Aug 1 - last day at Cedar State Park, Ellis, Kansas

  Did our early morning beat-the-heat walk, about 1.4 miles.  It isn't quite so hot as yesterday, and is cloudy.  So it makes a big difference--without the sun beating down.  Saw a 4 ft long snake meandering across the road.  Peter wanted me to stay a good 30 feet away from it, just to be safe, and I wanted to get close and take a picture.  We ended up waiting for it to cross the road, before we continued on.  We stopped at the Park Office and showed them the photo of the snake.  They it was a Bull Snake, not poisonous, not a danger.  But, it was big.
  Since it isn't quite so hot, only 92 and cloudy, our RV air conditioning has been able to keep it cool enough inside that we could catch up on blogs, bills, other electronic applications.  It rained for a bit, and I walked a few of the campground loops, just to get out.
  Near the shower/bath house, there is a BMX trail, which I decided is a bike trail with jumps.  Sort of cool to watch the biker do the jumps.  Also, something I've never seen, especially at a State Park, is a musical playground thing.  It's like the game Simon, but big.  You pick a music type, and the different modules light up, and you have to push the button to stop it, and the next one lights up.  Seems sort of high-tech for a State Park.
  Late in the afternoon, it was cool enough and breezy enough that I drove over to an overlook of the lake.  I found a beautiful shady spot, and sat in my camp chair and read.  But, I kept getting interrupted by the Kansas Concerto, by Mother Nature.  It was breathtaking and mesmerizing.  All of my senses were captivated.  There were all different types of trees, each a different size, with different leaves, and they each made a different sound as a result of the constant wind.  The sound increased and decreased with the wind's varying intensity.  Each branch swayed differently, all the leaves were constantly moving.  The feel of the constant breeze.  Then the cicadas, or tree frogs, or crickets started chirping.  It added counterpoint to the constant sound of the wind in the leaves.  Then the soaring birds, in the clear blue sky.  And, the helicopter-type dragonflies.  It was really neat!

Morning hike at Cedar State Park photos:

Bull Snake

Musical playground thingy photo: