Up North

I went to Michigan's Upper Peninsula for a week of camping last month. In Michigan, we say that we go "up north." The $3.00 fee that I pay to cross the Mackinac Bridge (http://www.mackinacbridge.org/), which connects the upper and lower peninsulas, is the best money that I spend each year.

I don't take a computer with me. I turn the cellphone off during the drive up Interstate 75. I stay disconnected from technology for a week. It does my soul good.

This trip, I read Deming's "Out of the Crisis." We can still learn a lot from Deming's teaching, especially in healthcare. I am continually amazed at how healthcare just missed the quality revolution.

I took my Chapman Stick with me and did a bit of practicing. I take a small, cigarette pack sized amp with me and practiced on three or four days.

I took my dog, Sonny with me and we did a bit of hiking. Sonny is getting older, and we don't hike as much as we did seven or eight years ago, but I still have to remind him to slow down when we are ascending or descending a hill.

The weather was cool and rainy and windy the first couple of days. The good thing about the wind picking up is that it knocks the mosquitoes out of the air. After the front rolled through, the weather was sunny and beautiful for the rest of the trip.

We stayed in campgrounds on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.

A bad day in the woods is better than a good day in the office.