Weston Bend State Park in Weston, Missouri is another pretty state park we'd taken a day trip to while living in the Kansas City area. At that time we enjoyed some excellent hiking and checked out the small campground, dreaming of returning one day in our own RV. That time had now come. We spent five nights here in late June and got to do plenty of exploring, mostly on our bikes, as it is over three miles to town from the campground on foot and quite hilly. We had a nice site nestled among large deciduous trees. The Missouri River is visible from several overlooks in the park. On our first bike ride from the park, we headed out to the rural surrounding area and pedaled some of the Platte County roads. The farmland was attractive and green, but there were lots of hills. Missouri ain't flat! We enjoyed seeing two cemeteries on our bike ride. Both had some graves dating back to the 1800s. Here's a close-up of the informational sign at the above historic cemetery, Laurel Hill. After checking out the rural countryside, we pedaled on to Weston, a charming, historic small town of fewer than 1700 residents today but at one time the second-largest port on the Missouri River (even larger than Kansas City!) Weston has quite a history. The Lewis and Clark expedition stopped here, and according to Wikipedia, William Buffalo Bill Cody lived here, and the town was a major "jumping off" point for the Santa Fe Trail, the Oregon Trail and the California Gold Rush. When we'd visited Weston on our day trip, we happened to come on a Monday, which we didn't know is the only day of the week when the town pretty much shuts down after the busy tourist weekend. This time was different. Town wasn't overly busy and bustling mid-week but wasn't buttoned up tight either. Perfect! This cute white house was the home of Daniel Boone's descendants. The old jail is painted with murals that evoke days past. Weston even has a Little Free Library! Stay tuned for lots more from Weston including lots of libations!
2 Comments
7/12/2016 10:11:49 am
Looks like you found a beautiful little spot there. We found Missouri to be full of places to see and lots of hiking and biking. I am sure you could spend a month or two in that state and never be bored.
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Emily
7/14/2016 08:27:51 am
Thanks Ruth! We had a great time exploring Missouri and still haven't seen nearly all of it. The more you see, the more you realize you've missed!
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Emily & BarryWe're a long-married, early-retired couple who are currently traveling as nomads with no fixed home base. After years of living in North Carolina (Emily's home state), we spent 18 months living oceanfront on Ambergris Caye, Belize, a year road-tripping the US in a Honda CR-V, a year in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and are now roaming North America in our 32' motorhome, Pearl, following warm weather whenever possible. Archives
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