Headed Up to Minnesota

Going up to Minnesota for a little bit to our summer place.  I like it up there (in the summer).  I have installed internet cameras around the place and I look at them every day.  I still work up there and do everything I do when I am in Chicago except meet people in person.  If anyone wants to meet in person, they will have to come to Grand Marais and meet at the donut shop.  It’s a commitment.  It is about a 9-10 hour drive from Chicago.  Yes, I buy my petrol in Wisconsin whenever I can.  Eventually, the plan is to spend 3 months out of the year there.

It’s not a fancy place.  Our water comes from a natural spring on a hill.  We don’t have a dishwasher.  We do have indoor plumbing but we have an outhouse too. It does have electric and better internet than I have in Chicago.  Our lake is a wilderness lake.  There isn’t a jet ski or water ski in sight.  It’s quiet.

We have some projects to do.  There always seem to be projects with a summer place.  This year it’s fix the dock and red0 the boat seats. I bought some marine plywood last year, cut it and aged it all winter so it will fit perfect and won’t warp.  I need to build a new boat ramp as well to get the boat out of the lake easily. I also need to do some more clearing of brush.  I am sure we will plant a few perennials.

We are replacing some windows this year that need replacing.  We are painting it.  We had it re-leveled and we will replace a pipe on the septic.  It looks like it finally got warm up there so we won’t have many fires.  I usually use a maul and chop kindling to start a fire.  Someday I will have to cut down some trees and age the wood since we are depleting our inventory.

I don’t mind.  It puts you in a different frame of mind and sometimes helps you see things differently.

I’ll be back in Chicago around the 15th of July.  If you are at John Lothian’s event that week, I will be there.