2022 Road Trippin - 7-18-22 Reelfoot Lake to Springfield, Illinois

We had our picnic breakfast overlooking Reelfoot Lake this morning, then headed to Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center.  We met a nice young lady from Jackson, Mississippi.  She is an intern at the refuge and is going to school at Mississippi State.  She visited the Sandhill Crane Refuge last spring.  What a small world!

We drove on the 3 mile auto tour seeing lots of Egrets and some other cool stuff before heading to the ferry.  

We rode the Dorena-Hickman Riverboat Ferry from Kentucky to Missouri across the Mississippi River.  These are the only 2 bordering states that do not have a connecting road.  The ferry is the only direct route between these two states.  A unique and fun experience.

We traveled in 4 different states today, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Illinois. We drove 301  miles through the countryside and are resting up at the Red Roof Inn in Springfield, Illinois. After bellying up on some Popeyes Fried Chicken we took a stroll, enjoying a few blooms and critters across the road from the hotel.

7-18 Road Trip Day 2

2022 Road Trippin - 7-17-22 Camp Crane to Reelfoot Lake

We took off on our first vacation in over a year and a half.  We drove 490  miles and are staying at Reelfoot Lake Inn in Tiptonville, Tennessee. We have a nice view from our room on the 2nd floor overlooking the lake

  

When we planned this trip, we were planning to tent camp.  After looking at the weather forecast, we changed our minds.  We took a stroll along the lake and found all kinds of birds, blooms, and such.  We also found heat and humidity.  After returning to our air conditioned room we were assured we made the right decision to ditch the tent camping idea until the fall.

7-17 Reelfoot lake Pics:

MSCNWR - 7-10-22 - 7-16-22

We were ready for a refuge tour when we returned on Sunday.  It was a very enjoyable tour seeing nearly 20 cranes in our three hour tour.

We also enjoyed the pretty blooms, butterflies, and caterpillars. 

The native plant garden, (aka Pon's weed patch), was buzzing with bees this afternoon.

We watched the birds enjoying their buffet at Camp Crane when we returned.

  

Sunday Pics:

We hung around HQ Monday, opening the building for a group that are using the auditorium for a workshop.  While we were waiting around, we were entertained by the critters in Pon's weed patch.

Monday Pics:

Tuesday, we went to Bon Secour NWR.  We figured the campground would need a little TLC. We were wrong, it needed a lot of TLC.  The grass was so tall, it could have been used for hay.  We got some limbs cut, grass cut, and weed-eating done.  Camp Secour is ready for our arrival.

We cut grass around the maintenance shed until we were rained out.  The rain continued for our ride across the bay on the ferry.

  

We weren't the only ones taking advantage of the ferry.  A seagull hitched a ride as well.

Tuesday Pics:

Wednesday, we went with the Jackson County Soil and Water Conservation to Helena Gopher Tortoise Preserve.  There were about 20 Gopher Tortoise living on this property with about 50 more living in the power line right of way across the road.  A contraption was used to go inside the burrows revealing the depth of the burrow as well as the tortoises and other critters that were cohabitating in the burrow.  It was a fascinating place. 

We took a stroll along the Dees Trail this afternoon.

We made another prototype to try and outsmart the fox squirrel that has eaten the side of one of the crane feeders.  It is an ongoing battle.

Wednesday Pics:

Thursday, we tagged and released a DGF dragon and a DGF tadpole that never morphed.  They were in 2 different tanks.  Tadpole snatching is quite a challenge.

After we tagged them, we hiked a little over a mile to the second release pond to release them.  2022 DGF release season is a wrap!!

Thursday Pics:

Friday, we went to Escatawpa Trail and cut grass and loped limbs while repairs were being done on the HQ sewer system.  

After lunch, we were back in full operation and manned the visitor center.  The only visitors we had were 4 of the HQ crew and a Ribbon Snake that was in the employee restroom.

Friday Pics:

Saturday we worked in the visitors center then packed up getting ready for our first vacation in over a year and a half.

The visitor center was much more popular than yesterday.  We had 40 people and 9 cranes visit.