Schlitz Audubon Nature Center is a great nature preserve to explore year round.  After a hard day yesterday working on our new gear room, today we spent an afternoon outside before the coming snowstorm hits.

Gear Mom quickly made friends with a Rosy Boa Constrictor named Maria.

Gear Dad had a chance to hold her also; she was really sweet and wanted to cuddle in and stay warm on this chilly day.

They also had a large rehabilitated snapping turtle in a 200 gal tank.

After we toured the building, we had some hot chocolate to warm up before heading out into the cold. The trail to Lake Michigan looked pretty lonely as it waited for tonight’s snowfall to paint it white. You can see by the clouds that the snow is coming soon as we are supposed to get a fresh blanket of 6 – 9 inches.

Once we made it down to the lake, we explored the ice formations along the shoreline and the wind-blown ice stuck to the trees.

 

Heading back up the bluff, we stopped at an overlook to explore the wonder of the frozen lake even more.  The impending storm darken the clouds which caused the lake to look sullen grey in response.

Climbing the Observation Tower, we were able to gain an even more dramatic view of the horizon along the chilly, wintery lake.  Bare trees, ice formations and cold hands greeted us on top.

Here is a short video that will recap the day and show a few more discoveries that we found. If you like the video, please “like” and subscribe to our channel, thegearguysblog on YouTube.