Last month kicked off the series with my local ‘go-to’ run, a quick 5 miles ‘round Waneka Lake.
This month thought I’d highlight one of my sis’ favourite runs in St. Louis. Past 3 years have FaceBook-followed Sis’ love/hate relationship with Queeny Park – summer time she’s red-faced, spring time: rain soaked, dodging lightning.
Family Reunion 2016 in St. Louis: HAD to experience Queeny.
4th of July weekend; most of Sis’ running group no-show’d (think there was a competing run in Forrest Park). Luckily this day, also missed St Louis’ infamous hot humid summer weather. Overcast skies kept morning temps in the 70’s/low 80’s. FAAANNTASTIC!
Shaded deciduous, big leafy vegetation, long patches of wildflower, multiple lake views AND hills – lotta up n down. Let’s the body know you’re alive. Often I zone during mile-stretches of flat road.
Don’t get me wrong, LOVE my Colorado trail runs…but St Louis’ Queeny Park did not disappoint. GREAT morning run!
Post-run food reward at The Shack. Family that runs together, stays together 🙂
Welcome to the fourth annual edition of The Go! List, a celebration of the best people, places and things in St. Louis. Here are our critics’ and readers’ picks.
Best breakfast • The Shack
Where 13645 Big Bend Road, Valley Park • More info 636-529-1600; shackstl.com
Where 731 South Lindbergh Boulevard, Frontenac • More info 314-736-5900; shackstl.com
The Shack began life as a midtown restaurant serving larger-than-life sandwiches. Since relocating to Valley Park and later expanding to Frontenac, it has made larger-than-life breakfasts its main calling card. (Lunch is also available.) Feast on waffle-breaded fried chicken, corn-flake-encrusted French toast or any of the omelets, skillets or other dishes, and you can skip lunch. Maybe dinner, too.
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- GREAT morning run in S-T-L!
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- action shot fail
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- food reward: chili & Fritos burrito at The Shack
morning run series: Queeny Park (StL)
Colorado in the house – let the Games begin!
Pre-crack of dawn Saturday start. Pre-crack? 215am wake-up, Ash & Tom’s home at 3am, 5am flight – connection in Kansas City. Even with the time difference, arrived in St Louis by 10am. Met up with Michaela in baggage claim. She had arrived 30 minutes earlier from O’Hare (after an unexpected overnight stay). Family Reunion 2016!
Weather forecast? Rain. Every day, all day. Sis has the worse luck EVER with weather. Lucky for us though, she’s also one of the planet’s best vacation planners – rain or shine, the Games would go on as planned 🙂
Started with a late breakfast/early lunch. Met up with Mom, brother & his family – in addition to my Sis’ two children. No kids no more. Everyone’s now in high school, college or boozers over 21. HA!
1st activity: ceramic painting at That Painting Spot
Here’s how easy it is to create your own masterpiece:
- Pick out a piece pottery that you would like to paint. Prices are marked on the shelf and typically run from about $7 up to $40 (maybe a little more for a giant platter). We have lots to choose from — from useful cups and large platters to all kinds of animals and fantasy figures.
- Go to the the Paint Bar and pick out your colors. We have red to purple and almost every color in between, so go wild. We also have specialty paints called jungle gems to give your piece and extra bit of pizzazz, at no extra cost.
- Get to work. One of our Studio Consultants will help you get comfortable at a table. Feel free to ask for any advice or how to use or stencils, sponges, writers or other special techniques. We also have paper and pencil available if you want to sketch out your design before starting to paint.
- When you are finished painting, let us know. We’ll put your name or initials on the piece and then move your artwork to a safe drying area. After that our Studio Assistants will check you out and you can be on your way. Hold onto that white ticket though, you’re going to need it later.
- When your pottery is completely dry, we still have work to do. We will glaze your artwork and then let it dry again. Next we will load it in our kiln and fire it. Temperatures in our kilns reach nearly 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. It will take at least another day to cool off after firing. Your masterpiece will be ready to be picked up in the next 7-10 days.
And that’s all!
Spotted an unfinished toucan with a kitchen sponge in its mouth – yep, that’s for me. Honestly, not a crafty person – so enlisted help & advice with colour and brush selection.
You really have to trust the process, applied paint appears super dull. Basted my bird twice. Surprisingly, took the entire 2 hour time allotment. Will long remember sharing this day with family. Whole lotta laughs.
Sis shipped our masterpieces a couple weeks later. Whatta GREAT idea! Quite the creative bunch.
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- pre-crack of dawn: 5am flight, KC connection
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- Saturday, Sunday, Monday — lucky for us, we avoided any sunshine 🙂
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- Colorado in the house – let the Games begin!
