1. An Unplanned Stop
Our long last day had just begun, and I was already proposing a detour in what would be a day filled with detours and unplanned stops.
There had been signs along highway 28 as we drove east — wildlife refuge signs hanging from the fence. There had been tantalizing roads with wide-open gates. And now as we drove south and began to cross the Upper Peninsula, leaving Lake Superior behind and heading toward Lake Michigan, we came upon Seney National Wildlife Refuge.
“Shall we stop here?” I asked.
With an assent from the Fair and Industrious Trudy and the Smiling and Patient Ben, under the watch of blue summer skies,
we pulled in.
2. Driving Tour
The couple volunteering in the visitors center, suggested the Marshland Wildlife Drive, a narrow gravel road that wound through the refuge on dikes separating the pools.
“The Fishing Loop is open this time of year,” they said. “If you want a longer drive.”
There were wildflowers scattered in the sun and shade beneath White and Red Pines. There was sunlight glistening on the water.
3. Wildlife
And there was indeed wildlife there.
We heard the lonely call of a Loon. (I am sorry to sound cliché, but it is a lonely sounding call, even though these Loons were in a group.) We saw them swimming. We rolled to a stop and watched them. They warily watched us back.
And (this being Michigan) there were swans.
We found ourselves stopping, walking along the road on foot. Enjoying the Michigan summer. Enjoying the color.
Enjoying the snags silhouetted against the wilderness.
We were there two hours or more. We regretted the diversion not a bit. But we literally had miles to go before we could sleep. So we pulled back out onto highway 77 and continued our drive.