As with many people, fall is my favorite time of year. It’s when we generally experience the best weather of the year, the trees start turning colors, and there is just a nice feeling in the air. Fall is also the time of year when we have football games. Come to think of it, there are lots of reasons I like fall.

Here are the girls in the little area they had setup for people to take photos like this. Though I can't imagine many others got a shot as cute as this one.

Jaylee hangin' onto little bro while the ride on the wagon.

I think it's funny to watch Levi interact with his older sister and cousin. He can't quite keep up with them but sure likes to be a part of the fun!

Then, we headed to the visitor center and walked a trail into the prairie. Prairie State Park is a glimpse of what a large portion of Missouri used to look like. Unlike most other Missouri state parks, it’s monotonous and sparse, but I also think it’s very relaxing and beautiful out in the wide open space. Emma seemed to enjoy it as well.

Coincidentally there is a small state forest on the same road as Prairie State Park. The land is an old strip mine that was planted with numerous tree species and eventually donated to MDC. I remember riding bikes on the paths with my parents a long, long time ago. Emma enjoyed running up the trails and particularly enjoyed the turtle we found!

So we had a great day enjoying the weather, taking photos, and being out in nature!

With me being a graduate of Webb City, and the fact that Steph’s cousin plays on the team, that’s who we support these days. However, we live in Carthage school district, so I imagine that at some point our allegiances will have to change, and I suspect that will happen when the girls get old enough to want to see their friends at the games, which will be Carthage games. I’m not really one of those obsessive and boastful WC fans, so I’m not terribly worked up about the idea of wearing Carthage blue at some point. As long as neither of the girls decides to play basketball for SIU or Wichita State, I’m good!

So for the time being we’ll continue wearing red and cheering for the cards!

Hearing all the stories and what I’ve seen of the destruction, I can’t help but feel fortunate. The only damage we had was a few shingles and bits of insulation that landed in the yard. Yet so many people were affected. Some lost property, some lost loved ones, some lost both. We lost none of those. There were many ways in which we “almost” lost people or things, but we were fortunate in that it was just ‘almost’. It’s been amazing to see the massive amount of support coming in from around the country. Very cool. It makes the small things we’ve done to help seem rather insignificant.

Seeing the mass destruction, it makes me wonder what will become of the city that has always been home to me. How many homes and businesses will be rebuilt? And where? Some businesses will be easy to replace, but others (Pizza by Stout comes to mind) aren’t documented in a formula that can simply be purchased and duplicated. I genuinely hope Pizza by Stout will rebuild because it’s one of those Joplin-only establishments that has been a favorite of mine for as long as I’ve had favorites.

It’s a long road ahead, that’s for sure.

Saturday I took Emma hiking at Big Sugar Creek State Park near Pineville. The weather was nice and we had a fun picnic. It’s a small state park with only a couple trails, but I like it a lot. I visited it once before a couple springs ago. If the streams wouldn’t have been dry on Saturday I probably could have got some really great fall/stream shots.

This is the only ‘sunrise’ looking picture that was even halfway good. It’s 2 exposures overlaid. I really need to get a graduated ND filter because that would achieve the same effect with a lot less work.

This part of the trail winds precariously along a cliff above Shoal Creek.

[SinglePic not found]I didn’t get the sunrise photo I was hoping for but nature photography really can’t be planned. I did get some good fall foliage shots however and most importantly I had a lot of fun.

Big Sugar Creek Road in McDonald County. I like this road a lot. Reminds me of how more of Missouri highways probably used to be.

This trail also went along some neat rocky bluffs, but not nearly as tall as Wildcat Park.

This forest was full of sugar maples so the colors were amazing!

A typical “fall foliage” shot.

So that is my latest photo work! I imagine the next time I blog it will be to post some photos from Ireland!

Our rained out tent (with no sides) at Cider Days '09

The first one is Arts in the Park in Webb City. This event will feature various local artists, music and art related events. It should be a great time and hopefully lots of my Joplin area friends and fam will come out and participate! Arts in the Park will take place from 9-2 on Sep. 11 in the pavilion area of King Jack Park.

I will also be returning to Cider Days in Springfield this year. Cider Days was my inaugural festival last year and since then I have made giant leaps in terms of quality of photos, framing, and my overall setup. It is a fall themed arts and crafts festival and it will take place Sep 18-19 on Walnut Street between National and John Q Parkway.

I’ve been preparing for weeks and I have what I believe to be my best works yet! I also have some new canvas wraps that are pretty cool. So I look forward to seeing everyone at the festivals!

Joplin

1. Hackett Hot Wings
2. Magic Noodle
3. Pizza by Stout
4. Bella Peppers
5. Red Onion

Really, the only one that surprised me was Magic Noodle. Not because it isn’t great (it is!) but because I can’t recall it ever being even slightly crowded. The other four are obvious favorites of just about everyone I know. It seems like half the people I know would list “Red Onion” as their favorite Joplin eatery. In fact Steph and I are going there tonight!

Another of my favorites that didn’t make the top 5, but was fairly high on the list was Andy + Bridgette’s favorite – UnderCliff. Ichiban Sushi was just shy of the top 5 as well. I was surprised that Big R’s BBQ wasn’t anywhere on the list. That place is great and it’s always packed!

What I found interesting, though not hugely surprising was that one of my long time favorites, Club 609 was way down the list, 2 slots below the Dairy Queen / Orange Julius booth at the mall. The biggest common complaint was that the prices have gone up so much in recent years that they far exceeded the food, service and overall experience. Which I would probably have to agree with.

Overall the list was just a reminder that we have a lot of really great dining options in Joplin.

I rode from my house up Old 66 and got on the trail where it crosses the road just before Steph’s parent’s house. I wasn’t sure which direction to go, so I chose east into Carthage. The gravel on the 2 mile section from Carthage is extremely coarse, more like driveway gravel than something suitable for a bike trail. It was rideable…but barely. I heard that there was a mis-communication when the gravel was ordered. The trail going west toward Oronogo is the correct small gravel normally found on bike trails.

It turned out to be a bit shorter than I expected, my entire trip was only 11.5 miles. Most of the trail crosses through farm land, so I wouldn’t describe it as terribly scenic, but nearing Carthage there is a nice canopy of trees shading the trail. Also this section appears to receive heavier use, so it was a bit more worn and the rough driveway gravel was less annoying.

When complete, the Ruby Jack trail will ultimately run from Carthage to the KS state line. Initially it was planned as a bi-state trail all the way to Columbus, KS. However, Cherokee County passed an ordinance in response to those plans that effectively prohibits the rail-trail from entering Kansas. So until the good people of Cherokee County overcome their fear of bikers and joggers, the trail will stop at the state line.

Rough gravel aside, I am really excited about this trail. I think it’s a great asset to the area and another excellent component of the ever expanding trail system in the Joplin area.

I remember liking this stretch of highway even when I was a kid, long before I knew I would reside here. As luck would have it, I now travel this route constantly to get into town (Carthage) and also because Steph’s parents live about 3 miles up this way.

I like living on historic route 66. Most of the road itself isn’t anything special, but it represents an idea of nostalgia. Once a major thoroughfare, now it’s just an out of the way back road. But it’s famous and I think it’s cool having an address that is “Old Route 66″.