Day Two: Windsor to Sedalia

This morning I was feeling a little of the effects of yesterday's hike, but over all I was feeling pretty good.
The morning was cool, foggy with a few sprinkles and rain showers. This may sound unpleasant, but with a 20-mile hike before me, this is actually nice weather. It definitely beats either 100-degree heat or storms with lightning and hail. I was pretty loaded down, since I was leaving any direct support from Theresa and my aunt and uncle and because I wasn't too sure about water availability along this stretch of the trail. I carry 1.5 liter water bottles, and I had three of them filled, and one empty one for the next day. Each filled bottle is slightly more than three pounds, and that starts to add up. Oh, and the above picture shows the trail passing into Pettis County. Hey, it thrilled me at the time!

The terrain I hiked through today was definitely prairie. A lot of the scenery reminded me of when I lived in North Texas. It was pretty flat and somewhat featureless. I kind of like it, though. It really gives your mind a chance to wander, and if you don't let it psych you out, it is kind of cool to see how far you have walked and how far you still have to go. Individual trees really become major landmarks to you as you walk along.

Walking in early September, you get a feel for the changing seasons. Just a few weeks ago, the corn was green,the soybeans were verdant and everything seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds. Now, though, is harvest time around here. The farmers are bringing in the field corn, and all the grain elevators are humming with activity. I found it fascinating, but then again, I am a child of the suburbs. I have never been this close to a harvester in operation.

A short while later, I started the climb up to the highest point on the Katy Trail. If you live or vacation in more mountainous areas, 900-some-odd feet is not very impressive, but you sure feel a sense of accomplishment sitting on a bench and thinking about how high you are above the rest of the trail. Just don't get the mistaken notion that the rest of the trail is all down hill. HAH!

My mid-day destination was Green Ridge. It was a nice little trailhead in the middle of town. The restrooms were clean and they had water, so I can't complain much about this stop. The town reminded me of some of the little towns around Wichita Falls, where I used to live. There didn't seem to be a whole lot to the town, but the people there seem to be doing fine.

I am thinking I may do a separate post after I finish this walk with just random wildlife pictures, but I have to include this one. I think this is one cool-looking spider. I know my daughter Julie will hate this picture, but what the hell! I was stopped at a road crossing and eating a granola bar when I glanced to my left and saw this. At first, I thought it was a wildflower, but when I looked again, I could see that it was a large spider. I could have reached out and touched it. I love the pattern on its back.

As I tramped on, I started to slooooowly work my way toward Sedalia. Once I got into town, I walked up Ohio Street toward my stop for the night, the Hotel Bothwell. It was built in 1927 and was restored a few years ago. Many of the rooms were renovated and enlarged to more modern-day standards, but they left a portion of the rooms as close as they could to the 1927 standard. I chose one of those. I wanted to see what they were like, and they were the cheapest rooms, so it was just meant to be!

After I walked in, and I am sure I was looking pretty haggard after 20-plus miles, I told the person at the front desk that I had a reservation. She looked it up and all was well and good, with the one problem that my room was on the seventh floor and the elevator was broken. I think she could see the look in my eyes, and told me that they are using the freight elevator to shuttle guests to their rooms. That was actually kind of cool, since it was one of those old cage-type elevators with a hand operator. I am sure it was a drag for the desk people, but I can remember as a little kid that there were still a few elevator operators in some of the buildings in downtown St. Louis. I think it added to the ambiance of the place.

My room was interesting. Like I wrote earlier, it was a "1927 room." That means there is room for a bed, a small writing desk, a deep closet, a tiny bathroom off to the side and, in a nod to modern times, air conditioning and a TV set almost at the foot of the bed. It was all the room that I was going to need for one night.

On a down note, I started to develop some pretty nasty blisters again on my heels, one of my toes and the soles of my feet. This is not the best of news with 180 or so miles more to walk. Time to break out the moleskin!