Dear Minnesota Winter: I Think You Forgot to Check the Calendar

 

Minnesota winter recreation
The girls FINALLY have some snow to roll around in!

Well, I doubt we were the only ones shocked by this week’s crazy weather.  Just as we had given up on Minnesota snowmobiling and started thinking of Minnesota family resort vacations Mother Nature let us have it.  It’s beautiful around Wildwood right now.  The trees are flocked and all that brown grass has finally been covered up.  We have about a foot on the ground and the Bushwacker snowmobile trail that runs just south of Bass Lake has been groomed for the first time this winter.  Jay and I are frustrated today because we’d love to hit the trails ourselves but we are busy with our part-time jobs and getting ready for the ice fishermen coming in this weekend!  Maybe we’ll get the sleds out tonight…for just a quick little jaunt.  That MIGHT hold us over until Saturday when we can head out for the day.  We hope you have the chance to hit the trails this weekend as well.  Feel free to plan a March stay with us if you don’t have enough snow where you are – we would love to have you!

Ice fishing on Bass Lake has continued to be really good.  Access is slightly more difficult with the deep, wet snow we got this week so we haven’t seen any truck or 4-wheeler traffic out there.  However, word on the ice is that the bluegill bite is good.  Stay tuned….

Minnesota family resorts support post labor day school start
Senator Saxhaug listening to our concerns.

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday this week down in Minneapolis at the Capitol for the Congress of Minnesota Resorts Day on the Hill.  We spent two days (in a blizzard) meeting with Representatives and Senators sharing our message about the importance of tourism in Minnesota and our concerns over the issues that negatively impact Minnesota family resorts like ours.  It was interesting to watch government at work and more than one legislator told us how important it is to take time to communicate our concerns in person or via email.  Some of our fellow resorters took their kids and it was fun to see those young, resorters-in-training in action!  Oh – and we stayed at Hotel340 in downtown St. Paul and ate at All-American Burger while there.  Both were awesome experiences!!

Minnesota winter recreation
Jay at work clearing the resort (and getting ready to play pulling the girls on sleds…)

We hope your week is going well and that you get out and enjoy winter now that it’s finally here!
Kim & Jay

Minnesota Capitol Senate Chambers
Minnesota state Capitol Senate Chambers – absolutely beautiful!

Minnesota Ice Fishing at Wildwood Resort

Minnesota snowmobiling
Our only day out on our snowmobiles this season was a beautiful one!

Hello everyone!  I feel like I’ve been away a long time.  I certainly haven’t blogged in the last few months as I intended mostly because this winter has not turned out as expected.  I really thought I would be posting weekly MN snowmobiling reports but that’s what I get for thinking!  Our snowfall has been skimpy and, as a result, snow conditions around us have been poor.  In fact the Bushwacker Snowmobile Trail that runs just south of the resort was never groomed this year.  Not enough snow!  (Boo Hiss!!)  However, we did manage to get in one good ride.  At the end of January we trailered up to our friends house on North Star Lake and snowmobiled from there.  They had about 8 more inches of snow than we did!  It was a long day – we rode as long as we possibly could – and we saw trail conditions from good to terrible.  But still – we can say we rode and that means a lot during a winter like this one.

minnesota ice fishing
What a beautiful fish! Photo courtesy of some of our wonderful ice fishing guests.

While snowmobiling options have been limited this year the ice fishing opportunities abound!  Low snow means that the lake is very accessible by vehicle so we’ve seen everything from mini-vans to Gators out there!  (For some reason mini-vans out on the ice crack me up.)   Early accounts reported the sunfish in the shallows since the lack of snow means the vegetation didn’t die off as it normally does.  However, fishermen in this weekend caught their sunnies in 18 feet of water.  Overall fishing has been good and our ice fishermen this season have generally caught their limits.  Jay has dumped a steady amount of fish guts every weekend that we’ve had guests.  It keeps him out of trouble!

We are really looking forward to the summer season already!  This time of year it’s really fun to answer the phone and talk about Minnesota family vacations.  Makes me think of summer days on our sandy beach even though I’m looking out the window on a winter scene.  I’m ready for s’mores by the fire, potlucks on Monday nights, fun works-of-art created during our kids’ activities and checking in and catching up with our guests.  Our summer has booked up nicely but there are still some prime summer weeks open.  If you haven’t planned your summer vacation at this point we would love for you to consider a visit to Wildwood!

I say “Bring on Summer!”  Until next time…

Kim (& Jay, of course)

Wildwood Resort ice fishing
What a cool photo of a bluegill in the “tube.” Again – photo courtesy of guests.