wildwoodresor1 – Page 10 – Wildwood Resort

Winter Vacations in Minnesota

minnesota winter cabins for x-skiing snowmobiling ice fishing — Wildwood Resort on Bass Lake near Grand Rapids, MN

Jay and I really do love our life. I’ve said before that resorting isn’t for everyone and that’s true. Some people think we’re lucky because we get to go fishing “whenever we want” in the summer. In reality we rarely get time to ourselves in the summer and we NEVER take a full day off (let alone a weekend) between May and the end of September. However, yesterday I was thinking about our wierd life as we drove out of Wildwood on our snowmobiles at 8:30 a.m. on a Friday morning. It feels strange to take our recreation days when the “normal” business world is hard at work but it’s days like yesterday that make the seasonal craziness of our summer so worthwhile! We literally rode our snowmobiles ALL day and explored lots of trails we hadn’t ridden yet this year. We had a great day and have some stories to tell, too, so that makes it more fun.

We hadn’t ridden out of Wildwood yet this winter so yesterday we left the resort heading east on the Bushwacker. We picked up the Taconite snowmobile trail north of Grand Rapids and headed north. The day was gorgeous!!! We definitely haven’t had as much snow in the Grand Rapids area as they’ve had to our north 30 miles. However, the Bushwacker was in good shape and had been groomed. We were anticipating a very fun ride on the Taconite Trail and were just a little bit disappointed that it hadn’t been groomed because it was pretty rough. That trail gets TONS of traffic and I’m sure the DNR has been out grooming but it was a little rough with corners pretty dug out.

Minnesota winter vacations — The Prairie Lake bridge on the Taconite Trail

The DNR is rating the trail condition as “Excellent” and groomed I’m sure it is excellent. We couldn’t take too long of a ride yesterday since the school district does expect us to pick up our kids at the end of the school day (!!) but we still had time for a trip north to a favorite lunch spot, The Scenic Pines Bar and Grill. The Swampsiders Snowmobile Club does a GREAT job taking care of their trails up there and as I’ve said before it’s a favorite place for us to ride.

grand rapids mn snowmobiling — Lots of great places to stop and rest on the Taconite Snowmobile Trail!

After lunch we went outside to the sleds and I realized that I was missing the bag I always carry on the back of my snowmobile. I thought I remembered carrying it out of the house that morning but, frankly, my memory ain’t what it used to be so we decided that I must have forgotten it. I jokingly told Jay and our friends, Tim & Karen, to keep their eyes open for my bag as we headed for home back down the Taconite. At this point I’d like to say that one of the things I really like about the Taconite Trail besides the wide trail and roller coaster hills is the number of bathroom stops on the trail. Now I’m not saying that I need so many bathroom breaks but some people might and I’m just saying that those people (not me) might be happy to see an outhouse if they’ve had too much Pepsi with their lunch. Anyway, we had gotten almost back to Grand Rapids when I came over a hill and saw our friend, Tim, chasing his snowmobile down the trail. In general I’ve learned that it’s not good if your snowmobile is still going down the trail without you on it. (However, it IS very funny to watch someone else running after their snowmobile…) Tim has an eagle eye for interesting things on the trail and as he sped by a trail sign he saw that some good Samaritan had hung my bag on a trail sign. He hit the breaks a little too hard and as a result of ill-advised braking he “dismounted” unintentionally. I topped the hill just in time to see him trying to catch his sled before it hit a tree! I would have taken a photo of that bag hanging on a sign but I was too busy laughing! Oh my, that was funny…if only I’d had one of those helmet cameras recording video at the time!! By the way, not one thing was missing from my bag. How nice!!

winter vacations in Minnesota — We had fun on the snowmobile trail with our girls last night!

