Saturday, we got on the road again, heading to Necedah National Wildlife Refuge We had a major roadblock when a tree fell across the road around Prentiss. A few sawyers and a tractor had it cleared in about 30 minutes.
We traveled 264 miles and are camped at Wallace Creek Campground on Enid Lake. We have a nice, quiet woodsy spot with lots of birds flitting around. This is our kind of place.
Sunday, we walked most of the campground roads. Let's just say, this flatlander did a little bit of huffing and puffing walking up the hills.
We pulled out around 10 am and traveled 318 miles to South Marcum Campground on Rend Lake. We have a nice spot with glimpses of the lake through the trees. A great place to relax for a couple of days.
We had almost 4 miles of nature chasing Monday. We walked all the campground loops. When we started our stroll, we saw a Red-eared slider laying eggs.
We felt right at home when we saw 3 Mississippi Kites in a tree.
We saw several other birds along the way.
We saw a spider, a few bees and butterflies, and a wasp while we were out and about.
While out on a Wally World run, we found some guys bowfishing in the spillway area of Rend Lake.
We hit the road again Tuesday. We traveled 263 miles and are camped at Princes Wenona Oasis RV Park in Wenona, Illinois. It is just a few spots in a parking area that have full hookups.
Before we got here, the wind was howling at 22 miles an hour. By the time we set up camp, it was closer to 30 miles and hour.
The camp area was occupied by 1 camper when we got there. Shortly after, another camper arrived. When a 4th camper came in, he parked in the opposite direction of all the other campers. Shortly after, the manager came out, banged on our door, and told us we had to move. Come to find out, the first camper was parked in the wrong direction. So, back out in the howling winds to change directions we went. If we had got there first, we would have known what direction to park by looking at the hookups. Oh well, it's all part of the adventure.
Wednesday, we traveled 251 miles to Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. After traveling 1,096 miles we have made it to our home for the next few months. About half of the miles we traveled today, were the bumpiest roads this trip. We stopped at the visitor center when we arrived and met a few nice folks.
Angie moved a Painted Turtle out of the road when she accompanied us to our campsite.
The campground is located at the compound that was used during Operation Migration. We have a nice concrete pad with front and back patios. We are the first resident volunteers for the refuge. Some consider us Guinea Pigs, while others consider us Pioneers. Either way, we are extremely happy to be here.
While I was finishing setting up the inside of the camper, Lauren went nature chasing near camp. He found a few cool plants, including the Sundial Lupine that is the host plant for the endangered Karner Blue Butterfly. We should be seeing some of these butterflies before long.
After getting Rap setup, we enjoyed a Spotted Cow Beer in a Trail's End Bar mug, while watching a Summer Tanager flitting around. It doesn't get much better than this!
Thursday morning we turned on the heaters while getting ready for our first day of work. We went to the Friends meeting to discuss the upcoming Birds, Bees, and Butterflies Festival. After all the years of volunteering, this is the first Friends meeting we have ever attended. We were welcomed with open arms and even told that we are part of the family.
We spent the morning putting together 200 native seed packs that will be given away during the festival.
We saw all kinds of cool plants and critters when we wandered around the trails near the visitor center.
Afterwards, we went on a refuge tour with Angie seeing several whooping cranes,
Bald Eagles
Sandhill Cranes
Trumpeter Swans nesting
Our first sighting of a White Rumped Sandpiper
A photogenic Wood Duck
And lots of other cool critters and plants
We are definitely in our Happy Place!
Afterwards, we relaxed at camp and enjoyed watching a few critters and such from the comforts of our patio.
The only plans we had for Friday was to chill out and we spent the morning doing just that.
After lunch, we took a ride along the public refuge roads trying to get our bearings. We saw some cool plants and critters, listened to a singing Towhee, and had a Trumpeter Swan flyover.
We made a run to the Cranberry Country Market about 14 miles away and stocked up on candies, chips, brats, and brat burgers.
On our way back, we made a couple of stops in the refuge and took a few more photos.
We had a little bit of showers and some small hail when we returned to camp. After it stopped raining, we cooked those delicious brat burgers for dinner.
Saturday we spent the afternoon with Chad and Angie. Not long after we arrived, we got our jackets on. It was a pretty, but windy day, up on the hillside.
After getting their garden planted, we went for ice cream. Some really good ice cream!
We, (mostly Lauren), took lots of birds and plant pictures. We had a late night, actually an early morning, of playing cards, after a delicious meal.
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