Life as Gesamtkunstwerk

Katy Trail Camping and Biking Trip
Here's a picture of Sultan waiting in the back of the Red Grover for us to get packed for a trip to the Katy trail last weekend. The Katy is an old railroad trail that has been converted to a gravel cycling path that goes all the way across Missouri. Part of the trail travels along the Muddy MO (that's the Missouri for those of you who don't know). We took Max, Sultan and our bikes for a little trip. We went last year and had a really good time, so we had to have a repeat. Sultan loves camping, he'd wait in the car indefinitely just for the opportunity.
Max likes to camp too and so does Ginna, provided we do it "right". Here I am pumping up our air-mattress. We even have a hanging fan in the tent to cool off the hot summer nights.
The first time I automated the inflation I brought the gas leaf blower with us. Max got super scared and all the other people at the campground where looking at me like: "why did that moron bring his leaf-blower?" This little pump is quite an improvement.





Even Mama Fish got in on the action. You can see Max's little sleeping bag in the background. I was so excited when we got it. But, Max didn't sleep in it at all. All it has done is make me want to say bad words while trying to stuff it in a too tight stuff sack.


Here we are taking a little break during our ride. We decided to ride from Huntsdale to Rocheport. It's only about 7 miles each way. The trail was right along the MO. Max really wanted to practice his potty training during this break. He found that he prefers trees to toilets. I don't blame him, but you have to be careful with things like that around the house and at the local parks.

This picture was taken in front of a little bakery in Rocheport. We bought some cookies to help us recharge for the ride back to Huntsdale. Just up the street from this place is where Sultan had an altercation with a killer cat. The cat stalked us and scratched Sultan on the nose. Still, in the end the dumb cat got a little bite from the big guy's dentition.
Sultan did an amazing run. He went at least 10 miles before he started to slow. He got so tired about a mile from the end that when I slowed down for him, he just sat down. He must have been super cramped and sore, because nothing slows that dog down. He limped for 2 days afterward, but he's fine now and more excited than ever about going on rides.
We packed up the Red Grover at the end of the trip. Sultan was going to make sure he didn't get left behind. He even offered to ride home on the bumper. We upgraded him to business class and he got to ride with Max on the middle bench. Sultan and Max slept the whole way home. We even made it back in time to watch BYU lose a football game.