Our Adventure, Part II

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Today I'm taking over the reins to tell you more about the really cool adventure we had.  (If you need to get caught up, please read here and here.)

When Cam left off yesterday, I had spotted a sign for the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.  Mom had been wanting to go there for a long time, but we hadn't made the trek down yet. According to its website, "Quivira was established in 1955 to provide and protect vital habitat for migratory waterfowl in the Central Flyway." It consists of 22,135 acres and contains a unique combination of rare inland salt marshes and sand prairie. That's right - salt water habitat, right here in Kansas! Awesome.

When I spotted the first sign, we were still 88 miles away, but as we got closer, Mom got more and more excited. Eventually, Cam had to use two paws to hold her down:

"Easy, Mom!  Easy!  Stay!"

Just as we were about at our destination, Dad called out, "LOOK!  Up there!"  Mom searched the skies, then pointed her iPhone out the window and shot this:

Look in the cloud area!  A flock of birdies!!!

We watched as the birdies seemed to be going the same way we were.  At first, I thought maybe they were stalking us, but then I remembered where we were going, and thought they were probably following the signs to Quivira, too!

As soon as we pulled in ...

"Yeah, I think you can get out for a quick shot, Mom.  Cam, let her go."

So Mom readied the camera, got out, and took this shot:

American White Pelicans!

We had barely arrived and already Mom was thrilled!

We decided before we took the drive through the refuge that we all needed to stretch our legs a bit.

Me and Cam

We stopped near the Kids Fishing Pond.  Note, in case anyone who plans to visit Quivera is reading:  nice, clean facilities for all four of us ... if you know what I mean.  OK - back to the adventure!

Here's a look at the Fishing Pond:

Kids Fishing Pond at Quivira

Cam hung around a bit:

"I just wonder ... if I throw a line in, will I catch a kid?  They seem fun."

Meanwhile, Mom was snapping away.  There were lots of sunflowers in bloom:

Sunflower

...and whatever this is:

Can anyone ID this?  Anyone?  Bueller?  

It was pretty, whatever it was!

We all loaded back up into the HR-V.  Our next stop was this observation tower:

Observation Tower on the Little Salt Marsh

Unfortunately, it was closed for repairs.  Next time!

On our way out, Mom was delighted to see this birdie:

Red-Headed Woodpecker!

We do love redheads, you know!

That was the very start, before driving into the heart of the refuge.  We'll be sharing those photos over the next few days, as Mom processes them!  Let's get belted in and ready to roll!

"Show me your war face, Dad!"
"GRRRRR!"

Stay tuned!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher