Saturday on the Katy Trail

We've welcomed spring with a few hikes and tons of time in the yard. Screen-free time together doing something active, while breathing fresh air and talking to each other... Being outdoors together pretty much the perfect family activity. I was thrilled 2 years ago when the boys both learned how to ride a 2 wheeler over summer because it meant we had a new outdoor activity to do as a family. Bike riding on the Katy Trail.

The Katy Trail is a bike trail that covers a huge portion of Missouri, running beside the Missouri River, bluffs, and farmland. It has beautiful scenery and multiple entry points within 30 minutes of our house. We are so fortunate to be nearby. After multiple consecutive weekends of yard work, we loaded up the bikes and took off for the bike trail, ready for a workout, and some peace and quiet. 

Here's a photo dump of our adventure:

We put Jeremy's new (to us) truck to good use and threw the bikes in the back. Nice not having to build a puzzle of bikes in the van.

We entered the trail at Cooper's Landing in Easley, which is now by far my favorite entry point.

And off we went. Not even a quarter mile up the trail, a fallen tree blocked our path. Fortunately, there was a way around it, so we didn't have to turn back.

The Missouri River was our view on one side of the path.

Perfect blue skies above.

Our goal was to try to not stop very often because the boys have a tendency to need a drink, or a snack, or a break pretty frequently. We didn't do too bad, but did have our share of stops. One was to readjust the seats on all of our bikes.

Another stop for a water/snack break.

The view on the other side of the trail. Field in the foreground, bluffs in the background.

And then, when we were just starting to get going, about 2 miles in, we came up to a roadblock with a sign that said that portion of the trail was closed. What?! They do that? We have never thought about checking that kind of thing before we head out because we have never run into this before. So while we had hoped to do 6-7 miles at a minimum, we found ourselves turning back for a round trip bike ride of just under 4 miles.

But still, for the first ride of the season, 4 miles was a good start.

So we headed on back.

It's funny how you can go one way on the trail, and come back on the very same trail and get a completely different view. Like this. We totally missed this the first time we went by.

And a family selfie for the record.

And then back to where we started. One spring outdoor adventure complete! 

Happy biking!