Honkers Corner Fishing Pond

On Saturday we checked out a fishing pond Sheldon passes on his way to and from work that is a part of the Crab Orchard Refuge. We like to call it The Refugee.

Established in 1947, Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge represents a unique combination of wildlife conservation,recreation, agriculture and industry. Approximately 44,000 acres of woodlands, wetlands, and grasslands provide habitat for wildlife and recreation opportunities for people.

Fishing is one of the more popular visitor pastimes at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge. More than 9,000 acres of water are impounded by three man-made reservoirs and several small impoundments. The three larger lakes, Crab Orchard, Little Grassy, and Devils Kitchen, are available for fishing from a boat on a year-round basis with one exception. The eastern portion of Crab Orchard Lake is restricted from October 1 to March 14 to provide resting area for migrating waterfowl.

Here is Sheldon posing beside the fishing regulations:

• Fishing permitted from sunrise to sunset March 15th - September 30th
• A 15-inch min size limit is in effect for large-mouth bass
• Boats and flotation devices are prohibited
  
  

Sheldon and Hayes (with bag of Baked Lays from our lunch at Subway in hand) heading down the path to the pond. The weather was great! Felt like the beginning of fall and take a look at those clouds. We have some awesome cloud cover here. They seem to always be very big and fluffy.


Species
A great variety of fish can be found in the waters within The Refugee. Striped bass are the most sought after fish on the refuge.

• Largemouth Bass
• Bluegill
• Black and White Crappie
• Channel Catfish
• Striped Bass
• Other species caught include: rainbow trout, sunfish, white and yellow bass, yellow perch, bullhead, carp, bowfin, flathead catfish, warmouth and spotted sucker.

So if you come for a visit before September 30th don't forget your fishing gear.

Ray Fosse Park

Here is a park we visit at least once a week about five minutes from our house. It is complete with playground equipment, picnic tables with shelters, tennis courts and seven baseball fields. It also has a community swimming pool with slide and baby pool with a mushroom sprinkler. Course the pool closed for the season last Sunday and it was open daily from 1pm-4:30pm (that is when Hayes is usually napping). They also offer swim lessons during the summer. I think they have putt-putt and some batting cages too.

When we were there on Friday we met Andrea. She seems to be about my age and has an 18-month-old Sam and a 3 month-old Stephen. I talked to Andrea for about an hour while Hayes and Sam played on the playground and in the sand. She told me about a community church that Sheldon had already seen, so we hope to visit there soon. It sounds a lot like the church we are members of in Easley, Marathon. We exchanged numbers so I can meet up with her at another playground with other moms and their children from her church.
Surrounding this playground are swings, more slides and seesaws, which Hayes is loving these days. But I have to say he spends most of his time train-hopping between the engine, circus and caboose train cars.
Here is Hayes on the engine. He likes to ring the bell and stand on the corner seat and watch the big trucks go by. I also heard him yelling "all aboard" when I was sitting on the picnic table nearby.
Here's the circus train. Hayes is standing behind the zebra. The other side has a monkey with the face cut out, but Hayes isn't quite tall enough for that.
Here he is on the caboose pointing for me to get on the engine. We like to sit in the corner seats of the caboose and look out the windows.

Great fun at the park today, and I enjoyed talking to another mom that could potentially turn into a local friend.

Marion Carnegie Library

Here is the Marion Carnegie Library that is about a mile away from our house and just off the square downtown.

Hayes and I strolled up to the library Wednesday morning hoping they had a decent children's section, and we found a little jewel in our neighborhood. I knew the library looked really old from the outside, and I was a little put off by the neon "Open" sign at the side entry on this beautiful building.
I really didn't know what to expect.

The library opened to the public on February 29, 1916. It has undergone several renovations including a major expansion in 1997 that added 12,000 square feet. Almost all woodwork on the main floor and lower level of the original building is the original walnut surrounded the marble staircase. The woodwork and fireplaces have been retained.
The bricks on the exterior of the existing building were made locally and were matched for the addition. The clay roof tiles are the original, and the same manufacturer provided identical tiles for the expansion.

After looking at the staircase we saw some painted murals going downstairs so I assumed that was where the children's section was located. We walked in and immediately saw the resident rabbit, turtle and hamster. Hayes colored a pirate ship drawing and then we made our way over to the activities area. First we played with a castle with dragons and then with some puzzles. They have tons of different games, puzzles, activities, toys, a toddler computer and some stuffed animal characters from some classics. We finished up by playing with some Thomas the Train toys and reading some books. Hayes and I both enjoyed the children's section and plan on making this a weekly trip.

Recycle THIS Illinois! It ain't easy being green!

Today we went to the Southern Recycle Center in Carbondale. "Why in Carbondale?" you may be asking when we live in Marion. Well, let me start from the beginning...

