It's not exactly a world travel adventure, but I thought this might be interesting to some of you anyway. The AuSable River is a place of amazing beauty that is largely unknown, even by people who live in Michigan and it's full of unspoiled secret places.
We began going there in perhaps 2007. At first we camped -- truly camped -- in a tent. Then we car-camped. Better, but still left a lot to be desired. There's nothing like being sealed into a car on a warm summer night with large mosquitoes bizzing at the windows. Finally, we bought a pop up camper. We measured the distance between the trees in the photo below and made sure what we bought would fit. Perfection! The site is primitive, but we are warm, dry and mosquito-free. Little "Campie" has all the things that have become must-haves as we have reached our level of maturity, shall we say -- lights, furnace, kitchen with running water, shower, comfy bed, music ... We have taken it many places, but this was always our favorite and we often spoke dreamily about it.
Still the same so far!
Our spot, yessss! The fire ring is the amenity -- the only amenity.
The view! We love it and could look at it forever. With fall colors, it's just spectacular. On a clear night, the stars are magic and sparkle all the way to the horizon.
We are quite alone here, 300 feet above the AuSable River -- close enough to see the river below in both directions and high enough to look down on eagles as they pass below.
Now, this is our idea of a campsite!
Even in Hawaii we dreamed about this place.
The weather in Oscoda is predictable. It will be cold, it will rain, it will be warm and the sun will shine and it will all happen during your visit, perhaps all on the same day. The rain stops and it is lush and green with mist floating in the trees.
And do we mind all that rain? Do we look like we are suffering?
Okay, it's a tiny space and gets out of control easily! We needed all those blankets that first night -- it was 38 degrees!
Lovely places to walk
Late in the afternoon, the light begins to turn gold and the quiet river seems to get even more quiet. I cannot seem to stop taking pictures of it.
This is Tuttle Marsh and it's positively bursting with life. These are tundra swan.
Bob has spotted something we have never seen before!
A night hawk sleeping! They are incredible aerodynamic performers in the sky, but their feet are so soft and weak they can't grip a tree branch to perch, so the sit parallel to the branch. A few minutes after we took this picture, it began to rock back and forth and, ever so slowly, rocked until it was facing us. It watched for a few seconds and decided we were uninteresting and began its slow rock back into place.
An American larch tree! This is a northern tree and despite our time in the north, we had never seen one. Apparently, our time in the north predated our interest in trees. We love this tree! They are works of art with their exquisite needles and tiny red and gold cones.
The forest is dense and many shades of green.
Colors seem electric in the sun.
I loved these little bluets and wish I had a better camera with me for them than my iPhone. Alas, it was the only camera we brought.
Lake Huron, my favorite of the Great Lakes. All of you in Hawaii are probably surprised that beaches in this far northern place look so similar to yours. Indeed, in the bright sun, the colors are nearly as vivid.
No bright sun this day, but the sand is soft and lovely.
Me with my feet in 42 degree water! Hmmm -- remembering that these lakes froze solid last winter. Definitely not Hawaii.
And turtles everywhere! This is a painted turtle, our state turtle. Yup, we've got a state turtle.
A common snapping turtle walking across the road. It's a good foot long. Carry on, mate.
A female digging a nest. Not sure of her methodology here - ?
But this nest worked out quite well. The eggs were still soft, so I think we just missed them!
There certainly doesn't appear to be any shortage of these kind of dinosaur-looking things.
The last light of day and everything grows still. We hate to leave. So happy we found this place again. So happy it's not changed!
