Cederville RV Park and Resort, Cedarville, Michigan
The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior! Psalm 18:46
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR FUTURE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, SHENA! We are excited to add her and her son, Kade, to our family come September!
Knowing that we had a long day ahead of us, we needed a bigger breakfast than cereal, so scrambled eggs and toast it was. But just look at these yolks –
The light one is the last remaining from a dozen we bought that were all like that! When I saw the first one, I wondered if it was okay, so I Googled it and found an actual poultry site that said all the nutritional values were the same, the color only reflects the type of feed the chickens ingest. So they’re supposed to be the same, but I can attest to the fact that they do not taste the same. The light ones aren’t really bad per se, but definitely different. Anyway, I’m glad they’re gone now. 😊
Today’s excursion took us on a ferry, across the mouth of the St. Mary’s River where it empties into Lake Huron, and deposited us onto Drummond Island. And the gps tells us that as well. 😊
We found this quite amusing! : )
I discovered Drummond Island when I was researching things to do around here. All it took was their invitation to bring the Jeep and I was hooked!
We left early, when the dew was still on the trees. It was so heavy, the pines looked like they were frosted. We saw a flock of geese, a rafter of turkeys and one deer during our 25-minute drive. We arrived a bit early, but the ferry left on time, despite all appearances. It’s only a ten-minute ride, so we didn’t bother to get out. No one else did either, but they mostly seemed to be locals.
Now there’s something you don’t read everyday.
And at the last minute, just before we boarded, they zoomed in front of everyone. And when we got to the other side, they were the first ones allowed off.
Michigan advertises Drummond Island as their ultimate playground, and it really does seem like they have quite a variety – golf, paddling, fishing, bird watching, hunting, hiking, wilderness, and most importantly – – over 100 ATV/ORV trails! This island is large at over 87,000 acres, and we really didn’t know much about it, so our first stop was the Visitor Center — once we found it. It was quite a ways into the interior. Wouldn’t you think it would be near the ferry dock?
Anyway, the woman we talked to was extremely knowledgeable about the area. You could tell she was from here. And she was glad we had a Jeep and liked the outdoors, since that’s mostly what there is to do here. She said, “You wouldn’t believe how many people come here asking about things to do and I say ‘Do like to hike? Bike? Kayak? Off-road?’ and they say ‘no’.”
She sent us up to the top of the island to check out Fossil Ledges. You couldn’t possibly drive a car here. And Blaine let me drive! It was a great ride! But since I was driving, there aren’t many pictures, he needed both hands to hang on. 😊
It was a 5-6 mile drive that took about 25 minutes, and in all that time, we only saw one group of ATVs headed out as we were heading in. And that was right at the beginning. It was an interesting spot, but the drive was the thing!
It started out easy enough . . .
. . . but gradually changed . . .
It doesn’t look all that bad, but sometimes it was hard to tell the size of the holes and the rocks until you were on top of them.
Fossil Ledges is made up of the fossilized remains of a salt water coral bed. The journey there can be a bit tricky, so be prepared for some off-roading. However, it is worth your while if you have a vehicle with high clearance. So says the Island’s tourist book.
We’re here!
There’s a very short path through the trees to the water.
I don’t know about you, but when I hear “ledges”, I think high.
I think maybe they’re referring to the layers of rock.
We each added to the existing cairn. : )
We didn’t have to look around much to find the fossils. They were on practically every rock!
This was just an itsy-bitsy little thing! Maybe the size of Blaine’s thumbnail!
I was soooo excited!
I was finally able to capture a picture of a Monarch!
I’ve been trying all summer!
Spectacular isn’t a strong enough word, but what else is there?
Our God is an awesome God!
As we were standing there, a boat raced by – waaay far away.
After a moment, we started hearing this swishing noise.
It was the waves making their way up the beach area to where we were standing! Pretty cool!
The sailboat was pretty too. : )
After checking the map, we headed over to a place called Maxton Bay. This place was so un-interesting, we didn’t even take a picture. ☹
But we did happen upon a boat launching spot along the road and took a couple of pictures there.
Another butterfly!
The water was very clear and the rope-like ‘seaweed’ was interesting.
Then we checked out the Potagannissing Wildlife Flooding area. This is another area the VC woman mentioned to us as a potential area for kayak, although she said that the water level was so low, we wouldn’t be able to pass from one lake to the other. Turned out, we couldn’t even paddle one lake. That’s how low the table was. This area is just what it says – it was intentionally dammed up with some rocks to provide the wildlife a fresh water area.
On to more Jeep trails!
Their version of ORV is certainly different than Tennessee’s! Much of this was just plain nerve-wracking! We drove for almost two hours and only went in a small circle – about the same distance as our drive to Fossil Ledges! It was so difficult, I didn’t take many pictures! And there were several times Blaine had to get out and survey the land before us, tell me where he wanted the tires to go, and I was to make sure that’s where they went. Nerve-wracking for both of us! This was not the fun time we’ve had in the past. There were times we wondered if we’d get the Jeep back home in one piece. There was no turning around, so we just had to get through it.
