Covenant Hills and Otisville

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Today was a travel day.  We moved north to Otisville, Michigan.  We are staying at a Spiritual Retreat Center/Campground called Covenant Hills.  This park is in the forest and has a  lot of amenities, but reminds me more of church camp/girl scout camp than a recreational RV park.  It is really a nice faith-based campground whos' mission is to impact lives for Christ, provide hope and renewal, and create lifetime memories.  It is a great setting to hold a spiritual retreat. 

They also hold day camp here during the summer and overnight camp for church groups as well as corporate groups who want to work on teamwork.  There is a chapel on the grounds and church is held every Sunday morning and the campers/retreat participants are encouraged to participate in the church service.  They have all kinds of activities and a wonderful ice-cream shop which has great chocolate mint chip (among other flavors) ice cream!  Of course no alcohol or drugs are permitted on the premises and that makes the ambiance and the serenity of the area so much more pleasant.  This years camp theme is "Anchored", based on  the book of Matthew 28:20.  The kids seem to be enjoying it very much.   I will try to drive around and get pictures tomorrow, and post them in tomorrows blog.  For additional information, go to www.covenanthills.org

Otisville, Michigan

There is not much to write about Otisville, it was founded in in 1836 by James Seymour.  The first settlers arrived in 1837. In 1851 a sawmill was built by John Hayes and a year later sold to Francis Otis. The first Post Office was opened in 1855,  In 1861 the Post Office was renamed Otisville.  In 1874 a Railway Station was opened by the Pere Marquette Railway in the village.

The Village of Otisville was incorporated in 1877.

Tomorrow we plan to search for lighthouses and perhaps visit some of the historical sites in the area.

Til next time..............

Current on Blogging! Yes!

July 4, 2016 - Monday

Today was a great day to just lay back watch the activities taking place at the RV park and visit with "new" friends.  The RV Park is packed!  There are no sites left and there are 250 sites in the park!  The pool was the center of attention for most of the campers, followed by miniature golf and bike, scooter and wagon riding.  Crazy!  We grilled hamburger and hot dogs on the fire pit and followed those with s'mores and plain old roasted marshmallows.  Watched the Macy's fireworks on TV and called it a day!  A lot of campers pulled out yesterday afternoon - I'm thinking they had to get home so they could get to work tomorrow.  It's so nice to not have to worry about that anymore!

July 5, 2016 - Tuesday

Today we went to Grosse Ile, which runs along the Detroit River to see two lighthouses; the Detroit River Lighthouse and the Grosse Ile North Channel Front Range.  Try as we might after several hours of searching, we could not locate either light.  There was simply to much foliage, houses, private roads and country clubs to be able to see the water.  So we stopped for lunch then returned home with the sole purpose of catching up on the blog.  We are now current and trust we can keep up from this point on!  We apologize for running behind, but Wi-Fi in RV parks is either very poor or non-existent.  Hate to use our phone hotspot if we don't have too.........some places, didn't even recognize it!

 

Tomorrow we head to Otisville, Michigan to take in more lighthouse in that area.

Til next time..................

The Jewel of Detroit/Canada-Finally

Saturday, July 2, 2016

A whole lot of nothin' was accomplished today.  We washed clothes, went grocery shopping, you can't do too much at a time with a small refrigerator, so it's many trips to Wally World!  We participated in a couple of the events in the RV park and then relaxed for most of the day.  We had new neighbors come in and we spent time visiting with them.  We have met so many wonderful people on our travels - I hope someday our paths will cross again!

Sunday, July 3, 2016

We slept in this morning then got up, dressed and headed to Belle Isle Park.  The Park is a 982 acre island in the Detroit River between the U.S. and Canada.  Detroit is the owner, but leases it to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources through a thirty year agreement started in 2013.  This is truly an amazing place.  Some of its' attractions are an aquarium, a nature zoo, a carillon tower, a memorial fountain, bike and hike trails, a Coast Guard Station, a beach and of course, a lighthouse.  For more information on the park go to:  belleislepark.org  I'm also told they run the Detroit Grand Prix on the island. 

The lighthouse called the William Livingston Memorial Lighthouse is gorgeous!  Built in 1930, it is the only marble lighthouse in the nation. It was built in memory of William Livingston, President of the Lake Carriers Association from 1902 to 1925. The lighthouse is 47 feet tall. 

After leaving the park, we headed to Canada. We entered at Windsor, Ontario after going over the Ambassador Bridge. We waited one (1) hour to get through the line to have our passports checked and answer the questions they asked of us.  It wasn't that bad when we returned to the U.S., we only waited 30 minutes and didn't have as many questions asked of us.

In order to keep from using data and roaming charges, we turned our phone off once we crossed the bridge.  That means no GPS.  It also means we were flying by the seat of our pants in a country we have never been to, and a city we didn't know.  One thing is certain however, lighthouses are usually on the water so we followed Riverside Drive and eventually found our first lighthouse.  Let me just say the street and the beaches are well kept and beautiful along Riverside Drive. The lighthouse we found is called Old Pelee Passage Light.  It was originally off shore between Pelee Island and Point Pelee.  It now resides in Lakeview Park, Windsor, Ontario. 

 Flowers everywhere!

 Old Pelee Passage Lighthouse

 Old Pelee Passage Lighthouse

 Our other home- away- from - home!

More flowers!

We had a rough idea where our next lighthouse was and the towns that lay between us and it.  We saw a lot of countryside and as we passed each town, we knew we were getting closer to the lighthouse.  We knew this because prior to our departure, Jim, my personal GPS/Researcher had discovered a town called Lighthouse Cove - a dead give away!  Following the signs we found the lighthouse, although it took several tries to find the right road to go down to get to it.  This lighthouse built in 1837, is called Thames River Rear Range Lighthouse.  It marks the spot where the Thames River empties into Lake St. Clair.  Can't say much about the town of Lighthouse Cove, it is very desolate.   Little information is known about the front range marker.

 Thames River Rear Range Lighthouse

 Look what I found in Canada!  Not as pretty as my little Red Miata at home!

Nice to know "Speedy's" relatives are being protected!

After viewing this lighthouse we headed back to the RV as it was getting late.  We did make one stop to get a snack as we hadn't eaten since breakfast early morning.  It was a great day!  Our new neighbors watched Lizzie while we were gone and that was a blessing in disguise as the wait at the bridge would have been hard on her!  Thank you Alberta and Will!

Til next time..........