Early September 2018

 

 Mike and I had many more walks at Connor Bayou Park, an Ottawa County Park along the Grand River.  The woodland trail is high and dry, and is about a 1.25 mile loop, with overlooks of the Grand River and Connor Bayou. 

 The new bike path at the park.

 We saw red... in the Running Strawberry Bush and the Partridgeberry.

And more red!  I'm pretty sure this is a milk snake.  First one I have ever seen, it was on the steps at Connor as we went to the car.

More Red!  Virginia Creeper covers the trees at Connor Bayou Park.

The sun is setting noticeably earlier every day.  We either need to carry flashlights or go for our walks earlier.



Grand River from the kayak launch at Connor Bayou Park.



 Kayak Launch

 

September 5, Betsy went with me to Bass River Recreation Area to see the Closed Gentian, that I so much wanted to see.  There was sun and blue sky, what you don't see from the photos is how humid it was!  Such a wonderful daughter to cater to my whims!

                                                     Closed Gentian

Nodding Ladies' Tresses Orchid



My sister Sugar and I took at couple of very pleasant bike rides.  We started from the new bike path at Connor Bayou Park, then pedaled east to the M-231 trailhead, up the hill to M-231, over the Grand River, under M-231 and north to Leonard Street and back. It is called the Spoonville Trail. 

 
I found this bit of history about Spoonville, "John Spoon, born 1829 in Seneca County, N.Y., arrived with his brother, Daniel, in Crockery Township in 1856.  They established the town of Spoonville. A carpenter by trade, the centerpiece of the town was Spoon’s sawmill, that he built that same year.  Spoon also owned the largest farm in Ottawa County at one time. It was on this 848-acre property that Spoon discovered the Indian burial mounds where skeletons, copper and stone tool implements, and ornamental earthen vases were unearthed."  "Spoonville is a historic archeological site, located on the banks of the Grand River in Crockery Township, Ottawa County, Michigan. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973."

The ride was just over 7 miles, and it was on the first cool day we had this September.  Fun ride! 

M-231 Trailhead with parking, portable toilet, bike tools and air pump, and a bench!

                                             Grand River from M-231
On another nice day, we started again at Connor Bayou and rode our bikes to Riverside Park, about 4 miles east on the Grand River Explores Trail.

 Grand River from the boat launch at Riverside Park, Ottawa County.

Some pretty leaves, I couldn't decide which ones I liked best so I included all of them.

 Mike and I walked at Crockery Creek Natural Area, August 31, and I found Nodding Ladies Tresses growing in the path!  We were there again on September 7 and found all the Nodding Ladies' Tresses Orchids had been Mowed!  Sad but true.





Still a good walk.

With just a day or two of cool weather early in September, we returned to unseasonably hot and humid weather.  We also had some record rainfall, which brought out a fresh and frisky batch of mosquitoes!  Still I always appreciate getting outside for a walk or a bike ride!  Thanks for stopping by.

Looking Back at September 2015

Looking back to September 2015, it was a busy month with many adventures!  I have been nudged to get back to blogging by one of my three sisters, so here it goes. 

Marie and I made many trips to favorite sites to find the September bloomers, like these Bottle or Closed Gentians. 



 We find this same plant in a white variety, they are all very amazing plants.  So beautiful and just growing in an old gravel pit in Ottawa County Michigan.

 At this same place we enjoy "Cardinal Flower Lane".  So many Cardinal Flowers in one area!

Below is a visit I made to Bass River Rec Area with "our" new dog, Max.  As you might know we have gone through a few pets in recent years, and I was determined not to have another dog.  But then Max decided to move in with us.  We really did not adopt him.  He has lived next door with Mike's brother for 12 years and one day last summer he just moved in, so again we have a dog.

 

                            Max is really into wildflowers!
 

Marie and I also fit in a visit to some fens to see Fringed Gentian and more.

 



Mike and I visited the cabin in Manistee County.  We hiked some different areas along the Manistee River - backwaters of the Tippy Dam. Some of the best hiking spots in Michigan, I think.

                                Manistee River

And a stop at Link's Pond in Manistee County, another beautiful place.

For 10 days I went to Texas all on my own to visit and babysit our granddaughter Finley Rose.  Ten days is a long time for me to be away from home, this was my 4th visit to Texas in 10 months!
Eight of those days I got to play with Finley, it was great!  I would take her to the park every morning before it got too warm.  And then we played and rocked and played.  It is a time I will always remember.

On the weekend we took a trip to the Fort Worth area to see a Fly-In in Granbury.  You know with airplanes.  It was interesting but warm in that Texas sun. 

 

 While in Fort Worth we went to the  Fort Worth Botanic Garden.  Beautiful.

 Finn enjoyed the gardens very much.

And a trip to Dinosaur Valley State Park http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/dinosaur-valley

                            Dinosaur Tracks!

I also got to stay in a room by myself for two nights in the hotel.  First time that has ever happened.
It was a long drive home from Fort Worth, dark, and with driving rains at times.  We saw many accidents along the way.

 

                           Midland, Texas
 I got back to Michigan very early on a Saturday morning (1 a.m.),

                             Flying towards Denver
 But that wasn't the end of my vacationing for the month!  The next morning we got up bright and early to meet up with my sister and brother-in-law, for a trip to Mackinac Island.  The four of us brought our bikes, and stayed three nights at The Inn on Mackinac.  What fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 So that was September of last year.  Next time maybe I'll be able to combine October and November and get this blog caught up before we are into the spring wildflower season, which really is just around the corner, right?