Revisiting Pickle Springs with More Team Kakouris

The Beautiful Mrs K and I visited Pickle Springs back in May during a rain storm.  It was an amazing adventure and we swore we'd come back in the winter.  Since it has been raining and the trails were too wet for us to mountain bike, we dragged Eli and the Hound Dog with us for a pre-winter revisit of the magical trail.

Although Eli hasn't loved every hike we've been on over the past few years, he loved this one.  He and his faithful Hound Dog were really impressed with the crazy rocks and roots and bluffs and boulders that Pickle had to offer.

This time around, we went counter-clockwise.  That put us in Rockpile Canyon right away.  One benefit of this late fall trip:  the leaves have fallen from the trees so there are even more amazing views.

Shelf upon shelf upon shelf of cool rocks.

We were anxious for Eli to fall in love with the place (which he did) but the real hero of the day was our own 4-wheel-drive Hound Dog.  He performed feats of strength and agility that we had no idea he possessed. 

Plus, having just rained, Hound Dog pulled Eli into many wet and wonderful situations.  Eli was not complaining.  Lucky for Eli, he had on waterproof shoes.

The bright sunshine and lack of leaves gave us plenty to ooh and ahh over.

Once we got into the large rock formations, Eli became a rock climber.  We saw a little of this while in Elephant Rocks over the summer, but....

....there was not a high rock that this boy didn't get atop today.

Last time Mrs K and I were here, we didn't venture too far off the beaten path.  Now that we were being dragged along by the Rock Climber and the Hound Dog, we saw a LOT more of the formations and the views that came along with them.

Eli and I tried to sit in every hollow that we could.  Remi looks like he is cut in half in this panoramic photo, but he moved while I was taking it.

Yes, Eli, I see that you have climbed yet another scary rock formation!                                                        

Someone had a laugh by putting a little plastic skull inside one of the thousands of holes that dot the boulders and formations.

Somehow we got the Hound Dog to sprint through this little hole and he was super excited about it.

The sun was dazzling and the wind was howling in some spots.

Spectacular overhangs and colors.

I was wishing that I could get all of the beauty and awe of the sights in one photo, but the best I can come up with is Team Kakouris in a panorama.

And yes, there are boulders right over your head when you hike this trail.

And here our exquisite male model is showing off the new fall line of sweat shirts while posing next to boulders.

This was really neat and very cold when standing under the streams of water.

Another panoramic shot from inside one of the hollows.  Perhaps my favorite.

At some point we had to wonder who was enjoying the water and waterfalls more...Eli or the Hound Dog?

This one was high and scary.  Nope, not coming up with you.

If you look hard, you can see the beautiful Mrs K in between those boulders.

Eli was really impressed with the key holes.  Of course after he stood under the shelf.......

...he had to stand on top of it.

On the way out, just a few hundred yards from the end of the trail is a long crevice that is full of tiny caves.  I had to lighten this photo up a bit so you can see the details.  I asked Eli to check it out.

And THIS is actually my favorite photo.  A pic of the kid who hates to hike with us having such a great time.  And now both he AND the Hound Dog are worn out and snoozing.
 

Savoring the Weather with a Lot of Mountain Biking

I had high hopes for getting a couple good laps in at the Forest City Trails in St. James on Sunday.  Alas, it was not to be.  A big boulder (or small rock, who can say??) wedged into my rear derailleur 6.66 miles into my first lap.  Say what you will about that cursed number, my day was over.

But it wasn't over.  I got home, replaced the link on the derailleur, and recruited Eli to ride at Eureka Mountain Bike Park.  He didn't go with me to St. James because he was a bit tired, but he did jump at the chance to ride at EMBP.  There has been quite a bit of work done there over the last couple months and it was in fine shape.  We hit the runs a bunch of times, enough to get 4+ miles and 700 feet of climbing.  Let that sink in for a moment. That's a lot of climbing to go downhill fast for a few seconds.

