Aqua Mania!

There are days when everything goes right, and then there are days when nothing seems to want to work.

We went up to the Dam Cabin this weekend with high expectations. It was the first time Andrew and Erin would see the palace. We were going to check out the work that Dan the builder had done so far. It was a very enjoyable, family weekend, with a few minor surprises.

There's a lot more snow up in Aitkin than we have in the Twin Cities. We took an extended tour of the estate, and there were spots on the hike where we were slogging through almost two feet of snow. Poor Louis had a difficult time! Andrew and Erin seemed to enjoy it.


We hauled a whole truck load of stuff up there. We got a nice chair and footstool from Deb at work - thank you Deb! - we brought up a TV and a DVD player, a couple of small tables, a kitchen table, our new countertop, and a very special present from Alaska.

Ever since we started looking for lake property I've been mouthing off about getting a moose head or deer head for the wall of whatever cabin we purchased. Every time Andrew writes to us about his friends who hunt, or the kids who take time off from school to stock the larder with moose steaks, or even the mere mention of the word moose, I respond with, "Don't forget to ask about the head!" It's a joke. I never expected to end up with an actual moose head. There was always the dream of finding some old moth-eaten trophy at a garage sale or thrift store. What I didn't expect was what Andrew and Erin gave me for Christmas. It's not a head, but it's still going to look SUPERB on the wall above our new fireplace! They brought down a set of real moose antlers in a big box on the plane with them. They announced they came from a moose named Mortimer, so that's what we'll call them.


Joining us on Saturday were Erin and Andrew's friends Katie, Katie, and Jess (I probably spelled their names wrong. I'm sure someone out there in cyberland will correct me!) It was fun to have company. We watched movies, played Trivial Pursuit, and talked about the good old days. Both Erin and Jess are expecting in 2009.

(Andrew, Erin, Jess, and Katie B.)

That's the good news. We also had one of those weekends when everything seemed to go wrong. At least everything that had to do with water. When we first got there on Friday night we noticed that there was no hot water. Somehow, sometime, the water heater had been turned off. I thought Dan had done it when he was working on the fireplace. He thought we'd done it to save on propane. I didn't want to try to relight it if there was an open gas line somewhere, so we didn't have any hot water until Dan came over on Saturday and helped us get it going. We also noticed that the kitchen sink was not draining. I took the trap off and cleaned it, but it still wouldn't drain. When Dan came over he tried snaking a wire down the drain, but that didn't help either. We bought some Draino, but that didn't do any good. Water would sit in the sinks and then eventually, slowly, drain down. After two days of trying to unplug that drain we noticed that there was water seeping up out of the kitchen floor boards. Where was that coming from? What could possibly go wrong next? We opened the dishwasher, and it was full of water. All of the standing water in the sink that we thought was slowly seeping down the drain was really flowing back into the dishwasher, and when it got too full it was overflowing down under the floorboards! So, now we have a plugged drain, and a flood under the floor. The wood laminate was glued down on top of an old linoleum floor, so that water's probably just sitting there trying to go somewhere.

Not much has leaked down and ruined the basement ceiling, but if we don't dry it up it'll just get icky and moldy under there. I don't know what we're going to do about that! We might have to pull up the whole kitchen floor and replace it. Dam Cabin!

At least we had hot water and the other drains were working, so we did the dishes in the laundry room sink. Everyone helped. It was a Chinese Dishwashing Drill from kitchen to laundry and back again.


This is our year to learn about all the highs and lows of cabin ownership, but couldn't we have a few more highs and not quite this low a low? More to come I'm sure! We're headed back in a few days to celebrate the New Year with some of Tyler's friends.

Merry Christmas!

We won't be able to go up to the Dam Cabin for a couple of days, and we can't wait to see what it looks like now that a lot of the remodeling is complete. The prodigal son and daughter-in-law will be joining us when we do go up. It'll be interesting to hear their thoughts on our new purchase.

We didn't do a lot of present unwrapping this year. It was mostly Merry Christmas, thanks for the new cabin! Happy Holidays, thanks for the Party Barge . . . thanks for the spiral staircase . . . thanks for the new carpeting, fireplace, flooring, countertop, paint, dishwasher, new brakes on the car, struts and tie-bars, etc. etc. etc. We are certainly doing our part to keep the economy going, at least this year!

I think we should decorate the cabin like this next year.



