What a winter we have had so far and
to think most of the cold weather so far was actually in the Fall! Oh well, it
is slowly getting warmer - that is, above zero for more than a day at a time-
and the Northland is gorgeous! Ron and Billy the Dog have been running
everyday, well sometimes Ron sits in the truck listening to the news while
Billy runs circles around it and I am a fair weather friend who watches
HGTV at home while they are out freezing their toochies off!
We do have a couple of favorite
trails we like to hike/snowshoe. One is right on the edge of town at Itasca
Community College. There is an old growth pine forest planted behind the
experiment station at the back of the college. It is beautiful - most of the
plantation is around 75-100 years old and you feel very far away and peaceful in
there. The snow hanging on the trees....ahhh.
The other trail is the John RoweMemorial Forest Trail about 10 minutes northeast of town. It is a mix of pines,
balsam and hardwoods and we love it all year round. In the fall it was ablaze
in orange and red from the maples and birch. The trail is nice and wide and you
may even see the occasional critter- deer, coyote, mink.
We have soooo many trails here that
we love, those are just two.
A highlight this winter for us was
the hosting of our first guest wedding! It was supposed to be an outdoor ice
candle, tree lights, bonfire-lit wedding but with actual temps in the teens
below zero made it quickly become an indoor candlelight ceremony in front of the
fireplace. Still beautiful! Congratulations to Mike and Jess! Hopefully I will
have some pictures for you in the near future.
In the next couple of months I hope
to be blogging from the southern regions of the US. We are leaving for a 2
month trip in the motorhome currently waiting for us in Hot Springs, Arkansas
and headed to Louisiana, over to Florida (to do some seashell hunting, of
course), up to the Charleston area and back home. We have our wonderful
inn sitters lined up to take great care of everyone, so head up here to cross country ski,
snowshoe (we have 2 extra pair) or take in a wonderful performance at the ReifArts Center. Check out our Theatre Package on Visit Grand Rapids for
ticket/room package discounts! This will be the first time we have ever been
away from home this long and I know I will miss you all terribly, but I will
try to have fun anyway!
Happy Winter!
Karen
Karen