The Two RV Gypsies: Full-Time RVers at Yooperland
490 North Steel Street
Ishpeming, Michigan
in the Upper Peninsula
IMPORTANT NOTICEYou need a sense of humor to view this page.

Welcome to Yooperland sign
September 8, 2015 - Get ready for a hearty dose of roadside fun.

The people that live in the Upper Peninsula or the U.P. are called "Yoopers" and are proud of it. The usual phrase given to folks living north of the Mackinac Bridge back in the 70's was "U.P.'ers".

The people that live south of the bridge are called "trolls." The song "I'm a Troll Man" was written about them. Lots of trolls from down below dream about moving to the U.P., but there is no work here. So they come up here to relax, enjoy and spend their cash, but they "gotta go home afterwards". (or so the Yoopers declare)

Yooper dialect: The dialect of English speech used by Yoopers
Da Yoopers: A comedy musical group from the area of the Upper Peninsula

Where is Yooperland?

From Da Yoopers School
For Da Truly Ungifted
Yooperland Geography 1034

The state of Michigan is broken up into two peninsulas -
the Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula.

They are connected together by the Mackinac Bridge.
yooper troll map
sign: Da Yoopers Tourist Trap

hisory bookDuring the upper 70s, cartoonist Dan Rosandich stopped in at the Daily Mining Gazette in Houghton, Michigan with some of his cartoons. At the time, the editor was Bob Skuggen. Those who knew Bob back in the day, can attest to the fact that he was a big proponent and advocate of The Keweenaw Peninsula and tourism in general. Skuggen liked Dan's cartoons but said that they should focus on life in the U.P. and after a while a new set of U.P. related cartoons were given to Bob for consideration. Although he really liked what he saw, they needed a title and asked Rosandich to come up with a good name for the cartoons. After bouncing around a few names and titles with some friends, Dan came up with the perfect term and that is when "Yooper" was born. The cartoon panel Yooper Bloopers was introduced in an article with one of the first cartoons and soon afterwards the term "yooper" was being used to promote all things which were U.P. related.

laughing chipmunkwarning signsmile face
sign: Christine on Steroids
Christine on Steroids
Christine on Steroids
sign about the big shotgun
Big Ernie - a working shotgun
 
lightbulbsign about the unusual vehicles shown below
sign about the car
1939 Ford Model AA truck
sign about the wood burning tractor
wood burning tractor
sign about the Yooper Riding Lawnmower
Yooper Riding Lawnmower
sign about the large motorized bicycle
large motorized bicycle
sign about the v
1937 Dodge Bus
 
sign about shaving wood
The Blackheads sawing wood
 
Largest working chainsaw in the worldWOW

Below: Lee Duquette using THE "largest working chainsaw in the world"
Lee Duquette using the largest working chainsaw in the world Lee Duquette using the largest working chainsaw in the world
 
sign about the old guys resting bench old guys resting bench

Below: The two RV Gypsies met the Upper Peninsula Bear

Below: A Lost Hunter from Detroit
Upper Peninsula Bear Lost Hunter from Detroit
someone farted Karen Duquette in a really big Yooper chair
retired signyes
Karen Duquette in a really big Yooper chai Karen Duquette in a really big Yooper chai
sign about a a jealous brother a jealous brother
 

laughing clipart dudeBelow: Some Deer Fun

Lee Duquette used the "Deer Depository Station" and read the deer's copy of "People Magazine"
Lee uses the Deer Depostory Station deer pooping and reading People Magazine
people hanging upside down Deers at Camp Buck N Brew

Below: The deer is driving the truck with "people" on the hood of the truck (The deer is hard to see in the photos)
deer is driving the truck with people on the hood deer is driving the truck with people on the hood
deer is driving the truck with people on the hood
people hanging upside down deer hunting joke
 

Below: A Yooper rowboat

Below: A Lawn Maintenance bird
rowboat on land lawm maintenance bird
weird traveler snow sled
sign about the Airhead bicyclist
Airhead bicyclist
sign about the Yooperland State Bird
Yooperland State Bird
sign about the Alien
The Alien
 
sign: Camp Go For Beer
Camp Go For Beer Camp Go For Beer
sign about the Knight of the Shining Deer
Knight of the Shining Deer

ha ha haWho is that in "Da Dorkmeister Outhouse"?
Da Dorkmeister Outhouse Da 2-holer
Yooper Bush Buggy granny's car
sign about the Ancient Weather Rock
Ancient Weather Rock
smile face
Da Yoopers Tourist Trap and Lee Duquette Da Yoopers Internet
bicylce dude on the railing
peat bog sign peat bog sign
Yooper Ballerina sign
Yooper Ballerina Yooper Ballerina

Below: Inside the gift shop store
kid behave sign
Yooper double barrel slingsot yooper beer can tree

Below: While viewing the Northern Lights the two RV Gypsies met some nice young guys who gave Karen Duquette a
" I wanna be a Yooper" pin. It is now on permanent display in their RV. Unfortunately, they did not get any pictures of the Northern Lights but they sure did enjoy seeing them anyway.
a wanna be Yooper pin
look below