Gossamer Tapestry: White Pines Forest State Park

Update: This post vanished in this week's Great Blogger Crash. Depending how you are viewing my blog, it may appear twice or be dated incorrectly. It was originally posted on Tuesday, May 10.

On Sunday, Leon and I joined Michael, Kevin and Iva and headed out to White Pines State Park. It's in the north central part of the state, out by the town of Oregon. Neither Leon nor I had been to this park before, so we were looking forward to seeing it. Much of the park sits atop limestone bluffs that line Spring and Pine Creeks, tributaries of the Rock River.

After a picnic of cheese and crackers with sandwiches and a nice bottle of Riesling, we went for a hike through the woods. The spring flora was putting on a good show.

Jacob's Ladder(Polemonium reptans)

Large Flowered Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora)

Bishop's Cap (Mitella diphylla)

We saw a bunch of butterflies and some other insects. The butterflies were reluctant to land, so the photography wasn't very good. I was disappointed to miss a shot of a Meadow Fritillary. I did manage a couple of bug photos.

Spotted Lady Beetle (Calvia quatuordecimguttata)

Leaf-footed bug (Acanthocephala sp.)

After hiking, we had an early supper at The Roadhouse in Oregon. It's a restaurant that time forgot. In this case, time seems to have forgotten sometime in the early 1970s.