Over the weekend we headed up to our camp in the upper peninsula of Michigan. A near four hour drive of winding roads, and one big bridge, we hooked up to our flatbed trailer, loaded our two quads, packed up our gear(mainly rain gear) a cooler full of comfort foods and beverages, shoved our two kids and two canines inside our truck and off we traveled.
We stopped along the way, one being a potty break for the pups and a couple stops to visit some friends north of Newberry, just an hour short of our final destination; Camp Yellow Ring. We stopped to see some friends, Sandy and Ike, who raise beautiful Angus beef cattle on their farm. They were working their cattle that day, vaccinating and checking cows/heifers for pregnancy, hinting and teasing Tim they could use his help. In year's past Tim would have been doing just that. They are such nice, friendly people and I know Sandy, who has begun reading my blog, was happy to finally meet the infamous Ruby and Hope. Once we left their farm we headed to the north a bit to meet a fellow blogger, Yooper Yarns. Cathy and her husband Dan were all I imagined they would be. Friendly and kind, welcoming us with open arms and hugs. I was so happy to meet Cathy and put a real person to her blog and our cyber connection. We have been following each other's blog for almost a year and I knew she would be such the fun person she is from reading her blog. We talked with them for a short time, wishing we could stay longer, before heading on to our camp. With two anxious doggies and a couple anxious kids we headed back on the road. I'm hoping we will be able to see all of these real Yoopers again in future visits! 
Once we arrived at camp, the dogs, Ruby and Hope, were free to wander around, run and jump through the ferns. They were so happy to finally be out of the truck. Seems I have taken a few of these pictures lately of Hope sitting back watching Ruby in wonder. What was Ruby up to now? We all know Hope is a Lewellin Setter, a bird hunting dog, one that will take Yooper on many adventures pointing and flushing grouse, woodcock, quail and ring necked pheasants in the future. But on this day, it was Ruby who was doing all the flushing of birds. Around our camp sits quite a few Spruce Grouse. Not the shyest bird in the world; they remind me of chickens.
So Hope took interest in Ruby's behavior.
Is it possible Ruby, the Pembroke Corgi, cattle herding, kitty-cat tumbling, ball chasing, neurotic doggy could also bird hunt? She stalked these birds, barking and running after them whenever one would appear. She was quite proud of herself once they flew off into a nearby tree. 
They are pretty looking birds and quite quizzical with their stares down at me in wonderment. "What was that furry, long-backed, stubby tailed, foxy looking thing that just rattled my feathers?"
Hopefully Hope learns to wait and point out those birds as she will be trained to do and has the common sense she is bred for. "Hope please do not learn anything from Ruby about bird hunting. She knows not what she does 99.1% of the time."
Our weekend turned out to be a relaxing, pleasant time with the kids, dogs and nature. We lucked out on having no rain until Sunday. Kids were able to take off down the camp driveway together on the four wheeler. They also went out with Tim to check on various deer seeking spots, a.k.a deer blinds. These winding trails throughout this area amaze me how many there are in this middle of nowhere forest. 
As they were out traversing around, I went out walking with the doggies and breathed in the pine tree smells, listening to the chitter-chatter of chipmunks and hearing my own ears ringing. No sounds of cars, people talking and white noise one hears back home. Peaceful. Tranquil. Therapeutic. Uplifting. 
Yooper Jr. took his camera along and the little bugger is proving to be the better photographer than I am with his hand-me-down-from-his-mother Kodak Easy Share point and shoot camera circa 2006. Where did he learn how to take such great pictures? He shot this one of this tree trunk. I was seriously amazed when I loaded his camera card to my laptop and saw this one. I had no idea his camera knew what depth of field meant on Auto mode.
But there are also plenty of these pictures I found as well. And I swear I did not Photoshop his face into this picture. It is really Yooper Jr., the kid behind the lens. 
One area near our camp is a pretty lake fondly called Cookie Lakes, named by a friend of ours and my father in law. This is one of the first lakes they found when we bought our camp nearly 12 years ago. It was named after a moment of sitting down for a break from hiking, opening a bag of cookies, munching on them, wondering and taking in the scenery. Thus the name Cookie Lakes took shape and caught on quickly as its name today. And Mini Me was inducted into the Cookie Lakes club Saturday which explains the bag of Halloween orange food colored Oreos. She has not been up to our camp since she was 10 months old. Why she has not been up to camp in past years baffles me but I believe it had something to do with me keeping her from turning into a tom boy and away from the whole "boys at deer camp" cliche. And you will notice the cute pink rain jacket and hat she sported in this picture.
But I have a feeling someday she will be sporting camo colored clothing when she gets back up to camp.
This is the view of Cookie Lakes. Quiet, peaceful, undiscovered wilderness. 
On Sunday we broke up the camp, packed up the quads, kids, canines and left to see the upper falls of the Taquemenon River. It was raining Sunday. A somewhat cold, dampening rain but nonetheless the kids wanted to see the falls. Leaf colors were still quite green but beautiful. To me the Taquamenon Falls are a minature version of Niagra Falls minus the hotels, casinos, tourist traps and whole USA/Canada thing. Again, my son thrilled me with this picture. I remember telling him to keep his camera covered or put away as it was raining a steady rain on us as we walked along the river. Yes me worrying his camera would be damaged from raindrops. Long live the Kodak EasyShare camera!
Even though it was a short weekend away from reality at home, it was called an "uplifting" weekend by Yooper. Being at camp took plenty of our thoughts away from what has become our life these past two months. It gave us a chance to be a family in a beautiful place, creating fun memories for our kids. While just a brief hiatus it proved we need more weekends such as this one to keep us stronger, uplifted, and to help clear our minds a bit.
Being at camp also made me realize how nice it was watching Yooper do all the cooking and telling me to relax and put my feet up. A girl could get used to camp life!
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A relationship began, friendly at first, but soon to the young gal's delight turned romantic, fun, along with a little hot and heavy thrown into the mix. 
Nearly a year following the New Year's Eve engagement ring from the nervous young vet, two young people were married on a day such as today. Cool, wet and rainy with hints of sunshine here in there. They were told rain on a wedding day is good luck..............
10 years following their honeymoon to Montana which included pulling a "love shack" camper, three obnoxious German Shorthair Pointers hauled by a 1/2 ton Chevy sporting no electric brakes, they traveled again to Montana to celebrate a big anniversary year. This time around, no dogs, no Chevy truck and no kids. Only Big Sky dreams.
14 years ago passed far too quickly. 14 years full of many memories. 14 years full of laughs, tears, good times, sorrows, and hopes for more anniversaries to come along. 
Nearly a year following the New Year's Eve engagement ring from the nervous young vet, two young people were married on a day such as today. Cool, wet and rainy with hints of sunshine here in there. They were told rain on a wedding day is good luck..............
10 years following their honeymoon to Montana which included pulling a "love shack" camper, three obnoxious German Shorthair Pointers hauled by a 1/2 ton Chevy sporting no electric brakes, they traveled again to Montana to celebrate a big anniversary year. This time around, no dogs, no Chevy truck and no kids. Only Big Sky dreams.
14 years ago passed far too quickly. 14 years full of many memories. 14 years full of laughs, tears, good times, sorrows, and hopes for more anniversaries to come along. 
