Day 23: On to the International Owl Center, Houston MN

At daybreak, Tad alerted me to the news that he needed to go out. The previous day's cloud filled skies gave way to deep blue and not a cloud in sight. Although the threat of moisture from the sky was gone, and the pavement was dry, the grass and vegetation around the Harvest Host site, Ruthie's Kitchen held much of what came down overnight. 

I walked Tad to the county road and toward a gravel road leading off the main highway. The remnants of last night's rain could be seen in the pockets of the rumble strips along the side of the road. This sparsely populated area of Minnesota has widely spaced houses. Most people mow along the highway near their house in this perpetually green space. It makes it easy to tell when you are close to a residence by where the mowing is. The gravel road was straight and free of houses based on this observation. I decided to let Tad stretch his legs. Traffic seemed non existent. Within a few seconds he was a quarter mile away. Although the gravel road was dry, the lush vegetation along the road, which was too tempting for an inquisitive dog such as Tad, was not. Soon he was soaking wet. This is typical for our 5 year old. He felt no cold though because he was in constant motion and generating plenty of heat. 

When he was nearly out of sight, I turned to go back. He hesitated but soon came roaring in my direction. The time to cover that amount of real estate was seconds. We walked back along the road with a couple cars passing by.

Back at the motorhome, we had coffee, breakfast, and we readied ourselves for our next adventure. Kasey took Tad out while I converted the motorhome from a leisurely living space to a mobile cabin. Ruthie came out to chat with Kasey so I went out to say goodbye and thank her for her hospitality. 

Soon we were on our way to the International Owl Center but not before a stop at Costco in Rochester for gas and to replenish my eye drops that I used profusely when a tiny tiny speck of something lodged under my eye lid and would not come out. The pain was mild but irritating and the next morning which was last Thursday, we headed for the urgent care center in Pine City to get medical help in removing it. It did not take long and they found and removed the little speck the size of a fleas poop. It is amazing how much irritation can come from such a small piece of dust. Anyway, I had a little scratch on the eye so I applied antibiotics for 5 days and used the remainder of my eye drops. Somewhere along the line, a pumpkin pie fell into the cart, along with something chocolate. Now fully replenished with a few things. We headed out of Rochester, MN. The town is known for the Mayo Clinic and is a sizable town. I guess that goes without saying since they have a Costco. 

The drive to Houston Minnesota was through what is called High Prairie. Rolling hills filled with corn fields. The corn is used for feeding livestock and for making the fuel additive ethanol. 

Soon we were in Houston, MN.

The smaller building will soon be replaced with a new center. We found so many cool owl things in the gift shop.

The displays were very informative and inclusive of the species in North America.

I was also interested in all the people honored by the center that I had met including David Johnson and Eric Forsman. I know Prachi Mehta from Satish Pandi from India were also honored but they did not have the displays for them. The person that put the displays together was a volunteer and she stopped making these wonderful displays back in 2020.

Another connection to our own Douglas County Oregon if not sadly, is that a piece of Oregon is housed here on display. A skeleton of a spotted owl that had died in 1991 was from the study area where I worked. This was one of the rare cases of handling mortality that occurred in over 1000 captures. It was from Umpqua Overlook, a very successful site for reproduction during the study period. 

The USFWS band number was still readable attached. Eric Forsman had let his dermestid beetles clean up the skeleton before he reassembled it for shipping to the center. 

We enjoyed the talk from Jo about all of the owls and their special adaptions.

She had a burrowing owl, Great Horned Owl, and Eastern Screech owl as her partners in the presentation.

Kasey could not resist the Tshirt and it is a good one.

If you are anywhere near the SE part of Minnesota, you should stop for a visit. We had some time after the Owl Center and made our way to Wisconsin and the Alchemy Brew Pub to stay the night.

It was a nice place. Quiet and welcoming. The owner was very nice and the place we parked was a large field that we had all to ourselves. Tad got to run around the field again. We had chicken tacos for dinner while the more serious pool players arrived with their cue bags. Apparently, it is a popular place to play.