Prairie Spirit Trail -- Ottawa to Princeton and back

We decided to try the Prairie Spirit Trail today. It was a blustery day with a pretty brisk northwest wind and temperatures in the mid 50s. We questioned the conditions and whether we wanted to commit to such from the get-go.  This trail is actually part of the Kansas State Park system and requires a fee to use outside the city limits of the 3 largest towns on the trail (Ottawa, Garnett, and Iola).  So, our plan was to start at the Old Depot Museum on the north end of Ottawa and ride the 2 or 3 miles of free paved trail within the city limits of Ottawa and then make our determination if we wanted to pay our $3.50 per person daily use fee and continue out into the open prairie.  Once on the south edge of Ottawa, we decided we would like to continue on and see what it was all about.  Not knowing how the pay stations worked exactly, we were prepared with our $7.00 correct cash in the bike bag, and we figured we would just drop our money in a locked box.  But here's a tip:  You're also going to need a pen.  Which we did not have.  In our bike bag.  You're going to need a pen because the envelope that you put your money into, which has a permit on the envelop flap that you tear off and keep with you as proof of payment, has all kinds of information on it that you have to fill out, with things such as name, address, car model, license plate number, mother's maiden name, blood type, name of your first pet, and if you have ever been convicted of a felony  Ok, maybe I exaggerate on a few items on that list, but you get the idea.  We had our cash ready but we didn't have a pen.  Our writing utensils were in our car at the depot, 3 miles back. So, we stuffed a couple of the blank envelopes into our bike bag alongside the awaiting $7.00 cash and absent pen, and continued out into the wild, hoping that if we were pulled over by the trail police, they would take mercy on our pen-less plight, especially with the incontrovertible proof of intent to pay, evidenced by said exact change accompanying the unfilled-out-envelopes riding in our bags.  There's our rebel nature once again rearing it's head. :)  But it was Sunday. And trail police must not work on Sundays, as we were not pulled over once.  LOL

~~ H

The squirrels heckled us for not paying and probably tattled on us on Monday!  S~~

The trail between Ottawa and Princeton was fairly well tree lined so we were fairly sheltered from the strong wind out of the West Northwest that was blowing steadily.  It turned out to be a beautiful day for a ride.  We rode all the from the old depot on the North end of Ottawa to the southern end of Princeton and then back to the Depot. The ride was 20.10 miles in total.  We had planned to reward ourselves with dinner at Ponchos Mexican restaurant, but it was closed, so instead we went to Applebees.  

S~~

Our starting point

Rocking that balaclava!

Very nicely maintained trail.

Well ...... except for that.  LOL

Onward past the obstruction.

There's your rules and regs, folks......

He looks like a grumpy Gus here, but he really wasn't.

Looking north toward I-35

Day use fee:  $3.50 per person per day.   For 2014 and beyond, we will be buying the $12.50 per person annual pass.

Applebee's spinach and artichoke dip.  Nom, nom, nom.

    

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