Jackpot!

Not sure why but we've all found the normally elusive Petoskey in abundance this summer. Even I found a respectable pile, the one who is rubbish at finding them!

I've always been in love with this rock, for the memories it represents if nothing else....

"Around 350 to 400 million years ago the land we know as Michigan was located near the equator. Covered by a warm, shallow, saltwater sea, the colonial coral Hexagonaria Percarinata thrived with other marine life in tropical reefs. The earth’s plates moved and pushed Michigan north to the 45th parallel and above sea level, which created dry land formations. More recently, about two million years ago, glacial action scraped the earth and spread the fossils across the northern Lower Peninsula, depositing major concentrations in the Petoskey area. The prehistoric fossil, unique to the Traverse Group rock strata, is called the Petoskey Stone and is Michigan’s official state stone.”

Read more here:
http://www.petoskeychamber.com/pages/petoskey-stones