One Week Until Minnesota

Everyone always makes fun of me when I tell them I am going on a "vacation" to Minnesota. I have learned over the years, that I should always start out by saying "I'm going to Minnesota" instead of "I am going on vacation" because the follow-up question to the latter is always met by an answer which seems to puzzle the asker..."Where you goin'?" they say..."Minnesota," I respond...face tilts to one side and "are you serious?" smile emerges.

But, as I have said to all of these people, there is just something special about it. People are different in Minnesota, and, in general, the midwestern portion of the country. It's not a place many people from my area have cared to visit, nor is it one I would suggest if someone were to ask me for a new, exciting vacation spot. However, there is a lot of hidden beauty I have come to see throughout the two weeks I spend there each year with my dad.

The people we mainly visit in Minnesota are my father's college friends from Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech)...they both grew up in Midwestern states (Mike in Wisconsin, Carol in Michigan) and it is evident. Both Mike and Carol love to simply sit and chat and share stories from over the past year which we've all been 1500 miles away from each other. Mike is, quite simply, one of the wittiest and funniest people anyone will ever meet. If you ever experience a moment so awkward in your lifetime, that you physically cringe and are brought close to tears, just pray that Mike Gerbensky is lurking in the background, ready to make a remark that will send you and everyone else into uncontrollable laughter.

Susan, their daughter, has been a good friend of mine for quite some time. When I was much younger, I had a crush on her, and roles reversed later on...we joked throughout high school about myself coming out to one of her proms, and the jokes transformed into reality in May of 2007. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun. Through Susie, I have come to know a lot of great people that are my age in Minnesota. Every single individual I have met has always made me feel as if I really do have an entire second set of friends away from home...I don't see any of them enough to keep strong relationships, but the short time span in which we do see each other every year assures that there is no time at all for negativity or drama to develop within our interactions.

Every year that my dad and I head out to Minnesota, we also take a few days to travel up to the Upper Peninsula (more commonly referred to as the "U.P." by locals) of Michigan. This is where my father attended college, at Michigan Tech, in Houghton. The town and surrounding area (which is the epitome of seclusion) has an old town feel. While the college and small towns continue to add more people, everyone seems to make sure to stay close. Winters are very cold and snowy, as lake effect snow bands drift off of Lake Superior for weeks on end during January and February, routinely burying (no, seriously, you can't identify cars and small houses) its citizens. During the summer, however, the place is as far from "Michigan" as anything. The region is generally made up of slowly rolling, green grassy hills and short pine trees. Throw in a few picturesque waterfalls and you've got a beautiful place like no other...not many people's typical summer get-away spot, but I like it that way...more for me.

We also venture to a region far north of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area where Mike and Carol live, to the north shore of Minnesota along the western edge of Lake Superior (Michigan Tech is on the eastern side). I can honestly say that I do not think there is a more untapped, under-appreciated place than this area...most outsiders live under the impression that it is -30 year round (which it is for a good chunk of the year) and there is nothing to see...boy, do they have no idea.

Route 61 is a small, two-lane highway that runs from Duluth, Minnesota, on the very tip of Lake Superior all the way up to Thunder Bay, Ontario...while it may not be as stunning as interpasses in Colorado and Montana, it is at least equal in pure beauty. Cliffs hang high above the lake, and rapids cut through pine tree landscapes as far as the eye can see. Small mountains give the area a bit more attraction than the relatively flat rest of the state. The water is a gorgeous dark blue, a shade that is both deep, but also transparent enough to see the rocky lake floor below. When the sun hits the lake just right in the morning, I doubt there is a better postcard photograph ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. The north shore is a place I could stay for a week and be content with simply watching the earth spin and letting it show me its bright, voluptuous colors and textures.

No doubt, none of this means anything to anyone who bothers to read it...or maybe you can prove me wrong, and meet me out there in a week or so...either way, I cannot wait until the time comes and I can't begin to imagine what will inspire me this year.