We decided that the day was too nice to be done riding so after picking up the kids from school we headed for Gosh Dam Place near Lake Winnibigoshish for dinner. We left the resort and headed west this time on the Buschwacker. We stopped for gas at River Rat Trading Post which is right on the trail between Cohasset and Deer River and then kept on going. The Bushwacker heads west toward Deer River, MN down Highway 2 which is a divided two-lane highway. The eastbound lane of the trail is on the north side of Highway 2 and the westbound lane runs along the south side. From Deer River we headed north and the trail took us through a part of Itasca County that was hit so hard by the July 2nd storm last summer. There were massive numbers of trees down – most with their HUGE root balls still attached. It was very creepy and brought to mind memories of that week last summer. Once the debris piles were cleared from our resort I pretty much tucked that experience away in the lockbox where I keep other memories I want to forget. (The lockbox is mostly full of embarrassing middle school moments)

minnesota snowmobile weekend — Miss K. dressing up the storm damage from the July 2nd storm

However, riding through the blow down area last night was amazing in a very unpleasant way. I’ll try to get better pictures next time we ride in that direction. The ride was 30 miles from Wildwood to Gosh Dam Place. We had a great dinner and rode home through a moonless night with the stars out in full force! It was gorgeous! The eastbound trail of the Buschwacker between Deer River and Cohasset isn’t a favorite. Lots of it is riding the angle of the ditch and with last night’s warm temps it was challenging to keep from sliding down the hill into the deeper snow. However, it’s only about a 10 mile stretch so it’s only a small part of an overall great ride!

MN snowmobile trips — The Grand Rapids, MN area is a great destination for Minnesota snowmobiling right now…our conditions are great!

We do have some ice fishermen in this weekend so hopefully we’ll have an ice fishing update for next week’s blog. And x-ski trail conditions are great from everything we are hearing! The Grand Rapids, MN and greater Itasca County area is a great destination for a winter weekend getaway! Check out the Visit Grand Rapids webpage for a listing of events in our area and make plans to head north. We’ll see you on the trails!

Kim & Jay

P.S. About our eagles: last weekend a neighbor stopped by to let us know that he’d seen an eagle on the shoreline just north of the resort with an injured wing. We called our local Conservation Officer and she was able to capture the eagle which indeed had an injured wing. She let us know that the eagle was on its way to the Raptor Center in St. Paul. Jay and I are praying it wasn’t one of “our” next door eagles. We’ll let you know what we find out!

Minnesota bald eagles — From the snow cover on their front deck it looks like our resident eagles might be enjoying warmer climates right now. They always leave for a short while in the harshest part of winter but we’re hoping to see them back soon!

Perfect Snow Conditions!

Go ahead, ask me… Ask me how much fun we had yesterday on our weekly snowmobile trip! I’d say it wasn’t great..it was PERFECT! While we don’t have as much snow on the ground as we did in 2011 the snow conditions on the trails are gorgeous. Yesterday we rode 130 miles with friends and most trail conditions were fabulous even though not all the trails had been groomed after the recent snow. The day was chilly to begin with – about 7 degrees – but the sky was blue and the sun was shining so we just cranked up the hand warmers and took off. We headed north out of Marcell on the Marcell Trail and picked up the Effie Connection in Bigfork. We were headed to the Junction Bar in Togo for lunch (we’re all about where we’ll eat lunch!) so we continued north to the Wilderness Willie Trail and then picked up the Circle T. The Junction Bar is on the Togo Spur off of the Circle T so it was about 69 miles from Marcell to Togo. Trails going out were good. We have gotten a couple of snows since the Wilie and Circle T have been groomed but both are gorgeous trails to ride. The Willie has lots of curves and we saw a ton of wolf tracks. After lunch we headed back to Marcell following the Circle L trail. While ungroomed it was a blast to ride! We then hooked up with the Herb Brandstrom trail headed back to Bigfork and then the Marcell trail back to Marcell. The Marcell Snowdrifters Snowmobile Club had been out grooming all day so the Herb Brandstrom and the Marcell trail had been groomed by the time we were heading for home. Overall conditions are pretty close to perfect so Itasca County is a great destination for that snowmobile trip you’ve been thinking about!

Life is busy at the resort right now with lots of ice fishermen and snowmobilers visiting Wildwood. We’re grateful to be busy because it makes our winter go quickly. It will be time for spring projects before we know it!

Until next time…

Kim & Jay

Ready…Set….Ride!

Last winter in Minnesota was a huge disappointment with its lack of snow.

minnesota winter cabins — The moon was setting over our cabins as I came back from dropping the girls at the bus stop. My camera didn’t do the beautiful scene justice!!

