Mark's Notebook

Da Yoopers

Tuesday, June 27

Last night we stayed in Newberry, Michigan, on the Upper Peninsula. The folks here call themselves "yoopers," probably a play on the words "UP-ers." There are books in the store about learning to talk Yoopers, sort of like the books on learning to talk Southern or Redneck. There is a little something different about the accent here.

We have no stops today; we just want to cover as much ground as possible. Our next possible outing is in Duluth, where they have a fresh-water aquarium. To get there, we have to go all the way through Michigan then all the way through Wisconsin.

I got the first symptoms of a cold last night, and I took some medication. So I was in no shape to drive this morning. Mary drove while I slept in the truck. She took us to halfway through Wisconsin before I took over. We decided to pass on Duluth, and I drove to Brainerd, almost half the way through Minnesota. Then Mary took over again and drove us to Detroit Lakes, where we are staying now.

Tomorrow, we hope to make it to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota, about 6-1/2 hours away from here.

We had lunch on the upper peninsula at Ma's Place, in Wakefield, Michigan. The waitress was friendly and understood food allergies. The locals congregated in the smoking room didn't look very friendly, though; maybe they thought it was funny that we sat alone in the non-smoking room in the back.

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Last updated Tuesday 13 May 2008