Offenburger.com

Along Our Way

What a way to end a summer! We Offenburgers were the guests on a late-summer weekend at the lake house of our friends Joe and Cindy Connolly. The Connollys live in Council Bluffs and commute many weekends to their get-away place on a private lake just south of Columbus, Nebraska. It was a real “kick-back” weekend with lots of sunshine, fun boating, good food and plenty of time to read.
[TO SEE THESE PHOTOS & OTHERS IN LARGER FORMAT, AND TO READ A BRIEF STORY, CLICK HERE.]

A conversation

LIVING WITH CANCER

with the Offenburgers

Chuck Offenburger was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins follicular lymphoma cancer on July 10, 2009, had six months of chemotherapy & is now doing well in a “maintenance” program. Carla Offenburger underwent surgery on April 26, 2010, for removal of a jaw tumor which was found to contain adenoid cystic carcinoma cancer. She underwent six weeks of follow-up radiation in June and July, and continues under close medical observation. We post updates frequently here, including brief insights from Chuck, Carla and at least one of you readers.

“Carla, if you were standing here I’d hug you. This is such a ton of stress and scheduling for anyone but then add that you are recouping yourself and it is nearly overwhelming. Yet here you are forging ahead.”

FOR THE LATEST UPDATE, CLICK HERE.

What’s the deal with the
black & white saddle shoes?

Click here for the story of our farm in Greene County, Iowa.

Here's looking at life
at Simple Serenity Farm

Carla’s sister & brother-in-law Chris and Tony Woods, of Des Moines, were at the farm on Sunday, August 22, helping Carla do the lawn mowing and other yard work that we’ve struggled to keep up with lately, with all our medical appointments. The Woodses brought along their 18-month-old granddaughter Ari, who was a delight watching all the action from the porch with Chuck, catching up on her reading and then getting a moment on the lawn tractor seat!
Click here for larger format

Earlier photos in this series

Chuck Offenburger's
new book on sports
legend Gary Thompson
gets excellent reviews

FOR INFORMATION ON WHERE & HOW TO BUY THE BOOK, CLICK HERE!

''GARY THOMPSON: All-American'' is the new, 352-page biography of one of the state’s genuine sports icons. From 1950-’53 Gary Thompson led the Roland Rockets to high school sports glory in basketball and baseball, giant-killers from one of Iowa’s small schools. Then he led the Cyclones at Iowa State from 1953-’57, becoming the college’s first two-sport All-American. He’s had major success in broadcasting and business, from his home base in Ames. And he and his wife Janet have a family as solid as they come. “I’m the luckiest guy around,” Thompson says.

TO READ CHUCK OFFENBURGER'S COLUMN ABOUT THE BOOK AND THE ''BOOK LAUNCHING'' HELD EARLY IN DECEMBER, CLICK HERE.

TO READ DES MOINES REGISTER SPORTSWRITER RICK BROWN'S REVIEW OF THE BOOK, CLICK HERE.

TO READ CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE SPORTS COLUMNIST JIM ECKER'S REVIEW OF THE BOOK, CLICK HERE.

TO READ AMES DAILY TRIBUNE SPORTSWRITER DICK KELLY'S STORY ABOUT THE BOOK, CLICK HERE.

TO READ DOUG BURNS' STORY ABOUT THE BOOK IN THE CARROLL DAILY TIMES HERALD, CLICK HERE.

TO READ ANDY GOODELL'S STORY ABOUT THE BOOK IN THE OSKALOOSA HERALD, CLICK HERE.

WANT TO SEE AND HEAR THE OLD ROLAND HIGH SCHOOL FIGHT SONG PERFORMED? CLICK HERE!

FOR INFORMATION ON WHERE & HOW TO BUY THE BOOK, CLICK HERE!

FOR PHOTOS FROM OUR BOOK LAUNCHING EVENTS, CLICK HERE!

SEE BOB MODERSOHN'S PHOTOS OF OUR BOOK CHAT AND SIGNING AT BEAVERDALE BOOKS IN DES MOINES!

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Out in Greene County, Iowa

One of America’s real bicycling adventures is experiencing Missouri’s famous KATY Trail

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER
August 8, 2008
SEDALIA, MISSOURI

Our bicycling friends Joe and Cindy Connolly, of Council Bluffs, and we two Offenburgers won’t soon forget our three-day adventure on the KATY Trail across the central part of Missouri.

It got hotter by the day as we rode 59 miles on August 2 from Sedalia to Rocheport, then 74 miles on August 3 from Rocheport to Rhineland, and then 20 miles on August 4 from Rhineland to Treloar. We had originally planned to ride on another 45 miles to the trail’s end in St. Charles, a northwest suburb of St. Louis. But in Treloar, when we our group had three flat tires in the space of 15 minutes, the temperature had already reached 102 degrees and the humidity was choking, we decided we’d had enough.

So we called a special taxi van to come get us out of the 102-degree heat and choking humidity.

