Traveling Rat Royce

	*Southeast Missouri* The Pickle Springs Natural Area "Trail Through Time" is just 2 miles long, but it goes by some of the most interesting scenery in the area. This entire region is made up of LaMotte sandstone, which was laid down in the Cambrian Era when this area was a shallow sea. Now the sandstone is turning back into sand due to erosion!
	This formation is called the Keyhole. The sandstone has weathered into these two arches. The trail goes right through the second one!
	Here's my host's husband Todd showing me a black jack oak. They are common in this area. They have a very distinctive three-lobed leaf.
	While we rested at Dome Rock, we heard a rustling in the undergrowth. It turned out to be Mr. Three-Toed Box Turtle! He wasn't much interested in being in the picture with me, but he only grumbled a little about it.
	My host decided to rest a while. So I stood on her tummy and scanned the area. It was so beautiful!
	Just past Dome Rock was Prickle Springs. It looked so cool and refreshing I wanted to dive right in!
	I was so surprised to see this - cactus! And no desert anywhere! My host tells me this area was just south of the glacial ice sheets that once covered much of North America. The ice sheets had so much water locked up inside them that this area was a desert. Today in Missouri, you can still find plants and animals that lived in that desert - cactus, scorpions, tarantulas, collared lizards - but they only live in the most optimal areas. That's usually well-drained glades with southerly exposures. This prickly pear actually had fruit. Now my host reveals to me that next week I will go see more prickly pears in an environment where they can grow much larger, and where we can buy candy made from the fruit of the prickly pear cactus. Sounds yummy!
	That night Todd taught me how to play Black Jack. I wanted to learn, since I had already seen Black Jack oaks. Here Todd has decided to stand with the 19 he has showing. I still won, though. Todd even made me a little dealer's hat; isn't it cool?
	Then it was time for bed. My host let me wear my new hat to bed because I didn't want to take it off. Wow, what a great day! Tomorrow we're going on an even longer hike so I should see even more. Good night!
	The next morning we set off on Whispering Pines Trail. This is the view from Evans Knob. Just gorgeous!
	Oow - what big thorns you have! This is a honey locust tree. They are native to the area and, as you can see, have large spiky thorns all over them.
	Here is a nice view of Whispering Pine Trail. It has two loops, a 6 mile north loop and a 4 mile south loop that can't be reached without doing the north loop first. Here you can see a stand of shortleaf pines, the only pine native to Missouri. It is common across much of the central and southern U.S. Shortleaf pine forests need fire to do their best, so the park service does controlled burns in the park to get rid of excess undergrowth. You can see fire scars on many of the trunks, though the bark is particularly fire-resistant. The native plants of the area, like the wildflowers, are adapted to occasional fires, and without them, they can be choked out by invasive species.
	Knock, knock, anybody home? This site is very common in the area's sunny, sandy glades and slopes. This is an ant lion den. Ant lions make these little sand traps and lie in wait for, you guessed it, ants!
	I stopped to have a short chat with this walking stick. He was quite an interesting character.
	More fauna of Hawn State Park. This is a daddy long legs. Actually, there are several creatures called daddy long legs, including a species of spider and a crane fly. The sort of daddy long legs in this picture is also known as a harvestman because they are seen in great numbers in the fall. They are not spiders or insects, but are related to them. Daddy long legs have eight legs, but only two eyes, and their head and thorax are fused. They move slowly and aren't nearly as startling to encounter as spiders, ha ha. Now it's time to leave the park and spend a short while driving to some historic locations in the area.
	We have come to Ste. Genevieve, a historic town on the Mississippi River. This house, the Bolduc House, is made of vertical log construction and is one of three of its kind left in town (and in the state!). Vertical log construction was brought to the New World by the French of Normandy. However, they added a wide wrap-around porch to their homes here, a construction custom that was picked up in the West Indes. This home was originally constructed in 1770.
	We have come to Kaskaskia, Illinois, the only piece of Illinois that is west of the Mississippi River. Kaskaskia was important during the American Revolution because all of the land east of the Mississippi was held by Britain (the river's course moved later, so at that time, Kaskaskia was east of the river). The territory on the west side of the river belonged to Spain in those days. George Rogers Clark captured Kaskaskia without a shot being fired. The French villagers were terrified because they thought they would be slaughtered. The women of Kaskaskia petitioned Clark for an opportunity to see their husbands one last time. But when Clark showed them proof that France had joined the war on the side of the United States, their fear disappeared, and he was greeted with joy. Many of my host's ancestors lived in Kaskaskia at that time. So if Clark really had slaughtered the population, she wouldn't be here!
	This is the bell described in the text of the plaque above. Whew! Time to go home to rest for a few days before heading out to my next destination!