Cabin Fever

Having a cabin on a lake is every Minnesotans dream. If you listen to the stories my kids tell, it's not so much a dream as an expectation. Well, we can't say we have a met this expectation we have accomplished the dream. My Uncle Doug does have a cabin on a lake in the woods of northern Wisconsin and he was gracious in letting us use it this weekend for a little R & R. His cabin is in a small town called Cumberland which in northwestern Wisconsin, a mere two hour drive from our house. It is situated on Beaver Dam Lake, nestled into a beautiful wooded area, overlooking the lake. A set of wooden stairs takes you down to the waters edge were you will find a small wooden patio with Appalachian lounge chairs for enjoying the view on one side of the stairs and a pier and dock for his boat on the other side.

Chris and the kids met me at work on Friday night so I wouldn't have to drive home only to turn around and drive right back through downtown again on the way to the cabin. We stopped for a bite to eat on the way up and arrived at the cabin just after sunset around 9:00 pm. We walked down to the waters edge and were able to enjoy the remaining colors of the sunset draining from the sky. After unloading the car we settled in for the evening. The cabin is awesome, room for all of us to have a soft bed to sleep on, full kitchen, wireless Internet, and a very nice stereo complete with iPod doc! We had my iPod playing music within minutes of walking in the door and between Alex and I had music going almost the entire visit.

Saturday was our one full day there. We spent a very leisurely morning reading, relaxing and having breakfast. Then we read and relaxed and talked some more. We did eventually carry Uncle Doug's canoe down to the water. He has a very nice Old Town Penobscott 16 ft canoe. Catie and I were the first to go out in it, Paddling to the west end of the lake, looking at some of the other cabins and watching some of the other owners putting in there piers and boat lifts. It was very peaceful, not too much motorboat traffic to worry about. I went out canoing two other times that day, once with Chris and Catie and once with Catie and Alex. That evening we went out for pizza at a local place called Sammy's. Really good pizza and amazing prices. We had two pies, bread sticks, salad and drinks and the bill came to $30, what a deal. We ended the night with a fire in the fireplace and the kids made s'mores for desert.

We all slept in on Sunday morning, with the boys staying in bed until 10. We had a leisurely breakfast before packing up and cleaning up. At about 12:30 we said said good by but not farewell to the cabin the lake. It was a much needed escape to rest and recharge our batteries. Thank you Uncle Doug and allowing us to share your retreat.