May 11, Reelfoot Lake, TN and KY

Sunday, May 11

Gorgeous sunrise this morning, great shadows, cool breeze….. slept in till 7:30 and it was already 70 degrees.

Continued exploring Reelfoot Lake with a short jog into Kentucky.  More agricultural land (with irrigation systems) and lots of wild flowers.

Grassy Island is a section of land that is part of a Wildlife Management area (back into Tennessee).  Small road through thick forest with occasional swampland, ending at this beautiful walkway and a boat launch. Took some pictures, did some camera maintenance.  Greg spotted this beautiful tree frog snuggled and snoozing on a leaf. The water lillies were all buds ready to explode.

On the ride, we saw lots of rabbits and squirrels, some wild turkey, hawks, geese, a beautiful bright blue bird (bluebird?) frogs and turtles, and the ever-present egrets and herons. Surprisingly few bugs –yeah!  (If you count roadkill we could add opossum, raccoon, armadillo, deer.  Well fed vultures in this area!)

This one made it across the road.

Spoke with a local lady who was out birdwatching and she expounded  on the many migratory birds that come through this area, including spoonbills and pelicans.

Wound our way back to the southern part of the lake and found this eagle with chick in a nest between the road and the lake.  In winter, the eagle population soars (ha ha) but there are many that are here year-round.

Walked a cypress boardwalk, then went down the road to a picnic area for lunch.  Have seen a few more snakes, all in the water, thank you.
 Then we stopped to see the birds of prey that they are rehabilitating.

golden eagle

red-tailed hawks

 Blue bank picnic area statue.

Noted this odd hitchhiker on the side mirror.  Sure looks like a fishing lure!

Talked with Bryan and congratulated Julie on her new job.  Matt called later in the day and it was good to catch up with both of them.

Next stop:  Union City, Tennessee.  Visited a monument to the unknown confederate soldiers, built  just a few years after.

Time for some “housework” and catch-up on the blog.  We stripped the bed and did several loads of laundry, and while Greg handled that I walked to a nearby Wendy’s and used their wi-fi. Even after the laundry was done, we hung out there for a bit as the temps were still pretty high (80ish).  The local Walmart does not allow overnighters, so we went down the street to Lowe’s, who said it was fine (plus they have good wi-fi in the parking lot).

Spent some time looking at maps and such to roughly plan the next few days route.