It's good to be back on Terra Firma after a long ferry ride. If you've been following my travels, you know it started back on March 10, right after the Copper Kings won the State Hockey Championship. Well, just a few days later, another traveler by the name of Pen Hadow started a journey which led him to the North Pole, where he has been stranded since May 19. While my journey possibly has a couple of weeks ahead, yesterday Mr. Hadow's trek successfully concluded, after a Canadian plane picked him up from his ice flow. Congratulations, Pen, (if that's your real name - - possibly a pen name?) You can read about the journey at his website.

Thanks to Z-Man for another interesting sight from Northern Michigan. Wonder where they're headed?
G'night from New Brunswick and g'morning from da U.P. trip notes

tiovo what do you do for a real job in the UP????

Another good shot, with strutting and tail feathers up. I have been looking for this shot for awhile. Congratulations on a photograph well done.
Regards,
Donn

Aren't there enough turkeys on the highways???

This is a great shot. Ha ha, John K,mi - I agree with you. Off the subject of turkeys, and on to ticks. I've read at least a couple of comments within the last week or so that the ticks are out in force. Every summer we've hiked through the thickest woods and tallest grasses with our Golden Retreiver, and none of us was ever host to a tick. Is this year unusual in having so many ticks? Maybe they're only in certain areas??

why did the turkey cross the road? :)

taka:

to show the possum and skunks it could be done!

Jack Sitar died-- class of 1954--he will be missed by all of his friends-- greatly.

Hi Taka! Glad to see you checking in. How was the trip home?

Looks like those two birds could fill a couple
of roasting pans, eh? Nice snap. How was the
gobbler hunting up your way?

Taka I truly believe that your UP photographs were noticed by all and are missed now. Best wishes to you in your impending successful life.
Regards,
Donn

Our family will be traveling to the UP in mid-to-late August. Other than Chutes & Ladders in Houghton, anyone have good ideas for kid's activities (for a 3 year old and 1 year old)?

Will Toivo be home by the time we visit? :)

Nice to hear from you Taka. We miss you and your beautiful pictures!

13 hours in air was too tiring for me. I think I will take a canoe next time.
hello Donn! hello people!

Greta in Ca.
Unbelievable amount of ticks everywhere, and not just out in the woods. I was in Houghton last week. My two year old was in my sisters yard for about 10 minutes. Lawn was cut. Had never seen ticks there ever before. I found two ticks on the back of my babies neck. Mentioned this to my brother who lives three miles from my sister, he said they have had lots of ticks too. Friends in Dollar Bay, Paavola, and Jacobsville also say they've got lots of ticks. Read an article that says this is a banner year for ticks because of wet fall, mild winter, mild spring. These are peoples yards, not the woods. Never seen anything like it before.

Taka..you will be missed!! Will you send us some of your beautiful pictures from your homeland?? Best wishes for a happy life.....don't forget our U.P.....Thanks for the memories..

Tony - Sorry to hear of the loss of Jack. I remember a few good times with him. Drop an e-mail sometime. Was really surprised to see you on a computer. I'll be coming up for the 4th of July. My brothers and sister have been working on the camp alot - will be staying down there. Take care and keep your chin up.

Hey there, Taka. Glad to hear you made the trip home Okay. That's a long time to be travelling in an airplane. Looking forward to seeing some of your fine camera work from you home town.

...and (not to be overlooked) Z-Man, real nice shot of some wild gobblers. Look like a couple young toms. Nice work getting them both posing like that.

Hey Phil. Nice play on words!

Turkeys are good on the grill. If you can get the vehicle emblem removed from them first!

couple nice birds!! they are young jakes trying to impress the girls...note the absense of beards and spurs..but they are trying...just wait till the "ole big boy" comes around and struts his stuff!!!

Hey Taka -- how's everything back at home?
We miss you!

i do have a question...has anyone out there had any experiences with boundary waters canoe wilderness area??? in the area of seagull lake??
pros or cons with an outfitter??
i know its not in mi, but any comments would be appreciated..

The one nice part about using an outfitter is that they will come pick you plan to use a diffrent exit point then entry point. It also means you don't have to haul a canoe from virginia. But it's also about twice as expensive.
I think the best option is to rent a canoe, but take care of meals and every thing else yourself. and they will still come pick you up if you need it.

The tick problem sounds pretty bad. We hope to move to the UP from Mississippi this summer to get away from ticks and other things that bite, sting and are generally poisonous. I guess that we will have to modify the tick part! Has there been a problem with tick-borne diseases such as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever or Lime's Disease?

Hi Taka,

Good to hear from you. Post some pictures from your flight for us. (You must have some pictures from your flight. In 13 hours, I can't believe that you didn't spend some time lying in the aisle taking pictures of the plane from unusual angles.) Seriously, one of the things that I enjoyed most about your photos was that you put my eyes via your photos, in places that they would most likely never be. And the views were delightful. You've got a great eye.

Good luck. Keep us updated on what's happening in your life.

Jim

I went in on Seagull Lake last year. I didn't spend too much time on it though, we wanted to cover some ground and get off the big water with big waves. There are supposed to be some pictographs on that lake but I failed to find them.

Hungry Jack Outfitters is an excellent outfitter located on the Gunflint Trail. I believe they are Dave and Nancy. I even got a Christmas card from them this past winter.

Rog lake to the west has a beutiful aqua color and brook trout. The lake to the north of Rog (alpina? I can't remember) had quite a few Walleye. Jap lake, if your willing to do the portage has a good supply of Lakers and a nice island campsite.

Feel free to email me for more info. Glad to help out.

pcm, thank you for the info. I wonder how long they'll be around in such abundance. mrn raises a good question - has there been any tick-borne diseases reported around the area?

JACK SITAR WAS ONE OF THE "UTZMAN BOYS" AS MY MOM USED TO CALL THEM. HE WAS W WONDERFUL MAN & MY FAMILY (THE UTZMAN'S) WILL MISS SEEING HIM EVERY JULY 4TH! YOU WILL ALWAYS BE IN OUR HEARTS!

Greta,
So far haven't heard of any cases of any type of tick borne illnesses. Thank goodness. Hopefully, we are at peak tick season now. Mostly wood ticks.

Ticks Suck

Are the leaves out yet up there?

Very funny, bumpersticker! I love the wit around
here....

There have been occasional bouts if Lyme
disease in the UP over the past few years, but
as people know more about it, it is becoming
less of a problem. Most of the ticks we see
are wood ticks and if you use precautions and
conduct a "tick-check" after having been
outside, you shouldn't have any problems. If a
tick latches on, wash the area well with soap
and water (after removing the tick, of course)
and keep an eye on it. If it looks suspicious,
see a doctor who can determine whether it is
Lyme disease. Ticks become less of a
problem as the weather warms up later in the
summer.

Thanks a bunch for the tick information pcm, and from WI too. I'm glad to hear they should be mostly gone later on in the summer. Bumpersticker that's a good one!!