0  | 

I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon!

North Woods Charm

Are you a camper? Love the great outdoors? Wish you could live out there 24/7/365? Then, turn back now, my friend, 'cuz' this ain't the article for you...

Camping? Count me out. Yes, I like being outdoors. To an extent. Like in my own yard. And when I can go back to the comfort of my climate controlled environment at will. Having been born and raised in the city, my husband and I are both pretty much dyed-in-the-wool city folk. Now, don't get me wrong. We're Midwesterners, for sure. We like our farmer's markets, the lake (as long as it's someone else's house and someone else's boating headache...), we journey to the zoo, outdoor theatre and picnics in the park.

However, any of you city dwellers might well understand me when I say that I am only too happy to get back to my creature comforts at the end of the day. The fact is, I'm a Girl Scout leader, so it seems a little incongruous that I wouldn't LOOOOOVE the great outdoors with a much greater gusto. But there it is. What's a girl to do?

With this in mind, the next few lines that I write here will appear to be a complete contradiction to everything I have just said. But bear with me. Have you been to the North Woods? No, I don't mean the stretch of highway just outside of your suburban area. I'm talking about the North Woods ofMichigan . Now, some would argue that those are not the true North Woods...they might even con you into believing that the North Woods are only found in the state that begins with "W" where everyone walks around with cheese on their heads. Poppycock. Our North Woods are of mythic proportion to our family. And they exist in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Having said that, the North Woods haven't always been so special to our little family. Truth be told, our first trip there was something of a shock. It was some years ago, and I am here to report that Princess Peg was not prepared for all the nature. For all the spiders. For all the mice. And mosquitoes. And general lack of...uh...facilities. Ah, this takes me back, my friends. And I'm really not sure I'd call them the good ol' days.

Allow me to lay the scene, if you will, of our first trip to the North Woods...

Piling into our van, we crammed suitcase after suitcase filled with everything we owned. Having heard that it can actually snow in theUpper Peninsula (Consider yourselves Yoopers now. I will forever after refer to this as the UP) even in late July and August. So - we needed parkas right along with our swimsuits. Uh huh. I'm not joking. Parkas. When we arrived, I discovered what outdoor facilities meant. OUTHOUSE!!!!! OK, you can take the Princess Peg out of the city, but it's darn hard to take the city out of the Princess Peg.

I'm all for scaling back, but schlepping outdoors to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night (which you inevitably have to do if you've had any children and/or are over the age of 30 and/or don't do your Kegal's faithfully and/or had a drop of liquid after 6 pm...) -- OMG. That is painful. And to a city girl like me. It's downright frightening. I know. I'm a whimp. I'd be the very first one to tell you that, believe me.

Tomorrow, I will reminisce about our first night in the North Woods. Ah, we were young. Young and stupid. And naive. But that's for tomorrow...