It cost the four of us a total of more than $160 to have that van haul us and our bikes to St. Charles, but the four of us believe it was some of the best money we spent!

The KATY Trail is one of the most famous recreational trails in the U.S., and is the longest “rails-to-trails conversion” in the nation, at 225 miles. It stretches from the town of Clinton, located 70 miles southeast of Kansas City, on east and north through Sedalia to Boonville, then continues east to St. Charles. Another 13 miles is being added east of St. Charles to the town of Machens. All 225 miles of the trail make up an official Missouri State Park.

The trail draws its name from the fact that it is built on the right-of-way of the old Missouri Kansas Texas Railroad, which was known by the initials “MKT” and eventually the nickname “KATY.” Most of the eastern half of the trail is right alongside the Missouri River, so the scenery is fantastic – with limestone outcroppings more than 200 feet high on one side of you and the fast-flowing Big Muddy on the other side.

The trail surface is crushed rock, which always makes for a more challenging ride than asphalt or concrete trails do. It’d probably be a good bet to plan daily rides of no more than 40 miles on a rock trail.

But we had only three days we could spend before we went back to our normal lives – Joe Connolly is an executive with Mutual of Omaha, Cindy is food service director at St. Albert Catholic Schools in Council Bluffs, Carla Offenburger works in the administration office at the Greene County Medical Center, and I’ve always got story deadlines facing me in my home office.

We wanted to sample as much of the KATY Trail as we could in those three days. And we did a good job of that.

We beat the Missouri State Fair crowd to Sedalia, a town of 25,000 where we started our ride, and thus got to stay in the finest place in town – the carefully-renovated, 81-year-old Hotel Bothwell right downtown. The rest of the ride we were in very neat B&Bs in Rocheport and Rhineland, then an 1840s inn in historic St. Charles. The KATY Trail gives you a wide range of experiences like that, including taking you through vibrant tourism centers, faded old railroad villages, sleepy farm towns and then the trendy, booming St. Charles.

On Tuesday morning, August 5, we took advantage of another neat feature of this trail. We taxied to another St. Louis suburb, Kirkwood, and boarded an Amtrak passenger train with our bicycles. Our tickets ($22 per person and $10 per bike) gave us a delightful three-hour train ride back west across the state to Sedalia. There we loaded our bikes back into our cars for the return trip home, but decided to make a quick lunch stop.

We chanced into “Eddie’s Drive-In,” a Sedalia institution since 1937 and reportedly the oldest drive-in restaurant in the state. And there we discovered a favorite Missouri sandwich, the classic “Guberburger.” Here’s the description from the Eddie’s menu: “A steakburger with peanut butter, tomato, lettuce & mayo,” for $3.10. It ranks as one of the best hamburgers I’ve ever eaten. Road food at its best!

The photos here will give you a good feel for the other fun and challenges we Connollys and Offenburgers shared.

You can write the columnist at chuck@Offenburger.com.

The KATY Trail''s designation as a linear Missouri State Park is noted in signage along the trail.

We started our KATY Trail ride in downtown Sedalia, leaving the elegant old Hotel Bothwell where we stayed on August 1. Left to right are Cindy Connolly, Chuck Offenburger, Carla Offenburger and Joe Connolly.

A coffee and bakery fanatic like Chuck Offenburger can''t ignore a sign like this one, at the Hotel Bothwell in Sedalia.

The restored KATY Railroad Depot in Sedalia now serves as the trailhead reception station. It also serves as the office of the Sedalia Chamber of Commerce and some other local agencies.

The KATY Trail features the best trailhead informational kiosks we''ve seen on trails anywhere in the U.S. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources, which built and manages the KATY Trail, added the kiosks in the last five years in the communities that have trailside vehicle parking areas and restrooms.

The KATY Trail kiosks have community histories, points of interest on the route just ahead in both directions, as well as large trail maps and information about nearby stops by the Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery on their Missouri River trek from 1803-1806.

Trail users in Sedalia are treated to this sculpture that salutes the community as the ''Cradle of Ragtime Music.'' The legendary pianist Scott Joplin spent part of the 1880s in Sedalia and in that period, pioneered the music form that came to be known as ragtime.

Chuck and Carla Offenburger, who live just outside little Cooper, Iowa, found themselves in another Cooper while riding on the KATY Trail in Missouri.

Joe and Cindy Connolly at an old railroad signal light post that still stands along the KATY Trail.

During a lunch stop in the trail town of Pilot Grove, Carla Offenburger was intrigued by the name of a local hair salon.

Historic site in Pilot Grove, Missouri -- the two-story City Hall and ''Calaboose'' that were built in 1892. Note the jail door beneath the City Hall staircase and porch.

The former KATY Railroad Depot in Boonville, Missouri, was built in the ''Spanish Mission'' design. It now is the headquarters of the Boonville Chamber of Commerce.

''Where''s the Dairy Queen?'' When our group was in Boonville, we used Joe Connolly''s ''Palm Treo'' electronic digital assistant to access the Internet and find not only the address of the ice cream shop, but also a map showing us where to find it. It''s a new age in bicycling!

