2019 Mini-Vaca, Western Iowa, Part 4 - Desoto National Wildlife Preserve

So we woke up on Sunday morning at various times... Dad was awake around 30 times during the night moving very cautiously as to not lock up his neck and shoulders which were bothering him tremendously. Mom got up around 4am and the boys, well, one went to sleep around 10:30 and the other closer to 1am. We were a mess...

I finally got out of bed around 6am and walked up to the bathroom, and then walked around the campground and our by the lake.  I sat by the previous nights fire, which was still smoldering, and enjoyed that for a bit and then went back into the cabin to wait for others to awaken.  Mom was first and went up to do daily maintanence and then when she got back,  Rob and I headed up.

When we got back to the cabin,  Caleb and mom were gone and the reason that Rob and I hoped for was that they were bringing back piles and piles of coffee!  

That turned out to be true.  Meanwhile, Rob and I cleaned up the cabin and got the trash hauled away.  We were pretty much ready to reload the vehicle and be on our way!

Hence, Rob drove from L&C State Park by Onawa, IA, down to our next destination, Desoto National Wildlife Preserve.  We got off the interstate shortly after it went down to two lanes due to reparations around recent flooding.

What a cool building and moreover, a cool place!  They built the building in a manner that it could remain open amidst flooding which behooved us this year!  The water in this pic is back about 35 feet from where it normally resides.

Caleb in the eagles nest.

Rob in the eagles nest!  I was amazed that we got both varmints to pose for picture without much of a fight from either, with a mask on, non-the-less.

This is a good shot that shows how high the water is based on where the vegetation ends.

There's a whole wing of the museum based on the sinking of the Bertrand.  It was a ship loaded with goods headed for...  Oh jeez, just go read about it here and there's links at the end of the pages to get even more history.  It's a cool story and seeing the contents of the ships cargo in the museum was quite interesting.

Caleb.

Rob.

Dad...  and no, I'm not violating the wall.  The bird above my head made me duck to get my hands on the poster...  get'cher minds out of the gutter.

The Missouri river.  She's still high, which had this look-out closed.

The sinking location marker.  Nothing was visible since the water is still many feet higher than normal, but at least the marker wasn't covered.

The boat dock at the Bertrand marker...  a little clean-up to be done once the water recedes.

This was a aviary lookout further down the trail...

Once we finished here,  we drove down I-29 towards Council Bluffs.  We were amazed at the flood waters that still remain from earlier this season.  In some places, the water was still right up to both sides of the interstate!

A fun trip was had by all (maybe except Rob) and we swung by my sister in laws place before heading home.  

The fun weekend has been wrapped up.