And after a freakish rain ruined our snow earlier this month we thought that this winter might be a repeat of last year. However, we got a lovely storm Monday night which dropped about 4 inches of snow at Wildwood and 8+ just to the north of us. The warm temperatures that accompanied the storm was also a nice surprise. After spending a week or more in the double digits below zero I can tell you that 14 degrees feels like summer!!

minnesota snowmobiling — One of our favorite stops while out snowmobiling area trails is the Scenic Pines restaurant!

We took advantage of the new snow and went snowmobiling a couple of times this week. Both days we headed northwest out of Marcell on the Marcell Trail to the Cameron Lake Trail to the Herb Brandstrom Trail. Last Saturday when we rode we had the girls with us so we didn’t get quite as far as we would have liked. It was fairly cold so we stopped to snack and warm up at Antler Lake Store (always a great stop for gas, snacks and a bathroom break) and then had lunch at Scenic Pines. The trails were so good that we decided to head back that way on our regular Tuesday trip to see if we could get a few more miles on and try out the Taconite Trail. We made it to Scenic Pines (again!) for lunch and then got just 15 miles or so up the Taconite before we had to turn around and head for home. The trails were ungroomed with 6-8 inches of fresh snow and I’m telling you it was the most fun we’ve had in a long time!! We met snowmobilers who had ridden farther north on the Circle L and Circle T Trails and they thought there was close to 12 inches in far northern Itasca County.

We just love snowmobiling the Taconite Trail and yesterday was a blast. Someday we’re going to ride the Taconite from our place up to Ely! The Marcell Trail is a little rough in spots but very rideable. The Cameron trail was also rough but the farther east we traveled the smoother the ride. The Herb Brandstrom trail was beautiful as was the Taconite. After the clubs get those trails groomed this week the riding is going to be fantastic! The Bushwacker Trail that runs just south of Bass Lake was groomed today and looks good. Maybe we’ll sneak in another ride yet this week just to check in out!

Our ice fishermen in last weekend did really well, too. They caught nice sunfish, northern and some bass. They found most of their fish in about 10 feet of water hanging out in the vegetation. Bass Lake is very accessible right now with good ice! There is plenty of ice for truck traffic but after the snowfall we received Monday access by snowmobile might be easiest.

The weather is supposed to turn cold again this week but it is winter after all! At least we won’t be losing any of our new snow to warm temps. We hope you have the chance to get out and enjoy this beautiful Minnesota winter!

Kim & Jay

minnesota winter weekends — The drive into the resort was beautiful, too!

Winter is a Wonder at Wildwood Resort

As I approach my middle age and experience the maturing of my body I think I recognize the source of Mother Nature’s erratic weather patterns: she’s is menopausal! Rain? In January? Did she forget where we live? This isn’t the rainy season. It’s supposed to be the SNOWY season! Mother Nature needs hormone therapy, STAT!!!

MN snowmobile weekends — Of all the miles we’ve ever ridden this is still my favorite stretch – near Scenic State Park, Itasca County Minnesota

Needless to say the rain that we experienced at the end of last week has pretty much ruined the snowmobile trails. We snowmobiled three times last week and even though we are too old for that (Ibuprofen, anyone?!) we are so happy that we did! More than an inch of rain fell on our area turning roads and low-lying areas into ponds. There was some hope on Friday that we might get a dumping of snow afterward but, no….it didn’t happen. Trail conditions were marginal before the rain so right now I would say leave the snowmobiles at home unless you plan to ride your sled out to to your ice house.

The good news is that we have got plenty of ice! Reports from guests last weekend indicated more than 12″ of ice on the south end of Bass Lake. Although I haven’t seen any trucks out on the ice as of yet I’m sure by the weekend we’ll see some bigger vehicles out Bass Lake.

It’s hard to believe that it’s already mid-January! The new year is moving just as quickly at the last one. There are many great events coming up in our area to help burn these long winter months. So grab your winter gear, get up here and head outside:

Info courtesy of VisitGrandRapids.com calendar of events.

January 19: 7th Annual Hockey Day MN on Lake Pokegama; outdoor hockey games played on Lake Pokegama; line-ups include for boys, Eagan vs. Hibbing & Benilde St. Margaret vs. Grand Rapids and girls, Hibbing vs. Grand Rapids; broadcast on Fox Sports North

January 19: John Anderson, 7:30p @ Reif Performing Arts Center.

