Olathe has lots of train traffic. Most of the time it's coal but other times, I've seen tanks and armored personnel carriers. The nature center is about five miles away. The Ernie Miller Nature Centure, park and trails are well worth a visit. The park is located at the west end of Harold Street - you literally run right into it, or about a mile north of the new Walmart. There is a lot more to it than initially meets the eye. Trail paths were virtually tick-free. The trail guides however, were a bit confusing. Pretty hard to get lost, though. Inside the nature center is an observation window. On the other side of the window are several different bird feeders, attracting different kinds of birds. The window is kept clean, making for some nice photos. There were butterflies all over the place and if you stopped for a few minutes, butterflies would land on bare skin, looking for salt, I think. An assortment of critters. The tiger beetles were stunning. The trails were well managed with very few difficult places. I thought turtles liked water like this. Turtles apparently love ponds more like this. There were to soft shelled turtles with shells about the size of dinner plates in this pond. No luck getting a picture, though. Beware of vines that look like this. If you think mosquito bites are bad............ Plan on spending an hour or two here, and perhaps a repeat visit. |