Since we needed to go to Minnetonka Library, we rode our bikes and turned it into a spin around Purgatory Park also. As expected, the water was very high in the creek and there was a lot of swampiness around the low-lying areas.
We saw some mushrooms by the first bridge (since we were now actively looking for them) and also across from the steps at the far end of the trail.
The ones by the steps were very stiff and when we tipped them back to see if they had gills (they did not) we found a whole nest of creepy things. UGH. It was pretty gross – but more yucky stuff was coming later, unbeknownst to us. We noticed several types of wildflowers we had not seen in bloom so we took pictures in order to identify them and add them to our nature notebook.
It was lovely to look out over the parkland and see so much green stuff growing! It was actually warmer than we anticipated so we had to work on pacing ourselves to not burn out before heading up the big hill home.
On the way back across the middle of the park, we came across a large puddle of standing water that was populated by a large number of earthworms ranging from small to quite impressive. Around the edges were “nests” of worms gathered around little islands of grass. When stirred up, they slithered out quite madly. I honestly felt nauseated and faint with all that slimy movement so we had to move on. The smell was pretty bad too! This is just ONE of the many nests around the edges when the worms first started pouring out.
On the way back to the library (and home), we also noticed some nightcrawlers in the standing water. Jamie was the only one who wanted to hold one. I couldn’t watch for too long – too much slime!
In the end, we all made it back home without stopping after passing the library. This is the first time Jamie was able to do that so this was a great milestone for her!
