We started by heading to Meremac Caverns in Missouri, stopping at a Cabelas store on the way. They had some very cool displays including huge aquariums fill with giant fish. There were also many taxidermy displays throughout the store. All proved to be good training opportunities for Lilly.
The caverns were pretty neat. A little "tourist-y" with all the trinkets for sale in the gift shops, but the caves themselves are marvel of nature. Because of the time of year, we were the only people on the tour which was great. We gained a lot more info than we would had there been 50 schoolchildren surrounding us.
From the cavern area, we headed back towards St Louis, stopping at a little local diner in a small town where we had a great lunch of hamburgers and soup/chili. The place raises their own beef and you could tell it in the flavor! I've taken a real liking to trying to avoid most chain restaurants and enjoying the charm of the local diners.
We then stopped by another Wild birds Unlimited to gather ideas, then headed to our hotel to spend the evening relaxing by the pool and in the hot tub. It was a another good training op. for Lilly. She was a little confused by the kids jumping in the pool (disappearing humans!) but got use to the commotion and relaxed as well. The pool was one of those indoor/outdoor pools where you can swim under the wall to go outside. It was quite odd to do so and find steam pouring off your head in the 11 degree weather.
We started this morning with a full breakfast and another swim before heading off to Innsbrook to see if Sue was home. She wasn't, but the purple finches and bluebirds were there, feeding in droves at the feeders. I gave Judy a short tour of the fabulous area before tracking Sue down by phone and catching up with her for a nice lunch visit.
We had hoped to take the ferry across the mighty Missisippi to look for more eagles at Grafton, but a phone message said the ferry was closed due to ice. We moved on to Alton, crossing over to the IL side, then followed the river up to Grafton, where we found the ferry was running. UGH! Oh well, we ended up seeing several eagles in trees along the cliffs bordering the road, so it was worth the detour. We saw more eagles outside Grafton near Pierre Marquette. The was a large barge working its way up the river and it was eerie to hear the ice crunching as the barge moved along.
Finally, we worked our way back home taking many backroads through a lot of little towns who looked like time forgot. We even had to wait at the IL river while a drawbridge raised to let a barge pass. Who knew there were drawbridges in central IL?
