Ohio River and on to Heron Pond, IL
April 24, 2007
We got up before chicken lady and joined Mary and Bob at their place for coffee. We heard about Fred, an elderly man, they had met years ago in Montana. He was an interesting character traveling about with his dog, Sheldon, who was company, but did not ohhh and awww at the sites. We left Mary and Bob to get on the road; they had 4-hundred miles or so make today. And we did some shopping then some internetting. Kathy did some shopping at the classy Good Will store next to the BWW- new Docker shorts for $2!
Just about noon and we got on the road, MO62, heading east.
Charleston was a neat little town that someone has pulled together with covers over the sidewalks. The Mississippi County courthouse stands in the center town. We came next to Cairo, where the Ohio joins the Mississippi and we cross over into Illinois. 
Across the river we drove into Fort Defiance State Park right down on the confluence of the two rivers and made some lunch. 
We did our morning constitutional around the ghost town park, watched tugs pushing and pulling barges, and met Steve, a steelworker for the past 35 years in Michigan, Indiana. He has camped at the campground with electric and tried to find someone to pay, but there is no one. We chatted about watching boats, travels, and retirement. He looks forward to his retirement in five years.
We drove through the ghost town of Cairo, Illinois.
There are a few homes, but all the buildings in the historic area are in shambles, like there was a hurricane. We followed the Ohio River to Olmsted where they are constructing the 53rd lock and dam. This will replace locks 52 and 53. 
We had a downpour, watched barges navigating the Ohio River, and examined the construction exhibits. Lock 53 was all closed and locked up. Illinois is like Pa in landscape, rolling hills. We came across a Nature Conservancy Project. 
They have 2800 acres that they are returning to wetlands hoping it will fill in to look like the swamplands that were originally here when John Audubon wrote of this area back in 1860. Will spotted a deer drinking from the pond.
Down the road we came to another area where it was swamplands. It is all part of Illinois Department of Natural resources Cache River area.
We hiked the trail to the state record Cherry Bark Oak tree. It was 22 feet around! And over 100 feet tall! Then we walked out on the boardwalk of the swamp; the posted sign said it was Heron Pond. 
The majestic cypress trees push up from the black water of the pond whose top is emerald from the duckweed. 
These trees were just saplings 1000 years ago when Leif Ericsson was pushed westward toward North America. They were already ancient trees 500 years later when Christopher Columbus landed. You could feel time here. 
We sat out on the boardwalk listening to the birds and frogs. 
We saw a snake waiting for dinner to come croaking by. A large crane came and landed in the distant tree; there was a nest and we watched the male and female come and go feeding its young. Vultures came and landed in the treetops. An owl hooted the coming of night just after sunset. Small orange birds flitted about and woodpeckers pecked with the sound echoing through the swamp. Duckweed covered the surface of much of the water. 
It was just about dark when we got back to the van and headed north. We found a nice pull off just inside the Shawnee National Forest. We made eggrolls and watched Rat Race.
We got up before chicken lady and joined Mary and Bob at their place for coffee. We heard about Fred, an elderly man, they had met years ago in Montana. He was an interesting character traveling about with his dog, Sheldon, who was company, but did not ohhh and awww at the sites. We left Mary and Bob to get on the road; they had 4-hundred miles or so make today. And we did some shopping then some internetting. Kathy did some shopping at the classy Good Will store next to the BWW- new Docker shorts for $2!Just about noon and we got on the road, MO62, heading east.
Charleston was a neat little town that someone has pulled together with covers over the sidewalks. The Mississippi County courthouse stands in the center town. We came next to Cairo, where the Ohio joins the Mississippi and we cross over into Illinois. 
Across the river we drove into Fort Defiance State Park right down on the confluence of the two rivers and made some lunch. 
We did our morning constitutional around the ghost town park, watched tugs pushing and pulling barges, and met Steve, a steelworker for the past 35 years in Michigan, Indiana. He has camped at the campground with electric and tried to find someone to pay, but there is no one. We chatted about watching boats, travels, and retirement. He looks forward to his retirement in five years.We drove through the ghost town of Cairo, Illinois.
There are a few homes, but all the buildings in the historic area are in shambles, like there was a hurricane. We followed the Ohio River to Olmsted where they are constructing the 53rd lock and dam. This will replace locks 52 and 53. 
We had a downpour, watched barges navigating the Ohio River, and examined the construction exhibits. Lock 53 was all closed and locked up. Illinois is like Pa in landscape, rolling hills. We came across a Nature Conservancy Project. 
They have 2800 acres that they are returning to wetlands hoping it will fill in to look like the swamplands that were originally here when John Audubon wrote of this area back in 1860. Will spotted a deer drinking from the pond.Down the road we came to another area where it was swamplands. It is all part of Illinois Department of Natural resources Cache River area.
We hiked the trail to the state record Cherry Bark Oak tree. It was 22 feet around! And over 100 feet tall! Then we walked out on the boardwalk of the swamp; the posted sign said it was Heron Pond. 
The majestic cypress trees push up from the black water of the pond whose top is emerald from the duckweed. 
These trees were just saplings 1000 years ago when Leif Ericsson was pushed westward toward North America. They were already ancient trees 500 years later when Christopher Columbus landed. You could feel time here. 
We sat out on the boardwalk listening to the birds and frogs. 
We saw a snake waiting for dinner to come croaking by. A large crane came and landed in the distant tree; there was a nest and we watched the male and female come and go feeding its young. Vultures came and landed in the treetops. An owl hooted the coming of night just after sunset. Small orange birds flitted about and woodpeckers pecked with the sound echoing through the swamp. Duckweed covered the surface of much of the water. 
It was just about dark when we got back to the van and headed north. We found a nice pull off just inside the Shawnee National Forest. We made eggrolls and watched Rat Race.
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