8 TH ESA U DIU BYO IN] BU ln Dobe aie 
Going South to Meet the Summer 
By MARIE NILSSON 
IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING a May vacation in 1958 and do not want to spend 
most of it in driving, plan a circle tour of the state parks in Indiana, 
Kentucky, Tennessee, and Illinois where the climate is weeks ahead of 
Chicago. The trip can be made in easy stages because at this season reser- 
vations are not required and the highways are not crowded. 
Last May 2nd I left Chicago, making my first stop at The Shades State 
Park, Waveland, Indiana. En route the spring migration pushing north 
was evident. A humorous scene, proving anything can happen in migration, 
was a horned grebe swimming serenely in a flooded roadside ditch, near 
the busy highway. 
Route 234, a twisting back country road leading into The Shades, was 
a pleasure. There were birds galore, and here the first contrast was noticed 
— all the trees were in bursting leaf buds and leaf, including the oaks. 
The coloring of the smaller trees caught the eye — the white of the dog- 
wood and the red of the redbud (and in one woman’s opinion, the dogwood 
here was more beautiful than that in either the Ozarks or the Smokies.) 
However, the tall, impressive trees are the outstanding feature of The 
Shades. In walking the trails, I saw no evidence of the tree cutting 
scandal which was currently being publicized and investigated in Indiana- 
polis. The park has a large area “back-in” where the illegal lumbering 
supposedly took place. The wild flowers blooming were more advanced than 
those left behind — fire pink, golden groundsel, nodding trillium, the 
Dutchman’s-breeches making seed. The bird list was gaining — turkey 
and black vultures, pileated woodpeckers, blue-gray gnatcatchers nesting, 
goldfinches in yellow and singing. A new life-list bird was added — the 
Swainson’s warbler. The red-bellied woodpeckers were vocal and playing 
tag all day. After a profitable two-day visit, I continued south, stopping 
over one night at Audubon State Park, Henderson, Kentucky. 
The Audubon museum in this park is worth a long visit. The carefully 
planned exhibits convey pioneer living realistically, and give a visual 
biography of John James Audubon. It is also a natural history museum. 
There are four comfortable housekeeping cabins situated in a woodland 
setting near Wild Life Lake. The park no longer operates a restaurant. 
The trails are supposed to be the same frequented by Audubon. The black 
locust was blooming and all the trees were in full leaf. The wood thrushes, 
mocking’ birds, several varieties of warblers were singing — this is truly 
a well populated bird sanctuary. 
The delightful drive from Henderson to Pennyrile Forest State Park, 
Dawson Springs, Kentucky, revealed an abundance of local birdlife, more 
so than in our area — blue birds, meadow larks, mourning doves, logger- 
head shrikes to mention a few. The unusually attractive Pennyrile Lodge 
with its well-run dining room overlooking Pennyrile Lake is situated in 
the heart of the fifteen thousand acre Pennyrile Forest. There are many 
guest cabins spaced in a wide area. Some are equipped with modern 
apphances for housekeeping, and all have attractive furnishings. 
