After a brief stint in Ohio we headed into Michigan.
First stop.... to meet an old friend for the first time. Nicole and Ram4ever have been online pals for nearly eight years now. Both are members of an online vanning group. Ram is quite knowledgeable and has been a big help and support on more than one Annie issue occasion. So, it was totally awesome to finally meet in person, see his van and spend hours TALKIN VANNIN.
It wasn't until we went our separate ways that we both realized no commemorative photos had been taken.
Ah, well! Next time.
The next morning we continued our journey north and set our exploration sites on the Loda Lake Wildflower Sanctuary. What is most significant about Loda Lake is that it is the only Wildflower Sanctuary in the National Forest system. We had heard varying reports of anywhere from 200 to 400 different plant species having been identified there.
There is a really nice trail set up and we were happy to be back in the forest.
Unfortunately, despite the reported high numbers of plants in the area, July is not the best time to view them.
We did see a few familiar berry bushes and even some Indian Pipe which we hadn't seen since our time in Idaho.
In the end though our most exciting discoveries at the Wildflower Sanctuary were two new butterflies.
Satyrodes eurydice, the Eyed-brown Butterfly
and Euphyes vestris, the Dun Skipper
And, that was our time at the Loda Lake Wildflower Sanctuary.
We'll make this a short one. More to come as we are seriously behind at this point...