City River Walk

The weather has been abnormally cool for summer (high of 80 today!) so we are eager to take advantage of it. Of course it was a perfect day for a picnic lunch after church. We decided to check out the local city river walk park. The walk next to the river is only about 500 feet, but the path bends around and goes under bridges until it takes you to the local downtown area and ends near the square where the farmer's market is held. It's not a notable scenic place, but it is a nice place to be out for a stroll and enjoy some time outside with a good picnic area.

The river looks to be uncommonly low right now and very fast moving. People were out fishing of course, and I did see a small motor boat. It is also the boundary between Kansas and Missouri, so once you cross, you've changed states.

While there, you might be able to catch a glimpse of a train! The girls were super excited to see one, even though they never seemed all that excited about the ones we actually rode on in Korea. I think the flashing and dinging crossing lights were more exciting to them than the train itself.

Along the river walk a cement sunken wagon; a nod to the pioneers of westward expansion. They are pretending to be the Ingalls.

A picturesque old wall we passed. I have to admit, my first thought was "Oh, we're next to the fortress wall...wait." Yes, still missing Korea!

The most exciting part - catching a crawdad. Some kind people searching for tadpoles let us use their net and we managed to snag this one. There were plenty more, but they were wise to us and hid very effectively. After the girls watched him for a while we threw him back with his mateys.

All in all, it's a pleasant place to pass some time on a nice day. Just across the street from the parking lot is a carousel museum, so we'll save that for an inside kind of day!