After camping on the shore of Lake Superior for a few days, I’m slowing warming up to the idea of becoming a part-time Yooper. Basil and I spent a little alone time just outside of Munising. We were RVing it, which may have been part of the charm. I’ve always been a little skeptical of the RVers. But after 3 luxurious nights of bug free camping, and falling asleep watching DVDs in a warm dry bed and drinking cold refridgerated pop (notice the local colloquialisms slipping into my everyday speech?), I’m an RV convert.

Basil and I were so enchanted that we even talked about buying our own RV when we get home. And this was a conversation we had even AFTER we dropped the borrowed 5th wheel onto the back of my father in-laws pickup truck, and Basil almost had to be rushed to the emergency room with a cardiac arrest. Turns out it wasn’t a heart attack. It was just a panic attack about having to explain how we almost destroyed the truck and the RV that we loved and pampered while roasting marshmallows and grilling steaks on our romantic getaway. The damage was minimal. Everyone survived, and there was no yelling or shaking of fists at the heavens. Disaster averted.

I’m working in Uncle Gerry’s bowling alley this week, which is not nearly as sexy or exciting as it might sound. The alley is closed for the week, so any visions you have of me launching brilliant marketing campaigns between frames, well on my way to a Turkey, would be completely inaccurate. But if you had envisioned me rolling the windows down in the truck on my way to the alley, despite the 100 degree record breaking temperatures in the UP today, just so I could take in the fresh air, and enjoy the beautiful countryside rolling around outside of my windshield, you would have hit the nail directly on the head.

We’ve been playing in the lake. Beckett has scooped most the sand out of the bottom of Little Manistique Lake into a bucket, and then promptly dumped it back in the lake at least 100 time over. We’ve communed with nature, and with family that we haven’t seen since just after we got married. And we’ve become a little bit country, and a little less rock and roll. Being a Yooper means slowing things down a little bit. It means driving an hour for the sole purpose of buying a comfortable beach chair for taking in a Superior sunset.

We won’t be Yoopers anymore by the end of the week. But right now, we’re Yoopers. And we’re loving it.

If you want to see all of the pictures from our Yooper Adventure: Lookit. Click here, eh!

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Beckett, this is a picture of you, your second cousin Kelly, and your Great Uncle Roger Berry. If there was ever any doubt of you being part of the Berry clan, they were all blown to bits as soon as you jumped into your Uncle Roger’s arms. You look like a miniature version of your Great Uncle Roger, right down to the red hair, the temple dimples, and the drop dead gorgeous smile.

Today your Great Uncle Roger stopped into to visit us at your grandparent’s house on Little Manistique Lake in Gould City, Michigan. He said he was repairing a telephone in the neighborhood, but we didn’t really buy that story since he barely spoke to your grandmother and I, but went straight to work playing with you and trying to corrupt your young impressionable mind.

Lesson #1: Dipstick

Great Uncle Roger decided it would be a good idea to teach you how to say, “Hey, Dipstick!” so that when your father walked in the door you could greet him with your newly perfected vocabulary word. Unfortunately for Great Uncle Roger, this plan backfired slightly. Oh, you said an infantile version of dipstick, alright. It sounded a little more like dipdick, but “Hey, Dipdick!” was sure to bring a chuckle, so Great Uncle Roger didn’t dwell on perfect pronunciation.

You practiced. And then it was time to put it all together. You could say “Hey!” and you could say “Dipdick”. But there was one little trick that Great Uncle Roger didn’t expect. I’d say, “Where’s Daddy?” and you would say, “Don’t know.” I’d say “Where is Dipstick?”, and you’d smile and point straight at Great Uncle Roger.

Nice work, Dipstick!

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If things get a little funky with the site layout over the next day or so, I’m working on it. I’m at my in-laws house in the UP of Michigan, and DarnLucky looks like shit on their computer. I’m trying to fix it.

Bare with me. There are many stories and pictures on the way.

P.S. Hi Angie, hi Josie!

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