The Joys of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

We spent the month of August in our home state, Michigan.

Family Reunion
It only took us a couple of days after we got back from Hawaii before we were on our way to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP). It was time for dave’s family reunion. For the past 12 years Roger’s (dave’s dad) family has been meeting near Newberry, in the central UP, for a weekend of catching up, eating and playing games.

The 2007 Reunion Crew

Chow Line

In addition to the usual activities, this years’ reunion had a special purpose; dave’s uncle Jim passed away in March and the family wanted to gather together and spread his ashes. Jim lived a full life and the stories about him go on and on. Such as when he drowned in the Detroit River but was later resuscitated; or when he got caught in a huge storm while boating with some friends after the engines went out. Many say they were lucky to have survived. He was a bartender extraordinaire for most of his life and as a result it seemed like he knew everyone in the Detroit area. He was an incredibly loving and caring person and he will be dearly missed by many.

Uncle Jim
Photo to come soon.

Praying and Singing for Uncle Jim
Photo to come soon.

Lake Superior Shoreline Near Jim’s Final Resting Spot

Hanging Out in the Upper Peninsula
After the reunion was over dave and I spent the next couple of weeks traveling around the UP looking for places to explore. First on the list was a visit to dave’s family cabin not far from Newberry. We hadn’t been there since last October when we first got back into the states after traveling from Alaska through northern Canada. We spent three or four days cleaning up the interior of the cabin and pruning the entrance drive of overgrown trees.

dave Pruning Trees

After a couple of days of cleaning we decided to go fishing. We cruised around on the back roads checking out as many of the nearby lakes as possible. dave had a Michigan fishing license but I didn’t. So I spent the time soaking in the sun’s rays, reading and helping Sprout launch off the piers. All in all it was a wonderful way to spend a couple of summer afternoons.

dave and Sprout Fishing

Sprout Checking Out dave's Catch

Sprout and her Launch Pad into Sunken Lake

Upper Peninsula Farm Tours
Since we hope to finally settle down one day and have a small farm in the UP we decided to take this opportunity to visit with a few of the small organic farms near Marquette. We visited two farms with different farming techniques. Dancing Crane Farm is a vegan, organic farm and MarJayMic Farm is a smaller organic farm that started as a couple’s home garden. Both provide fresh produce for members who have bought a share in their community sustainable agriculture (CSA) program. In addition to the CSA, Mary Jane and Mike of MarJayMic Farm grow most of their own food, including raising and butchering chicken and sheep for meat. We learned a lot from both farms about the joys and the hassles of farming in a short growing season.

MarJayMic Farm (The raised beds are in the foreground and one of the fields in the background.)

Chicken Tractor (This allows the chickens to forage outside their coop and also prohibits predators from stealing any tasty snacks.)

Mary Jane and Mike were an interesting couple. I see a lot of dave and I in both of them and can only hope that one day we have half as neat of a set up as they do. They don’t have running water and have only limited electricity. A hand pump, just like the one at dave’s cabin, provides the drinking water and solar panels provide what little electricity they need. They have a wood cooking stove very similar to the one we recently saw in our friend’s cabin in Bolder, Colorado and they use a solar oven for almost all of their cooking needs. I had never seen a solar oven before and was impressed to learn they can get over 400 degrees and are capable of cooking a Thanksgiving turkey or boiling a kettle of water for tea. No electricity needed!

Solar Oven

Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival
Before we left Michigan for my sister’s wedding in California I attended the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival with dave’s sister, Kim and her friend Lori who dave and I had visited in Bolder. This festival has been taking place in the woods of western Michigan for over 30 years. The festival is run for womyn by womyn, no men are allowed. It has been a communal event since its first inception and everyone who comes contributes in any way they are able. I was amazed at the organization and quality of the services provided. Womyn were in charge of everything. They helped load your camping gear onto shuttles, administered first aid, cooked three meals a day for over 3,000 people, set up the stages, provided sound and lighting for three stages, dealt with the large volume of trash generated and had an overall friendly, welcoming and caring demeanor. Everyone there was incredible. If anyone saw a piece of trash on the ground it got picked up. You could leave your chair or backpack on the ground and it would still be there when you came back to it an hour later.

In addition to the diverse musical line up there were an assortment of workshops you could attend. The topics varied widely from Dutch oven cooking, to belly dancing to stilt walking. I found it hard to make up my mind on which ones to attend. While this was Lori and my first festival, it was Kim’s fourth time. Since she had been to past festivals she knew what to bring. As a result Lori and I showed up with very little gear and were confident Kim would have everything we needed. We had such a good time. The heat prohibited us from going to as many of the workshops and concerts as we would have liked but we had a great time anyway. I can’t wait to go again!

Sorry no photos!

Now that September is here the wedding marathon will begin!