January 10 2011
Marie observed that the temperature was 2 degrees on her way south to my house, so we decided to stay in the van until the temperature outside warmed up a bit.
Marie with her endless interests and hours of research had a few places to check out. First we went to a road end, it was just the end of a road that didn't connect to another road but we were there.
Next we went south then east, not far to see, another road end. Where are the plants, where are the wildflowers! I like winter I really do, it's cool and fresh, quieter than summer, but sometimes I feel like I can't wait until spring and blooming wildflowers.
Our route for the day
We went south to Holland, then northeast on Chicago Drive to find a part of some bridge Marie had read about on the http://www.historicbridges.org/ website. We were going to find Chicago Drive Buttermilk Creek Bridge, and we did find it.
Yep that's it, yawn. After this we went on to seek out our original destination - the mouth of Bass River.
 |
| Dried Teasel |
Frozen Bass Lake (or Max Lake, I've always called it Bass Lake although Bass River doesn't flow directly into this "lake" which was dug when this area was mined for gravel).
The last two photos are from the van as we drove through the countryside.
We did all that? You are funny. Yawn, indeed!
ReplyDeleteOkay, I admit the road end was not exactly exciting but the bridge was like a treasure hunt. Find a bridge you have just read about, no maps, no directions. Just somewhere on Chicago Drive, figuring out M-21 or M-121. Passing a bridge but no, doesn't look right. Driving on and on until BAM, there it is. Okay, I might have stopped a bit quickly but I did check traffic first. These old bridges are being destroyed every day and we need to see them before they're gone! And the mouth of the Bass River was TREE-mendous. Huge maples just growing huger all on their own. The mouth is a historical spot, think of who camped there back before there were roads even. And we were there - what a destination!
And we did see flowers - they were just asleep. What a day of cold but we had blue skies and sunshine! Thanks for the memories!
Wow, you covered a lot of ground! I really liked the route mapped out. Cool Dried Queen Anne's Lace. Very artistic! Wasn't impressed by the rushing stream, however. :P
ReplyDeleteMarie, how dastardly of me to put those two yawns into the blog! It was fun, it is always fun, really. It just looks so blah when you blog it, you had to be there and I'm glad we were. :)
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I'm glad you liked the map, it was fun to do. There really was rushing water in the creek, but it sure looked like no big deal in that picture. Thanks for letting me use your camera.
Bridges, yawn, but still looks fun! Had my first "Master Naturalist" course here yesterday for the Llano Estacado chapter. I realize I have already seen a lot of cool plants, bugs and animals.
ReplyDeleteBridges are actually very interesting, it was just that the partial one we saw, from the car, looked somewhat like a railing for a sidewalk.
ReplyDeleteCheck out that historic bridges website, it is great. Here is an example from Texas http://www.historicbridges.org/texas/mason/index.php
It is fun to find bridges on the website and learn their history, then go and find them for yourself.
Pine Island Drive Bridge in Kent County is one we visited last year. It was amazing.