Maumee Bay State Park, Oregon, Ohio
Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever! I Chronicles 16:34
Today was a day to appreciate God’s splendiferous creation! All His creation! Even snakes.
We begin with a simple bike ride around the Park. Maumee Bay is a large State Park encompassing over 1,300 acres. This is what they have to say for themselves: Maumee Bay State Park offers 1,336 acres of not only the finest of recreational facilities in the Midwest, but also a unique natural environment created by the convergence of the land and Lake Erie. The lodge, cottages and golf course are nestled among the scenic meadows, wet woods and lush marshes teeming with wildlife. The balance of recreational facilities with the natural world gives visitors a diverse experience in a coastal environment.
Our first destination was “Big Hill”. It’s this huge mound of dirt, sitting all alone at this relatively flat coastal area.
It was breezy this morning with intermittent periods of gusting. We parked our bikes and hiked to the top, where Blaine says, “It might be fun to fly a kite from up here.” So I sent him home.
Meanwhile, I looked around and discovered a little caterpillar. Those things can move really fast!
When Blaine returned with the Jeep (and not his bike), I moved the little guy off to the side so he wouldn’t get stomped on. And then, as Blaine was climbing up, he encountered a long garter snake (snake #1) across his path! He wanted a picture, so he says he grabbed it by the tail and pulled it back, but it didn’t much care for that and slithered quickly away before he could capture a good picture, but at least he got something for facing his fear. He has admitted on several occasions, his dislike for the reptiles, and never touches them. Good for you, my conquering hero!
Here he comes!
This is right about the place he saw the snake – just after I took this picture.
The snake in the grass. : )
As he flew, I was noticing the clouds. They had these rainbow-ish colors today! Beautiful! We played on the hill for about a half hour, then Blaine returned home with the Jeep and I waited for his return by a lovely lake.
Is that stunning, or what?!?
This was almost as wonderful – suddenly hundreds of birds appeared in the sky!
That’s what all the black spots are!
Not too long after, the vultures showed up.
I don’t know, but they sure seemed to be checking out the lazy flying kite.
My waiting spot. Isn’t it lovely?
Then off we went, exploring the Park again.
Once we got a bit closer, we’re pretty sure this lighthouse is someone’s personal decorative piece.
Until we arrived at the Nature Center and took a walk on their boardwalk trail, which turned out to be over a mile.
And it was here that we found Fall! It was a gorgeous walk! So many trees turning, so many yet to turn. And the air felt and smelled like Fall! It was . . . . indescribable!
This sculpture is 4-sided and made of metal.
Isn’t THAT interesting!
We LOVE Fall!
Didn’t know what these were when I took the picture, but later on our walk we came across a sign.
They’re seeds on a Button Bush
How’d Blaine spot that frog?
A Blue Heron that didn’t stick around long.
They never do . . .
This caught my fancy – looks just like an elbow!
Okay. I have virtually the same picture here and the next.
This one was taken when the sun was behind the clouds . . .
. . . this one when the sun made an appearance.
Still getting those colors!
And Blaine encountered snake #2. No picture of this one, but it was laying along the top of the boardwalk and took off quickly when we approached.
That’s where snake #2 lives.
And the deer here, are super tame, allowing us to observe all we wanted without scampering away.
There were probably at least a dozen deer in this area! They could care less that we were there. Some even remained resting in the grass!
And the Nature Center was open when we returned, allowing us a view of snakes #3 and #4 (one of which was an albino), and to learn some more about Monarch Butterflies.
A captive Fox Snake
Here’s the albino one.
Do you think he knows he’s different? Do you think the other snakes know?
I don’t know if you’ll be able to read this, but essentially is says, the Monarch catapillers eat the milkweed and it ingests them with poison that repels preditors from the catepillars and the butterflies.
Don’t know if you can read this one either.
Looks like they had cocoons at one time and watched Monarchs hatch. Cool!
Back on our bikes, we stopped briefly at the lodge and rode past the cabins. Let me tell you, these are not what I would call cabins. They’re more like houses. They even have two floors!
The front of the Lodge
These two are connected by a boardwalk, but most were stand-alone.
Blaine’s mom once made a candle holder (and other things) out of these for Christmas decorations. It was lovely – – until the candle melted down and they caught fire.
Blaine saved the day (even as a teenager!) by grabbing it and tossing it into the concrete basement. : )
Biking home, we encountered snake #5 sunning himself on the asphalt.
The last snake!
It was at least five feet long!
Isn’t it beautiful?
We still had more riding to do before we went back home.
The State Park’s beach.
When we were here two years ago, Blaine flew his kite here. It’s quite large.
The view from our dining room table.
After our ride around, we decided on wings for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Oh… My…..
We like wings. In fact, I’ve been known to make them from time to time and cover them with Frank’s Wing Sauce and dip them in Blue Cheese Dressing. They’re wonderful!
We chose to buy their large platter and share it, along with some onion rings. With the platter, you can choose four different sauces. We agreed on the more mild flavors. They were not what we’d call mild. They all tasted hot! Three of the four were almost unbearable for us. We found ourselves eating fast, just to get it over with. It was not enjoyable. Not how we like to spend our ‘eating out’ money. Oh, well. Live and learn, right?
We ended our day watching the sun set from our own yard. No climbing, driving, walking or biking involved. 😊
Another stunning sunset!
WOW! That was incredible!