MINGO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Day 1.
Day 71 – It was 42 degrees this morning, partly cloudy. Only a few campers had come into the campground so far for the weekend. We left for Mingo National Wildlife Refuge at close to 11 a.m. We stopped by the NWR Headquarters/Visitor’s Center first. Since there had been so much flooding and road closures at our previous Refuges, we wanted to make sure we knew what roads were open. NO road closures at all! But we were between seasons, so not lots happening this time of year.
We spent the entire day driving the Refuge roads. Because it was a Saturday, the Visitor’s Center was a little crowded, but we didn’t see that many people out & about. There is a long hiking trail with a lovely boardwalk through the marsh. Lots of people had their kids there. We didn’t see nearly as much as we did our past two visits here; those took place several weeks to a month later in the year. But it was still interesting, and we love doing this.
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
After the Refuge, we stopped for dinner on the way back to the RV. This area with the large Lake Wappapello, gets very crowded in season. But this time of year, there’s not that much to do. Crabb & Co. was the only restaurant that was convenient to the campground, and open. It was a good choice. Even early, well before 5 p.m., they were crowded. It was a popular place. Most people must’ve been locals, they seemed to all know each other. That was a good sign. Both Rob & I had shrimp dinners, his was Cajun & mine was with a spicy sauce similar to Bang Bang. Our food was good, but the house wine left much to be desired. We got back to the RV about 6 p.m. The high today was 61 degrees; it was sunny about half of the day.