January 19: Annual White Oak Dog Sled Winter Event @ White Oak Fur Post; 18-mile sprint race to Gosh Dam Place; free & open to the public

January19: Annual Driftskippers Snowmobile Club fundraiser @ Timberlake Lodge

January 22: The Gichigami Trio, 7:30p @ Reif Performing Arts Center.

January 24: Minnesota Twins’ 53rd Annual Winter Caravan, 5:30pm Doors open; 6pm Dinner; Twins personalities include: Brian Duensing, Chris Parmelee, Tom Brunansk and Dan Gladden; cost is $12/person; event held at Sawmill Inn; sponsored by KOZY/KMFY

January 25: Mountain Heart, 7:30p @ Reif Performing Arts Center.

January 26: Candy Cup#1 (2:30pm); cross country ski race for 4-14 years old; entry fee only $5; hosted by Mt.Itasca Nordic Ski Association (MINSA). For more info go to: www.MtItasca.com or call Petra C. at 218-999-5046.

January 26: Winter Frolic, 11a-2p @ Marcell Family Center. Indoor & outdoor activities, hayrides, crafts, games, and food. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Free Children First event. 218-332-3444

January 26: Annual “Numb your Bum” 5K run, 8a registration, 9a start time @ Firehall in Coleraine. $15 entry fee – Contact for more information: Mindy Thomsen-Tammi 218-256-1654 $15

January 26: Jenny Guyer Ice Fishing Tournament, 11a-3p @ Trout Lake, Coleraine. $5 entry fee. Concessions, raffle, silent & live auction items @ Coleraine Fire Hall.

January 27: MINSA Ski Clinic (1-3pm) at Mt. Itasca; Clinic is free with paid trail fee. For more info go to: www.MtItasca.com or call 218-999-5046

January 29-30: Seniors Bonspiel @ Itasca Curling Club – More info. (218) 999-5875

January 31: Annual 2nd Harvest Chef’s Gala event @ Timberlake Lodge

Have a great week!

Kim & Jay

Wildwood Resort snowmobile weekends — Ready to head for home after a little break to chat and stretch.

Baby It’s Cold Outside!

Minnesota winter getaway — The snow-flocked trees make the area picture perfect these days.

The weather has turned very winterish all of the sudden! Nighttime temps are dipping into the single digits and as crazy as it sounds we are happy about it. The other night I was running some things between cabins after dark. It was one of those winter nights when everything was still and since there was no moon the sky was just blanketed with stars. Somehow the crispness of the air brought all those stars into sharp focus It was the kind of night about which Christmas songs are written. It was a beautifully “Silent Night.” I had come “…Upon a Midnight Clear” or in this case an “8:00 p.m. clear.” (We’re too tired to see midnight anymore!) How is it that in just a few short months of summer I forget how absurdly beautiful a winter’s night can be?! Most people who prefer warm weather can’t imagine that there’s anything beautiful in a night like the one I described. But I’m here to tell you there is and I hope this holiday that you get to experience “chestnuts roasting on an open fire and Jack Frost nipping at your nose.” Winter has come to Wildwood and we are thrilled!

We did not get the amount of snow that those south of us received. We were initially disappointed with our measly 4 inches but really to have good conditions for snowmobiling and ice fishing in Minnesota we need good ice first. Too much snow before good ice means slushy conditions (at best) for the rest of the winter. Also I’m a bit of a ‘fraidy cat on my sled so I like knowing that before tons of snow fell there were many inches of ice on the lakes already! There are some permanent ice fishing houses showing up on Bass Lake this week and we’re guessing there must be around 6 inches of ice on the lake. Now it can snow….tons please….FEET even! Many Minnesota snowmobile clubs are busy beavers getting trails ready to ride so we’re hoping that by the time Christmas has come and gone we’ll be ready to hit the trails. Our phone is ringing with lots of calls from folks planning MN snowmobiling weekends or organizing their ice fishing trips to Wildwood so let the fur fly…or the white stuff in this case. We hope that whether you stay at a Minnesota family resort or if you decide to play close to home that you get out and enjoy the beautiful Minnesota winter!

MN winter resorts — The seasonal cabins are all settled in for a long winter’s nap.

