[JGatti]

I was on my way home from work last night and I switched over to 99.5. YES I LIKE COUNTRY. But I love a lot of music. Anyway they were playing Kid Rocks Summertime. It's not what I'd call a GREAT song, but at the same time it's still a great song. LOL Make sense? Anyway when I hear that song my mind tends to wonder back to my younger days and my own memories of summer's up north. So I thought " everyone has to have a ton of great memories like this I should start a thread". So here it is. I'd like to see people share a memory that seems to stand out from any point in your life that happened when traveling in our great state. Post more than one if you like, just one of those great memories that make you smile when ya think about it. Or even laugh to yourself, maybe just makes you feel....however.

[MrPrometheus]

Silver Lake. Me and my buddies used to go up there (from Holland) to camp out and ride our motorcycles in the sand dunes back in the early '70s.

There was at that time a nudist camp called The Silver Sunshine Club, I think. Anyways, we'd climb the trees and watch those perverts play horseshoes and volleyball. And for the life of me, I never could understand how those people could walk around in that place naked the way they did, considering all the deer-flies, sand-burs and pricker plants that were all over the place!

[michmoldman]

My mom and dad have a cabin on North Dease Lake near Hale MI. My best memories are going up there and how excited I was when we finally arrived. The first thing I did was grab a shovel..dig some worms and start fishin! Each night we would pile into the car and head out to the backroads to look for deer. We had a great time counting them then going back the next night and trying to beat the previous nights count. It was so much fun seeing the huge herds with big bucks and little fawns. I remember one day a fawn tried to jump a fence behind its mom and got caught. My dad and a few other guys got out and untangled it and helped it on its way. Some nights we would count over 400 deer...it was some great memories.

[zthatzmanz28]

Every summer for 15 years on Lake Huron in Oscoda.

Gramps had the huge binoculars and we would watch the frieghters go by.

In the afternoons we would get the '53 Willys and run the two-tracks alongthe "pipeline"

Every Saturday morning we would make a dump run.

Then there was the fishing....

[alleyyooper]

Was about June 1953, we finished milking the cows, mom told my brother an I not to dally taking the cows down the road a mile to day pasture she had a surprise for us. We hurried along with the cows and cut thru the woods to get back home in record time to see mom digging in the compost pile along side the chicken coop. She never called it a compost pile just a place where the cleanings from the chicken coop some cow manure and old hay went.
She was picking up worms putting them in a coffee can. When she figured we had enough she told us to go into the dry floor of the barn to find some bamboo poles dad and her had bought the Friday before at the Gambles store in town. I think they were about 50 cents each.
Mom finally got us boys to stop argueing about who sat in the front seat of the old 1947 Studebaker Commander with the window down holding on to the poles one of us sat in back doing the same thing. We drove to this lake that was about 3 miles from the farm by road, 1 1/2 miles across the fields.
This lake had a good amount of cottages on one side and the other still wild with just a old logging trail to the waters edge back then. Once at the lake, line was hooked on the poles with hook and bobber. Mom taught us how to lift and swing the bait into the pockets of the lilly pads and catch fish.
Wasn't long my brother and I were wadeing out up to our belly buttoms for more chances at fish, we felt. Soon we had what mom called a limit of fish mostly blue gills and sunfish a specked bass or calicos we called them then knowen as crappies to us today. We took them home cleaned them and had a feast that evening. Well living on a farm with crops to plant, hay to be put in the barn then the harvest of the grain, wood to be cut for winter heat we didn't get a whole bunch of time to fish. We did get several chances to go that summer much the same way in the same lake mostly when we had a rain the night before so hay could not be put in the barn. As the years went along Mom found new lakes for us to go to and fish. We boys earned enough money to buy cheap Zebco spin fishing outfits as the years went along.

Al

[darstar]

Originally Posted by alleyyooper

Was about June 1953, we finished milking the cows, mom told my brother an I not to dally taking the cows down the road a mile to day pasture she had a surprise for us. We hurried along with the cows and cut thru the woods to get back home in record time to see mom digging in the compost pile along side the chicken coop. She never called it a compost pile just a place where the cleanings from the chicken coop some cow manure and old hay went.
She was picking up worms putting them in a coffee can. When she figured we had enough she told us to go into the dry floor of the barn to find some bamboo poles dad and her had bought the Friday before at the Gambles store in town. I think they were about 50 cents each.
Mom finally got us boys to stop argueing about who sat in the front seat of the old 1947 Studebaker Commander with the window down holding on to the poles one of us sat in back doing the same thing. We drove to this lake that was about 3 miles from the farm by road, 1 1/2 miles across the fields.
This lake had a good amount of cottages on one side and the other still wild with just a old logging trail to the waters edge back then. Once at the lake, line was hooked on the poles with hook and bobber. Mom taught us how to lift and swing the bait into the pockets of the lilly pads and catch fish.
Wasn't long my brother and I were wadeing out up to our belly buttoms for more chances at fish, we felt. Soon we had what mom called a limit of fish mostly blue gills and sunfish a specked bass or calicos we called them then knowen as crappies to us today. We took them home cleaned them and had a feast that evening. Well living on a farm with crops to plant, hay to be put in the barn then the harvest of the grain, wood to be cut for winter heat we didn't get a whole bunch of time to fish. We did get several chances to go that summer much the same way in the same lake mostly when we had a rain the night before so hay could not be put in the barn. As the years went along Mom found new lakes for us to go to and fish. We boys earned enough money to buy cheap Zebco spin fishing outfits as the years went along.

