I got out of town and the heat this past long July 4 weekend and had my first Upper Peninsula adventure.

While they were moaning about the heat, reading Leader Publications, it was 10 to 15 degrees cooler than it was here in Leaderland.

I had the good fortune to meet up with some locals who took me out on Lake Superior. Pictured Rocks was a truly amazing site. And we got the rain that is much needed in our area. Lots of rain — they tell me better than two inches.

Fortunately, most of the storms came at night. Unfortunately, they rained out the fireworks.
The food was great, too. I never heard of “pasties” or “cudighi” before this trip.

Pasty is a meat pie of sorts that has other things in there, including rutabaga. An English miners’ comfort food, ingratiates are baked in a pastry of sorts and then covered with gravy or ketchup, depending on preference.

A cudighi is a pork sausage patty that has a unique taste that includes spices such as nutmeg and allspice. The origin is Northern Italy. Mine was served on a bun with tomato sauce and topped with melted cheese. I also had some of the best-smoked fish I’ve ever tasted.

Good people, good scenery and good food made for a very relaxing mini-vacation. And in a blink of the eye, we are well into summer. When I was a kid, summer lasted forever; now it feels just like a few short weeks. I guess the more years one has on this Earth the quicker time flies in comparison.

It doesn’t take long for the real world reality to make a nice vacation a distant memory. The woes of the economy have been grueling over the last several years on all of us. Most of us are frustrated with the federal government as all they seem to care about is political posturing for reelection. Just venting as I write this on Wednesday morning. I woke up to the news that our House of Representatives will vote to repeal “Obamacare,” although it is a useless exercise. Why don’t they spend time on the things that will move our economy forward? Very frustrating.

I do believe it is time for another vacation and I hope you all make time to escape the realities of the real world. There is plenty out there to enjoy.