Missouri and Jamestown

Two weekends ago, we spent a long weekend in Missouri visiting family. On that Saturday, one of my cousin's took us out for a hike in Van Meter State Park near Marshall, Missouri. I visited Van Meter once, maybe in college? It is up on the steep bluffs overlooking the Missouri River. The hills are loess, which was deposited by receding glaciers in the last ice age. It also has significant earthworks and remnants from a Missouria Indian village that was there before Europeans came to the area. One thing that is new since I last visited is the Missouri American Indian Cultural Center, which is located at the park, which is a neat little museum with information on the nine tribes in Missouri before westward expansion (descendants of the original inhabitants were actually involved in the creation of the cultural center).

 Snow Geese above a field near Van Meter. I didn't have a long lens with me, so this isn't a great picture, the flock is visible above the horizon.

The hilltop where the earthworks are located.

 Bittersweet vine

 Looking out over the Missouri River

 The bark of the Hackberry Tree

 Walking along one of the ridges

 Beaver damage on a tree (well, the beaver might not consider it damage!).

 A Opossum peeking out at us.

 The thorns of a Black Locust Tree

 Bobcat tracks

A barn quilt just outside the park.

Last weekend, Michael and I went to Jamestown, Virginia with another cousin of mine. We met with the historian of a local housing development/country club to talk about an ancestor of mine that had a plantation in the area just after Jamestown's founding. We also visited Historic Jamestown, which is the location of the actual fort and town. On Sunday, we visited Jamestown Settlement. Of the two, I liked Historic Jamestown more (it is the one run by the National Park Service).

 Walking out to the place where my ancestor's farm may have been located.

 Snow! That's about as much as we've seen this year.

 A turtle at Historic Jamestown.

 The swamp separating Jamestown Island from the mainland.

 The monument at Historic Jamestown marking the 300th anniversary of the landing. This was erected in 1907.

 The James River at the fort.

 A juvenile Bald Eagle. There were _so many_ Bald Eagles there. We saw several pairs and a number of juveniles.

 An Eastern Bluebird

 An Eastern Screech Owl. We pulled off the road on Island Drive because there were a couple of guys with cameras pointing up in the trees. We figured they may have seen eagles or something like that. This little guy was what they were pointing at. I had never seen an Eastern Screech Owl before, so that was pretty cool. Even cooler: We ended up chatting with them and spending the next hour or so stopping at various places and looking for eagles and other birds. So, thank you to Riley and Bob for being great local tour guides!

 Sunset at Historic Jamestown

A Cormorant at Jamestown Settlement. I didn't take nearly as many pictures at Jamestown Settlement since all of the indoor exhibits were off limits to photography.