March on-line journal

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If you actually want to see the lodge, go to the original Honey Creek State Park. You can get a very good view of the construction from the boat ramp, or from the many finger roads that are on the Honey Creek branch of the lake. I took the following picture from Honey Creek State Park that gives a very good lakeside view of the resort.

Please do not attempt to view any of our construction by using the Honey Creek Resort State Park entrance road. This road is very muddy and heavily traveled by construction vehicles. Non-construction traffic can be very dangerous for both the un-authorized visitor and the construction crews.

Here is a picture of the heavy machinery from McAnnich Corporation. McAnnich will be building the sewer lagoon, rip-rapping some of the shoreline and building wetland dams in the Resort Park. I took this especially for my two-year-old son who loves bulldozers. This crew is preparing the shoreline for the two boat ramps at the Resort Park. They are placing rip-rap along the shoreline to prevent erosion.

Mud is everywhere around the construction site, sometimes 6 to 8 inches deep. Moving supplies and equipment is very hard, but work continues despite the new challenge.

	With the quick thaw the road into the park has become very rutted and slippery. I need to thank the Appanoose County Road crews that have been blading the road and adding gravel to make sure construction is not delayed. Here is a picture of my DNR Taurus covered with mud from the road. Only one thing is safe from the mud during construction - Rathbun Lake. It is very important to the Department of Natural Resources, and all our partners on this project, that we protect the Rathbun Lake watershed.
To date we have installed more than 25,000 linear feet of silt fence and put down thousands of square feet of erosion matting to protect the lake during construction. After construction is completed, many new erosion control and watershed protection measures will be in place including bio-retention basins and extensive use of rip-rapping that will actually improve water protection of Rathbun Lake.
	While driving away from the site today, I saw an American Bald Eagle circling over the lake. I frequently see eagles around the Resort Park, but whenever I see one I stop and look. This beautiful bird was near extinction a few decades ago, but now after concentrated conservation efforts it is a thrill to see the numerous eagles at Lake Rathbun.

To honor the last day of the 100-foot crane at the site, I celebrated by going to the top of the crane with Reid of Wolfe Construction. From the top of the crane, I could see much of the lake, as well as Albia, Moravia and Centerville. From that vantage point, I took many aerial views of the lodge.

February 2008 Journal