With all that talk of snow and sleds and ice fishing gear some people might think that a visit to Grand Rapids is only about getting outside. For lots of people that is true. However, there is a very big contingent who pledge their loyalty to fireplaces and the warm and toasty feeling they get from one. There’s nothing wrong with that! Lots of people visit Wildwood in the winter and never leave the cabin. One year we had a group of ladies who spent a girlfriend getaway weekend in their jammies having a Wii bowling tournament. They had a ball! We have our fair share of groups who spent the weekend quilting or scrapbooking or getting massages in the cabin. That sounds pretty good, too, right?!

Maybe the most balanced winter visitors are those who like a little bit of fireplace time AND some “Jack Frost nipping at your nose” time. Our area has some amazing x-ski trails – 19 to be exact – which are groomed and lighted (some of them) and we have many groups who spend their weekends skiing during the day and playing cards at night. Some of our family groups play a crazy game of football/rugby/snowball fight out on the lake and then head inside for movies and popcorn. Still others take in a performance at The Reif Center and then dine out at an area restaurant.

It really doesn’t matter too much what you do….just get out and do it in Minnesota this winter. Tourism is the second largest industry in Minnesota after agriculture so consider it your civic duty to spend some fun-and-frolic time skiing, snowmobiling, ice fishing, shopping or relaxing this winter wherever you live.

See you out on the trails!
Kim & Jay

Bring on the Hard Water!

mn family resort — Jay is so smart. He’s figured out how to make the pontoons into covered wagons so the snow just slides off the pontoons.

minnesota pontoon rental — Jay had to let the air out of the tires on the trailer to get the pontoon in the shed.

This is one of my favorite times of our year. It’s not like “Top 5” favorite times of the year but it’s close…Top 10 for sure. It follows on the heels of my “Number 1 Least Favorite Time of the Year” which is fall. Love the weather, the colors and the guests. Just don’t love the back-to-school, clean-every-day, do-I-have-clean-sheets-for-the-cabins part of fall. Then at the very tail end of my Number 1 Least Favorite Time of the Year comes the “Really, Absolutely Worst Part of the Number 1 Least Favorite Time of the Year” and that is shutting down the resort. We’re tired and we need a rest after 5 solid months of 24/7 (or so it feels) and the last thing I really want to do is shut down the old cabins, stow the boats and pull the docks. While we are doing the work I realize that it’s never as bad as just anticipating doing the work. Thinking about doing the work is more exhausting than actually getting it done. Anyway, it took many weeks to get ready for winter but finally…whew!…we are here. We pulled docks on Friday and Saturday suffering only minor marital strife in the process. We had the usually hiccups and “what the heck!” moments but overall it’s a done deal. It can snow now without Jay having a major anxiety attack. We’re all(mostly) tucked in for the winter – our nuts are stowed, so to speak – and that’s what makes it a Top 10 time of year. We can finally rest! So now we say, “Bring it on Mother Nature and Old Man Winter!” We’re ready…mostly…pretty much. Okay – I just thought of something we didn’t get done yet. Maybe just a couple more days and then “Bring it On!”…

minnesota winter resort — The shoreline looks cold and lonely without the docks in the lake.

Our Winter Rates went into effect on November 1st and already we’ve had some fun girlfriend weekends that made me green with envy. I love sister-mom-aunt-grandma-girlfriend time. Once I read something in a book that has stuck with me. Basically the idea was that as moms we ‘pour’ ourselves out into our families and those we love but if we don’t take time to refill our pitchers we’ll end up empty. That’s what I always think of when we have ladies’ groups in for crafting or relaxing. Some groups get together to accomplish their scrap booking projects or to finish their quilts and still others just come together to rest. We had a group in over the last weekend that brought in a massage therapist and a chef. And another family group a couple of weeks ago that spent time watching and learning how their grandma made their favorite dish. My husband refills his pitcher with a fall fishing trip each year but I think I would rather go with a massage and girl-talk! Who’s with me?!?!

mn fihing resort — It’s hard to get down to Cabin 4 this time of year since the docks block the way.

I’ll be spending a day or so at the St. Paul Ice Fishing and Winter Sports Show that’s being held November 30th through December 2nd at the River Center in St. Paul. I’ll be there representing Visit Grand Rapids as well as Wildwood Resort talking about Grand Rapids as a destination for Minnesota ice fishing trips and Minnesota snowmobiling weekends. Stop by and say hi if you make it to the show.

That’s it for now! Oh…if you’re interested in how the docks come out of the lake visit our Facebook page to see some video.

