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Paper Guy's Katy Trail Adventure!
A couple of years ago my husband and I decided to ride our bikes the entire length of the Katy Trail in Missouri, about 225 miles. The Katy Trail is a bike trail that stretches from Clinton, Missouri to St. Charles, Missouri. It was developed as part of the Rails-to-Trails movement in which railways that are no longer used are converted into bike paths. I had seen several commercials where people would steal yard gnomes, take them on vacation and return them to their owners with pictures of them on their adventure. I thought it would be fun to take our neighbor's yard gnome on our bicycling adventure. My husband thought a yard gnome would be pretty heavy to carry in our bicycle saddlebags. Our then six-year-old son was creating what he called "paper guys." There were hundreds of them. My office mate and I had them posted all over our bulletin boards and there were paper guys all over our refrigerator at home. We selected one hardy-looking Paper Guy to take with us. Much lighter than a yard gnome! This is the account of Paper Guy's Katy Trail Adventure. Paper Guy allotted four days to ride the entire trail. The first night we stayed at the Hotel Bothwell in Sedalia, MO. The next morning we started on the trail and rode to Rocheport. 
It started out as a lovely day but about an hour into it the rain started and it rained the rest of the day. We put on the rain gear that we brought but still got fairly wet and pretty dirty. Without fenders on our bikes, the chat from the trail splashed all over us. Paper Guy lost part of his left arm and his colors were a bit runny. He had to rest and have some chocolate when we arrived at the Yates House Bed and Breakfast. It was so late when we arrived in Rocheport that only one restaurant was still open. After a much needed shower and change of clothes, our host, Conrad Yates, drove us to the Blufftop Winery and Bistro. We had a lovely dinner and glass of wine and then rejoined Paper Guy at the B&B for a good night's rest before continuing our trip. The next day was supposed to be the longest ride of our trip, about 80 miles from Rocheport to Hermann. My husband had a bike malfunction so we only made it as far as Jefferson City where we found a shuttle to drive us the rest of the way to Hermann. 
From Hermann we headed to Defiance. We had a long stop in Marthasville where my husband replaced the 24-year-old ten speed that he had been riding with a brand new touring bike. He had to. The ten-speed was literally falling apart. Paper Guy was happy about the new bike! I wish we had had more time to spend in Hermann. There are several wineries in that area that I would have liked to visit. 
We were late getting to the Parsons House B&B in Defiance but they waited up for us and we were so grateful for the strawberry lemonade and fresh baked brownies that our hosts provided. Our room was lovely. The antique claw foot tub was right in the room and painted pink!After a huge breakfast prepared by our Parsons House hosts we left Defiance and rode to St. Charles. There was a Lewis and Clark celebration happening in St. Charles so we participated in some of the festivities and then took a shuttle to St. Louis. We got there early enough that we had some time to ride around and see some sights. Paper Guy's last night was spent in a chain hotel in St. Louis.
The next morning we boarded an Amtrak train that took us back to Sedalia where we had left our van. Then it was back to Kansas! All in all it was a fun trip and, even though he was a little worse for the wear, I think Paper Guy enjoyed his adventure as much as we did! If you're interested in taking your own Katy Trail adventure, Paper Guy recommends The Katy Trail Guide Book.
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28 March 2008
at 9:24 a.m.
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justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…
Joyce, this was a delightful read and I enjoyed the pictures as well. Paper Guy looks content and I could easily see him hosting his own travel show as he gets a bit older.
I take it your son did not go along on the trip - I hope the other Paper Guys took good care of him while you were gone. What was that crazy character on tv years past? Oh, no, Mr. Bob? Something like that.
I hope you will continue with your adventures and the sharing of them.
28 March 2008
at 9:28 a.m.
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jystevens (Joyce Stevens) says…
Thanks, Ronda.
It was Mr. Bill - I think he was on Saturday Night Live. Mr. Bill might have been made of clay.
28 March 2008
at 9:40 a.m.
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justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…
Yeah, yeah that was it. How could I forget Mr. Bill. Oh, no, Mr. Bill. And he would get squeezed and squished, etc.
I always thought he was sexy but I like short guys who can take a lot of abuse! :)
Thanks for bringing his dear little name back into my mind!
28 March 2008
at 10:14 a.m.
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ontheotherhand (Anonymous) says…
Thanks for posting this story, Joyce. I enjoyed my trip on the Katy Trail (Rocheport to Hermann, two years ago) and I really need to get back there. Missouri has great places for hiking and biking.
(PS At one point on the trail, I got so tired of biking that I decided to walk for half a mile. After that, I was fine. Not sure what came over me but it's a good thing I did not have Paper Guy: he would have been hosed!) Take care!
28 March 2008
at 11:40 a.m.
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Logan72 (Alia Ahmed) says…
Joyce,
Great story and great idea to take Paper Guy with you. I'm forwarding your blog onto a biker I know who's done the bike across KS and MO.
28 March 2008
at 5:40 p.m.
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bibliotek (Anonymous) says…
Here is a better link to the Hotel Bothwell http://www.hotelbothwell.com/
Thank you for a great story! I grew up in Sedalia, and hope to ride the trail again myself this summer.
28 March 2008
at 5:50 p.m.
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femail (Linda Hanney) says…
Joyce—congratulations on riding the entire Katy trail. We have also taken a paper guy on a trip but his name was Flat Stanley. It is a good time of year for your story—it would be a low gas consumption vacation this summer.
28 March 2008
at 6:23 p.m.
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jystevens (Joyce Stevens) says…
bibliotek: Thanks for the working link. I have so many in this blog - I lost a few in the posting. I went to kindergarten in Sedalia. Washington Elementary, if I remember correctly.
Linda: Thanks. I was hoping this might make a good trip for someone this spring or summer.
29 March 2008
at 6:54 p.m.
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Drew_Carey (Anonymous) says…
ontheotherhand..should we now call you Sluggo?
50 pts to Ronda for taking us back to the Mr. Bill Show.
Next, she'll have us serpentine-ing.