Living in the Scoot Utopia

Spotted yesterday at the northwest corner of 75th & Nall while I was on my walk.

Posted by ScooterJ at 02:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm currently finishing up my lunch break at mile 16 in my attempt at a 40 mile walk. I started this morning at William Jewell College and am heading towards Olathe. Watch my progress at the link below, and I'm doing this for charity so please make a donation if you can!

http://www.livewalking.com/

Posted by ScooterJ at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After last weekend's postponement, caused both by a case of strep throat and a grossly inaccurate gloom-and-doom weather forecast for last Saturday by our imcompetent cabal of weathercasters, my attempt at my first 40-mile walk is now back on for this Sunday (July 1).

Once again I'll be setting out from downtown Liberty and walking generally in a southwest direction, following a route that is similar to my last walk. (The first half is mostly the same, the second half is mostly new.)

This time I'll be walking for a cause... walking 40 miles to help give someone else back the ability to walk. I urge you to visit my donation page and make a contribution to Limbs For Life to help someone in need.

This walk will be webcast live at LiveWalking.com. I'll be starting around 5:30am (give or take 15 minutes) and walk until I have reached 40 miles or can't go any further. The web site will update frequently showing where I've walked so far, my latest reported position, distance walked, photos of what I am seeing along the way, and blog reports from the field. Visitors can also post comments or questions that I'll receive and be able to respond to during the course of the walk.

So be sure to drop by the web site on Sunday, wish me luck, and make a donation to a worthy cause!

Posted by ScooterJ at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ever since the article in the Star a couple of Sundays ago I've had people asking me every single day when my next walk is. Now, technically, the answer is usually "over lunch today" or "sometime this weekend", but it's the big ones I know they're really asking about. So, to put it out there, here's the next couple of big ones I have planned.:

1. Saturday, June 23, 2007 - I'm going to try to break the 40-mile barrier. This walk will be similar to my Liberty to Olathe walk but I'll change up the route a little bit. I'll be starting around 5:15am and will keep walking until I exceed 40 miles or can't go any further. My minimum goal is to walk from the Clay County Courthouse to the Johnson County Courthouse. This walk will be webcast live at LiveWalking.com.
2. Saturday, July 14, 2007 - The Summer KC TourWalk. This is the next edition of the group walk I'll be leading. The route and starting time will be announced in early June at KCTourWalk.com.

Posted by ScooterJ at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I went to the City Market this morning expecting to meet about 12 to 15 people for my first-ever KC TourWalk. Imagine my surprise to instead find a crowd of 22! (23 once you add in me.)

We began with a winding 6-mile walk from the City Market to the Country Club Plaza, and everyone in the group did a fantastic job of holding up a good pace so the group never stretched out longer than a block. We took breaks at Union Station, Liberty Memorial, and at the Westport Sunfresh before taking a final break at the Plaza. Among the sights we saw: River Market, Garment District, Case Park, Quality Hill, Convention District, Crossroads, Union Station, Liberty Memorial, Penn Valley, Valentine, Westport, St. Luke's, the Plaza, and Brush Creek.

At the Plaza half of the group elected for the one-way version and either went on their own way or took the MAX back to the City Market. The other half of the group took a faster-paced 7-mile walk back to the City Market, with rest stops at Kauffman Memorial Gardens and at Hyde Park. Among the sights we saw: Kauffman Gardens, Nelson Art Gallery, Gilham Park, Hyde Park, Union Hill, Hospital Hill, Children's Mercy Park, the Crossroads, and the Sprint Center and Power & Light District construction sites.

Since this went over so well, I'm planning another one on a different (likely shorter) route in about 6 to 8 weeks.

Here's a few more pictures...

Garment District...



Case Park...



Quality Hill...



Heading into Union Station...



Approaching Liberty Memorial...



The Valentine neighborhood...



Kauffman Memorial Gardens...



Kauffman Memorial Gardens...



Kauffman Memorial Gardens...



Hyde Park...



Hyde Park...



Here's an overview of the route we walked. Blue is the one-way half-course walked by 23 people, red is the return course walked by 11 members of the group. The orange dots represent a construction detour we followed, so we did not walk through the West Side today as originally planned.

Posted by ScooterJ at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

My group walking tour of urban KC is this Saturday. If you're waffling or think it'll be too hard for you, don't forget, I'm a fat old diabetic and I'm the one leading this walk. :)

The walk starts at 8:30am Saturday at the City Market. I'm offering up three versions of the walk you can choose from:

1. The full loop, which I highly recommend because of the amazing variety of things you'll see, is a loop from the City Market to the Plaza and back. This walk should finish by 1:00, give or take a little bit. This version of the walk is completely free!

2. The one-way half-course, which is the best one to take if you are out of shape or unsure of yourself, runs from the City Market to the Plaza. This one will end at about 11:00 (give or take) and after a ride on the MAX will have you back at the City Market in time for lunch. This version of the walk costs $1.25 for MAX fare and you will be accompanied on the ride back to City Market.