Kim & Jay

mn fishing resort — Gotta remove the ramps before we can pull the docks out

pontoon rental — The newest pontoon gets indoor storage this year. However, it didn’t quite fit in the shed door. Oops…

Minnesota fishing resort — The docks are stored behind Cabin 4

Vroom! Vroom!

We awoke Thursday morning to a layer of snow covering the grass. It wasn’t frost, either. It was honest-to-goodness “but-it’s-only-October” snowfall! At first I wasn’t too happy. But as I headed into town to work that morning I changed my tune. While driving down our road I found myself scanning the ditch where the snowmobile trail comes off the lake. Let me tell you that a few minutes of anticipating snowmobiling flipped my frown up-side-down!! I’m trading in my swimming suit for the snowmobile gear – the hydrobikes for the sleds. Minnesota snowmobiling is the bright spot in our long winter so bring it on, Mother Nature!

mn fall color tours — One of our guests took this beautiful fall photo at the peak of colors

We have spent the last week scurrying around the resort trying to get things done before it gets much colder. We probably look a lot like the squirrels about now. (minus the bushy tails!) Whenever we’ve gotten any kind of break in the weather we have run outside to mulch leaves and strip the bedding in the older cabins. My wise resorter friends spend a lot of time cleaning in the fall before they shut down their winterized cabins. I know in the spring I would appreciate having less to do thanks to fall cleaning. But I just can’t find the energy to care much about the spring right now. So this year I’m just washing and bagging the bedding, removing any food and/or paper items to discourage critters from taking up residence and shutting the door. I’m always just a bit sad to put the girls to bed (that’s how I think of the original cabins) but I figure after 70+ years of sheltering guests at Wildwood they deserve their winters off. 🙂 So far Jay has the kayaks and beach chairs stowed for the winter and next he’ll blow out the water lines on the old cabins. That just leaves putting the boats away and pulling docks and I guess we’ll be ready for winter. I’m hoping for a nice and sunny 70 degree day for that last chore. Somehow I think I’m going to be disappointed!!

mn northern pike fishing — Kent caught this very nice northern last week

minnesota perch fishing — We had a lot of guests find some nice perch this fall

The fall fishing this year was not anything to brag about. Most of our friends with resorts said the same thing. We definitely had groups that did really well but overall the fish just weren’t jumping in the boats for our fishermen. We saw some nice perch which is encouraging. I think we see more perch in that 11″ range now than when we bought the resort in 1999. Several of our long-time guests have mentioned that “back in the day” the big perch were thick on Bass Lake. Hopefully the big fish we see in the fall these days means that population is recovering. We did see a couple of really nice, big northern a couple of weeks ago. I included a photo of one of them…

The fall colors this year were simply spectacular. One of our guests who was visiting during peak colors took some fabulous photos for us. Visit our Facebook page to get a look at them: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wildwood-Resort/129916920113?ref=hl.

Kim & Jay

bald eagles — Fall colors were a perfect backdrop to this photo of the eagles who live next door

Minnesota Fall Colors – Change is in the Air

No matter how hard it is to believe we’ve actually made the plunge into fall. It seems like just yesterday we were in our summer rhythm! Now we’re trying to find a new routine with cabins turning over almost every day. The girls are back in school but it’s still a struggle some days to remember to go get them. (!)

Minnesota Fall color tours — Is there a more beautiful time than fall to visit Wildwood?

The fall color season has officially began. I missed it, by the way. I was just commenting to someone yesterday that the tree I use as my “color meter” hadn’t even started to change yet. But then I actually looked at the tree and, guess what?! It’s changing. So much for my powers of observation! I’d say we are at about 25% color around these parts so if you are thinking of coming north for a fall color tour give us a call. I would say that we will be at peak fall colors in a week or two.

Fall fishing has been really good this month. We’ve seen nice bass, big walleye and (as always) big sunfish – lots to brag about in the fish house!!

I’ve done a poor job of updating this Blog with our summer happenings. It was a good summer in spite of the storm on July 2nd. We had lots of fun with our guests and enjoyed warm days, cool swims in Bass Lake and lots of s’mores by the campfire. I’ve included some photos from our summer to catch you up.

