Settling In

I'm no stranger to the North Shore of Minnesota and the many types of activities it has to offer. However, having a place to stay has opened more opportunities that I have not yet scratched the surface of. Having an adventure TO-DO list is a good thing.  As we are settling in to our retreat (as revealed in the previous post ) we're feeling more at home with each night's stay. Over the past couple months the family and I have been doing our best to get after it. Labor Day weekend was our first long stay and we definitely played. Typically before the kids go back to school I take them on a summer vacation "last hurrah". Unlike the last two years, we didn't have to deal with the typical reservation nightmare, we just drove up, unlocked the door and were ready for action. The boys and I, as well as my dad, had two days before Lynn and my mom showed up for the full three day  weekend. During that time we hiked, hit our favorite swimming hole, did some mountain biking, and a little work around the house (new water heater). For the remainder of the weekend we took a drive up to Grand Marais , played in river, rode single track, rode gravel, took some four wheeler rides and did a little fishing. A week later I was back up on the shore with a bunch of folks for the gravel conspiracy. This was just an overnight pit stop but beat the hell out of staying in a tent after riding 100 miles of rugged gravel. Several weeks later the family was back up for one of the final weekends at Spirit Mountain's lift served downhill MTB runs in Duluth. The next day we spent the morning relaxing before doing a long hike and enjoying the fall colors before returning home.......    

Fun House

First steps into the house

Every once in a while, really exciting things happen...... This past July my wife and I bought a second home. Before you go calling me a rich prick or some sort of a snob I'd like to dispel that by saying we are far from rich. The house we bought was about the same as buying a new pick up truck. The whole process was a little nerve wracking but super exciting.

I could say something funny here about women and kitchens but I'm not that stupid

The boys claimed this building and painted it a color a little more to their liking . They call it "The Hut" 

 It all started with a trip up north over memorial weekend. We were in Crosby riding the fantastic trails of Cuyuna when.........I picked up one of those real-estate flyers at a local restaurant. Usually these are full of cabins and lake homes priced in the hundreds of thousands and even into the millions. To my shock there were houses right in the city as low as  $12,000 , this got me thinking. Crosby is great and all but the place I feel the most at home is the North Shore. As far as the North Shore goes the real estate is completely untouchable for someone like me and my family.......except for 1 small town.

Our favorite swimming hole 

Hike to the Baptism river  high falls

 One night while Lynn was out of town, (at some running thing called RAGNAR) I began searching real estate websites. They are very helpful......by the end of the night I had monthly payments, taxes, and the down payment figured out, as well as 4 properties I wanted to see. With all of my info written out as well as the website and selected homes book marked, I pleaded my case. Lynn looked it all over and said "sure".....as simple as that we moved forward. The next day I contacted a realtor and my good friend Paul at Single Track Mortgage and the ball was rolling. By that weekend (fathers day) we made the trip north, spent a couple hours with the realtor and decided to put a bid on the last house we looked at. July 31 we moved in, It happened so fast I still have to pinch myself.

 As far as the house goes, we have no lake shore, no woods, no property other than a city lot, and not a lot of privacy. What we do have is..... Really good neighbors, a small lawn to mow, no lake shore taxes, massive amounts of public land right out the front door, miles of gravel riding, four-wheeler trails, the Gitchy Gammi bicycle trail 90 seconds (ride time) away, the Superior Hiking Trail 6 min (walk), a half dozen state parks within 5 minutes to 90 minutes (drive) , Lake Superior boat launch and picnic ground 5 minutes (drive or 4 wheeler), opportunities to mountain bike and rock climb nearby, and best of all, we will never have to get a fucking reservation to camp at a north shore state park. The last one was the real motivator for the whole thing

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In the pic is jonlivesoutside our first official guess whom I just met at the Heck Epic that weekend ....good guy, would have him back anytime 

 The parks are so crowded now it's pretty much impossible to stay over night on a weekend at a camp ground unless you book 6 months or more in advance or show up for a first come first serve site on Wednesday morning. That's fine if you have lots of 5 day weekends at your disposal or you only get out once a year. I like to go north a lot and have found camping on a whim doesn't work. Especially now that a whim doesn't mean "hey, it's Monday lets go camping this weekend" it's more like "hey it's July, lets go camping when the leaves turn in October,,, oh fuck the camp sites are all full, maybe next year".

Christmas card photo ?

 

a little ride on the Gitchi-Gami trail 

 I only mention camping here because that's how we usually roll. I don't like sleeping in beds that aren't my own and I'm too cheap to pay an extravagant amount of money to stay in a room on the north shore. The act of camping, while fun most of the time, is just a means to an end. I camp so I can be close to the stuff I really want to do, the house affords me that luxury and I am grateful for that.

D. Rider.......................out