3. You can also now take a 1/4 course from the City Market to Union Station. This version of the walk is for those short on time or who want just a taste. This version will take 1 hour but you are responsible for return transportation. (Written instructions for return via MAX, fare $1.25, will be provided.)
   

All the details and the registration form can be found at KCTourWalk.com.

Please RSVP by Friday so that I know how many guidebooks to print. Hope to see you there!

Posted by ScooterJ at 10:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Since I got tired of explaining that the KC RagWalk is not a walking tour for menstruating women (it was instead named after the message board whose members gave me the idea), I have officially renamed it the KC TourWalk.

ALSO DUE TO TOO MANY CONFLICTS WITH GRADUATIONS, FINALS, AND NOTHER'S DAY, THE DATE HAS MOVED FROM MAY 12 TO MAY 19.

The new web site address is KCTourWalk.com. Check it out, the registration deadline is May 18. Come join me on a tour of KC unlike any you've ever had!

Posted by ScooterJ at 07:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Want to get a great up-close tour of Kansas City and get some terrific exercise at the same time? The join me for the First Annual Spring KC Ragwalk on Saturday, May 12.

After multiple requests, I have decided to organize this group event as a way to introduce more people to the joys of walking for fitness in KC. There's no charge, I just want more people to get to experience why I like doing it so much.

The course I have laid out makes a loop from the City Market to the Plaza and back and takes you through some very interesting and beautiful parts of town. You can choose between either the full 12-mile course (will take about 4 hours) or the 6-mile half-course (will take about 2 hours and require $1.25 for MAX fare back to the City Market).

I highly recommend the 12-mile course if you can do it, the second leg is totally different from the first leg. It also ends on the patio at Harry's Country Club. :)

In addition, the walk will employ the same technology I used during my recent Liberty to Olathe walk... so your friends and family will be able to track your progress online and see live photos of where you are.

If it works out well, look for a Summer edition (which will include crossing the Missouri River) and a Fall edition that will explore the changing colors of the season.

I urge all of you to sign up. :) Just go to www.kcragwalk.com for complete details and to sign up. I hope to see you there!

Posted by ScooterJ at 09:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For those of you who don't have Firefox or otherwise didn't get to see them, here are the better of the pictures I took on my walk from Liberty to Olathe last Sunday in an IE-friendly format.

Sorry, these are camera phone pix since I wanted to carry as little extra weight as possible.
 
Liberty

The courthouse, where I started...
 

The south side of Liberty Square...
 

The start of the new extension of Liberty Parkway...
 

Claycomo

 


KCMO

I'm not sure what the name of this neighborhood is... this is NE Barnes, on the south/east side of I-35 from Stroud's...
 

The next few are from the Winnwood neighborhood...

 

Jacobo family Extreme Makeover house
 

These next two are just west of Chouteau, I don't know if this would still be considered Winnwood or not...
 

 


Avondale

 

 

 

 

 


North Kansas City

NKC Hospital...
 

 

 

 

Ultra-long warehouse on Swift...
 


KCMO

Crossing the Heart of America...
 

 

 


River Market...
 

CBD and P&L..
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crossroads...
 

 

Union Station...
 

 

 

Liberty Memorial...
 

 

 

Federal Reserve...
 

Pennsylvania...
 

West edge of the Plaza...
 

 

 

 

Mercier...
 


Mission Hills

 

 

 

 

 
Overland Park




Lenexa

 

 

Recent fire damage...
 

My parents intercepted me as I passed near their house and brought me fresh water. Here's me and my mom...
 

Old town Lenexa...
 

This tunnel under I-35 looked like a snap when I scoped it out duing the day.  I didn't consider the possibility that it would be dark before I got to it.
 


Olathe

Since it was getting really late, I called off my push to go all the way to the courthouse and and eded just south of 119th & Strang Line...
 

Posted by ScooterJ at 09:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[Update: the detailed route map is now available below.]

Yesterday (Sunday, April 15) I set out to walk from Liberty, MO to Olathe, KS. I started out at the courthouse in Liberty Square. I wanted to end at the courthouse in downtown Olathe but really only needed to cross the city limits. I ended up stopping in the parking lot of the PetSmart at 119th & Strang Line, about a mile into Olathe.

Some stats...

Time started: 6:38am
Time ended: 9:35pm
Distance walked: 37.5 miles (new personal record!)
Steps taken: 69,800
Calories burned: 4,700
Detailed route map

I'll post photos in a followup post tomorrow. Until then, as long as you are using Firefox, you can also see the photos from the walk here: livewalking.com.

This was more than 8 miles longer than my previous longest walk and also my first major walk of 2007, so I'm very happy with how well it went. My ankles are pretty sore today as I take a day off work to rest up, but I should be back on my feet by tomorrow.

Posted by ScooterJ at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)