"We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." T. S. Eliot
Some protestors were marching through a rich people neighborhood in the Central West End and they freaked out and ran outside with guns and confronted them in a very douchebag manner.
Mrs. McCloskey came outside lookin' real rough. For one thing she had mustard all over her shirt.
It didn't take long for the memes to begin. The glorious memes.
When I woke up at Wakonda State Park the geese were still at it. Waddling around and waiting for a moment of weakness at which to strike.
Battle of Athens State Historic Site is where the northernmost Civil War battle fought west of the Mississippi occurred. An awesome detail of the battle was the rebels had a cannon they made out of a hollowed out log but they only fired it once then it blew up!
I thought that this Missouri State Guard flag was interesting.
A cloud of Eastern Pondhawks was swooping at Iliniwek Village State Historic Site near the IL/MO/IA borders. The site is the only Illinois Indian village site found in MO and is thought to have been occupied from about 1640-1670s.
We packed up camp and said goodbye to the birds.
We drove from the park to visit Springfield. I took a detour to Illinois College to show Lydia my old stomping grounds. Beecher Hall, home of the prestigious Phi Alpha Literary Society.
Gardner Hall was where I lived freshman year.
We stopped at a park and bumped into a shirtless Danny.
We did a hike around a lake in Cuivre River State Park that was surrounded by wild flowers. I had to stop every few steps to take more pictures! The park began as a federal rec demo area in the 1930s created by the CCC and WPA.
I was impressed by how tall these plants were.
I found this cool snake skeleton.
We stopped by Hannibal, Missouri to do some fence whitewashing.
You can never get enough Mark Twain.
The six lakes of Wakonda State Park near La Grange, MO were created when Ice Age gravel deposits were mined for use in road surfacing. They were a great place to do a little kayaking.
Our campsite at Wakonda was very nice and right next to the water. But a predator lurked nearby.
There were geese everywhere and they were not very afraid of humans. You could tell that they had played this game before because they kept checking the fire pit for fallen food.
I find it kind of reassuring that the State Park Rangers are on patrol while we are asleep in our tents.