Sterling State Park/ Monroe

Sterling is the only Michigan state park on Lake Erie. I remember when I was a little kid and my older sister took us to the park. There were dead fish all over the beach and it was a disgusting place to be. It was a shame but with industrialization came pollution. The lake looks a lot better now but the truth is there is still heavy metal sediment on the bottom of the lake.

The park is beautiful though especially on a clear blue sky day like today. It's strange because you can look in one direction and it looks like you're out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of nature. Then you look over your shoulder and there are the gigantic stacks at the power plant with the power lines marching out through the park. Look in the other direction and you have a clear view of the Fermi nuclear power plant. Strange.

There are lots of hiking/biking paths through the park
plus there is a connector that goes off toward town. I walked the exactly 3 mile path around the lagoon today. There were lots of noisy birds including cardinals, gulls and ducks. I think I saw a beaver right under one of the power towers. I couldn't swear to it
in a court of law but I think it was.

I've been thinking that all of Michigan could probably get enough heat for a winter with all the dead wood laying around. I'm assuming a lot of it is from the ash trees that have died recently. And we've had some pretty bad windstorms that knocked a lot of trees down. This is a pretty cool looking hollow tree that was along the trail. It reminded me of one of my granddaughter's books about Nicholas, a bunny that lives in a hollow tree.

All in all it was a great day and Sterling State Park is a beautiful place to be on a spring day!