Take Off To The Great White North

Okay, who now has that song running through their head?

No?  Not yet?

All right.  Maybe this will do it:  Take off! To the great white north.  Take off! It's the beauty way to go. Take off. . .

How about now?  If not, you must be too young.  Were you alive and coherent in the early 1980's?  Ever heard of the Mackenzie brothers?  Bob and Doug?  The movie Strangebrew?

Actually, this post is not about Canada.  It is, vaguely, about beer because wherever we go, DH likes to sample the local micro brews.  (If you get up to the Keweenaw, which is where we went, you have to check out Keweenaw Brewing Company, otherwise known as KBC.)

Mostly, though, it's about going to the Upper Peninsula, which, even though temps are in the fifties at home and the snow melted weeks ago, in the U.P. there is still over a foot of snow cover on the ground.

DH, DD2 and I took off for the great white north for a few days of R&R, and also to see DS2 compete in the concrete canoe regionals again this year.  His college is the host of the competition this year, hence going to the great white north.  Ironically, they still do not have open water in which to race the canoes, so race day itself was held down south in the Lower Peninsula, in Sutton's Bay.  It was still cold, though, with race day dawning cloudy and only topping off in the lower forties for a high temperature.

The canoe stuff, though, I think I'll talk about in another post.  This one is about taking off to the Upper Peninsula in early April, a time of year where at home the temperatures were in the fifties and sap season was over.  In the Keweenaw Peninsula, however, early April is still a long, long way from spring.

They had gotten about a foot of new snow the weekend before.  Add that to what was all ready on the ground, and most places had about two feet of snow where it wasn't piled up from plowing and shoveling all winter.  The road sides had good snowbanks on them still, and most houses were flanked by snowbanks half-way to the roof.

Here's a picture of the cabin we rented for our stay; to give you an idea of the height of the snowbanks.

It was 45 degrees and sunny the day we arrived, so the roads and driveways themselves were bare; the snow pack having melted away.  DS2 informed us, when we saw him shortly after our arrival on the afternoon of the 4th, that "most of the snow has melted the last couple days".

The Keweenaw Peninsula, not for the faint of heart or those afraid of long winters.

The temperature fell that night and highs were expected on be right around freezing for the next several days.  The second morning we woke to three inches of fresh snow, with a weather forecast that predicted up to five more inches by nightfall.  

What do you do in such a situation?

We rented snowmobiles and spent all day April 6th snowmobiling the Keweenaw Peninsula!

The trail groomers stopped running on April 1st, the official end of snowmobiling season, but who could resist a fresh snow on trails that still had a base of one to four feet in most places?  It was great snowmobiling, with the exception that getting to the gas stations in towns were a bit rough as you can't steer a snowmobile too well on asphalt (remember the snow pack--the accumulation of snow that covers the asphalt all winter since there is no salting, just plowing and adding a layer of sand for traction--had melted away).

On Sunday, April 7th, we woke to a several more inches of snow.  And again Monday morning, fresh snow!  In fact, Monday morning dawned with five more inches having accumulated overnight, and it was still snowing like crazy!  Monday was our departure day, needing to get downstate for the concrete canoe races being held in open water (the Keweenaw and most of the U.P. still being iced over, complete with ice fishing shanties still in place!).

Here are a couple of pictures I took through the windshield of the car on our way out of town.  April 8th!

Looks like January, but it's April!

Meanwhile, back at home, DD1 informed us it was a balmy 55 degrees.

Was I upset about the snow?  No, not really.  You see, we lived up there for two school years ('91 through '93 when DH was finishing his engineering degree), and have lived downstate ever since.  I haven't seen snow like that in twenty years.  I miss snow like that.  So it was really nice to "go back" and experience snow that isn't a source of panic.  In fact, the school buses were running on time Monday morning as we were heading out of town.  Just another day in the Keweenaw.  Downstate, if we get that five inches of snow over night the news stations tell everyone to stay home, stay off the roads, and all the schools are closed.  It was nice to experience sanity again.

Of course, I guess the definition of sanity varies depending on who you talk to.  DD2 was on Spring Break during this trip.  All her school mates who traveled went south, several to sunny beaches.  DD2 went to beaches.  They were snow covered.  She did wear her bathing suit, though.  In the sauna.  A real sauna, a wooden box with heated rocks and steam.  And when you are done you run through the snow with just your bathing suit on, and it feels wonderful.

Okay, I better shut up before someone really questions my sanity.  ;0)

Oh, I do need to say that DH and I did have beer.  Not only went to the brewpub in downtown Houghton, but we also stopped by the brewery (located a small town over, just down the block from the cabin we stayed in) and were able to have a tour (and a free beer) by the owner himself.  Awesome tour--us and the owner and an hour of time filled with detailed conversation.  Great guy.  Great beer.  Take off, eh?