Up North News August 21 - 23

by Billy Goeke
(Cabin Owner)

It was Friday afternoon when Dale and I set out for the cabin alone. It has been almost two months since our last visit (July 4th) and we were both anxious to get there. It was not only to check on things, but we really missed the beauty and serenity of Wisconsin's Northwoods.

On our way up, we stopped at one of our snowmobiling haunts; the Bearskin Bar on Highway 8 near Tomahawk. We walked in and Deb recognized us and said it had been quite a while since our last visit. It is always nice to be recognized by people you know. The Bearskin was full of Friday regulars and we had a bit of difficulty finding two spots to sit. The pool table was also crowded on a beautiful, pre-fall, Friday afternoon.

When we arrived at our cabin, we quickly unpacked and headed for Friday fish fry at one of the local establishments. We first drove down County Y, which is south on Highway 51. The Rustic Inn has changed hands and is now called The Edge. They have a wonderful menu and you know it is good because as we drove up there was NO room in the parking lot. At 7:30 at night we thought it best to move on if we wanted to eat before bed time.

We then drove back to highway 51 and went north to Leary Rd where we turned right and went to the end of that road. Lakeside Marina is a favorite place of ours for excellent Walleye. Lakeside Marina was also very busy, but we decided to go inside and wait it out. We met some wonderful people from the Upper Peninsula (UP) by the name of Bryan and Linda. He is a firefighter and she is a pharmaceutical representative. They had come to Minocqua for the weekend on a spur of the moment decision; staying at the Americinn Inn. They had spent some time at the Thirsty Whale that afternoon and were told about the great fish fry at Lakeside Marina. Since tables were scarce, we asked them to join us at our table. After dinner, we said goodbye to our new friends and traveled back to the cabin. Shut eye came soon after as neither Dale nor I could stay awake for long.

The next day we rose around 8:00 a.m. (yes, that is what we midwesterners call sleeping in) and began to scrub our cabin 1 deck with a solution of water and bleach so we could re-stain the deck in a few weeks. The day started out with overcast skies and a cool 55 degrees.

After the deck was done, Dale went to work on our drain in the garage. Seems as if some critters (chipmunks we think) had carried in some brush for a nest. Dale worked on flushing them out for over an hour and then worked on tidying up the garage a bit.


I on the other hand headed off to visit a few local garage sales I saw advertised in the Lakeland times (http://www.lakelandtimes.com), the local paper. For 75 cents you can pick this paper up at most any gas station or store and it gives very good ideas on the festivals, activities, garage sales, etc. happening in the area.

At around 11:00 a.m. I headed back to the cabin and I mowed the lawn at cabin 2 while Dale put together a tricky apparatus (kids, don't try this at home!) to climb on the steep roof at cabin 2 in order to stain the dormers. I have never heard so many expletives and I am very sorry that the young family staying at cabin 2 had to listen to him talk to himself. I can tell you that if we built another cabin, Dale won't let me put dormers on it.

We then mowed the lawn at cabin 1 and began to put logs together to start our evening campfire.

I went for my walk while Dale ran to the local hardware store to buy a new blade for the lawnmower. Seems as if I had mowed over a very large rock and broke the blade. Oops.

When we both arrived back at cabin 1, Dale started the grill and put on the corn on the cob (still in husks and soaked all day in water) and then followed up with hamburgers....mmmmmm....Of course we overate as we really did not eat much all day. A good fire, the picnic table, a copy of the Lakeland Times is all we needed for entertainment. As we sat there, Jack and Jill (the deer who frequent our yard *see above*) slowly made their way into our yard. Jack snorted several times, yet just kept getting closer and closer. It was if they were curious about why two humans would be interested in sitting in THEIR yard.

Jack's button antlers have grown to about 7 inches tall. They soon tired of us and with a flick of their white tails they turned and jumped off into the distance.

Shortly after that, my eyes became heavy and into the house I went leaving Dale to douse the campfire. Lights out came early that day.

If you would like to enjoy your own experience at our cabins, please feel free to contact me to ask for availability and pricing.

Billy J. Goeke