When we first moved to Illinois I was trying to figure out our trash/recycle pick up day here in the neighborhood. One Thursday I noticed a garbage truck (one driver that also got out to heave the trash bags into the back of his truck), but only 3 neighbors had their big blue roller trash cans pulled out to the road and no recycle bin. I thought how odd. I noticed that we did not have a roller trash can or recycle bin, so I called the number for Midland Waste that is listed on the side of the roller trash can. Long story short...trash pickup is not a taxed service so you pay about $200 a year to get this service; and recycle pickup does not exist period. I called the Marion recycle center that is minutes from us, but low and behold they only take cardboard (this will be good for all of our moving boxes one day). However, Carbondale that is 20 miles away has a self-service drop off; mind you they only take #1 and #2 plastics. Little ole Easley, SC picks up ALL recycled items except cardboard once a week from your house including plastics #1 thru #7. That's right #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6 and #7.

So we arrive at the recycle center (pictured at top) where you drive in on the right side and exit on the left. Inside you will find two rows of bins with instructions so excessive that it confused me. You have to separate everything! The paper was very confusing. They have individual bins for magazines, white paper only, mixed colored paper (but don't put your colored newspaper in there; no that goes in the newspaper bin only). Mixed paper are the inserts in your newspaper and I suppose any flyers and such. Then they had a bin for brown goods and I believe a separate one for cardboard.

Obviously I was frustrated because I had not separated all my papers, and I'm still not sure if I put my envelopes with plastic windows or cereal boxes in the correct bin. I do know that I had to walk all the way down to the end to place one 8oz diet coke can in the aluminum bin. At the end, just out of spite I threw my #4 plastic lid to an oatmeal container (brown goods bin by the way??) in the #1 & #2 plastic bin.

By the way, as I was walking back to my car this man (that had his separated in containers upon arrival) that had just finished unloading his whole trunk asked me where the styrofoam bin was. I said, "This is my first time here, but I'm pretty sure you can't recycle styrofoam."

But...if you are into making those recycled lamps I've seen using CD's or DVD's this is the place to come. You BETTER remove those jewel cases first though!!!

Giant City State Park

On Sunday we visited Giant City State Park that is south of Carbondale (a good 30 minutes from our house, but well worth the drive). This park is 4,000 acres and resides in the Shawnee National Forest.

This park is the best outdoor recreation in the area complete with camping, picnicking, hunting & fishing, hiking trails, rappelling, horseback riding, lodging & dining, playgrounds, climbing a water tower and visitor/educational center that is great for kids.

Well you can see by this picture that our first trip to GCSP wasn't really for recreation. Sheldon had a better idea in mind and that is their family style Sunday lunch. What you see here is us digging in to some fried chicken, green beans, cole slaw, corn, mashed potatoes with white gravy, dumplings and biscuits served up with butter and apple butter.

Hayes helped himself to some corn, but noticed that the biscuits just didn't quite add up to true southern biscuits. The apple butter helped a lot though. However, this is corn country and I can say that it was really good (they probably took the Paula Deen route and added some bacon fat.

After our lunch we explored the Lodge a bit.
This is the upstairs (sorry the image is a little blurry) where you can lounge in comfy leather chairs and sofas and play some checkers. In the downstairs lobby they have a full size (stuffed) bison.

We left the Lodge and took Hayes to a playground and then to the nature/visitor's center. The visitor's center is really cool. It shows the flora, fauna and creatures in the area. They have some stuffed owls, a deer and a beaver. One corner of the center is an educational area for kids where Hayes spent some time coloring and Sheldon helped him with a leaf rubbing. That is where the beaver also resides, but Hayes didn't really like him too much.

Great family day and we can't wait to bring some of you here for a visit. For more information visit, http://giantcitylodge.com/park/.

Boo Rochman Memorial Park

Last Friday, Hayes and I ventured into Carbondale (about 20 minutes from our home and about 5 minutes from Sheldon's work) to visit the medieval park. There is a privately-funded park dedicated to Jeremy "Boo" Rochman by his parents after he was killed in a car accident near the park site.

The park is enclosed in a black wrought iron fence and the castle is the most prominent feature. The castle is filled with turns and twists and even a secret passage way.

Sheldon met us and took a rest on the throne with Hayes inside the castle.

Here is a dragon holding a crystal ball (showing many family picnics in this park in our future). Hayes didn't really like getting to close to it.

Here is a medieval knight up in a tree preying on a jaguar statue below.

This is a great, free family fun spot that I'm sure we will take advantage of on a regular basis.

Settling In

Hey everyone! Believe it or not we are starting to get settled in here in Illinois. We've made some great progress on unpacking (and repacking things we don't have room for), and have already been on a few nearby outings. We can't wait to explore the area more! There is a lot of pretty countryside here filled with lakes, hunting clubs and wineries along with all the necessities like malls, Target, Best Buy, Sam's Club, Wal-mart, Barnes & Noble, Kroger (Starbucks included Michelle, Ladd and Tuesday) Dicks sporting goods and much, much more.

We miss you all very much and of course can't wait to come home as a family soon!

Love to all!