As stated in a previous post, life is moving fast and there's so much going on, that I find it hard to keep up. I refuse to give up though! I've started multiple posts over the past week and a half and have finished none. Hopefully, this one will, not only get finished, but posted and out. Wish me luck! 😊
First of all, I want to catch up on some more of those trip pictures that I promised...and warning! There a LOT of them!
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In my last post, I left you with a sneak preview of what was next.
Upon leaving Shannon County, I was further east in the southern part of Missouri than I had ever been in my life. As we pressed onward towards the eastern border, these huge, white flowers started appearing along the roadsides. They were very tall (typically 4 to 6 feet tall, but sometimes up to 8) with flowers about six-inches across. I had never seen one before and was totally mesmerized. They turned out to be Hairy Rose Mallow...a plant that likes to grow in wet and swampy areas.
Our next stop was at the Mingo National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Stoddard and southeastern Wayne counties.
Egret
When I was a kid, my grandparents had a View Master projector and one of my favorite set of reels to go through was one on Cypress Gardens in Florida.
Visiting Mingo made one of my life-long dreams of seeing a real-life, naturally occuring, cypress swamp come true.
Containing the only large tract of bottomland forest remaining from the original 2.5 million acres native to the bootheel of Missouri, Mingo Swamp covers some 16,000 acres of 21,676 refuge area.
Son-in-law, Aaron, and Granddaughter, Alyssia
Our time at Mingo consisted of a visit to the nature center...
...a picnic lunch...
...and taking the 17-mile Ozark Highland Auto Tour.
Along the way we saw a lot of flowers...
Cardinal Flower
Purple Coneflower
Ironweed
I have no idea what this one is.
Tiger Swallowtail on Buttonbush
Jewelweed
...and quite a few animals.
Egret and Turtle
White-tailed Deer
Cottonmouth Snake
(Venomous)
Turtles
(Lots and lots and LOTS of turtles!)
We passed this little lake on our way out...
May Lake
Mingo National Wildlife Refuge was a great place to visit and I hope to return again someday to explore further.
Well, believe it or not, I had more that I wanted to share today (I know...it's already been a lot), but it's getting late and I've got a birthday party to attend, so I guess I better wrap it up and scoot on out of here. I will try to post more trip photos soon.
Have a lovely holiday weekend!
Until next time...
~Rebecca
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