Nature Ali's Grand Adventure - Day 7, June 26th.

I awoke at dawn to continue down the road. My GPS unit is programmed to avoid toll roads which was a good thing because as soon as I left the Interstate I started seeing lots of wildlife including my first and only Scissor-tailed Flycatcher of the trip. On a rural dirt road there were many wonderful butterflies and dragonflies.

Continuing on I tried to find a little food and then looked for a nice place to picnic. I stopped in Lawrence at the Prairie Park Nature Center. A really lovely place run by the city, more butterflies and dragonflies and several reptiles including a black snake. This was the first really hot place that I visited. Muggy is not a word common in the Kern River Valley and now I remember how uncomfortable heat and high humidity can be, although, the diversity of dragonflies certainly benefits from such conditions.

Leaving Kansas behind, I entered Missouri but did not see the Arch in Saint Louis. I only stopped at a rest stop to try to find a few state birds, since this was the first time ever in most of these states. I saw a huge snapping turtle in the rest stop wastewater ponds. Just a few other birds but driving was the only real agenda for the day. I entered Illinois as the sun was setting, so really didn’t bird in the state… just a few blackbirds for that state list.

I continued on and entered Indiana well after dark. I stopped for the night at a rest stop, only problem is trying to be unnoticed so no one especially the police would hassle me became a problem when they arrested a guy for drunk driving right next to where I parked. I woke up needing to use the facilities but it took over two hours to process the guy and have his car towed. Boy that was not helpful in getting rest.

688 miles