The big ride of the weekend came this morning.  Both Eli and the Beautiful Mrs K are big fans of Bluffview so we got chores and school work done by noon and headed out.  The weather was simply spectacular, and the view at the overlook was awesome.  I didn't realize how bad my facial hair looked (shaved when I got home).

Eli's skills have just grown and grown.  Mrs K surprised us at the bottom of Zombie East and got a few good shots of us coming into one of the last berms.  Again, he did the whole trail system, improving on nearly every single segment.  It's great to see him tackle the hard stuff, and his climbing is getting very solid.  He walks nothing.

Mrs K also caught me and Blurple coming in right behind Eli,  I hit 1000 off-road miles this past week, so every ride with Team Kakouris is icing on the cake!
 

A Better Halloween Weekend

Our kids have outgrown the traditional trick-or-treating type Halloween.  Kinda glad about that. They're all old enough to enjoy other types of Halloween fun.  And this plague-edition Halloween fell on a weekend so it was very important for us to do it up right.  Eli's NICA team had their normal Saturday practice session, only with an October 31st flavor at Cliff Cave.

Costumes were optional, but wheelie practice was mandatory.  At least for Eli...mandatory.  And there was candy.  Mmmm, Twix.

After some mountain biking on the trails and a cold warm-up on the bike paths, all 20-something kids gathered back at the pavilion for tomfoolery. Mrs K grabbed the pool noodle and set the kids on a path to greatness: bike limbo.  There was literally a line of 20 kids riding and writhing under the ever-lowering pool noodle.  Sometimes costumes made the difference between a win and a fail.

Eli tried all sorts of body contortions to defeat the yellow noodle of death.

Halloween festivities behind us, Sunday brought howling winds and lower temps.  Greensfelder called, however, and it was time to do some serious off-roading.  The Hound Dog needed exercise, too.  Eli and I rode together first while the Beautiful Mrs K took Remi into the woods.  After I had worn Eli out, I met Deanna back at the car and began the ride with her.  No rest for Dad the trail guide!

With 2/3 of Team Kakouris suitably tired and a well-exercised Hound Dog calmed, we were ready to put this Halloween weekend to rest.  But not before Remi assumed his usual unorthodox position for the ride home.
 

Something is seriously wrong with my humans

Ha ha!  I just grabbed those clean socks for the 10th time today and I'm going to sit here on the couch until they notice....then they'll chase me and it will be so much fun! They get so worked up when I grab their clothes!

Hmm.  No response. That's completely unexpected.  Did they not see that I have the socks again?  I am kind of tired.  Maybe they're tired, too?  Nope.  They'll see the socks soon.  Then, IT'S ON!

Dang it.  I guess they don't care about the socks anymore.  What else can I do to get them to chase me and have fun?  I guess I could moan and groan.  That might get their attention.  Wait...what happened to the socks??

Somebody.  Please.  Play with me.  Please.  I'm so bored.  Nobody wants to play with me!  Now I'm so tired.  Maybe I'll just...just close my eyes.  Just for a bit.  ZZZzzzzzz.......

Mini Adventuring is a Real Thing You Know

Busy people, busy lives.  We have to take our free time when we can get it.  Last week we had a couple goals in mind so we combined them.  One goal was to visit the fun little trail systems in Jackson and Cape.  First we hit Klaus Park.  What a blast!  If it were not for the leaves and acorns on the ground, we would have achieved some serious velocity.  The Beautiful Mrs K caught me smiling as I rode behind Eli.  

He's gotten seriously fast!  He loves to go downhill and jump whatever is in the way.  It sure is fun following him on the trail.  This stuff was right up his alley.  After eating a few snacks, we drove right across the road and hit the Crossroads trail.  It's fun, too, with some great jumps and ledges.

From Cape, we headed back north for our second goal: meeting up with the most glamourous Perryville resident.  It was a beautiful day to sit outside and have an early dinner with our girl.

Here, we sort of replicated our photo from Hanna's graduation day a couple years ago.  Look at the height on that bun! We were fortunate to have such a great day to be together.

