Living in the Scoot Utopia

I'll be leading a group walk on the Mill Creek Trail in Johnson County this Sunday. Dogs and kids are welcome! This is an easy, scenic hike on what is expected to be a sunny day. The walk is divided into 4 segments so you can choose a walk length that suits you.

For complete details and to sign up, please follow the link below:

• http://kctourwalk.com/walk8.html

Posted by ScooterJ at 10:47 AM | Permalink

This morning I led a small group on a walk through downtown KCMO, over to downtown KCK, and back.

We walked just over 10 miles from the City Market, south through downtown, crossing I-670 at the pedestrian bridge on the edge of the bluff west of Summit. At 17th we backtracked by way of Beardsley and walked down into the West Bottoms using the lower level of the 12th Street Viaduct. Heading northwest through the bottoms, we crossed the Kaw at the Lewis & Clark Viaduct, then entered the Strawberry Hill neighborhood. We weaved westward to 11th Avenue, turning around at Big Eleven Lake to resume an eastward direction along Minnesota Avenue. We re-entered the West Bottoms, walking under the Lewis & Clark Viaduct, then took Woodswether Road back to the River Market neighborhood.



Continue on to see the photos from today's walk.

Continue reading "Photos from Today's KC-KCK Group Walk" »

Posted by ScooterJ at 05:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This Sunday (September 21) I'll be leading a group walk throughout the downtowns of the two Kansas Cities. The walk begins at 9am and should last about 3 hours.

If you're interested in joining, hop over to the link below to get full details and register.

Thanks!

• http://kctourwalk.com/walk7.html

Posted by ScooterJ at 11:05 PM | Permalink

This Sunday I'll be leading a group on a 13-1/2 mile walk from North Kansas City to Prairie Village. The walk starts at 9am and will take about 4 hours. We'll be having a picnic lunch at the end of the walk.

There's time for a few more people to sign up for this free walk, just hop by kctourwalk.com for details and the online registration form.

This walk will be webcast live at livewalking.com if you'd like to follow our progress.

Posted by ScooterJ at 12:08 AM | Permalink

See my previous post if you don't know what this is about. :)

After their camp was pretty much trashed by last night's storms, the Longest Walk walkers got a very delayed start this morning. But they finally reached the City Market around 11:10 and after several speeches and a welcome by the Mayor, they continued south through downtown KC before turning east towards Independence.

Tomorrow they will continue east along 40 Hwy through Independence, Blue Springs, and Grain Valley.

Here's a few pictures from today (click any to see larger):

(Click the "continue reading" link below for more photos...)

Continue reading "Pictures from The Longest Walk in Downtown KC" »

Posted by ScooterJ at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Longest Walk 2 is a 30th-anniversary commemorative walk from San Francisco to Washington, DC to raise awareness of environmental and human rights issues of concern to Native Americans. There are two groups of walkers, one following a southern route and the other following a northern route. The northern route crosses through the Kansas City area this weekend.

Continued....

Continue reading "Kansas City Welcomes "The Longest Walk" This Weekend" »

Posted by ScooterJ at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This post is a final reminder of the free wilderness hike I am leading this Saturday at Monkey Mountain Nature Preserve in Grain Valley. It begins at 10am and should last about 2 to 2-1/2 hours. It will cover a distance of about 5 miles.

(If you're not familiar with the area, Grain Valley is KC's easternmost suburb... just east of Blue Springs on I-70.)

The hike is free and while moderately challenging, isn't too difficult. This is a beautiful natural area and the weather on Saturday is expected to be nearly perfect. This week's rain does mean there will be some muddy spots, but it also means the intermittent waterfall in the park should be flowing nicely.

I'm expecting a small turnout on this hike as many people seem to be afraid of nature, so if you're interested please sign up!

