Northwoods Joke: The Roof
(Am certain Bubba Kris did not follow the below example when constructing those new deck roofs on #14 or #16 last year. Or if he did, I didn't notice.)
Sven and Ole are up fixing the roof.
Sven picks up a nail, looks at it, and throws it away.
He picks up the next one, looks at it, and hammers it into the roof.
The next one, he hammers it into the roof; the next one, he throws it away.
Ole says, "Sven, why do you throw away half the nails?"
Sven says, "Ole, don't you see, they have the point on the wrong end!"
Ole says, “Sven, don't be such a dummy! Those are for the OTHER side of the roof!”
2017 is off and running for us at the resort up north. We hope this note finds you a happy camper (until you can get your patootie up here to the lake and get even more happy. ) As for resort news . . .
It has been a quiet, peaceful winter up here at CWC (a relief! Last winter was all about getting Emily & Ryan's new cabin built). Big John gets up every day (at some gawd-awful time like 3:30 a.m. and feeds the turkeys, the birds, the ubiquitous squirrels of various variety, and the lone bunny. Since the cold snap of 28 below zero for several days earlier this month, the flying squirrels have become worrisomely inactive in our garage (see video clips and a story on the CWC website blog about one sneaking into our house and jumping on my head at 1:30 a.m. last May.)
It was a rather busy autumn here at CWC (we now keep Cabins #9, #10 and #19 open through December 1 for rentals) and we finished the GINORMOUS new septic system for the bulk of cabins around early December. This was a project most guests will not notice as an improvement (unless they've had experience with toilets backing up regularly -- no fun, that. Modern plumbing is one of the good things about civilization, yes?) But, it was a requirement by the county for us to do this year. The old system, which was installed back in the mid-90's and handled about 110 persons at peak time, just wasn't passing inspection due to heavy usage and new plumbing codes. Once we started digging up and repairing the half dozen tanks associated with the old system, we could see that we would have invariably had issues with it sooner rather than later (imagine a week at the lake with the fresh scent of "poo" instead of pine.)
Where did the new septic end 
up? Behind Reunion Cabin #7 near the entrance of a Walking Trail in the woods. (We have moved the entrance around to the side.) There are now two 30' x 180' mounds back there. When CWC ex-owner, Terry Heller, popped over to visit a couple months back, he commented, "well, maybe you could stick a headstone in the ground and tout it as "Here lies Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox, Babe". No kidding, the mounds are that huge. Personally, I thought it was hilarious, and in the vain of tall tales perpetrated already by my husband ("Paul was born here, ya know. It's the water. Look at me, I moved here 16 years ago and was only six feet tall. Now I'm 6'7"!) I am thinking of running with that. (I needed the levity after stressing over how to pay for a $76,000 system. *shudder* I still don't know, actually - it'll be tight for a long while, so less improvements in the cabins for now. But hey, at least your toilet will work properly.)
It was an expensive year for repairs here at CWC, beyond the new septic, as it sometimes can be with any small business. For example, the bearings had to be replaced on the skidsteer (there went $6,000 - argh!) and we sent both Bass Tracker boats in for professional TLC (don't ask). We also chose to just "go for it" with a BRAND NEW MOTOR for the Classic Pontoon (which some of you have already had the pleasure of operating since we purchased it in late July last summer (there went yet another $6,000 in one go.)
Retreat Cabin #19 got a new (scratch & dent) dishwasher and HUGE refrigerator (could barely slide it into the kitchen alcove) a couple months back for next season's appreciation. (We do read feedback forms, see?) And those of you who haven't visited for awhile might enjoy seeing some things which DID get accomplished last year (deck roofs on Cabin #14 and #16, new steps to the lake down the incline from #19, new blankets and recliners and re-carpeting of several rooms here and there. It's a never- ending list. We'll have your cabin spiffy this year, don't worry - the bigger projects might just be another couple of years.)
January is very busy CWC month for me (surprising to many) as I've been working on 2017 confirmations (they've been sent! If you didn't get one, CONTACT ME as it means we either have a bad e-mail address for you (or it went to your SPAM inbox) or we don't have you on the books!) Also, lots of time was spent cleaning up our mailing list, getting this newsletter out, creating a new QR Code game for the summer (can't wait!), and updating, updating, updating the website (lots of new cabin pics, tweaked cabin layouts, fresh video clips on the fishing page, new blogs including links to that PBS special on MN Resorts, etc.)
I'll be celebrating Valentine's Day with a couple dozen resort colleagues as we head down to St. Paul and the capitol to meet legislators. Great date night, right? We'll have our work cut out for us retaining Post Labor Day School Start this year as a couple of the new chairs of Education Committees hail from Rochester area - notorious for authoring bills to repeal MN Post Labor Day School Start (if you live in Rochester area --- zip 'em an e-mail, would ya? They’ll listen to you. Go to http://www.gis.leg.mn/iMaps/districts to plug in your zip code and find your Senator and your Rep's contact info. We ALL would thank you.)
Speaking of Valentine's Day: To say "I love you" in Ojibwa is "Keen aetah k'bishiigaenimin." Have fun pronouncing THAT to your loved ones on February 14.
As always, there are lots of cabin juggles when we send out this season’s confirmations and peeps are reminded to view their schedules. The cabin/campsite Availability Calendar on the website is updated in real time (you can see weekly boat rentals, too! Just scroll down to see what's already booked.) We’d be delighted to meet new kinfolk. Or, if we haven’t seen you in awhile, c’mon on up and join the fun.
Can't wait to see you. Take good care, and just know the lake'll be waiting for you . . . Kim, CWC
P.S. We will have a 3rd 'primitive' campsite available this summer (kinda where one of those old seasonal trailers sat.) We are calling it the Secret Wooded Campsite, although it ain't so secret. It will have a campfire ring, picnic table and BBQ grill, but NO HOOKUPS. Likely, we'll get to that eventually this year, but not sure when. Meantime, tenters should find it a bit more private than the other two.
