Very cool stops in the Midwest

   

   We knew that the Gateway Arch, Hannibal, Snake Road, and Matt's house would be focal points on our trip. There were other things we did that required far less time. A couple of things were planned (Kankakee Sands and Blue Springs Cavern) while others were spur of the moment (US Grant Historic Site). The things below are all things I would highly recommend even though we never spent more than four hours at any of them. Each has a paragraph or two followed by some photos before you scroll to the next place.

   Kankakee Sands Nature Conservancy

   While the Gateway Arch was our first true destination, I drove all night on Thursday to put us close to Kankakee Sands so we could spend few hours there on Friday. This six thousand acre prairie in NW Indiana is owned by the Nature Conservancy. They did a great job converting ten square miles of farmland back to prairie. The main attraction is a bison herd of about 93 animals. They roam a square mile. There is a fence that separates you from them and they can be anywhere so your chances of seeing them vary depending on where they are. We got lucky and most of the herd was near the dirt road running along the fence line. I took photos for fifteen minutes.

  Next we took a hike in the prairie. I was hoping to find some grassland birds but I knew the odds were slim. It was mid-afternoon on a ninety degree day and many species had already headed south. I never ended up seeing any of my targets. Still, I loved walking in the prairie If I were passing through I'd go again.

There was Prickly Pear along the trail

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

   St Louis has a small population of the Eurasian Tree Sparrows. As the name suggests they are native across the pond. They were released and instead of reeking havoc such as invasive House Sparrows and Starlings, they have only a small population that is struggling to survive. Their range is a small neighborhood in St Louis called Dogtown and the adjacent park. I researched them and found an intersection where they were seen at a bird feeder.

 

   After the Gateway Arch we drove to Dogtown before heading to Hannibal. We parked near the intersection I read about. They weren't right there but we walked up and down the suburban roads and found a couple of the sparrows within a half hour. Two of them were in a tree in a yard. While I was photographing them an old man with a bad limp and a cane came out and asked me what I was doing. I told him he had a rare bird in the tree. When I said that he just shrugged because he was used to people looking at the birds. We talked for a minute and he drove off. 

The Eurasian Tree Sparrow was the one bird I got as a lifer on the trip.

US Grant National Historic Site

 

 As we were driving from Hannibal to Snake Rd we saw a brown sign for the Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site. I had Laurie Google it really quick and it was only nine minutes off of the highway. As much as I wanted to get to Snake Road, I couldn't pass up going to the home of our greatest general not named Washington. 

 

    The home, named White Haven, was where Grant met his wife Julia while we was stationed a few miles away while in the army. After they married Julia's father fell on hard times (he was a Southern sympathizer) so the Grant's bought up much of the property. Grant lived here in the years between when he left the military and when the Civil War started and he rejoined. 

   The house is the same gaudy color as when Grant lived there. The cement stairs leading you in are original to the house. Meaning you can step exactly where US Grant stepped. This fact was not lost on me and I took multiple photos of my feet on the steps. 

   There is an excellent visitor center with a twenty minute movie about Grant's life. Grant struggled during civilian life but was a masterful general. He became the 18th president. His  administration had multiple scandals. Though Grant was innocent of any wrongdoing he trusted too much and many of his friends that he gave positions to took advantage and tried to make a quick buck. During his administration Grant fought hard for the rights of black people. 

 
We spent a little over an hour at the Grant NHS. The place was easily worth another couple of hours. We only toured the house. We didn't walk the grounds. The museum was excellent but all we did was look at artifacts. We read very little abut his life. Yet I learned a lot. The video and the ranger that lead the tour were very informative. I'm very happy we took the detour before heading off to find venomous snakes.

Blue Springs Caverns, Bedford, IN

 

Blind Cavefish

   Between Snake Road and Akron, OH we went to Blue Springs Caverns in Bedford, IN. Blue Springs Caverns is the longest navigable cave in the world. There is a navigable river that goes for miles. You can take a one hour boat tour that explores a small percentage of the cave. We arrived for the 1 pm tour and we were the only people on it (though they did have a group of ninety school kids earlier in the day). My friend Charles suggested we go to this cave because Blind Cavefish and pure white crayfish live in the water. The cave is completely dark (minus when they turn the lights on) so animals lose their pigment. The boat ride through the cave was amazing. None of the photos I took can possibly do it any justice. We did see multiple Blind Cavefish and crayfish and even got a couple blurry photos of the Blind Cavefish

Rest Area Grey Tree Frog

   We spent two full nights at rest areas and a few hours one morning so I could get some sleep before heading to Kankakee Sands. The Friday night before heading to St Louis there was a Grey Tree Frog in a bubbler outside the restroom building. It was green but upon reading about them, Grey Tree Frogs can be green but you can tell it is a Grey because of a light spot under the eye no matter what color the rest of the body is. Since I had nowhere else to write about it, I figure leaving it here at the end of my writing journey though I saw it at the beginning of my trip seems appropriate.