This Saturday, the 22nd, I’ll be in Bemidji at the Sanford Center for the Bemidji Pioneer Press Women’s Expo. I’ll be talking up Wildwood as a destination for quilting retreats, scrapbooking weekends or girlfriend getaways. If you happen to be in the neighborhood stop on in and say hi!

quilting retreat, scrapbooking retreat, girls' weekends — The winter months are a great time to plan a scrapbooking retreat, quilting weekend or girls weekend!

Enjoy those fall colors!

Kim & Jay

mn bass fishing — 3lb 8.5 oz largemouth bass

minnesota vacation — One of our favorite summer pasttimes is enjoying “our” resort kids as they grow…

supervised kids' activities — Face painting was a huge hit during kids’ activities

Supervised Kids' Activties — Our Activities Coordinator did a fantastic job with our supervised kids’ activities

family fishing vacation — We saw lots of nice panfish this summer!

minnesota family vacations — We enjoyed time with my parents and sisters this summer!

minnesota family resort — Cousins! Love the looks on their faces!

minnesota family vacation — A game of kickball, anyone??

minnesota resort vacation — Have we mentioned how much we love potluck night?!

minnesota walleye fishing — Mike had good reason to be proud of his nice walleye!

Blessings in Spades

mn resorts — From the Lodge looking at the lake

We had an interesting week at Wildwood July 4th week. On Monday night, July 2nd, we rode out a severe storm that rolled through northern Minnesota. We had finished potluck when we saw on radar that the storm was approaching. At that point it was west of Bemidji and, although it looked somewhat severe, we had no indication that it was anything out of the ordinary. We did our normal storm preparations (for which we have always been made fun of by our repeat guests!) and alerted everyone of the approaching storm. By the time we got finished with our storm prep chores and made it back to the house to check radar again the storm had grown into something truly scary. Intellicast.com was predicting 80 mph winds and hail. We had no sooner realized the severity of the storm and it was upon us. When the storm sirens in Cohasset went off we headed to the basement with the girls, my parents and visiting relatives. None of our guests had time to head to the storm shelter with us. The wind roared for what we guessed was about 20 minutes and when we felt like we could come up from the basement we were unable to go outside because the lightening was still too close.

Minnesota family resort vacation — Looking toward the south across the beach

We could see debris in front of the house and our hearts just sank. We had been praying the entire time we were in the basement that our cabins were able to withstand the winds in order to shelter our people and we were immediately freaked out by what we could see out the front window. We could see that trees were down everywhere but the seven cabins we could see from the house appeared to be fine. However, we can’t see Cabins 3 & 4 from the house so it was many nerve-wracking minutes later before we could confirm that all our guests were fine and, miraculously, all 9 cabins were intact. We gave thanks that everyone was OK and were relieved to find no serious damage – blessings in spades!!!

july 2 storm damage — The debris pile looking from the beach toward Red Pine & White Pine Lodges

Our blessings continued in the form of the guests and friends that showed up to help us clean up. Local friends lent us generators and a few came by with a skid steer and chainsaws and worked in the heat and humidity for hours to clear the resort of downed trees. Our guests that were here pitched in and helped us in a million little ways. From storm cleanup to lifting our spirits they helped us through a very stressful week! Even the smallest kids helped pick up sticks and remnants of beach chairs and by nightfall Tuesday night we had 5 generators powering refrigerators and fans in the cabins as well as the Lodge, lift station and well. The only broken window we had was on the Lodge and that was amazing. We lost most of the beach chairs, several grills, many beautiful trees and our incoming power source. The storm was so large that it caused a regional power outage with hundreds of miles of downed power lines stretching from Bemidji to Grand Rapids. We knew that we would not get power back quickly because not only did our power company have to get the power back on to the neighborhood but we felt like it would take additional time for them to repair damage on individual properties like ours. In the end we were out of power for 3 long days but we know now that we were so lucky. Not only was no one hurt but we suffered no extensive damage. Many other resorts and property owners in our area sustained massive damage in the storm and our neighbors to the south in Aitkin County are still out of their homes due to flooding from earlier in the summer.

MN Walleye fishing at Wildwood Resort — Nice mess of walleye!

On the positive side, the weather since that week has been very beautiful. Warm days and cool nights have provided the perfect backdrop to summer vacation in Minnesota. Fishing has been good and we’ve seen lots of walleye in the fish house in the last couple of weeks. We’ve also seen a lot of bluegill but haven’t had a lot of contest entries so far this summer.

