~Goals are dreams with deadlines~

So as many of you know, I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. If you don't know, the truth is that we don't have a whole lot here besides trees and deer, oh and beer-lots and lots of beer.

The Upper Peninsula contains almost one-third of the land area of Michigan but just three percent of its total population. Residents are frequently called Yoopers (derived from "U.P.-ers") and have a strong regional identity. It includes the only counties in the United States where a plurality of residents claim Finnish ancestry. The peninsula's largest cities are Marquette, Escanaba, Sault Ste Marie, Menominee, and Iron Mountain.

The Upper Peninsula contains 16,452 square miles (42,610 km²), almost one-third of the land area of the state. The maximum east-west distance in the Upper Peninsula is about 320 miles (515 km), and the maximum north-south distance is about 125 miles (200 km). It is bounded on the north by Lake Superior, on the east by St. Mary's River, on the south by Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and on the west by Wisconsin and (counting the water border on Lake Superior) by Minnesota. It has about 1,700 miles (2,700 km) of continuous shoreline with the Great Lakes. There are about 4,300 inland lakes, the largest of which is Lake Gogebic, and 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of streams.

Baraga, Marquette and Alger counties, where Lake Superior contributes to lake-effect snow.
Records of 390 inches (990 cm) of snow or more have been set in many communities in this area. The Keweenaw Peninsula averages more snowfall than almost anywhere in the United States—more than anywhere east of the Mississippi River and the most of all non-mountainous regions of the continental United States. Because of the howling storms across Lake Superior, which cause dramatic amounts of precipitation, it has been said that the lake-effect snow makes the Keweenaw Peninsula the snowiest place east of the Rockies. Herman, Michigan, averages 236 inches (600 cm) of snow every year. Lake-effect snow can cause blinding whiteouts in just minutes, and some storms can last days.

The Upper Peninsula remains a predominantly rural region. As of the 2000 census, the region had a population of 317,258, and was predicted to have fallen to 312,153 according to the Census Bureau's July 1, 2006 estimate. According to the 2000 census, only 91,624 people live in the twelve towns of at least 4,000 people, covering 96.5 square miles (155.365 km²). Only 114,544 people live in the twenty-one cities and villages of at least 2,000 or more people, which cover 123.7 square miles (320.4 km²)—less than 1% of the peninsula's land area.

City: Marquette
Population: 19,661
Area (sq mi): 11.4

So what is the point of all these boring facts? Well as you know I am a virgin runner, I am getting there, slowly but surely! As a virgin, I have no gear. I have been running in yoga pants and a tank top on my treadmill. I am soooooooo hot! TOO HOT, today I took my shirt off and ran in my bra. So today I set out on a quest to find myself some running shorts or skirt, something that would be much cooler than what I had. NO SUCH LUCK. Now this is where the U.P. info comes in handy. You see we have hardly any options at all. In all of the 16,452 square miles that is the U.P. we have ONE Starbucks (well two if you count the one on NMU's campus) but for my point I will say one. So as you have guessed, if we only have one Starbucks in 16,452 square miles you can imagine that we have not much else. Now don't get me wrong, this isn't a U.P. bashing post, the U.P. is quite lovely as has been my home for 31 years, it is a frustrating post about my search for running shorts. I went to Kohl's, MC Sports, JC Penney and Target without any luck. I did find a few pairs of cotton shorts that would do if they had to, however they were XL. sigh. This is the story of any Yoopers life though, I should be use to it. I know it is the dead of winter and we have already been hit by waaaaaaaay too much snow and shorts and running skirts aren't in hot demand, but come on, people go to the gym, people work out inside, where is the gear? I will have to order online and guess on sizing and pay shipping for both delivery and returns and by the time I have what I need it will be May and Target will have their items in stock. sigh sigh sigh.