Tuesday, June 06, 2023

I'm...baaaacccckkk...

 It seems like it takes at least a day or so to recover even from a mini trip of 48 hrs.


The drive across the state was pretty nice aside from the intense heat. I had mapped a route that would take me to Paradise Springs Natural Area. I planned on a picnic out of the back of my 'Ru with Charlie.

When we pulled up and parked in the small lot under a tree there was no one else around. I shared some PB&J with Charlie and he had a big drink of water.


I grabbed my back pack and thought we'd head into the little trail to see the spring building.

Another vehicle pulled up and two older guys stepped out into the heat. They asked if they could pet Charlie. Charlie loved the attention. When we walked around the corner from the parking lot there was a huge red sign:

NO PETS!

I was crushed. I stood there. It was too hot to leave Charlie in the car. The guys looked at me and the one said: We won't say a thing. I doubt he will harm anything.

I tucked Charlie under my arm and headed down a paved trail. The last time I'd been to Paradise Springs, the trails were dirt. The area had suffered quite a bit of neglect. After the 2018 record floods groups got together and donated monies to fix this little beautiful place. New trails were laid down and paved. The pond was cleaned and benches along with a nice little deck for viewing was made.

The improvements were beautiful. The building was the same, but the area was much cleaner. 

The Spring Building from across the pond.
The water smelled bad because
of the lack of rain and fresh 
water.


Inside the building looking out through 
the windows across the pond
back towards where
I had been standing.


The two older guys looking
for turtles.
One fella told me that he
'rescued' turtles by taking them off
the road and bringing them to 
this pond.
I saw no turtles and they didn't either.



There were quite a few nice benches along the paths with donor's names on them. I took a few shots with my IR camera and scurried back to the parking lot so as not to get in trouble. Charlie stayed tucked under my arm.

No selfie with Charlie to add to our collection of doggie photos. I was disappointed, but understood that sometimes people who don't make their pets behave ruin it for those that do.

I sat in the back of the 'Ru with my dog and we had some water while I plotted our next stop. Beula's Bog. 

In truth, it sounded way too hot and muggy to go to a Bog, but we'd head that way and check it out.

I followed the directions...until...

the connection between my smarty phone and my car stopped. I couldn't stop on the narrow back road safely to try and figure it out. So I just 'winged' it. I drove on one curvy road and to another unmarked black top and eventually came out in a town. I pulled into a parking lot and disconnected everything and restarted the phone.

I really regret not having a good ol' paper map in my car. I must have cleaned out the 'Ru and tossed it. 

By the time everything was set, I decided that it was too hot and nasty to go explore a bog with Charlie. I set my sights on Petrified Springs Park and decided to go there until it would be time to drop in on the 'kids'.

I was looking forward to cooler weather near Lake Michigan.


And so it went...

7 comments:

  1. Some bad dog owners ruin things for the good ones. I hope you got some cooler weather...it sure has been hot here!

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  2. Still a wonderful trip and time away! I'm glad the other people were understanding about Charlie, so disappointing! We were so excited when we had a vehicle with GPS so we could explore off the beaten trail. Until we were in the mountains of Tennessee (and again in the Adirondacks) and lost the signal, LOL. So frustrating, LOL.

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  3. Anonymous7:58 PM

    You have such a great sense of adventure! It's a lot hotter there than it is here and we are in great need of rain. So nice that sweet Charlie can go tripping with you. Lori

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  4. A dog tucked under your arm doesn't count. It's been hot and humid here and we badly need rain.

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  5. There is always so much to catch up on after a vaycay. I don't think I've seen Paradise Springs in IR. Nice pics! It does look cleaned up. Super hot weekend! Glad your travels went well regardless :)

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    Replies
    1. It was hot but we have good AC in the 'Ru, thank goodness. Near the lake it was quite bearable. They didn't have rain either! It is very very dry.

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  6. You caught some remarkable photos. The building is amazing. Carrying the dog was the solution but he sure could be put down and move around without doing any damage.

    ReplyDelete

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