MN bluegill fishing — Grandpa and his girls

In addition to fishing, swimming, boating and campfires there are lots of great things to do during your Minnesota Family Vacation at Wildwood Resort! This summer on Thursdays you can participate in Taconite Mine Tours at 1:00 p.m. at the MN Discovery Center in Chisholm. The bus leaves for the Hibbing Taconite Mine for a 2-hour tour where you can watch iron ore miners navigate 100-ton maintenance trucks, large drilling rigs & huge bulldozers. Cost is $5/person and children must be age 10 or older. Upcoming July events including the Mississippi Melodie Showboat July 19-21 and the 26-28, “Be a Lumberjack” children’s program at the Forest History Center July 20th and 21st, KAXE Mississippi River Festival on July 21st, and the Northern Cruisers Car Show and Northern MN Itasca Vintage Car Club Show & Swap meet July 28th & 29th. There are also free programs offered at Scenic State Park and the Edge of the Wilderness Discovery Center. Check out the area calendar of events provided by the Visit Grand Rapids organization for more things to do while in our area!

Are you following us on Facebook as well? We post lots of photos and videos (when we have them) on our Wildwood Resort Facebook page so don’t forget to stop by and “Like” us next time you log on.

Until next time…
Kim & Jay

Perch fishing — 12 oz sunny and a nice perch!

Sunset over Bass Lake at Wildwood Resort

big bluegill at wildwood resort — Nice 14.5 oz bluegill!

mn family vacation — In front of Cabin 1

Minnesota fishing vacation — The shoreline in front of Cabins 1, 2 & 3 took a beating!

Sunset — This was the sunset the night of the storm. It was breathtaking!

Mn family vacations — Look at that smile…Love it!! His 13 oz bluegill got him on the board!

Minnesota loon — Barb took this beautiful picture of a loon and was kind enough to share it with us!

Wildwood Resort Grand Rapids Minnesota — Bluegill for supper!

bass fishing at wildwood resort — Pat’s 3.5 lb bass got her on the board!

Minnesota Family Vacations in Full Swing

I guess that it is officially summer at our place. You could argue that it’s still late spring since the Summer Solstice is still a week away. Or you could argue that summer started really early since we had such an early spring. However, for us summer begins when our guests come back. We work hard for endless weeks through April and May and then all of the sudden it’s time to make the beds and throw out the Welcome Mat. We love it! So far we haven’t been disappointed, either. We got a lot of rain the week leading up to Memorial Weekend. In fact, the lake came up about 5 inches! In spite of that, the fishing was really good and the weather even cooperated for the most part. Last week was the first full week of “busy” and it felt good to have people back in the cabins. We smelled bacon cooking in the morning and campfire at night so it must be summer no matter what the calendar says!!

Minnesota fishing — This 1lb bluegil was caught on the 10th of June!

We’ve seen some nice fish so far. We saw our first 1 lb. sunfish yesterday. Those things always amaze me. It measured just over 11 inches long! We saw a big northern caught on the river and lots of nice walleye. Even the largemouth bass have been cooperating. Minnesota fishing at it’s finest!

We think Itasca County is a great place to plan your Minnesota summer vacation. There are lots of fun and interesting things to do! We have list of Area Attractions and Day Trips on our website. Forest History Center and Hill Annex Mine are both really great outings that are close to the resort. Once again this year our guests can visit the Children’s Discover Museum and Judy Garland Museum for free. It’s a great rainy day activity for the kids! You can visit their website at: http://cdmkids.org/. Visit Grand Rapids has a comprehensive list of things to do on their website so visit http://visitgrandrapids.com/vacations/calendar/april_may_june.html for a list of scheduled events.

We still have an opening left for next week – June 16 to the 23rd – wanna come see us? We’re offering Red Pine Lodge at the off-season rate of $1399 for the week for up to 8 people. Just visit www.wildwoodresort.net or call 888-328-5858 to make plans!

Hope to see you soon!

Kim & Jay

P.S. Before you transport your boat in Minnesota this summer be sure you know what the DNR will require of you. Their efforts to stop aquatic invasive species are ramped up so make sure you are compliant – otherwise you may face a fine! Visit the DNR website at: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/index_aquatic.html.