After church this morning we headed south to visit some sites listed in the Peoria Academy of Science Science Treasure Hunt Passport. All of these sites had no admission. First we visited the Jake Wolf Fish Hatchery. It (and its visitor center) was bigger than I expected, but we saw only one person in the whole place (cleaning a tank on the other side of an observation window). I had expected to be out and about the outdoor tanks, but we did see some fish that were a few inches long in some indoor tanks. We did not get a chance to go to Sand Ridge State Park (interesting place with prickly pear cacti growing wild in Illinois) but I did see some cacti along the road. We next went to the Dickson Mounds Visitor Center, a good place to learn about Native American culture in Central Illinois. The girls and I found the dark, shaman-journey room to be a bit creepy. Unfortunately, the AC was down in the building, which made the whole building a bit on the warm side. We ate a picnic lunch near the center, and watched a nearby hay baler in operation. After that, we stopped at Emiquon Preserve and saw some fish and birds (like a coot). It was sort of pretty and peaceful - I would like to maybe visit again when it is not-as-hot summer afternoon, but I did like how the gentle breeze oriented the leaves of the water weeds. When we dove through Mapleton on the way back home I think I caught a glimpse of the recently explosion-damaged loading area at the Chemtura plant. The girls fell asleep on the way home.
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