The eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month. Many thanks to those that deserve the thanks.
Spent the weekend trying to get the few new species that are still possible locally. Saturday was quite pleasant so we tried Rose Lake Game Area and Sleepy Hollow State Park. Mostly trying for pintail ducks or white-fronted goose. Snow buntings have been reported in the Lower Peninsula so one of them would have been nice too. No luck for any new species but at least we got out of a really nice day.
Molly needed some National Honor Society volunteer hours so she spent today at the Pokagon State Park Nature Center. Lise and I went out and about trying for the same species as yesterday. We found ourselves in beautiful downtown Mongo, Indiana. Could this be where Mel Brooks got the name for Alex Karras’ character in Blazing Saddles? Alex Karras is almost as big as Mongo, Indiana. It has about six buildings and looks like that’s about as big as it ever has been. But then, there are the remains of the Mongo Hotel which seem to speak of former glory. Mongo isn’t on the way to anywhere. Why there was ever the need for a hotel in Mongo is beyond me.
The Mongo Hotel. Looks like it is run by the Bates family.
A friendly face at the nature center reception desk. Or maybe it’s Talk Like a Pirate Day – AAAARRRRGGGH matey!
We had lunch at an establishment in Orland, Indiana, called the Draft Horse Saloon. We each had that Indiana special, a breaded tenderloin. Pork, not draft horse. The raw material of scrapple, breaded and deep fried. Twice as big as the puny hamburger bun it comes on. One of those great, line-your-arteries meals. The Michigan border was only about three miles north of us but you just can’t get breaded tenderloins in Michigan. They don’t know what they’re missing.
Ed's and Lise's Biggish Years 