Just west of the KATY Trail town of Rocheport is an old stone tunnel that trains used to get through a huge Missouri River bluff there. The cut through the rock there was so deep that as we approached the tunnel, we felt the temperature drop 15 to 20 degrees from what it had been out in the sunshine on the trail. Left to right are Chuck Offenburger, Carla Offenburger, Cindy Connolly and Joe Connolly.

The former railroad tunnel into the west side of the town of Rocheport.

The KATY Trail Bed & Bikefest where we stayed in Rocheport. The Connollys and Offenburgers had the two first-floor bedrooms, and a couple from Kansas City had the upstairs bedroom.

Cindy Connolly, Joe Connolly and Carla Offenburger are showing here how in many places along the KATY Trail, huge limestone outcroppings are on one side of the trail and the Missouri River is on the other side.

Together on a bench along the KATY Trail, with the Missouri River behind us, are (left to right) Carla Offenburger, Chuck Offenburger, Cindy Connolly and Joe Connolly.

On Sunday afternoon, August 3, the temperature was pushing 100 degrees when our group took a break at the ''North Jefferson'' trailhead, just across the Missouri River from the state capital, Jefferson City. Cindy Connolly took advantage of a shaded kiosk bench for a nap.

Joe Connolly sits on the front porch of the Doll House, the B&B where we stayed in Rhineland. The 1921 house was owned by a Ransom Doll for decades before it was bought seven years ago by Amanda and Jeff Schaefer and converted into a bed and breakfast. The Missouri River is a half-mile south of the house, and the record 1993 flood reached the level of Connolly''s shoulders here, thus flooding the entire first floor of the elevated house with 18 inches or more of water. Our 74-mile ride to Rhineland was so difficult on the hot day that we did not arrive until 9:30 p.m., in darkness. We were starving, but Amanda Schaefer had made us a full spaghetti dinner and left it for us in crock pots at the B&B -- and did not charge us for that meal. She also fixed us a delicious breakfast the next morning.

In St. Charles, the restored KATY Railroad Depot, now the KATY Trail trailhead, is on the Missouri River bank on the east edge of the suburb. Downtown St. Louis is about 20 miles to the southeast. Note the fantastic flowers displayed on the depot''s platform and hanging from the eaves. It now serves as the headquarters of the St. Charles Parks & Recreation Department.

The Boone''s Lick Trail Inn, where we stayed in St. Charles, has been hosting travelers since the 1840s. St. Charles was one of the early settlements in the St. Louis area, and features many original brick buildings, among them the first State Capitol of Missouri. Most of those buildings have now been neatly renovated into shops, restaurants and bars, and St. Charles has become a major tourist destination. It is currently the eastern terminus of the KATY Trail, but another 13 miles are being added to the east, eventually taking trail users to the town of Machens. That community is close to the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.

The former Missouri Pacific Railroad Depot in Kirkwood, a southwest suburb of St. Louis, is now used by Amtrak passengers. It is where many users of the KATY Trail catch the trains west. The Amtrak passenger rail service between St. Louis and Kansas City is subsidized by the Missouri Department of Transportation, and the trains make six stops -- Kirkwood, Washington, Hermann, Jefferson City, Sedalia and Warrensburg. Trains are running both directions twice each day, and passenger numbers are rising quickly with the high gasoline prices.

The Amtrak train arrived with three passenger cars. The forward passenger car had half of its space for business-class travelers, and the snack bar in the other half. The second and third passenger cars were for coach-class travelers and us bicyclists.

There were more than 60 people who got on the west-bound train with us in Kirkwood, Missouri, on Tuesday morning, August 5. Many passengers were already on board from the train''s start in downtown St. Louis. Station attendants in Kirkwood told us that the number of departing passengers most morning had been ''five to 10'' until recently, when gasoline prices skyrocketed, and now many more people are taking the trains to destinations to the west in Missouri. The crowd filled the elegant old train depot waiting room in the same ways it was filled back in the 1940s. Train tickets to Sedalia cost us $22 each, plus $10 for each of our bicycles.

Joe and Cindy Connolly are shown here settled in for the three-hour train ride to Sedalia. The Amtrak train''s seats offered much more space than we''re all accustomed to on the airlines.

Carla Offenburger is shown here by the back door of the Amtrak passenger car during the ride between Kirkwood and Sedalia. We rediscovered that one of the best things about train travel is that you can get up and walk around.

Joe Connolly is shown here minding the directions we received from the snack bar operator, who told us that when you walk while aboard a moving train, ''you keep your hands on the luggage racks, your feet spread apart and you walk kind of like a duck.''

As we approached Sedalia, we moved our bicycles from the back of our passenger car to the front, so we could get off at the loading platform. Joe Connolly entertained the passengers by threatening to try to ride his wife Cindy''s bicycle up the aisle.

Ready to help unload our bicycles, as the train pulled into Sedalia, were Chuck Offenburger and Cindy Connolly.