All of the details and the sign-up form are found here: http://www.kctourwalk.com/walk4.html

Wondering where the park got its name? So does everyone! This area has gone by that name for over a hundred years and no one knows why. A few years ago the Examiner looked at the question:

Local historians in Grain Valley and Oak Grove chuckle when reciting the legend of a circus train wreck about 100 years ago that resulted in a band of monkeys taking refuge in the trees on the hill.

"That¹s the prevailing story I got from the older people I talked to years ago," said Ken Reeder of Grain Valley. "The prevailing story was the circus train, but after talking about it, people used to grin and say, 'That¹s where the kids used to go to monkey around.'"

...

Archivists are stumped. They can¹t produce any documentation of a train wreck, and they say if there was a train wreck in Grain Valley, it would have made the newspapers.

Full Article

Posted by ScooterJ at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Longest Walk 2 is a 30th-anniversary commemorative walk from San Francisco to Washington, DC to raise awareness of environmental and human rights issues. There are two groups currently underway on this walk, one walking a southern route and the other walking a northern route. The band taking the northern route will each the Kansas City area on May 1 and I'm planning the route for their 3-day trek across the metro...

Continue reading "Longest Walk 2 is coming to Kansas City" »

Posted by ScooterJ at 01:18 PM | Permalink

It's that time of year again, time for me to announce the schedule of my Spring group walks. These walks are FREE, all you need to do is register. So if you want to get out to get some exercise, meeet new people, and see our area up close, sign up! Walks are coming up on April 26 and on May 18. Read on for details...

Continue reading "Let's Go For A Walk!" »

Posted by ScooterJ at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This past Saturday night I took part in Splutschnik III, the third installment of an all-walking downtown scavenger hunt / pub crawl. (Due to my computer being broken, it's taken me a while to get an opportunity to upload my photos.)

My team consisted of myself, longtime drinking partner and friend "B", friend Bill, and new friend Brad from the KCRag Forum.

Our team strategized well and we ended up setting a new record for the event, finishing beers at 20 bars in just under 4-1/2 hours. That's a new bar every 13 minutes and 29 seconds!

Here's a summary of how we accomplished our feat...
(Click on any photo for a larger view)

STOP 1: 12TH STREET RAG
We hadn't expected to find this open yet so it was a bit of a surprise. The lounge for the Downtown Marriott is a spacious area with a piano on stage, yet retains a cozy feel at the bar. We were worried our bartender would be annoyed by us but he said he was just happy to see people. We were only able to mark off a few items here, such as me being carded.


STOP 2: ALADDIN MARTINI BAR
This tiny bar on the mezzanine level of the Aladdin Hotel doesn't seem to have a name. At first the bartender seemed perturbed but he quickly warmed up and helped us find items for our list. I'm pretty sure we distracted the lone customer, though.


STOP 3: 12 BALTIMORE
Our third stop got us our only sting of the night, where we caught Jeff's team with 4 unfinished drinks before them. They chugged them before I got the picture but not before we had counted.


STOP 4: DRUM ROOM
One of the items on our list was to get a picture of someone named Preston. Our bartender denied knowing anyone by that name. He changed his tune for later teams, though, and they got to photograph a Preston. :( He did at least provide us some complimentary Newcastle coasters that would prove useful throughout the night.

One of our list items was to photograph creative uses for The Kansas City Star. Here Bill uses it to light his cigarette.


STOP 5: BULLDOG
We had tried to go to Daddy's and Nara but neither were open yet. The bartender at the Bulldog was the second-least-willing-to-help-us bartender we met all evening. Here's me and B about to start our beers, which we finished quickly so we could move on and find a place more willing to help. (Though we did get some assistance from an out-of-town guy at a table behind us.)


STOP 6: TOOTSIE'S
Who says 4 guys can't go to a lesbian bar? They had just opened so the place was almost empty, but our bartender was very happy to help us find things for our hunt. She even gave Bill a dance, marking off one of the items on our list.