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- tuxedo black – fave colour at the table
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- Mom & Sis
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- Ash
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- Paul
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- Maddie
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- my bro, James
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- Victoria
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- Jack
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- Michaela
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- Tom
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- ok, ok — had a ‘little’ help finishing mine 🙂
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- whatta GREAT idea!
Tent, backpack, will travel. Weekend plans.
Just like all camping treks, kicked off with a blood bath. Ash purchased $20 tickets to a way way way off-Broadway production of “Evil Dead the Musical”. Funny campy comedy where you wanna sit in the back row – to stay out of the SPLATTER zone. Cabin in the woods, college kids slaughtered one by one, audience blood spray – what’s not to like? HA!
Tickets are selling fast for the bloodiest, groovy-est show of the year…
“My wife and I came all the way from Memphis to see Evil Dead and it was worth every penny! We loved every minute of it! Amazing cast and gorgeous playhouse. Thank you for so much fun.” – Haywood E. via Facebook
Don’t get me wrong, it was a super fun night…but these nuts drove from Memphis? LOL>
Saturday a.m. start – destination: Vedauwoo, an hour west of Cheyenne. Goal: locate a camping spot early & get in a day hike. Super popular climbing spot. For us though, it was more – let’s go camping/how can we avoid west-bound traffic on Colorado’s east-west highway, I-70? one word: Vedauwoo.
Known to the Arapaho Indians as “Land of the Earthborn Spirit,” the rock formations of Vedauwoo (pronounced vee-da-voo) attract experienced climbers, campers and hikers. This area is conveniently located off Interstate 80 between Cheyenne and Laramie (exit 329) and for westbound travelers is their first introduction to the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest and its more than two million acres of public lands.
I-25 North to Cheyenne, west on I-80 to Laramie. 28 camping spots – luckily, located an empty one…that would have never happened on a Saturday in Colorado.
The campground is composed of two loops, winding around the boulders, slabs and cliffs of the Vedauwoo rock formation which comprises 10 square miles of weathered Sherman granite. The vegetation is a variety of Limber pine, Engleman spruce, Douglas fir and Aspen. The general area was once used as a hideout for outlaws. Native Americans thought playful spirits piled up the boulders. All the tent sites are walk-ins and some of them are so secluded, one might feel the “outlaw’s spirit.”
big boulder terrain & wind – 2 biggest differences between Colorado & our northern neighbor. Scoped out a spot. Pitched our tents. Chucked 4 good sized rocks inside. Time for a day hike. Off-leash fun for the pups; easy 3 mile trek to Turtle Rock.
Green aspen-filled forest eventually gave way to rocky terrain. Pronghorn antelope & beaver, today’s wildlife count.
The rock making up Vedauwoo’s fantastic rock formations is the 1.4 billion year old Sherman Granite, which is some of the oldest rock in Wyoming. The uplift of the Laramie Mountains that began around 70 million years ago, exposed this rock. Younger and looser layers of rock and sediment have progressively eroded, and this continues today. The hard granite of Vedauwoo is made of large crystals of quartz, orthoclase, plagioclase, and some mica and is more erosion-resistant, resulting in unique, wind and water-sculpted forms.
Back at our campsite, restored Ash & Tom’s windblown digs…and the heavens opened. Piled into their 3-man & passed time with a deck of cards. Tick, tick, tick…hot dogs on the brain. Kept checking/rechecking, waiting ‘til we could evac & start a fire.
an old Nat Geo, twigs & 2-year old firewood – we have FIRE! Maintained a blaze, despite intermittent rain. SUCCESS!!
canned chili, not a huge fan…but fire-roasted hot dogs – FAAANNNTASTIC!
Better idea? Marshmallow s‘mores. Heck, YEAH! We should go camping EVERY weekend 🙂 Eventually abandoned our fire digs & tent-retreated from steady rain. Snug in my rug, held on to Ro ‘til he settled. Strong rain pelted outside. Nite fall.
6 a.m, clear skies & sunshine. Vedauwoo, pretty sweet spot (& only 2 hours away).
Evil Dead the Musical (The Bug Theatre)
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- Denver’s Bug Theatre
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- pre-camping slasher fun
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- luckily, stayed out of the SPLATTER zone
Vedauwoo WY (Medicine Bow Nat’l Forest)
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- road trippin’ with the pup
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- sunshine & smiles
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- Colorado Aspens…in Wyoming
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- dog model
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- happy hikers
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- water break
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- beaver dam
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- home away from home
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- cozy card game – campground rain delay
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- we have FIRE!
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- only way to eat a marshmallow
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- rain didn’t stop us — or these 2 climbers
