A big hill

Michigan is a state that was formed by glaciers.  The glaciers came from Canada and as they moved, they carved out our great lakes, our flat farmland, and the hills that surround the area where Tony and I live.  The highest place in the lower peninsula of MI is about 10 miles from where we live.  It is known by the locals, as TV tower hill, because it is where TV 9 &10 is located.

 In the fall, the colors  and views from on top the hill are like something you would see on a picture postcard.

 On top of TV tower hill is a place called Grove Hill.  For many years I thought it was named that because there was a grove of pine trees there.  But it is named after George Grove, who was deeded the land as part of a homestead in 1873.  The Grove family were among the first settlers in the Sherman township area. Because of it's commanding views and elevation 0f 1722 feet, it was later used for a fire tower.  It is 1000 feet down to bedrock from Grove Hill.

Tony and I have been wanting to ride up TV tower hill every since we started biking a few years ago, We talk about it often when we drive the hill, but didn't feel like our legs were strong enough to do it.  Today, we decided to give it a try.  The hill doesn't go straight up, rather, the elevation increases up in a series of smaller hills, until reaching 22 Mile Rd, from there it goes straight up.  We didn't need to use our mountain drive on the trike until we reached that point.  By the time we got there, I was glad when Tony kicked it in.   It took us about 20 minutes to get to the top of the hill.  In the picture I am posting you have to look closely down the road, to get an idea of it's elevation.  I hope to get a better picture later on, when the trees aren't fully leafed.  That will give you a better idea of the size of the hill.

Once we made it to the top of the hill, (without stopping to rest,) we stopped for a break at Grove Hill. Decided it would be a nice place to bring a lunch in the fall, when the colors are changing.

I often write about us riding to church in Dighton, which is about 8 miles from out home.  But I have never given any history on the area.

   Dighton MI,  isn't officially a town,  it has no post office, and it does not appear in my Garmin GPS.  It has population of about 50 people.   There are a few houses there, a general store, and our church.  The store dates back to 1887.

Dighton was once a logging town with a population of around 1000 people.  There was a stage coach line connecting Tustin and Dighton.  Dighton was known as a "rowdy" place.  It was located along 20 Mile Rd originally, but moved to it's current location in 1901,it made shipping lumber easier if the town was close to the railroad tracks.  In addition to the 3 lumber mills, there was 3 stores and numerous saloons.  Dighton even had it's own telephone exchange at one time. In 1914 the flooring mill burned down, and was not rebuilt.  I think It was called Curtis Milling.

The railroad was abandoned and the tracks were taken up in 1920.  The Dighton Store, which was originally built in in 1887, and known as the Davis Family store.  The store is still in business.  Our church, The Dighton Wesleyan Church, was originally kitty corner, across the street,  from the store.  Our church, has since, relocated to where the once modern, 2 story, Dighton  school used to be.  A new basement was dug,  our church  taken off of the basement that had been done when the addition was done to the church, many years ago. The church was put on a big trailer and moved 1/4 mile up the road.  It was  a sight to see, our big church, going down the street  main of Dighton.   Quite a big deal, even making the local news and news paper.

The  old school house was owned by our church, for many years.  It was used for family reunions and other community events.   Then someone in the community, donated some land that was right next to the school, enabling us to have more room.  Our church was moved to it's present location about 11 or 12 years ago.  Our church held services in the school house, while we waited for the  renovations and addition to our church, to be completed.  The school house,  was made of sandstone, which was crumbling, was torn down shortly  after that.

    Just before the school house was torn down, Tony and I, among others, were given permission to salvage some of the  building materials from it.  We salvaged some  tongue and groove flooring.   We had 2 days to get out as much as we could.   It was hot, and we were working in the upstairs.  We were plenty dirty by the time we were done.  Ended up with enough flooring to do our kitchen, family room, living room, and hallway. We were thrilled when we came across a floor board with writing on the back of it.  It read; "Curtis Milling, Dighton Mi, 1906."   We were going to set it aside, but somehow it got mixed in with the flooring that was laid in our house.  We found out later, that one of the 3 sawmills in Dighton, specialized in making flooring.

It took Tony 2 years to pull all the nails in the flooring and to clean the dirt out of the grooves. We hired someone to install it in our home, sand it and seal it.  It is a wonderful reminder to us of the history of the area we live in.   I didn't have any  pictures of just the floor, so what your seeing, is some socks I made on my antique sock machine, and one of our cat, Miss Muffet, playing.  The floor is in the back ground.

From Tv tower Hill we headed to 20 Mile Rd, where turned right and rode 5 miles to Tustin.  We rode past a statue of a lion.  It was in an overgrown area in front of a house.  No driveway or anything there, just the statue and 2 concrete pillars.

Once we were in Tustin, we got on the White Pine Trail and headed towards LeRoy.  Stopped at the bank, and refilled dour water bottles at  the local restaurant, Mr. Pibbs, then headed home.  We rode 28 miles today.  All but 6 miles of it was hilly.