Terri and Peter's RV Adventures

Fish boils, Friday Fish Frys, rummage sales, Brat Fry fundraisers for the local veterans. It’s all here in Two Rivers, same as it’s been for many years. In the winter, it’s cross country skiing, snowmobiling, Packer mania packing every corner sports bar, Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer, ice fishing and deer hunting in the fall. It’s all pretty much like it was when I was here in the mid-70’s (and maybe even in the 1870’s).

(Above: The Brat Fry fundraiser in front of the Piggly Wiggly and a rummage sale across the street.)

In a way, it’s refreshing. With today’s frenetic news cycle, AI, and the many complications of the modern world, these things are staying the same. Maybe that’s why. You see a lot more face-to-face human interaction and a lot fewer people with their noses buried in their cell phones. And yet, I could understand why young people growing up here would want the excitement of a larger city. Then, maybe they return to raise a family, or not.

Today, I met our camping neighbors on both sides. In one family, both parents are teachers. One’s a health teacher and we talked at length about the lack of organic produce here. It’s really frustrating and depressing to me that there either isn’t enough education, demand or money (or all three) for organic produce to make it into rural America. Maybe they don’t think it’s worth it or they don’t believe that pesticides in their food, especially the “Dirty Dozen” is an issue. The health teacher was nodding his head vigorously as I was relaying this. He’s doing his best to teach his students. Here it is at the height of summer and I feel bereft of the fruit and vegetables I love to eat. Even the frozen ones aren’t organic. Oh well. I’m trying to be flexible and failing.

These teachers are very nice people. Their young daughters play with Lily as their retriever isn’t interested in that. It’s a match made in heaven.

On the other side of us, this couple is here for their high school son’s wrestling match weekend. Almost all of the campers here live in Wisconsin. I also noticed that Michiganders dominated the campgrounds where we camped in Michigan. I guess you’d expect that but I still found it interesting that they would vacation in their own state. Maybe it’s a lack of time to travel farther. People here are nice and a bit reserved. They’re not as quick to drop their guard and talk.

I took the dogs over to the Two Rivers park and beach. Both are lovely. Three women with their dog gave me tips on where to go on the beach with Lily and Cali. They were very specific (where to avoid the seaweed), helpful and pleased to be of assistance.

I made my now daily pilgrimage to Piggly Wiggly which is where they asked if I was hungry (no, but that didn’t matter); I was asked to buy three for the price of two ($8) brats as a fundraiser for the local veterans group. Of course I did.

People are going about their lives like everywhere, I guess. It’s nice to try on the lifestyle just to see if it fits. It doesn’t but that’s ok. It’s fun to try it on anyway. But it’s great that this is home and a place of pride for so many people. Like Michiganders, they love their state and despite the pressure of homogenization of the country with media, marketing and people moving around the country, this place retains its distinct sense of place: in food, customs and flat nasally accent, not to mention the Scandinavian look of most people. I’m enjoying having the time and space to experience this area again.