<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}IMG_0257-200pxl.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 267px; float: right;" />Au Sable students all have stories to tell about their experiences in the North Woods. &nbsp;For some, the simple act of getting to or leaving Au Sable is adventure enough, like the student who for some reason turned off the paved road and onto a pipe line and got stuck. &nbsp;But perhaps the most remarkable travel story is one I&rsquo;ll call the Mis-adventures of Hansel and Gretel.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></p>
<p>
	Most Midwesterners know that if you miss a turn at an intersection, you simply drive one more mile to the next intersection where you make your turn and get back on track. &nbsp;However, that rule does not apply in Northern Michigan as a car load of J-Term students discovered when they approached Au Sable one dark and snowy January night. &nbsp;After missing the turn onto Blue Lake Road, as the map directed, they continued one mile to Kenel Road without realizing that the county only plowed that road as far as Minnie Kenel&rsquo;s house. &nbsp;Beyond Minnie&rsquo;s place, the unplowed road was heavily used by snowmobiles, which compact the snow making it appear to be plowed, that is until the weight of a car causes the tires to break through the snow effectively entombing the vehicle until the Spring thaw. &nbsp;Fortunately for these students, they bogged down not far from Minnie&rsquo;s house and since her lights were still on, they trudged to her door and asked for help.</p>
<p>
	It is important to this story to note that Minnie was an elderly widow who had lived alone in her ramshackle house for too many years. &nbsp;She probably would have taken offense if you called her eccentric, but she herself would admit to being colorful. &nbsp;She also loved to have visitors, especially because they were so few and far between in her neck of the woods. &nbsp;Minnie and I had become friends, so she knew about Au Sable students and was more than happy to call me and to entertain her guests until we could come and rescue the entombed vehicle from the snow and the students from Minnie. &nbsp;All&rsquo;s well that ends well, and the students had a funny story to tell. &nbsp;But this is not the end of this story.</p>
<p>
	Fast forward one year; same sort of snowy night, same road, but with different students, stuck at the same spot, same Minnie regaling the students with stories from the previous year while they waited for me to pull their car out of the snow.</p>
<p>
	The following year, just before January, Minnie called me to find out the date when students would arrive for our January program because she wanted to be ready and wait up for them. &nbsp;We had a good laugh about what the odds would be to have students get stuck at the same place three years in a row, and you guessed it, IT HAPPENED AGAIN!</p>
<p>
	Two girls in a small sedan got stuck just like the previous two years. &nbsp;They walked back to the run down old house with the lights on and smoke rising from the wood stove, and with some apprehension because of the late hour and isolated location, knocked on the door which was answered by a strange looking old woman who said, &ldquo;Come on in. &nbsp;I&rsquo;ve been expecting you. &nbsp;Want a cookie?&rdquo; &nbsp;The oven door was still open.</p>
