C u soon at CWC!

Hiya CWC peeps -

We can't WAIT to have you relax at Crow Wing Crest Lodge to further your well-being.   The chipmunks are begging for food, the loons are wailing and lake water temps are nice and warm.

StaySafe Initiative on Covid-19 precautions here at resort.  View here.   (Reminders about bringing extra bedding if you think you’ll need it, courtesy masks, communal area restrictions.)

BOAT LAUNCHING INFO at BOTTOM of page*** all peeps bringing boats, read post-script!

CHECK-IN is any time AFTER 5:00 p.m. on Saturday (after 12 noon on a non-Saturday.)

If you are a newbie to CWC, figure out where your cabin is located on our resort map.   Once you arrive, you are welcome to go ahead make yourself at home in your cabin.  Just TEXT/CALL us after arrival  (within an hour) and we will walk down and collect your cabin total due and answer any questions you might have.  (From 6+ feet away, of course. 😊 )

NEW! ---- THANK YOU FOR FILLING OUT our PRE-Registration Form: https://forms.gle/zHtwDbKo63THN4xW8   THIS HAS OUR TEXT/cell numbers, and other registration information we will need for a quick check-in this year.

Check-out for weekly stays are by 5:00 p.m. on Friday please, to ensure proper buffering between guests per MN Dept of Health guidelines during this Covid-19 issue (12 noon of your departure day if not a weekly.)   You are welcome to run a tab for incidentals (firewood bundles, pizzas, snacks, chipmunk food, etc. at the lodge take out window, etc.)   Please text/call us the day before your departure at your convenience and we will tally these incidentals, add deposits for re-booking same cabin next year if you’d like, and bring down (or e-mail) an invoice total to your cabin.  

Massage with Emily, Painting Classes, Kids Crafts, and other activities are listed on the ACTIVITIES page of the website, and you can SIGN UP NOW if you like by visiting our NEW on-line sign-up sheet page:   crowwing.com/activities.   Reflexology sign-up is still a physical sheet, posted at the main lodge entrance. Big John checks it each morning.

Quick reminder that the free WIFI is intended for posting on social media, google searching, mapping, checking emails, etc.   It was not intended to stream music or movies, so download your movies onto your device before you come.

We are happy to share the serenity of the Northwoods with you and wish for you a chance to not think about stressful things for awhile.  We invite you to just “be” here.   We hope you glimpse the otters a neighbor claimed he saw a few weeks back.    Ryan had a mink run right up to him on the golf cart a couple weeks ago, and last week’s guest glimpsed a water shrew (new to me!)   Everyone so far has been courteous about the social distancing thing and the campfire rings are getting well used.  😊  See you soon . . .   

Kim, CWC
Crow Wing Crest Lodge
www.crowwing.com

P.S. 

NEW COMMUNICATION: If you’d like help to get your boat launched, Ryan & Isaiah will greet those coming into resort between 5 – 7 p.m. on Saturdays and make a note to come up and help you get into the lake.  Isaiah will be around Sunday morning to help launch boats, too.  Let’s just communicate when you arrive about timing.   You are most welcome to self-launch – we will just be asking you AIS questions before we unlock the boat launch gate for you.  Ryan & Kim will be around until 8 p.m. or by text.

***BOAT LAUNCH COMMUNICATION:   Now that Leech Lake (8 miles away) has officially been positively identified as contaminated with zebra mussels, we are being more stringent with AIS prevention.  We do not want zebra mussels!   (You don't either, or the kids will be enjoying bloody cut-up feet from walking on razor sharp zebra mussel shells on the beach.)  If you plan on 'lake hopping' while you are vacationing here, it would be a good idea if you plan ahead.   Examples below:

     Example #1:  if you are arriving on Saturday with a boat which has been in any lake w/ zebra mussels or spiny water fleas in particular, at anytime during the prior week, we will be asking you to go to the free 'Decontamination Unit' in Park Rapids.   (It is located by the landfill, just a couple miles south of Northwoods Bank on Hwy 6 as you come into PR from Akeley on hwy 34.)  Hey, free boat wash, right?

If you get here earlier than check-in time, and you know you’ve just pulled your boat from an infested lake, we recommend just heading on over beforehand (they are open via a phone call 218-252-6738).  Maybe you could grab a snack on the way to or from just because you can (ice cream in Dorset?)  NOTE:  they won't accept tips, this is a free service provided by AIS Taskforce in our county.    Takes about 20 minutes and then we’ll all be assured we’ve done our best.

You may be able to find a courtesy Decontamination Unit near YOU, so that you can get your boat hot washed at your convenience sometime this week before coming up north!   Click here to view MN map of current locations:  https://webapps15.dnr.state.mn.us/ais_decon_sites   (Particularly helpful for those of you near the Twin Cities.)

     Example #2:  if you plan to fish a day or few in 11th Crow Wing Lake and then trailering up to visit another lake, you will need to come down to lodge before 8 p.m. the night before so we can unlock the padlocked boat launch chain for you.   (You won't be able to just run down in early morning on any 'ole day to pull out your boat - launch is locked.  You will need to arrange w/ Kim or Ryan to meet in morning, or again, just do it while someone is in the lodge the night before.)    If you fish on LEECH LAKE, do not expect to be allowed back on 11th without official decontamination.  Ideally:   do some fishin’ here on 11th first part of week, THEN go to Leech.

This is a big pain in the patootie for us.   It is 'inconvenient' for you as well - we get it.   We also know you will appreciate our attempts to steward the lake as best as we can for all of us and our future enjoyment of 11th Crow Wing Lake.   We are hoping that this communication will help prepare you and that you might consider 'planning' for boat recreation possibilities just a wee bit more than you had to do in the past.

FINALLY:  BAIT TIP (watercraft inspectors tout the following law as #1 mis-informed statute):  It is illegal to release bait into a waterbody or release aquatic animals from one waterbody to another. If you want to keep your bait from one lake to the next, you must refill the bait container with bottled or tap water.   (Dispose of unwanted leeches, crawlers, minnows in the garbage.)