Thursday, July 7, 2016

Dog Days of Summer on the Katy Trail

You've gotta love the changing seasons and temperatures of Missouri.  You've heard that saying, "if you don't like the weather in Missouri, just stick around.  It'll change four times in a matter of hours!"

So today we went from a cool summer morning, to hurricane-force winds and torrential downpours, to a hot and humid afternoon that leaves puddles off your skin like a kid with a melting ice cream cone!

Through it all, I've watched groups of steadfast Katy Trail Bikers keep powering through, with and without raingear, with and without layers of bike clothes, and with and without mud stripes up their backs.  Here at the Inn we've had our share of bicyclists and we've had to hose people down, cool people down, and send people in the right direction when lost.  The part I usually dislike is sending a bicyclist to a different lodging facility because they didn't plan ahead.

Many lodging facilities (B & B's, Inns, Guest Houses, etc.) on the trail just aren't set up for "walk-ins."  It's best to always plan ahead and make reservations where you are wanting to stop.  I know, for many of you that takes the "adventure factor" out of the adventure!  But there's nothing worse than being caught in a horrendous severe thunderstorm, only to ride up to what you feel is a place of refuge, only to find it as a place of "refuse", because they operate by reservations only.  Over the past three years that we've been in operation, we've found various notes stuck to the front door that read, "went next door for a cold beer and will check in after a few hours."  Those notes were usually found a day or two later after we were away on a trip ourselves!

We are avid bicyclists and can be found on our days or hours off riding the Katy Trail ourselves.  Do yourself a favor and plan ahead for your lodging when riding the trail.  You'll be glad you did!

We're sending a "Shout Out" to these lodging facilities who really treated us royally along the trail:
The Alpenhorn Guest House in Hermann, The Capitol Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City, The Frederick Hotel in Boonville, and The Bothwell Hotel in Sedalia.