It is a long time until our next official adventure (over 200 days in case you were wondering) and I find myself so preoccupied with planning for the future that I sometimes forget to enjoy the present. To remedy that problem, I thought I would include a post today with some of the images I've captured lately. The last few weeks have been absolutely stellar here in the upper Midwest...sort of Mother Nature's last hurrah before our world turns to ice and snow. I love to get out with my camera and search out the bright colors and signs of fall that are only here for such a short time.
On a crisp Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago, Bob and I drove to Kilen Woods State Park and spent some time walking the trails along the Des Moines River. Being a little early in the season, the park was still very green, but some pops of color were there if you just looked!
On the recommendation of several people, we stopped in at Kat's Hog Heaven restaurant in Jackson, MN for lunch after leaving the park. Not a BBQ place, but a clean, little eatery that has a <mostly> all pork menu. I had a delicious breaded pork tenderloin sandwich served with shoestring potatoes. Bob's Cuban sandwich was also yummy but we decided most of the flavor came from the spicy sweet pickles. For a side, he ordered the cole slaw which...surprise...had bacon as one of the ingredients!
Yesterday...another beautiful day, another state park. This time we drove to Blue Mounds State Park near Luverne, MN. The weather was unseasonably warm and it was one of those rare days on the prairie when there was no wind!
The most notable feature of Blue Mounds is the Sioux quartzite cliff that rises about 100 feet above the plains. The rock, although pinkish in color, is said to have appeared blue to the early settlers in this area. The cliffs are a popular place for rock climbers...including Bob who goes several times a year. Here is a photo of the cliffs from last month when he was there:
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| There are outcroppings of the quartzite all through the park. |
Rather than staying on a trail like most people, Bob thought it would be a good idea to bushwhack our way over to these cliffs. Getting across the stream made me realize that I'm getting old. Jumping from rock to rock, I was SURE I would fall in...but I made it!!
After getting across, we climbed the hill and sat on the edge of this cliff enjoying the beauty of the day. BUT...then I realized that somewhere during the stream crossing, hill climbing, cliff sitting activity my cell phone had gone missing from my back pocket. Luckily Eagle-Eye Bobby backtracked a ways and found it in the tall grass. Crisis averted...back to enjoying the day.
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| A duck swimming VERY close to the edge of the spillway. |
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| Lots of prairie grass. |
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| From the interpretive center you can see many miles across the prairie. |
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| This tree almost looked like it was glowing in the sun. |
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| At the Mound's southern end is a 1,250 foot long line of rocks aligned in a east-west direction. Who built it and why is unknown. It is known that on the first day of spring and fall, the sunrise and sunset are lined up on this stone alignment. |
Blue Mound State Park is home to a large herd of buffalo, but none were hanging around the areas we visited. To find them would have required a long walk through the prairie grass and was not something I was inclined to do...especially since I was getting so warm.
(Imagine that on a late October day in Minnesota!!) Instead, we stopped along a country road and "tried" to photograph some bison that were grazing on a farm nearby. No longer a protected species...these guys are destined to become buffalo burgers some day.
Finally...I will end this post with a few more photos taken in and around my own neighborhood. I am lucky to live next to one of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes and the sunsets this time of year are spectacular! My kitchen window faces west over the lake and I often will stop right in the middle of preparing dinner and run outside with my camera just to capture the beauty! The following photos have all been taken in the last few weeks.
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| The full October moon...a super moon |
