Livin' That Cabin Life

If you live in Minnesota, chances are you either have a family cabin that you frequent or you have friends that do.  We are fortunate enough to have one of our own that my grandparents purchased back in the 60's and we still go to to this day.  It's nestled about 3 hours north of the cities on a serene lake that really doesn't see all that much boat traffic.  It has it's fair share of pontoons and fishing boats but nothing like the traffic you can see on some of the lakes in the city.  Which makes it the perfect getaway for the weekend, where you can breathe in that fresh country air and see stars like you've never seen them before!  We've also seen some pretty awesome wildlife up there in our day.  One time we had a family of black bears in the tree right out our front door!  

​Last week Josh bought me a GoPro and I've never really used one before so he gave me a crash course on Saturday morning while we were waiting for it to warm up a bit outside.  We have a hummingbird feeder that was seeing some action, so we jerry-rigged my tripod to be GoPro friendly and set it up right in front of it.  All it took was about 5 minutes and we were getting some awesome shots!

Having a cabin, however, comes with maintenance.  Thankfully, there's four of us in the fam that rotate going up to take care of the things that need to get done, like mowing the lawn.  Unfortunately, our riding lawn mower died a few months ago and we haven't repaired it yet so that means mowing with the push mower.  We have an acre of land.  Mowing now eats up about 2-3 hours, which can really suck sometimes when all you want to do is relax or go fishing.  But it is what it is so I suck it up and get 'er done.  After I finished mowing, we needed to get the beach cleaned up before I could feel good about enjoying myself up there.  With Josh's help we were able to get it done in about an hour so that left the better part of the afternoon and evening to enjoy ourselves.  What did we do, you ask?  Uhhhh, we went fishing.  Duh!

We didn't have the greatest luck on the water that day, but we were able to get some great photos and have some solid family time.  Honestly, sometimes I think that my dog likes going fishing more than my husband.  He is such a ham for that boat!  When we are off the water Kigan can sometimes be a bit of a curmudgeon but when he's fishing with us he is totally in his element and cuddlier than any dog I've ever had.  It's not that I don't love my time out there with Josh, but when Kig's is with it makes those days extra special.  

Once we got off the water, we headed over to the Big Sandy Lodge for some dinner.  The lodge was recently purchased by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe so we were both curious what that meant for the food.  It was already on the decline before it was bought so we didn't have high hopes for the place.  Turns out, they had completely re-vamped the menu for the better and we were both pleasantly surprised with our meals!  The lodge is within walking distance of our cabin and it's so nice to have a place where we can get good food and tie one on if we choose to do so and feel completely safe about it.

Those Northern MN flies are the worst!

The next day, Josh had a guide trip on Mille Lacs so that meant it was me and the boy with the entire day to ourselves.  It was so nice to wake up to some coffee and pop in a movie while I edited my pics from the day before.  I knew at some point that we (ahem, I) were going to need to get the cabin cleaned up so we could head back home, but I just wasn't ready for all that yet, so I went ahead and finished the book I've been reading for what felt like the entire year.  It was a terrific way to end the weekend before it was time to head back to reality.  Until next time, cabin.  Until next time....