Al

You never told what lake you were on, or closest town ?... I take it you are or were in the UP ?.....I had a 50 Stude Comander Convertable...great Car w/ red leather seats. I was only 14 when I got it,( had my friend who was 16 drive us around)..Boy did we have a lot of fun...those days so long ago growing up amoung the Corn fields of Iowa.

[JGatti]

I have so many fond memories from the times I would go to Gaylord with a friend and his family too day trips with my aunt and uncle. I do have a pretty funny yet great story.

Jimmy and me were probably Sr's in high school or so. They had property near West Branch with Forest Lake deeded access. They had a camper stored and his parents let us go up and take it to the Forest Lake campgrounds for a week. When we were pulling in we passed by the lake and there were 3 girls about our age on the swimming raft. They seen us and yelled " come back and go swimming". So we stuck the camper in our spot, changed into our suits and hurried back to the beach. They were in fact the same age as us and to our surprise they were all pretty attractive. We were from Southfield they were from Hazel Park. So we're hanging out talking, they asked if we had anything to drink etc, we said yes blah blah blah. After about a good two hours of hanging out one of them said " Hey we're talking about coming back here tonight and going skinny dipping, you guys want to meet up with us?" Well we're not stupid so we said " hell yes"
So picture this, the raft is set low to the water and I have my arms resting on the top while from my shoulders down is in the water. Within seconds of making these plans a fish shoots out from under the raft and bit me right on my nipple. ( it frickin hurt) " Ouch!!!" I climbed out of the water and everyone is asking what's wrong what happened? I say's " a damn fish just bit my nipple" Just then one of them screams ( OH MY GOD!!!! HE'S BLEEDING!!!!) Sure enough holding my chest there was a small stream of blood ( but mostly water) running down my chest from under my hand. LOL Pretty much all in tune they are all 3 saying ( I'm not going in that water naked, noooo way!) So as luck would have it they canceled our little skinny dipping party.
We did however hang out for the entire week we were up there and had a lot of fun tubing down the Rifle River, swimming etc. 2 of them turned out to be really nice, but the best looking one was a snot. LOL But still, we sure had a blast.

[YAZ]

My parents and aunt & uncle planned a surprise anniversary party for my grandparents. They lived in Brimley at the time (a 'lil west of the Soo), and I was living in SE MI.

Everyone but me booked hotel rooms.....usually we just stayed at their house for visits but we didn't want to spoil the surprise. Not to mention the amount of people.

I camped that weekend and conveniently hauled my canoe up there to do some fishin' the day before the party. Only a couple of miles away from their house but still da U.P. and still kinda wild.

Had a great morning (3 nice walleyes and a northern if I recall), and decided to do some berry pickin' on the north shore of Monacle Lake. One heckuva berry patch that I frequented a lot when I was a kid.

I was fillin' up my bowl with berries when I smelled it. Kinda like body odor; kinda like onions.

Then a grunt. Then a big black hairy butt moving very fast away from me. Ya see, Mr. Black Bear had the same idea as me when it came to blackberries.

Glad he was running away from me rather than the alternative......

[darstar]

Its been 40 years , but I still remember the first time I saw the Big Lake, the rocky shore,pounding waves,...of Lake Superior. Not another quite like it anywhere in the US. Camping on its shore, the trips to Copper Harbor, the two tracks in a trashed rental car , aw yes , those days will always be on top of my list as memorable events. I have been to all corners of the Country, lived in many states, spent vacations in all , yet , little compares to Lake Superior.

[michmoldman]

Originally Posted by darstar

Its been 40 years , but I still remember the first time I saw the Big Lake, the rocky shore,pounding waves,...of Lake Superior. Not another quite like it anywhere in the US. Camping on its shore, the trips to Copper Harbor, the two tracks in a trashed rental car , aw yes , those days will always be on top of my list as memorable events. I have been to all corners of the Country, lived in many states, spent vacations in all , yet , little compares to Lake Superior.

Your exactly right. I was changed when I saw Lake Superior years ago. Not sure why or how...kinda strange, but one of my greatest memories of all time.