McNabb, IL

In mid-June we spent a few days in McNabb, Illinois. Ray recently became aware of the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge and thought we should visit the area. The area historically was a wetlands but for most of the 20th century has been drained and farmed. The Wetlands Initiative gained control of the area and in 2001, turned off the drainage pumps and began restoration. In 2012, the Refuge was designated a Wetlands of International Importance.

We hiked with backpacks. It was hot and buggy so long pants and mosquito repellent were necessary.

We were hoping to see a variety of waterfowl. The surrounding fields were full of wildflowers.

We found lots of black raspberries that were just getting ripe. We might have tasted a few - so sweet and good!

I loved this cone flower.

We climbed the Arthur J. Nolan, Jr observation tower - this is the picture at the parking area -

and looked south,

north,

and ahead.

Do you see the swans. They were far enough away that I couldn't get a good picture. They were the only waterfowl we saw.

One day we had a picnic lunch in Hennepin right by the main dock. We saw some cool boats.

We were close to both Starved Rock State Park and Matthiessen State Park. Since it was a weekend, we went to the less popular Matthiessen State Park. We hiked very defined trails there

and found MANY steps.

We found Lake Falls but the signs told us not to climb any further down.

There were three quilt shops we planned to visit on this trip. We could not find the first one although we really tried! The second was closed down with a for sale sign. And the third was closed the day we were there. I did find some shops on the next short trip coming soon...