Next up was the portion of the trip through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (or the U.P. as it is commonly referred to). Evie had been talking about “the upper peninsula” for weeks at this point, telling everybody she saw that’s where she was going. So I knew this would really be the exciting part of the trip for her.

One of the first things I did on the trip is stop at a shop and try a pasty. Pasties are a big deal up there. They are sort of like a savory pot pie, but very dry inside, not soupy. I went for the traditional beef with rutabaga, which I really liked a lot. Evie had a pizza one which was really delicious, but it was stuffed with cheese and sausage and pepperoni, so how could it not be good? The downside is the heart attack you have afterwards, but you can’t have everything.

In general, the U.P. gave me some flashbacks to when I was little and we used to own a bit of land outside of Wisconsin Dells. Driving around the country side there had the same sort of foresty, nobody’s-around-but-me feeling. This was a good thing.

The other thing about going up North is how ridiculously friendly everybody is! I know this isn’t news to people, but seriously, it is so over the top you would think you were in an SNL skit or something. I’ll give you an example.

There was a group of guys camping next to us. This was like a “guy’s weekend” type deal, with a bunch of guys on a fishing trip. One morning I was taking a shower while the lot of them were in the bathroom. When you get a bunch of guys together, they inevitably start making fun of each other. It’s just what they do. Usually, this good natured ribbing is anything but good natured. It can get pretty nasty.

Not with these guys though. This was the most good natured ribbing I could ever imagine. It redefined good natured. I could barely keep from bursting out in laughter in the shower.

Guy 1: “Got enough shaving cream there, eh?”
Guy 2: “Yeah, I’m gonna shave my back!”
::uproarious laughter::

Guy 2: “Hey, did you bring your swim suit, eh?”
Guy 1: “Yeah, I brought my speedo!”
::uproarious laughter::

Guy 1: “Oh, was that you in there taking that long shower?”
Guy 3: “Yeah…I’ve been in there since 5 a.m.!”
::uproarious laughter::

Seriously, there was absolutely no malice in these guys. These were also the guys who got visibly upset that someone might have played a prank on someone that went on a little too long. I just wanted to pinch their cheeks.

As for what we we actually did while we were up there, we used our campsite as a base of operations and struck out for sites around the area, such as Oswald’s Bear Ranch, Tahquamenon Falls:

and Kitchitikipi spring:

Tahquamenon Falls was pretty cool, but I really liked Kitchitikipi. A water fall looks like what you would expect: a water fall. But kitchitikipi looked like something I never really imagined before, namely, water 50 feet deep that was so crystal clear that you could pick out the one fish in the entire thing.

Orlan brought his speedboat, so Evie and I went for a ride, and Evie got to drive. She was pretty good at steering (as long as you like going in circles), by which I mean if you said, “Go over there,” she would point the boat in that direction. The problem was that she would usually try to do it at about a 90 degree angle, and I think she almost flipped the boat a few times.

Evie had yet another birthday party. It was a good thing too, because she had been complaining all week about how she hadn’t gotten anything she wanted for her birthday. That was because we knew she was going to be getting everything everything she wanted when we got to the U.P. For the record, everything she ever wanted was a basket for her bike, and a yellow raincoat that, “covered [her] bottom” and matching boots. She’s not too hard to please as of yet.

Lisa and Orlan also got Evie a Moose CD, which entered the rotation with Wicked. Every song on the CD features a “moose” singing in a big goofy voice (I’m not sure Evie understands it’s not really a moose), and usually involves some horrible pun on the word moose (there is a whole block of songs about Christ-moose). Naturally, Evie loved it.

Another highlight was watching Evie fish. Tom had gotten her a fishing pole for her birthday, so we went over to Seney Wildlife Refuge, and Evie caught not one, but TWO fish! I couldn’t believe it. I was all prepared to explain to her about how you don’t always catch a fish and within like 5 minutes, she had a fish on the line! Then she caught the second one shortly after that. Needless to say, she had a really good time and probably has an unrealistic view of what fishing is like.

Of course the rest of the trip has more or less been covered. One thing I forgot to mention was Ben driving the 13 wheeler: in his car he also had a wheel chair, a bike, and a tricycle. So if he had to ditch the car, he was going to have a lot of options.

So that was pretty much it. This was the first trip we’ve taken with the digital SLR camera, and I’m ashamed to admit, we took over 800 pictures! According to my quick google search, if those were old school film pictures, it would take about $153 to develop them all (that’s 2010 dollars). So I guess that’s the upside. We haven’t even been able to go through them all ourselves, so I think you’ll have to wait for awhile before we get any uploaded anywhere.

I think that’s it! Already can’t wait for the next vacation!