2023.0925 

   10 points to anyone who knows what a Yooper is ! 

Apparently, Yooper is defined in a dictionary, as “a native or resident of the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan. Yoopers consider themselves proud, tough, and independent people, with characteristic all round perseverance (called Sisu in Finnish).

    Today, we had the pleasure of dining at lunch on Pasties.  Pasties are a Finnish lunch pie which can be found throughout the U.P.  Early settlers and miners in the UP were often Finnish. The hearty Pastie provided plenty of calories to support the hard mining work. The classic Pastie is beef, pork, potato, rutabaga, onion, carrot, wrapped in pie pastry.  We enjoyed lunch at Roy’s Pasties in Houghton.  The 12 ounce classic Pastie I had was delicious, from pie crust to the warm savory filling, a unique meat pie.  It was so filling, there was no room for the great desert pastries. Another Yooper favorite is smoked fish, which can be bought up and down the roadways on the UP. I have not tried that yet.

    With bellies full of Pasties, we set up the bikes at the south end of the Michigan Tech campus in Houghton. Finding the bike trail was an adventure, it was located 100’ below at the waters edge.  The ride was okay, good to keep the legs moving and get some air and see new sights.  We made one stop at a board walk to walk a bit, weaving through marsh.  On the return we found a more direct way back up to the parking, which was rather steep stairs with the bikes… pfew

• 2023 Fall