Odds and Ends
Indian Park and Tour of Missouri

Indian Park Going To Pot?

Sometimes, I'm glad when I'm wrong.

I drive by Indian Park at the corner of William and Lorimier at least a couple of times a week.

Lately, the Cape Parks Department has been doing a lot of work to the grounds adding a nice pavilion and some extremely fun-looking playground equipment that makes me almost wish I was seven again.

But while observing the progress being made, I noticed that something was missing. Where was the bathroom? Actually, "bathroom" is not an accurate description since a port-a-potty has graced these grounds for years. I guess the City of Cape has been too broke to afford any of that fancy, indoor plum'in' for this particular park.

Anyhow, I thought the "missing" port-a-potty had been in the general location of the pavilion and now it wasn't there.

My next thought was that the Parks Department was going "green" and had decided to take a more natural approach at Indian Park. After all, while port-a-potties are cheaper than the aforementioned indoor plum'in', they still cost money as does fertilizer, so why not save a few bucks and have the people using the park organically fertilize the grounds?

Put a couple of signs -- "His" and "Hers" -- on stakes and have a Parks Department employee move them around to different bushes on a weekly basis. Sounds pretty "green" to me.

And frankly, it made as much sense to me as having the only restroom at a park as historical as this one, be a port-a-potty.

But then, as I was driving by Indian Park last week, I realized I was wrong. There actually was a port-a-potty on the grounds, nestled safe and sound next to the fence just north of the basketball court.

I'm glad I was in error. What a relief.

Getting Lost During The Tour of Missouri Race

The exact route for the leg of the Tour of Missouri cycle race from Ste. Genevieve to Cape was announced last week.

I grew up in Ste. Genevieve and I guess my rural navigational skills of that county have gotten a little rusty. I was quickly lost reading the directions. And if I was lost that quickly, I wonder how one of the foreign cyclists will be if the route is not clearly marked.

I would hate for a rider like 2009 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador of Spain -- whose cycling team is racing in the Tour of Missouri -- to get lost in the backwoods of Perry County while speeding towards Cape.

While that area is a far cry from the locals of the movie Deliverance, I could see a suspicious farmer calling the local authorities if a wayward Alberto -- who does not speak very good English -- happened to peddle up asking directions in Spanish.

"Hello, sheriff. I wanted to letchuknow that some skinny little feller in some skin-tight clothes on a ten-speed stopped by jabbering in Mexican and I thought Homeland Security might want to take a look at him. Could you come and get 'im in maybe two or three hours? I need him to finish picking a few more bushels of apples for me."