YOOPER TIME

Kevin grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan on the Saint Mary’s River, close to Lake Superior.  As a youngster, he went to St. Mary’s Catholic School and graduated from Soo High School Class of 1973.  So, if you do the math 🙂 this year was his 50 year high school reunion.

Wow!  He’s really old!

FYI: Yooper is a sort of nickname for people from the UP or Upper Peninsula, Michigan. 

So we planned a trip up to the Soo (that’s what the Yoopers call it) to do a little more camping and to attend his high school reunion.  My son (Spencer) and his family (the Bailey family) wanted to do a camping trip to the Upper Peninsula so they joined us 🙂

We have been taking the grandkids (Eva and Liam) fishing the past few years and they have grown to love it.  As a kid, Kevin did a lot of fishing and he slowly got back into it with taking the grandkids and I have to admit, I love being out in the peacefulness of nature, and actually do a little fishing myself.  So we decided to fill our spare time with fishing.

And was it ever fun!!

We set up camp at Brimley State Park which is situated on Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes.  Close to Brimley State Park is Birch Point where Kevin’s dad Otto built their family cabin.  Many of the cabins around Birch Point are owned by cousins of the McNaughton clan.  Kevin learned that most of them meet every Thursday night at the Cozy Inn Restaurant for dinner.  Their specialty is whitefish, Kevin’s favorite and he couldn’t wait to have some.

As soon as the Bailey’s arrived and set up camp, we all headed over to Cozy to see the local family group and have some whitefish.  The grandkids were anxious to try it also, although one bite seemed to be enough.  I think they want to love fish but it’s just not happening naturally LOL!  

We did find the cousins and were able to say hi and chat a bit with them.

As luck would have it, we hit a week up there when some of Kevin’s other siblings were coming up for vacation.  Pat, his oldest sister lives up there full time, Barbara and Amy were coming up the next day and Nancy was already there with her husband Kent.  Kent was also planning to attend some of the reunion festivities as he graduated with Kevin’s class.

SOO LOCKS

On Friday, we went into Sault Ste. Marie to do a boat tour of the Soo Locks and also do a little shopping.

Now, prior to coming to Sault Ste. Marie a few years back, I had never heard of any “locks” and had no idea what they were about.  So for those of you with no knowledge of what the locks are and how they are used, here is a quick lesson:

The locks are a way for boats to cross over different bodies of water that are at separate levels from each other.  So the Soo Locks allow boats, mostly freighters, to leave Lake Superior, enter the Upper Saint Mary’s River, enter the holding area closed off by gates (known as the locks), lower the water to match the Lower Saint Mary’s River, open the gates and let the boats go into the Lower Saint Mary’s River and then onto other Great Lakes. 

The same is true for the other direction only the water level rises while the boats are in the locks.  It’s all kind of fascinating and you can actually take a boat tour that takes you into the locks through the raising and lowering water level process.

Very interesting and relaxing.  Luckily, we had good weather, not too hot and were able to enjoy just being out on the water.  

My favorite part of any boat ride 🙂

SAULT STE. MARIE

Close to the Boat Tour is some excellent shopping.  There are several shops with very nice souveneir style items.  One is called The Mole Hole and is where Kevin’s mom, Mary worked in her younger years.  There is also lots of bars and restaurants, an art gallery and fudge and ice cream shops.  My favorite part of Sault Ste. Marie was the painted crosswalks.

 

Very artistic!

On the way back to our campground, we stopped off at the house that Kevin grew up in.  The drive out to it was very rural and beautiful.  The property was given to Kevin’s dad, Otto as a wedding gift and he built their house.  It is situated on Saint Mary’s River.  The original mailbox was still there.  Otto put that in when he first built the house and Kevin was excited to see it still there.

When we got back to the campsite, Erin and I took the kids on a bike ride around the campsite and ended up on the beach of Lake Superior just as the sun was setting.

Truly beautiful!

TAHQUAMENON FALLS

Everytime Kevin has taken me to Upper Peninsula, he talks about Tahquamenon Falls but we never seem to make it there.  On Saturday, we really didn’t have the time to go since it was more than an hour away and we had the reunion dinner that night but I pushed for a quick trip there and finally got to see them.

The falls are pretty spectacular, they look like a mini Niagara Falls, but in addition, is the amazing state park they are located in.  Very woodsy with hiking trails everywhere.  You could easily spend several days there hiking and exploring.  

And if you are Kevin, it could even include fishing.  

Kevin remembers fishing there as a kid, before the railings were put up and the keep out signs.  But he was determined to fish there, so when everyone else was on the viewing platform looking at the falls, Kevin set up his fishing pole and threw out a line.  We weren’t sure it was allowed but that didn’t seem to phase him at all.  Most people turned their attention from the falls to Kevin.  I would have loved to see him catch a fish with all those people watching, but no such luck 🙁

Maybe next time!

THE REUNION

That evening, we hurried off to the Soo High Class Reunion dinner.  We got there just as they were taking the class picture.  They sent Kevin downstairs to get into the picture but he missed it by seconds.  Bummer!

As soon as we walked in the door where the dinner was being held, we were greeted by one of Kevin’s classmates, Chris.

Chris was so excited to see Kevin because as she explained to me, Kevin was the best man in her wedding.  And her husband Dan and Kevin were the best of friends.  She was super sweet, so we joined them for dinner and had a good time!

After dinner, Kevin was off taking pictures and visiting all his old friends.  This was the first high school reunion he had ever attended and hadn’t seen most of these people since his school days.

So instead of being a bump on a log, I headed downstairs to the casino.  

Did I tell you the dinner was held in a casino?

Oh yes!!  I had a super fun evening at the reunion!! 🙂 🙂

Sunday was supposed to be our last day there but since we hadn’t been able to spend much time with “the sisters” we decided to stay a few more days.

FISHING

But first, Sunday was a super fun day with the kids fishing.  Grandpa (Kevin) took Eva and Liam to a fishing dock on a little inlet of Lake Superior just a few minutes away from our campsite and across the street from the Cozy Inn Restaurant.  I joined them a little later.  The weather was perfect, a little cool but sunny.  I started out the day in my beach chair just watching Kevin and the kids fish and watching Eva do her gymnastics on the kayak dock, but eventually decided to join with the fishing.  Nobody was catching anything so Eva gave me her pole and it wasn’t too long before I caught a perch.  Well, then Liam insisted I continue to fish so that we could catch more and have enough to cook up that night.  I obliged and soon did catch another fish 🙂

I was the winner!

Then it came time to leave and the fish needed to be cleaned.  I was a little worried about the kids watching or participating in that task.  I didn’t want to scar them for life so I told them just what to expect and asked if they could handle it.  They both felt they could, no problem.  And let me tell you they handled it like champs!

The only problem we had was when Kevin cooked them and brought them to the table, Erin (the mom) took one look at them with their little tales still attached and I thought she was going to lose it LOL!

But it was no problem for the kids, they were both eager to try it.  Once again, one bite seemed to be sufficient 🙂  

We’ll get there!

SISTER TIME

Monday, the Bailey family packed up and headed home, and Kevin went on a hike with two of his sisters, Barb and Pat.  They were headed to Drummond Island but just had lunch there and went onto Cedarville for an incredible hike.  Here are some pictures from that:

We got to spend time with Kevin’s other sisters over the next few days.  We went to Sable Falls and did some rock hunting and out for a fun lunch at the Lake Superior Brewing Company in Grand Marais.

All in all, a great time in Upper Peninsula!  Loved our time with Kevin’s sisters, camping with the Bailey’s and enjoying the beauty of being in Upper Peninsula, Michigan.

Can’t wait to go back!