While in P-Vegas, we toured the new-ish Vietnam Memorial.  It's beautiful and a powerful reminder of the sacrifices our citizens have made.  All of the flags, blowing in the wind at full attention, were amazing.

And what was going on in the chaotic world of Remi the Hound Dog while we were adventuring?  It seems as though the youngest member of our family is courting the female husky from the corner of the back yard.

They usually end up in some kind of kissy-face situation, such as this.  It's so cute it makes me want to cry.  We were very happy to know that while we couldn't bring him on this latest adventure, he was juuuuuust fiiiiiiine on his own.

Mini Adventures - Because Any Adventure is better than No Adventure

We are busy people.  This isn't a competition or anything, but we do have a lot of irons in the fire.  The Beautiful Mrs K and I doubled down this year and decided we were going to go places and do things we enjoyed doing, even if it meant we were pushing some limits.  We've been adventuring all year.  There are times, though, when we have to cram in smaller adventures to accommodate everything we want/need to get accomplished.  Last night we made do with a small adventure to our favorite little hole in the wall coffee house, Cafe Nova. 

We were the only people sitting outside on the awesome patio, probably because it was a bit chilly.  But we had a big ol' heater making things better as we stuffed ourselves with proper Mediterranean food.  Lovely place, lovely people.

Today, we turned our late afternoon mountain bike ride into an adventure.  Mrs K and I took Eli to Bluffview, one of his favorites.  He's getting so good.  Mrs K told Eli and I to do our thing so she could go do her own ride.  We did 10 miles this time, including the entire West Side of Zombie!  No walking, minimal dabs. I'm so proud of him, as he's even starting to climb really well.  700+ feet of climbing for the young Mr K!

Meanwhile, the Beautiful Mrs K was climbing Zombie East...northward.  Wow, I told her later...that's not exactly the direction I would have told you to go, but YOU GO GIRL!  

Adventures come in many forms.  Stealing away for a quick night out or soaking in the cool evening air, we have to take what we can from life.
 

Team Kakouris - Revisiting Forest City because Once is Never Enough

 

The three of us (Myself, The Beautiful Mrs K, and Eli) were so taken by last weeks ride at Forest City in St. James, we decided to do it again today. The trail system there is built really well and has so many interesting features.  Man-made features, too!  So off we went.  It only takes 90 minutes or so to get there.  And highway 44 gives us ample opportunities to marvel at Route 66 tourist traps...Uranus Fudge Factory, anyone??

The logistical member of Team Kakouris, the Beautiful (and talented) Mrs K.  I get the bikes ready and loaded, and she gets all of our stuff ready.  Snacks, extra clothing, bags, towels, directions, phone chargers, little sandwiches on Hawaiian Buns...the things we need to make an adventure successful.  She loves Forest City and had a fantastic ride today.  It's a tricky place to ride and her skills are impressive.

We could not have asked for a better day to have this adventure.  Even better than last week, I think. The temps were in the high 60's when we started, breezy, and low humidity.  And the trails were dry as a bone, which I much prefer.  I don't prefer spider webs, but I will take the Forest City spider webs over the fishing-net sized spider webs that I've encountered at Council Bluff.

                                             

We are three of the five-member Team Kakouris.  Hanna (the fitness queen) is busy grinding out college grades and making donuts and Tyson is in Alaska enjoying an amazing adventure of his own.  This photo was taken about the half-way point of the 10-ish mile marathon loop.  Mrs K and Eli traded bikes here so he could ride the full-suspension bike on the roughest part of the trail to the end.  As much as we laugh about "Randy's Crack", he appreciated having that bike in that section!  Mrs K rode his hardtail bike back to the technical loop and confirmed that hartails are, well, hard.  All said, we rode every square inch of Forest City.  Eli completed the big loop and rode things I didn't think he'd ride.  He even followed me off a cool jump, and he rode every wooden feature.  Go Team Kakouris!