I chose this spot to get out and make a short video.
Good thing I did, because it wasn’t going to happen anywhere else!
This was a time when I had a chance to take a quick picture before I had to get to work.
It wasn’t just the rocks. There were places where we barely fit between trees and a couple of times I was branch-slapped. We had to leave the windows down, despite the heat because the air conditioner, combine with the hard work the engine was doing, could’ve caused us to overheat. Well, we overheated, but the Jeep (most importantly) did not.
Note the pieces parts that have been mounted to the tree . . .
We certainly didn’t want to add to THAT collection!
We ended up NOT having to go this way! Praise the Lord!
There was another way around. Still difficult, but not impossible.
This shows where the impossible trail and the possible trail meet.
It’s also where I was waiting to help Blaine navigate.
The fact that we made it with only one dent to the front bumper (due to having to push a small tree over to avoid a potentially lethal rock) is a true testament to Blaine’s spacial awareness and problem-solving gifts!
We did receive a bit of a reward. At one point, Blaine noticed red spots on his side of the trail, which upon further inspection, revealed red raspberries! Once upon a time, there were hoards of them, but unfortunately, many were now dried up. But with some effort, we found about half a sandwich bag full! Boy were they good!
Blaine opened the hood as a preventative measure while we picked those berries.
We finally made it to asphalt, and made a stop at Big Shoal Cove Beach to relax for a minute. It was just a tiny beach and there were a few people there enjoying the water. We stayed long enough to heat up our chocolate chip cookies in the sun and then savor them.
Next, we took a drive to Big Bass Cove. It ended up being a dead-end residential road and you couldn’t see the water at the end, or anywhere along the way. So again, no pictures. ☹
We seemed to be striking out more than usual today, but now it was time for our early dinner, since we skipped lunch. We’d chosen a place called Esther’s – a Mexican place that was rated #1 on Tripadvisor. Besides, there weren’t a lot to choose from. Very good! And the signs posted all over (even in the bathroom) were so funny!
She has a very colorful place, both outside and in! I loved it!
Homemade salsa! Yummy!!!
Especially to starving tourists!
Blaine liked this one. I didn’t think it was accurate. : )
Blaine took this one and sent it to Shena as he wished her a Happy Birthday.
He was thinking it was a nice sentiment.
I took it more humorously and thought it was a joke about her being a year older . . . : )
I guess Blaine was hungry! He had half a taco and some beans before I could even take a picture! : )
Makes you think twice about parking here!
But only for a moment.
There were several businesses that welcomed Jeepers.
We’ve never seen that before! How nice!
Another picture of the dent . . . . and dirt. Although since it was pretty dry today, most of the dirt was underneath.
I took this to kinda show the dirt that’s caked on. See where some fell off and you can see the chrome?
Time to walk off our dinner a bit, we went in search of the Drummond Island Township Park and walked their one-mile trail. I think there were more fallen trees than standing ones. But there was a place to see the water at least.
We checked the map again and found a road called “Tourist Road” that ran along the shoreline. Thinking this would be a scenic drive, Blaine took off. It wasn’t. Except for this one really out of place looking mansion we drove by.
Believe me. There was noting even closely resembling this monstrosity.
We found the golden gates!
Not sure why they have these things here.
Lifestyles of the rich, I guess . . . : )
Still looking for a place to walk, I suggested the Drummond Island Resort Trail. Wouldn’t you think a resort would have scenic trails? It didn’t.
However.
Have you ever been truly, suddenly, scared? The kind that rattles every part of you inside and out? The kind that terrifies you, if only for a brief second or two? The kind that makes you say and/or do things you normally wouldn’t dream of?
It’s a very rare emotion for me. Even my boys would get irritated because they couldn’t scare me. You know how boys are, most of them enjoy getting a rise out of the girls – – and each other. You can tell where I’m going with this can’t you?
Blaine got me GOOD on this trail! And he wasn’t even trying! I was in my usual position in front, when suddenly there was this loud noise! I turned around, terrified, and here he was, blowing on a piece of grass! ( it’s when you hold a wide piece of grass tightly between your thumbs, and blow across it making a loud whistle sound ) He laughed so hard, I thought he was going to fall to the ground and pee his pants. In fact, I’ve not seen him laugh like that in a very long time! It wasn’t too awfully long before I joined him. Well, not that hard, but smiling and chuckling a bit as the adrenaline zipping through my body settled back down.
The good thing about it? I now know that all those years of my mother beating into me not to even think about using four letter words, paid off. Wanna know what came out of my mouth? “Geez Louise!” And then there were a couple of slaps to Blaine’s arm.
To top it off, he forced me to eat mediocre custard before we headed back to the dock.
We arrived early and had to wait about 15 minutes.
Blaine got out to wander, while I stayed in and read my book.
And yes, that semi got on.
Just look at the great picnic spot he found!
Too bad we’d already eaten . . . Ha!
Here comes our ferry!
It was another good day! Tense and at various times adrenaline filled, but God is good!