AND, I just spent almost 45 minutes reading your Chef G site! Thank goodness I have already eaten dinner or I would have been on my way to the store to buy those fixins’!

Looks like an empanada to me.; what’s the difference, really? I have no idea, so please educate this California girl, Gregory.. Thank you!

What else did you expect for a bird who can fly 400 mph?

Hi Adam, good to hear from you again. It might be hard for you to believe, but in all my years in the U.P. I never took up skiing . . . or skating . . . or snowshoeing. But that's where I learned to love biking in the snow. Somehow, I also learned to appreciate the hard work of snow shoveling there. To this day, I still take great pride in shoveling my driveway by hand here in Minnesota while all my neighbors are using snowblowers.

Ah yes, backpacking. Have you been to the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness? What an outstanding place!

Thanks Keith. The U.P. is mostly a large expanse of wilderness and view-blockers, so I think people do tend to speed through there as fast as possible. Nice to see that you took the time to dig into it a little further.

I found the journal you referred to and just got done reading the U.P. part of it. Entertaining stuff, as always, but now I fear that anything I write about Yoopers and pasties in this journal will be copycatting you guys. Also of note, I see you two were among the bike tourists who have complained about the U.P. mosquitoes I referred to on this page. Thanks for confirming my observation.

P.S. Go Nimrods! I remember having a conversation with Andrea Brown about weird high school sports team names in my Seattle to Minneapolis journal. The subject came up when I waxed philosophical about the Salem (North Dakota) Holsteins' lack of fearsomeness compared to team names like Tigers or Grizzlies. She had some good ones, but I think Nimrods really does take the prize.

I have not biked much in the UP yet, but it is certainly on my list. I've backpacked and skied there plenty, but not any long distance cycling. I'm sure it'll be amazing!

I do believe that about Mesa. My niece lives in Flagstaff and she said they have a pasty shop too. I'm guessing those cities have either a mining history or very smart eaters who know a good thing when they try it.

I occasionally climb a view-blocker too. I can't believe I forgot about that as one of the redeeming qualities of view-blockers.

Looking forward to your journal! When we toured in the UP, we did a pasty tasting contest. The bison pasty was my favorite.

Pasties! Oh yeah - mmmmmmmmmmm! Can you believe there is a pasty shop here in Mesa, AZ? We've never tried them.

After having not been there for decades, and even then having only minimal exposure, I've managed to get to and across much of the U.P twice since 2021. They've both been driving adventures, not cycling, but I've made a point of turning the drives into sightseeing and experience-building exercises and not mere transit-in-the-shortest-possible-time pass-throughs.

You're not wrong: it's a marvelous place.

I too like view-blockers...

It's partly a climb it thing.

I know, at 78 I should quit, but I have a 75 year streak going!

We crossed the U.P. in 2011 on our first really long cycling tour. It was great, especially the pasties! Looking forward to your trip.