Wildlife sightings!

On our last night in the Grayslake townhouse, Jorie saw two deer, one of them a huge buck, right by the side of the road near our house. That isn't all that unusual, but it can be startling when you're driving. But what was unusual was when she pulled into our neighborhood and she spotted a coyote sauntering down the sidewalk right outside our house! Crazy!

Then on our first full day in Cedar Rapids, I was driving with Joel to pick up some stuff at the hardware store. On the way back, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye, and I turned my head just as we were driving by and saw some bizarre looking animals ambling around right beside the road. At first I thought they were some type of large pheasant, but I wasn't really sure. It was definitely something I had never seen in the wild before. I told Joel we were turning around and going back for another look. We looped around and parked right next to this flock of about 7 gigantic birds that were pecking around in the dry grass. They were huge wild turkeys! I've heard they can be quite temperamental (my cousin Lisa has a hilarious story on her blog about getting chased by a wild turkey during a run in Champaign, IL), so Joel and I stayed near the car and watched them for a bit. I keep looking for them every time I drive by, but I haven't seen them since.