When we plan our daily route
we get out the maps and look for interesting roads. We look for the roads with
the little dots beside them. We’ll take those if they don’t lead to far in the
wrong direction. These are the scenic
highways and byways.
Michigan Highway 23 is marked that way on the map. It runs along Lake Huron through a bunch of little
towns. We were anticipating a really scenic drive when we started out on it.
After about an hour I began
to wonder why they had marked highway 23 as scenic. It is mile after mile of driveways leading
off to summer cottages in the woods. On one side these houses back onto Lake
Huron. The houses and trees block the view of the lake.
It occurred to me that it
must be the mailboxes and little signs that were scenic. God, there were lots
of them. This is 55 MPH road lined with
driveways spaced about 200 feet apart. The owners have to do something in order
to see where the driveway is far enough ahead to signal and safely turn. So they buy cute mailboxes and put up cute
little signs. “Donna’s Dream”, ”Kate’s Cottage”, “The Bank Owns It”, and so on
for about 70 miles.
We finally turned off on a
nondescript road since we couldn’t see anything scenic on the scenic road. This
one was Michigan 72. Wow, was it a pretty drive!
It makes you wonder how they
decide what to call a scenic road. For that matter, I wonder who the “they” are. Also, once a road is designated “scenic” does anyone check years later to see if it
remains so? My, my, life's great questions that one ponders driving at 55 MPH on back roads.
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The heritage committee here in the UP must be into turkeys. |
We stopped for the night in
Mio, Michigan. Mio was a must see on Brenda’s list. If you think this was so
because of some bird you are right on. This bird being the Kirtland’s Warbler.
This is an endangered
species. It is endangered because it is very picky and inflexible. It only
nests in new growth Jack Pine. Successful fire fighting reduced the number of
new growth Jack Pines so the numbers of these birds declined. At one time there
were only about 500 of these birds. Recovery efforts have brought the count up
to about 6,000.
Unlike other rare birds we
have chased after the Kirtland’s Warbler was an easy find. The Forest Service
takes daily tours to its breeding grounds so birders can hear it (a very loud
and distinctive song just suited for old ears) and possibly get a look at it.
Our bird was very
cooperative. The tour guide, Dana, drove us to where she knew a pair were
nesting. Our bird began singing his heart out when we came into his territory.
He kept approaching us until he popped up on a limb maybe ten feet from where
we were standing. Not shy in the least he just stared at us and sang us a song.
How sweet!
If only the Pine Warbler,
Canada Warbler, and Woodcock would be so cooperative!
Tonight we are taking a tour
of the Seney Wildlife Preserve a few miles from where we are staying. I’m
looking forward to testing a new type of mosquito repellant I just bought.
Sounds like it is still fun!! Re: the polite Canadian customs vs ours, we always dealt with nice US customs people in and out of Canada in the northwest. The ones at the airports returning from Europe were also (mostly) nice and friendly. Maybe you just got a grumpy one.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're headed in the direction of the Mackinac Bridge. If you go across northern Wis. you will be passing near Bayfield. This is the jumping off point for the Apostle Islands, and the resting place of my paternal grandparents. You should stop in and see them. I'm sure they would be delighted with the visit if you can find the grave sites.
Keep on truckin' and watch the skeeters. Only DEET works.