Perfect Winter Weather

It has warmed up around here.  Early this week was supposed to be the worst state wide.  Our worst was the week before.  Now we are sitting in the mid-twenties.  We should be getting some snow with this warm weather but nothing is happening.  At least the furnace in the house has stopped running forever.  The ski trails are in perfect condition with plenty of snow.

Today is the day of lynx sightings.  When I drove over to the lodge for lunch, I spotted a lynx at the top of the Gunflint hill.  He was just walking across the road and was not concerned about the car coming.  After lunch I walked to the car to go home.  Two guys had just come in by snowmobile from Grand Marais.  They had seen the lynx as soon as they got on the lake by the public landing.  Both of them were really excited about it.  Of course, we have been seeing tracks all over the place.  It really is a thrill to see these cats.

Over at our house, Lee and Eva’s dog Tucker has been vacationing with us.  Last summer Tucker tore his ACL.  With two small children in the house, he was forever moving around.  Things are much quieter on Tucker Lake.  This is especially true when Bruce and I are at the lodge.  Tucker just sits and sleeps.  We have not seen him limping at all.  When it is time to go outside, he just bursts out the door barking loudly.  Bruce and I can’t figure out if he hears something or is just barking to announce his presence.  It is good to have a dog around but hard to take care of him when we leave.

We spent a few days early this week meeting with five other resorts.  It is a great time to share our experiences from the summer.  Also everyone seems to have new ideas to tell us.  Bruce has a good sized list of things to try out at Gunflint.  Some work and some don’t but you only need one thing to work for it to be a worthwhile meeting.  Also we find that our problems are usually the same ones others have.  You don’t feel quite so stupid when we all have the same issues.

We are going to a conference on canopy tours in Orlando.  Lee and Eva are also going for their canopy tour.  They are bringing Grant and Mae.  That just means that I will never see much of the conference.  You know where I will be – Disney World.  Grant wants to see Pirates of the Caribbean but he is not sure what it is all about.  Mae is going to see the Little Mermaids Sea Shell tour or something like that.

I remember the first time we took Robert and Lee to Disney World.  Robert got lost on Huck Finn’s Island.  He thought we had gone and he took the ferry back.  Bruce and Lee were scouring the island for him.  I look across the water and saw Robert.  Like any good mother, I yelled at the top of my voice for him to not move until we got there.

There will probably be some adventures from this trip too.