STOP 7: MICHAEL SMITH
I wasn't sure how welcome we'd be at the bar of a fine dining restaurant but our bartender thought what we were doing was fun and he and a waitress gave us a good deal of assistance. Here Bill and I enjoy our beer while B returns from doing some recon work.


STOP 8: BAR NATASHA
I think they had only just opened too, as there was only one other person in there. We were able to scratch off a few items from our list here. B and Brad proudly display their Newcastle coasters while imbibing their brews.


STOP 9: 1924 MAIN
Another bar in a fine dining restaurant, but we were openly welcomed here too. 1924 is a good place for trying out unconventional beers such as Maudite, which came with a cool glass.


STOP 10: HEREFORD HOUSE
A couple sitting at the other end of the bar were fascinated by the scavenger hunt and helped us out by letting Brad buy one of them a beer.


STOP 11: PADDY O'QUIGLEY'S
The last time I was here, which coincidentally fell on the same day as Splutschnik II (7/21/07), I started experimenting with a shot that I had been inventing and began a spiral into drunken madness. Tonight I avoided that shot and maintained my composure and integrity. :)


STOP 12: CASHEW
Here we scored a photo of a fireplace as well as another creative use for The Star...


STOP 13: BALANCA'S
Of all the bartenders we met tonight, the bartender here was least receptive to our mission and gave off a vibe like she wanted us to hurry and get out. So we quickly used The Star as an air hockey puck and then hit the sidewalk.


STOP 14: WILLIE'S
This was the first place we went to where we learned that other teams had come and gone before us. We were almost down to the final hour when we arrived here so picked up the pace. Brad got a quick dance with a server before we continued north.


STOP 15: MCFADDEN'S
Another chug-and-run. Bill and B nearly had their beers finished by the time I got the camera out. My apologies to whomever cleans the men's room, I should know better than to hold the camera with both hands when photographing wall art while using the short urinal. :) (Brad's fault too though for taking the tall one!)


STOP 16: ZOO BAR
Hands down the best dive bar in town, always a fun place to hang out. This is also the home of the Preston the list was specifically referring too -- he's the owner! Unfortunately he had already left for the day long before any of the teams had arrived. I believe we were the last team to pass through here as everyone in there already knew all about us. We managed to get in a little naughty photo hunt to satisfy one of the list items.


STOP 17: THE STUDIO
A block north of Zoo. By now we were pretty certain victory would be ours but time was ticking and we wanted to see how far we could go. We met an out-of-towner and bought her a drink, satisfying 2 more list items.


STOP 18: FRED P. OTT'S
As seen in the photo, our bartender helped us meet a tricky list item by fashioning a sign we later learned could be found at The Peanut (but we had no time to go there). We met an inebriated Texan and played some more naughty photo hunt. We also found our most creative use for The Star but I will not post that photo online, at least not without Bill's permission. ;)


STOP 19: MANGO ROOM
20 minutes remained so we had to drink quickly, but we were able to get in a dance with a server as well as use The Star as a drum stick.


STOP 20: RED DRAGON HOUSE
By the time we got here only 5 minutes remained, but we decided to risk the late penalty for the glory of making it to 20 bars. Within a minute of our arrival we were stung by John's team, but we had our drinking down to a science by now and had the penalty beer finished in no time.


John's team had the advantage of knowing exactly where the finish line was (while all we knew was an intersection) so they were able to take a short cut and beat us there while we had gone the long way around the block. But since they had still not finished their beers from Red Dragon, we locked them out until they were done. :)

We ended up only 3 minutes late so only lost 9 points, a fair price to pay for the 30 points we earned by cramming in our stop at Red Dragon.

We had the second place team (John's team) beat by 3 bars, but the point tally for items found was considerably closer and we won by only a little over 100 points. (I believe our final score was something like 1261.)

Victory is ours!!!

Now that the other teams know what they're up against, I wonder what kind of counter-strategies we'll face this summer at Splutschnik IV? :)

Posted by ScooterJ at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)