’s gift shop.
Early 1900’s farm equipment in Minburn, Iowa
Filed under Agritourism, bike trails, biking, DINING, Iowa
Somehow I managed to miss a Kansas travel story by “the frugal traveler” in the paper version of the New York Times Travel section a few weeks ago but I did spot the ipad version. Frugal Traveler visits Kansas.
I Married Adventure by Osa Johnson
The story includes many places familiar to people like me who are familiar with Kansas (Flint Hills, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Strong City, Cottonwood Falls, Council Grove, Pittsburg). But it also mentions several (see below) that I need to check out during my next visit(s). Curious to see what the frugal traveler makes of my current home state – Iowa (which apparently was his next stop after Kansas.)
Osa with a gibbon in an airplane
In Pittsburg: Gebhardt Chicken Dinners (and the better-advertised Chicken Annie’s and Chicken Mary’s)
In Chanute: the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum (safarimuseum.com)
In Strong City: Ad Astra, a locavore-ish, vegetarian-friendly restaurant and bar
Filed under Agritourism, Kansas misc
TakeBetsywithyou
TakeBetsywithyou 