Michigan - OUR 44th state - A Long-Delayed Visit

Teri and I had plans to volunteer at the Jordan River National Fish Hatchery in Northern Michigan for the summer of 2020. All of the paperwork was filled out and signed, and we were looking forward to spending the summer in a new state (our 44th state). Then came COVID, and everything changed!!  The volunteer gig was cancelled, we eventually bought a home and sold our big RV, and ended our days as full-time RV volunteers. 

However, we still wanted to visit Michigan, so we made plans to hop on a plane, rent a car and a cabin, and we headed off to Michigan on June 1st of this year. There is a non-stop flight from San Antonio to Detroit, and we arrived at 9:30 a.m., got our car and headed north. We had about a 4.5 hour drive to our cabin in Gaylord Michigan, but broke it up by stopping at a couple of state parks along the way. 

Our first stop was at Bay City State Park, on the shores of Saginaw Bay.

The main draw of the park was the large sandy beach, but there was also a nice nature trail with a boardwalk that went through some forested areas, a marsh, and alongside a pond. A nice variety of habitats. 

Saginaw Bay

The first bird we saw was a Common Grackle. In Texas we have huge numbers of Great-tailed Grackles, and only see Common Grackles as winter birds. It was fun to see them up on their breeding territory. 

Common Grackle

The State Bird of Michigan is the American Robin, and we saw plenty of those as well. 

American Robin

We saw several Bald Eagles at the park, mostly flying out over the bay. This one had caught quite a nice fish. 

Bald Eagle with Fish

After spending a couple of hours at Bay City SP we headed north once again. Our next stop was Hartwick Pines State Park, only about 20 minutes south of where we'd rented our cabin.  

This was a gorgeous park with sections of old growth forest as well as second-growth forest, a nice visitors center with a set of feeders, and great trails. We would return here nearly every day while we were in Michigan as it was such a special place.

The trees were tall and fully leafed out, so we heard about 20 birds for every one that we actually saw!  

One bird that I did manage to get a picture of was a Great-crested Flycatcher, calling from way up in a tree. 

Great-crested Flycatcher

We headed up to Gaylord to locate our home for the next week, the "Cozy Cabin". 

 

Front of the "Cozy Cabin"

Garage

We decided to try something other than a hotel, and used Airbnb for the first time. The Cozy Cabin is a cabin located just south of Gaylord Michigan, on the shores of Otsego Lake. We were given instruction on how to find the cabin, as well as a keypad combination and some specific information about items like the fireplace, where to put garbage, etc.  It was a very easy "check-in" and the cabin was indeed, nice and cozy. 

Next time: The UP