Tales from the Timberlands

Last weekend we braved the seven hour drive north to the Upper Penninsula for our somewhat annual visit with Erik's college friends. This event used to be held on Lake Independence, but our hosts have returned to their roots in the Keweenaw (pronounced, oddly enough, Keewenaw).

There are too many stories to tell from our time there. We had a blast! Ethan caught his first two fish and loved riding in the boat. Megan had her first bonding experience with a boy - 2 year old Kolson. The two of them played really well together. Erik was pretty good about not switching in grandpa mode too many times, "Back when I was in college here, I used to . . . " Because for those of you who don't know, Erik is a Michigan Tech grad, Michigan Tech being located in Houghton (in the Keweenaw). It's a beautiful place with lots of history - we actually spent our honeymoon there, but that's another story.

For those of you outside of the midwest, the Upper Penninsula is more commonly known as the U.P. People living there are known as Uppers (pronounced "yooopers"). One of the interesting things about the U.P. is the accent. You know how people talk about the Minnesota accent? Well, this is that times two. We stopped at a convenience store (which turned out to be a convenience liquor store) for a bathroom break. I asked a man inside if there was a bathroom and he said, "Uh, yah, I tink soh." That became the phrase of the weekend.

On the drive home, we narrowly missed running over a deer and a fox. I would also have liked to run over a particularly obnoxious Care Bears DVD in our possession. All in all, a great time. We just wish it wasn't 7 hours away!