Where The Missouri Meets The Mississippi

 West Alton, MO

Francis knows not to look at the camera.

Edward “Ted” and Pat Jones-Confluence Point State Park 

Today we went to Confluence Point State Park.  It's about a 40 minute drive from where we are staying with a 5 mile dirt road at the end of the drive.  It's a pretty minimalist state park with a parking lot and a few signs to tell you the history of the area.  The trail to the point is paved about half of the way and at the point there are a few cool monuments which I took photos of so you can see them below.  There are also a lot of birds in the area and even an Audubon Bird Sanctuary very close by.

The trail was really well maintained and there were a lot of trees.  Sometimes areas around The Mississippi River feel more like a wasteland but not here.

There is a trail that goes right into the water at the point.  On the right is The Missouri River and on the left is The Mississippi River.

I didn't dip my toe in even though I kind of wanted to.

After getting back I decided to head to Perennial Artisan Ales to have a beer and pick up a few to go.  It's a brewery that has been on my list of places to visit for quite a while now and we are running out of days here.

It was a big space with a lot of outside seating as well as inside seating.

They had a bunch of my favorite styles of beers on tap but I was driving so I went with this very low ABV American Lager.  It was good.

I also got to play a free game of Pinball!

I brought a few bottles home and Donna and I split one later that evening.

That's it for today.  If you missed the previous post, Art and Chocolate, check it out.  We saw art and bought some chocolate.

Friday is packing day and we hit the road for 3 days of camping on Saturday.  We check into our next Airbnb on Tuesday in Cincinnati, OH!  Our stay here has been the perfect amount of time because just now we are feeling like we are ready for change and change is coming soon.

A Trip to Kansas for Doughnuts, A Botanic Garden, and Miami County

 Overland Park, KS

Arboretum Selfie

KCK Doughnuts and The Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens

This morning we got up and hit the road fairly early.  We wanted to get to the Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens before it got too hot, but first, Doughnuts in Kansas!  When we figured out we would be spending a month in Kansas City I started following r/Kansascity on Reddit to see what people were talking about.  A few valuable threads happened during that time and one was "Best Doughnuts in Kansas City???".  I followed along as locals discussed where to get the best doughnuts and Mr. D's came out near the top so we stopped by on the way to the Arboretum.  

It was pretty hopping for a Friday morning

They had merch too

The selection was a bit picked over but we found a few that worked for us and one that didn't.

We picked out 4 doughnuts and got back on the road.  They were out of Apple Fritters which is one of our favorite so we decided to try their Pineapple Fritter.  This was a mistake in our opinion.  It had pineapple and coconut together and tasted a like a sunscreen doughnut.  It wasn't good, but the others were.  I guess you can't have surprise and delight without surprise and disappointment along with it. 

Our trip to the Arboretum took us to the edge of Johnson Co KS.  We parked and then sorted out our entrance with our reciprocal admission pass and headed in.  We immediately saw a sign saying dogs were allowed on paved paths and regretted not checking to see if we could bring Francis before we left.  We just assume dogs aren't allowed at Botanic Gardens, but this is the 2nd one that we have been to that allows dogs.  We will check next time.  As we entered, we noticed a lot of heavy construction going on so we plotted a course away from the construction.  This took us to a loop with a lot of trees and sculptures.  It was really nice and shaded and made for a nice walk.

We finished the loop and thought we were done.  It felt small but we had gotten in for free so it was fine.  As we were going to head out a worker there asked if we had seen any good birds (because of our binoculars).  We listed off a few and then he asked if we had been to the bird area.  We pointed to the 2 bird feeders that were behind us and asked, "That one?".  He said no, there is a big area with feeders and a place to sit and then proceeded to walk us into the visitors center and get us a map.  Turns out we weren't done!  

We used the map to walk to the back of the property and found the bird feeders and little house.  There was a young racoon eating seeds and it didn't look super healthy so we waited for the racoon to get their fill before moving on to the little house and seating area.

Racking up species in Kansas!

After the bird area we just kept walking and found out we hadn't really seen very much on our fist loop.  There was plenty more to see and even miles of trails that we weren't even going to touch.  It's a big Arboretum.

Hemaris Diffinis or Snowberry Clearwing Moth

Calopteryx Maculata or Ebony Jewelwing

We found the train garden complete with real and model trains

Donna caught me taking photos

Good advice

After our visit to the botanic gardens, we got back on US69 and headed south to Miami County, KS.  It was only a few miles south so we decided to pick it up.  This puts us at 9.5% for Kansas Counties.  After we crossed the county line we turned around and headed back home to hang out with Francis.

Evening Walk to The Missouri River

Once the sun set below the buildings to the west, we took Francis for a walk over to the Missouri River and the Town of Kansas Bridge. The bridge is actually a walkway and stairs that allow you to cross the railroad tracks and get to the walking path along the Missouri River.  It is a cool walkway that many people appear to use.

The elevator makes it accessible

Stairs down to or up from the walking trail along the river

The sun setting over the Missouri River

A train passed under us while we were there and then vanished!

That's it for today.  It was a great day.  We saw model and real trains!  If you missed yesterday's adventure, you can find it right here.  We both wore fancy ladies hats!