On our journey to Galena, Illinois, the landscapes were verdant (as one might expect in mid May) but it felt more like March. Cool air, a low gray overcast and a strong east wind persisted all the way from central Missouri to northwest Illinois.
As we had learned prior to the trip, flooding was extensive along the Mississippi, also backing up and flooding the feeder creeks and rivers that we crossed in northeast Missouri and eastern Iowa. Forced from the flooded woodlands, flocks of wild turkeys scoured the soggy fields and raccoons ambled along the country roads. Turkey vultures were often abundant in the gray skies, joined at times by American white pelicans as we snaked up the Mississippi Valley.
Before heading into Galena, we visited Mississippi Palisades State Park, which stretches atop cliffs that line the east edge of the valley. There, a series of overlooks offer spectacular views of the Great River and its wooded islands, all part of the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge. After a front moves through later this evening (the same system that brought severe thunderstorms and tornados to Oklahoma and Missouri) our weather is forecast to be more spring-like tomorrow.
As we had learned prior to the trip, flooding was extensive along the Mississippi, also backing up and flooding the feeder creeks and rivers that we crossed in northeast Missouri and eastern Iowa. Forced from the flooded woodlands, flocks of wild turkeys scoured the soggy fields and raccoons ambled along the country roads. Turkey vultures were often abundant in the gray skies, joined at times by American white pelicans as we snaked up the Mississippi Valley.
Before heading into Galena, we visited Mississippi Palisades State Park, which stretches atop cliffs that line the east edge of the valley. There, a series of overlooks offer spectacular views of the Great River and its wooded islands, all part of the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge. After a front moves through later this evening (the same system that brought severe thunderstorms and tornados to Oklahoma and Missouri) our weather is forecast to be more spring-like tomorrow.
