Walking around Lawrence, Kansas: Two River Walks

One of my favorite things about Lawrence, Kansas is taking long walks in the Spring. Really, I take long walks all year round, but in the Springtime, you can take a walk just about any time of the day.

Over the years here, I have found several great walking paths and will describe two of my favorites in this post. Both of these walks are along the Kansas River and both are right next to downtown Lawrence. Both of these walks originate at the northeast corner of 6th and Massachusetts Street in Lawrence, Kansas - making them very accessible from beautiful downtown Lawrence.

Walk #1: A shaded walk along the river - 1.5 miles round trip.

View of the Lawrence River at dusk

To get to the path pictured above, walk west along Sixth Street past the two entrances to the Second Street Bridge. You will see Constant Park on your right hand side after passing the bridge entrances. Before you get to Kentucky Street, you will see an old railroad track. Turn right and walk along the old railroad track towards the river. Just before you get to the river, you will have to cross the currently-used railroad track so be careful and make sure there are no trains coming.

Tatiana, Soraya, and Raymi marveling at a big hole in  the tree

When you get to the river, turn left onto the trail that goes into the woods. This trail goes on for about 3/4 of a mile before it ends. This trail is great for a sunny day, as it is completely shaded. As you walk along the trail, you will see several small entrances that go into the forest. You can follow them if you are feeling adventurous and want to check out the woods. My daughters and I were feeling adventurous today and went into the forest.

Raymi posing as forest sprite

Walk #2: Hiking or Biking along the River - 2 to 10 miles

To get to this second trail, cross the Second Street bridge and turn right once you are over the bridge. As you walk along the path, you will soon find yourself on a path with tall trees on either side.

North of the River at Dusk in Late Spring

The walk is particularly nice in early Spring when it is not too hot, as there is no shade along this path. However, it is also quite pleasant in late winter.

View from the River Walk in Late Winter

The trail continues like this for about a mile. Then, you arrive at a park with a long bike trail. I have never made it to the end of this bike trail through the woods, but I think it is at least six miles round trip. This trail is narrow with several small hills. Taking a stroller on it is out of the question, but it is otherwise suitable for small children.

North River Walk in Early Winter

What are your favorite walks in Lawrence, Kansas?

Children's Museum in Kansas City: Wonderscope

This past weekend, I took the kids to Wonderscope in Shawnee, Kansas. They had a fabulous time!

We had been members before, when my twins were six and my younger daughter was four. So, I wasn't sure if it would still be fun for my twins who are now nine. But, it definitely still was appealing to them. We arrived at Wonderscope at 1:30pm, and they still were not ready to leave when it was time to go at 5pm!

Raymi had a blast in the building section. There are these huge blue building blocks, made of a soft, light material that kids can use to construct whatever they want to. Raymi and I made a fortress, and she is pictured here guarding it.

Tatiana and Soraya spent quite a bit of time in the "Garden to Farm" room. In this room, you can pretend to plant vegetables, and then take them to market to sell. Tatiana is pictured above on the left choosing which veggies to buy. There also is a chicken coop and a barn. Soraya is pictured above on the right with the barn owl. There were about a half-dozen other kids in the room with them, and that made it fun for the kids, as they had someone else to play with.

The art room was very cool. There are tons of recycled art supplies that you can use to make whatever you want. The girls spent at least 30 minutes in that room, making pictures and gluing things on them. I even tried my hand at it, trying to re-connect with my creative side.

To top it all off, we got to see a beautiful sunset on the 40-minute drive back to Lawrence, Kansas.

A few of my favorite things about Lawrence, Kansas

View of KU from Fraser Hall

I first moved to Lawrence, Kansas in August 2005. I have lived here off and on since then, with over two full years away from Lawrence. In August 2010, I returned to Lawrence after having been away for over a year. I was not very excited about moving back. However, I have been surprised at how much I like living here again.

Here are a few of my favorite things about Lawrence, Kansas.

1) The campus.
I work at the University of Kansas. Admittedly, the view from the 7th floor of Fraser Hall, one of the highest points in Kansas, is quite majestic. The campus has large limestone buildings and plenty of green spaces. It also has some pretty cool public art.

Public Art in South Park

2) Public Art.

The picture on the left is one example of the public art on the KU campus in Lawrence. I am not sure how to describe it, but it is basically a bunch of twigs wrapped together around a huge tree. Pretty interesting, eh?

Campus is not the only place that has public art made with dead trees. The picture on the right is the spiky entrance to South Park.

Castle Tea House

3) Cool buildings.
There are also cool buildings that are not on campus. The picture on the right is the Castle Tea House. I think it is pretty cool to live a couple of blocks from a castle!




















4) No big-city hassle. A big advantage to living in a small town like Lawrence is that you do not have many of the hassles of a big city. Grocery stores are never unbearably crowded. There is almost never anyone at the Department of Motor Vehicles. And, you hardly ever need a reservation to get a nice meal. In addition, the restaurants are remarkably affordable.

Pictured right are my and my husband's $10 lunches we had at the Eldridge hotel!

Lawrence, Kansas is not so bad after all.

Traveling without Writing: My first post in 90 days

I have been back in Kansas for nearly three months, and have not posted a single travel blog entry since my return.

It is not that I have not traveled - I conferenced in Toronto for a few days and went caving in Missouri not too long ago. Nevertheless, I have not had a word to write on this blog.

I thought about writing about the wonderful food and vibrant diversity in Toronto. I was particularly proud of myself for maneuvering public transportation to and from the airport, and thought of a whole blog post about that. But, I never wrote it.

I had a fabulous view from my hotel window in Toronto. I took a picture of the night-time view and shared it on Facebook, but I never wrote about all the delicious restaurants nearby or the amazing fresh fruit and vegetable stands in Chinatown.

I also never wrote about the camping trip I took with my family to Blue Springs Ranch in Missouri. I wanted to write about how nice the owner was and how friendly the horses were with the children.

Caving in Missouri was fabulous. I do have photos to prove it. We also went horseback riding and camping, and have plenty of wonderful memories of our short trip there. But, I never did post about it.

It's not that I haven't been writing. I have been writing - a lot! But, my writing has been academic or political. Nothing just for fun.

I did get an iphone since I returned to the US, and have been posting captioned photos to Facebook that provide quick snapshots into my life in Kansas. I keep thinking that I will go back to those photos and write up blog entries. But, alas, I have not.

Until now. Here it is: my first blog entry in 90 days.