another field trip :-P

earlier this week, mom and i headed east... today, i convinced her to hop in the car and headed north... we were within miles of kentucky actually, but to take interstate to get there, we went through slivers of arkansas and missouri too... to tiptonville, TN:



that's where reelfoot lake is.

reelfoot is within miles of the mississippi river in the northwest corner of tennessee. back in th early 1800s it was swampland with a lot of cypress trees... then in 1811-1812, there was a series of major major earthquakes that screwed up the land making valleys and hills that weren't there before, and it caused the mississippi to form an undercurrent and back up to fill in reelfoot with anywhere from 5-18 feet of water... it's 15 miles across, and is a giant lake known for its cypress forests, and for being the nations best natural fish hatchery. there are fish in reelfoot native to anywhere from yellowstone to appalachia i think, just on account of it originally forming from river water from the mississippi.

anyhow, i'd never been there, and mom had never been there, and it was a nice day, so i convinced her to get in the car and go with me. we got there just enough before their last pontoon boat cruise, that mom suddenly decided it was a good idea and bought us tickets. mostly the tour guide steered the boat and accepted random questions, and pointed out wildlife as it appeared for an hour and a half. it was a nice day for it. at one point, the boat startled a large carp, and it jumped over a corner of the boat, startling all of US, as it was nearly 2 feet long!

otherwise, we just enjoyed the scenery and the birds, fish, turtles, and water snakes that you could see.

after the pontoon boat, mom and i went to sonic for lunch (her idea), and then back to the lake to walk around the cypress boardwalk... there was a hiking trail for a mile and a half along the lakeshore but mom wasn't game for that -- she just wanted to see what was on the north end of the lake... there, we found an inn, and a nature trail, which i convinced her to try out for a bit... it wandered around the edge of swampland on the fringe of the lake, and we went for about 15 minutes into the woods before mom wanted to turn around... 15 minutes later we were back in the car headed south again... back through missouri and arkansas, and we crossed the river back into downtown memphis at sunset, so the downtown buildings glowing reflecting the sun were gorgeous as we came across.

now, here we are back at home, tired out... it was a beautiful day for being outside :-)

tomorrow's adventure? the art of the motorcycle with the family after church... aren't you jealous? ;-)

night y'all