Years ago, when Monica and I would talk about moving to the Northwoods friends would say, why would you want to live up there?  My response was, if you have never been to Northern Wisconsin, you wouldn’t understand. So, why would a person want to live in the Northwoods?  It could be the fresh air, the lakes, the forest, the clear night skies with a blanket of stars, the slower lifestyle of living in a small town or the low crime rate.

To me, it’s all the above, but the biggest reason we moved to the Northwoods is you will never meet more genuine, outgoing people anywhere.  It’s more like a huge family than just friends.  I remember holidays when family members came to our house, and everyone was greeted with a hug.  Well, in our town, that’s everyday with friends.  If we ever needed help in the middle of the night, one person wouldn’t show up, but a group of what we call our Northwoods family would be there to assist and that’s the difference between big city and small-town living.

Before Monica and I moved, our closest friend told us he would never see us again, because it was too far and jokingly said, I heard pizza up there is just moose meat and ketchup. That changed when that couple came up for a weekend visit to see what was so special about the Northwoods.  After experiencing a few supper clubs that moose meat and ketchup comment was retracted.  Not only because of the reasons I have mentioned above, but after the way they were treated by people they met at a few resorts and local watering holes, they started coming up more often and now it’s been for weeks and are talking about moving here.

So, what’s special about the Northwoods?  If you live or visit towns in Northern Wisconsin, you understand.  If not, you need to take a trip north, but for me, it’s mostly friends that I consider family.  Oh, speaking of family, the person in the picture is my Northwoods brother Craig, the Ambassador of the Cisco Chain of lakes.