It sure is great living in Missouri this time of year!!

As you can tell, it was another splendid weekend here in eastern Missouri. The weather was a bit cold and rainy throughout the week, but it really came through over the weekend. I was able to go down to Johnny's on Friday and eat some scrumptuous wings with a couple of buddies. It had been at least two months since last sampling some of those daddies and they did not dissapoint.

Reese had her last soccer game this Saturday. She seemed to have the most fun at this last game. We got there a little late as she was having a hard morning dealing with what to wear. Hence the teal long sleeve shirt under here soccer jersey. Why the white or black shirt was not good enough, I still don't know? She got to play most of the game and now wants to try it again.

On Sunday we had been planning on going down to Taum Sauk Mountain State Park all week. We were hoping the weather and foliage would be nice and sure enough it was. The leaves are not real colorful this year, and fortunately the ones down south are much brighter than the ones in the St. Louis area. If you not been to Taum Sauk before, you should go. It is the tallest point in Missouri and is located along the Ozark Trail. We hiked down to Mina Sauk Falls and back. It was a little over three miles and the girls did great. It is a very hard trail to hike on due to the amount of rocks. It has lots of uphill climbing as well. The guide book says for experienced hikers only, but the girls did great. Mina Sauk is the tallest waterfall in the state as well. We came back home up Hwy 21 and drove through D-Town for old time sake. It sure was nice seeing the old town again. I sometimes wonder if I should move back and raise the girls there.

Later.

Camping at Meramec State Park

We went camping this past weekend at Meramec State Park with friends Chris and Kim Pleimann and their two kids Riley and Ashton. We got our little pop up out for the first time in three years. The weather was perfect as you can tell by the photos. We went on a nice two mile hike and took in some of the caves in the park. We ate and drank like kings all weekend. Chris brought his smoker to cook up some ribs. We had a great breakfast on Saturday morning as well. The fire came in handy all weekend as it got into the 30s at night. It was in the upper 60s during the day. A good time was had by all.

Wyman

Liz and Tatum's BDay at John D. McGurks

We finally celebrated Tatum and Liz's Bday yesterday. We all met down at McGurks for supper and had a grand time. The food and beer was stellar. I tried some O'Fallon 5 Day IPA as well as putting down some Smithwicks. I had a fabulous ribeye topped with bleu cheese. It was cooked to perfection. We also sampled some whisky bread pudding. Happy 30th to Liz and No 7 for T.

The leg is feeling better, but still looks horrible. I am running out of tegaderm and may have to buck up and get some more. That stuff is expensive!!

Unfortunately basketball season is upon us. I have to go to the rules meeting tonight and then actually start calling Dec. 1. I love basketball, but just hate being gone all week long in the evenings. Basketball is winter for me. I enjoy being involved in the game, just don't look forward to the bitching and moaning of the fans and coaches. Leaving home at 7:30am and getting home at 10pm just plain sucks. I often question whether all the driving and wear and tear on my car is worth the $100. If gas keeps going up, this may be my last season.

I am really looking forward to camping this weekend with the Pliemann family.

Ta

Burnin at the Bluffs

I finally participated in my first mountain bike race this weekend. Even though it is not your standard Norba race, the Burnin at the Bluffs was a good intro into mountain bike racing. I entered into the Burnin Virgin's category along with road teammate Darin Marlow and other Big Shark racer Mark Granneman. It was supposed to be a 12 hour race, but ours didn't last that long. Mark went first and he had three flats on the 13 mile course and had to walk almost 5 miles back to the start. I went second and had a great time. Bad thing was that I crashed on mile 2. I landed right on the same leg that had the road rash from the Gateway Cup and completely tore it up again. It hurt like hell, but I continued on getting a final time of 1hr and 23 minutes. My time on the single lap wasn't too shabby compared to the other times in the race. I had never been on the course going into it blind and am really happy with my performance. I had planned on doing 3 laps in the race, but decided to throw in the towl and get my wound taken care of. I found a ride home from a guy at Wash U. I quickly took down my tent, packed my bags and headed north. When I got home I cleaned the wound and put some tegderm on.
I had planned on having a great time after the race with my teammates and neighbor Carey, but thought the injury was a little more important. I had ridden down early in the morning with Carey leaving St. Louis at 4:45 am in order to make the team meeting at 7am in at Council Bluffs Lake Recreation Area. We missed at turn and got to the meeting a tad late.
I plan on doing some more mtn races in the future and will for sure do the Burnin at the Bluff again next year.
If you would like to see what my leg looks like, just scroll down a bit and look at the photos from the Gateway Cup.
Smell you later.

Powder Valley Nature Conservation Center

Last Sunday was absolutely beautiful here in St. Louis, so went out to Powder Vally Nature Reserve in Kirkwood, Mo for a hike. The trail through the park is about 2 miles and is completely paved. We saw a ton of deer and you can tell in the photos.

My neighbor Carey and myself got in around 40 miles on the road bike in preparation for Burnin.

The Fall Festival was at school this past Friday as well. The girls had a great time.

Norman