Hurry with the first half of June before it is August!

June - Busy, fun, great weather - many "adventures" for me!
Here are a few photos from the first half of June.  

                   2014 06 02 Allegan County, Michigan

           American Columbo not yet in bloom.

Rattlesnake Fern (Botrychium virginianum) Seems like we saw more of these this year than ever before.

         2014 06 03 Muskegon State Park - Muskegon, Michigan

              Lost Lake

                                    Lost Lake

2014 06 05   Hofma Park and Preserve - Ottawa County, Michigan

                       Stream at Hofma

               Indian Cucumber Root (Medeola virginiana)

            2014 06 09 Lakes in Barry County, Michigan

  2014 06 11 Minnie Skwarek Nature Preserve
                  - Ottawa County

                           Pinesap (Hypopitys monotropa)

2014 06 12-14 Cabin - Manistee County, Michigan

                                  Indian Paintbrush

  Cottongrass sedge family
 

 Ragwort under cedars

 Manistee River

 Bunchberry

 Number 1 Road near the Hodenpyl Dam

 Maidenhair Fern

Back at the cabin while reading and relaxing on the front porch, I saw this butterfly on the door.  It seemed as interested in me, as I was in it.

 

 On the ride home...
 
2014 06 15 Ross Coastal Plain Marsh - Van Buren County, Michigan

 

 

 Wow, what a busy month so far in June!  Where will I go for the last half of June?  When will I post it?  No one knows.

Mackinac Island - Michigan

Mackinac Island is located in Michigan, in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. 

Mackinac Island is about 8 miles in circumference.   An 8-mile road follows the island's perimeter, and numerous roads, trails and paths cover the interior.
More than 80 percent of the island is preserved as Mackinac Island State Park.

A unique local ordinance prohibits the use of any motor vehicles on the island. The most common means of travel are foot, bicycle, or horses. Certain exceptions include emergency vehicles, snowmobiles in winter, and golf carts for on-course use only.  Most tourists come to the island by ferryboat.

Mackinac Island is also famous for the many fudge shops on the island. The island has a very large industry making fudge in a traditional manner, creating them on cold marble slabs.
Mackinac Island is a fun place to visit every few years, especially in the off season.

Mike happened to see a special coupon for the Harbour View Inn back in July, so we picked out two nights in October to spend on the island. 

We started near Grand Haven, Michigan and spent a night at the cabin in Manistee County.  The clouds were great with lots of blue sky.  There was beautiful scenery along the 265 mile drive.

We ended up having four of the best days, weatherwise, that you can get in October in Michigan. 

Barn along the way...

We chose Star Line Ferry, with their Hydro-Jets that produce a distinctive 35' roostertail spray, to cross 8 miles from Mackinaw City to Mackinac Island. 
We did bring our bikes, it's $8 to bring them on the ferry and about $6 to$8 PER Hour to rent bikes.  If you are able to bring your own bikes, you can save a good bit of money and you have the convenience of transportation whenever you go somewhere.

 Round Island lighthouse

This is where we stayed, Harbour View Inn.  We had a nice room, very clean, and a yummy breakfast was included each morning. 

Harbour View Inn

We rode our bikes around the island twice, stopping at all the interesting places along the way.  We walked the British Landing Nature Trail, the Lakeshore Nature Trial, we pedaled to the interior of the island to find Eagle Point cave, we saw Arch Rock, Fort Holmes, and visited the U.S. Post Cemetery.

Looking up at Arch Rock

 Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island

Our nineteen year old bikes, refurbished by our son. 

 U.S. Post Cemetery.

The best part of our bike ride was cutting across the island on the British Landing road, it goes down hill, and it was late in the evening so no people were around.  We flew down the road topping off at 23.6 mph, that was fun.

Both nights, there were beautiful sunsets.

 Sunset from Mackinac Island looking towards the Mackinac Bridge.  The colors in the sky were so vivid and beautiful it was difficult to turn away and ride back to the inn.  So I have many pictures of sunsets.



  

One night the sky looked like it had been highlighted with a pink marker. 
We took a late afternoon ferry to Mackinaw City where our car was parked and drove all the way home.  This was a great trip.