The traveling manatees by Nancy French: Passing through Illinois

At Crab Orchard Lake

Starting our trip through Illinois still on crutches and a foot boot put a damper on our typical activities. Thankfully, the injuries were minor and recovery speedy but initially we did a lot of nothing. Camping at Crab Orchard Lake NWR for a few nights and a couple days at Rend Lake Army Corp of Engineers Park were perfect for some serious hanging out. Our days were spent reading, researching things to come, and zoning out, for hours at a time, looking over the water. Canadian geese, blue herons, and a bald eagle graced the waters at Crab Orchard.

Ramsey Lake State Park provided a campsite on a bluff with a beautiful view overlooking the lake. With overnight temperatures dropping into the 50s, we enjoyed a campfire and our first roasted marshmallows of the trip.

At Weldon Springs State Park, we secured a heavily shaded and relatively private campsite. Exploring the small park (550 acres) by bike, we discovered the Union School, built in 1865 and retired in 1946. The school now functions as a museum with natural science and historical displays and reminded us of classrooms from our youth. The focal point for Veteran’s Park Memorial, overlooking the lake, is a sculpture of a pilot, a soldier, and a sailor. A reminder that ”Freedom is not free.” is engraved at the base. Hummingbirds were plentiful in the park and we noticed that a number of our camping neighbors came prepared with feeders to draw them closer. Small patches of prairie land are within the park. Historically, Illinois consisted of around 22,000,000 acres of prairie. Today, fewer than 2,500 acres remain. The lands have been overtaken by agricultural interests, with over 11,000,000 acres of corn and more than 10,000,000 acres of soybean grown in the state.

Shabbona State Recreation Area is named after an Ottawa Indian chief renowned for his peace-making efforts in the 1800s. Prairie restoration in the park provided lovely fields of grasses and wildflowers as we biked to the lake and marina area. Though the park is the home of 4 state-
record muskies, we didn’t attempt to challenge any of the records.

Next, we are moving on to Wisconsin.