Long Drives and Small Kids

A couple months ago, Robby, Olivia, and myself spent 12ish hours in the car together making our way from Jefferson City, MO to Colorado Springs, CO.  Thankfully, Little Peanut had been on long drives before, so she wasn’t totally new to this whole concept. When she was 7 months we drove to Gulf Shores and […]

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A New Site in the Making

Hi. I’m Pan, The Gravel-Roadin’ Guru. This is my new site. It’s a work in progress so please bear with me while I’m making daily changes and trying to figure out how to use WordPress.  For the last year, I’ve been using the free blogger sites and decided to take the leap to a “real” […]

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Biking the Katy: From Jeff City to Hartsburg

When I was a young lass, the Katy Trail wasn’t nearly as popular or highly regarded as it is now. As a matter of fact, it’s so “new” that in 2010, they just celebrated the 20th anniversary of the trail. The trail system is made up of the old railway byways, and now is used […]

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My life, the balancing act

18 months. Olivia came into my life 18 months ago. Most days feel like time has flown by like Marty McFly in the Delorian. And while I give thanks daily that she’s in my life, I also struggle. See, there’s a lot of things I want to do, in addition to the long list of […]

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Unknown Landmark: Missouri Route K outside of Hermann, MO

Roadtrips. That’s where this whole thing started. Gravel-roadin’ and hitting the roads. I can’t remember exactly when I started or exactly why I fell in love but over the years, I’ve enjoyed more gravel-roadin’ adventures than I can remember. Several years back, I was in a funk. I had just went through a break up […]

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Royal Gorge, Colorado

The same day we toured the craziness of Bishop’s Castle, we also drove up to Royal Gorge. They’re about an hour drive away from each other so it’s really doable to push these two into the same day. Winter is apparently not the “in-season” for Royal Gorge but it was still a great site to […]

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Vibrant little town: Manitou Springs, CO

Manitou (pronounced man-eh-too) Springs sits just on the outskirts of Colorado Springs, no more than a hop, skip, and jump away. Our first full day of Colorado was halfway spent getting from Stratton to Colorado Springs, since the highways had shut down for some unknown, unGodly reason the night prior. By the time we took […]

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Colorado: Picture Preview

Me and the fam just returned from a much needed, and much too short, vacay to Colorado. I have lots to tell you, just have to find the time. For now, here’s a little preview… Made a totally unexpected stop at the Rodeway Inn in Stratton, CO Wandered the streets of Manitou Springs with my […]

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Amtrak through Missouri

Last year, shortly after I had Olivia, Robby surprised me with a train ride for the weekend to St Louis. I hadn’t been on the train since I was a kid and even then, I can’t even hardly remember that trip. The train definitely isn’t luxury at it’s finest but man, did it work out well!   […]

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