I envision crowds of snowmobilers sitting out on the lake watching the light show as the sound blares out over the ice into the still northwood air, then driving off to drink beer and schnapps at the Lakeview Bar. It would just be our way of adding to the spirit of the season. It's not gonna happen, but we can dream, can't we?

Happy Holidays!

To view more outrageous holiday light displays visit Listropolis.

December Update

We haven't visited the cabin in a couple of weeks, but Dan the Builder has been busy.

Since our last visit Dan reports that the stairwell is done. He put in a floor at the bottom of the landing, painted the walls, and added a light switch on the main floor as well as one in the lower level. As far as we know the railing isn't in yet, but it's been ordered.

The fireplace is in and working! We're very excited about that! We aren't sure if the surround is in place or the mantle, but that may be done by the time we go up next weekend.

The wood flooring is patched and the new carpet was installed last week. Dan said he had to fix some installation problems. Dar'll be talking with the carpet store this week. We're still trying to figure out what to do with the carpeting in the lower level. Right now there doesn't seem to be enough to put back down. Do we want to do a patch job with old carpet, or invest in something new?

The kitchen island is in place. We picked up the new counter top today and will bring it up on our next visit.

Dan finished the new closet in the bedroom downstairs and hopefully the lower level ceilings.

It's been cold and snowy all over the state. We got six inches over the weekend and the high temperature today was only zero. I'm sure it's just as cold and snowy up there. When we drive up next weekend it'll be our first chance to drive down the long driveway with more than an inch of snow on the ground. We hope the neighbor will have plowed it by then!

The kids are home from Alaska and are looking forward to checking out the new property with us. Tyler's also bringing some friends up to help us celebrate the new year in our new digs. That should be fun.

Happy Holidays everybody!

The stairs are gone!

Dan The Builder is busily working on the cabin. We drove up last weekend to delivery some flooring and the big staircase that used to occupy the middle of the room is now history. It really opens up the room! The fireplace is ready to be installed, and as soon as we buy some carpeting we can finish the floors. Our hope is to have all of that done by Christmas. If not, then at least the upstairs flooring in place and most of the dust and debris cleaned up!

Here's a few more before and after shots:


You probably already knew this, but if you click on the small pictures in our blog they will open up as a normal sized picture on a new page.

Remodeling

Let the wild rumpus begin!

Dan The Builder has started the transformation of our dear little Dam Cabin. The spiral staircase is in temporarily, and it looks great. We can hardly wait 'till the old stairway is gone and the room opens up. We also brought up a gas fireplace that Dan The Man is going to install for us. Our next jobs are to pick out paint colors and new carpeting. I'm lobbying for inexpensive remnants. By Christmas this caterpiller will have morphed into a beautiful living space.

Before and after photos:




The lake appears to be frozen over. I'm leery of walking out there yet. We did see a group of humans - kids or ice fisherpeople we weren't sure. They were too far out to tell - walking across the lake. I think once the ice houses are out it'll be safe. Tyler took a long walk back in the woods while Dan was here. I think skiing back along the creek this winter could be fun.

Last night we drove into Aitkin and went to the Rialto Theater to see our annual Thanksgiving weekend movie. This year we saw Bolt. We all enjoyed the movie and the theater. They don't make 'em like that anymore . . . the theater, not the movie. It was a venue in the old style; small screen, large room, lots of funky art deco lights and murals on the walls. No need to sit in the back of that theater, the middle rows were plenty far away from the action. They might want to think about replacing the seats some day though. Walking out of the theater after the show was kind of special. Exiting the front door onto main street small-town Americana. There was a light snowfall and the town was decked out for the holidays. Very nostalgic.

Experimental Slide Show

I'm experimenting with some sites at school. One I might try with kids allows them to make slideshows, so I made an example with pictures from the cabin. I'm going to see if I can post it here.

Hey, it looks like it works. Cool!
The only trouble with the site is the slideshows supposedly disappear after 30 days. So, it's the 25th of November today. Check back on Christmas Day to see if the pictures are still here!

Relaxation

First, a Louis update: He is fine. He takes his vitamin K pill every night, gets plenty of rest, and watches between meal snacks. He isn't, however, the dog with the iron stomach even though he can eat mouse poison and live to tell the tale. We tried disguising his pill with a little pork marengo, and that did not sit well. Forget the hydrogen pyroxide. Pork's the way to empty that pup's tummy!

This weekend at the cabin was finally a relaxing one. We met with Dan The Builder on Saturday afternoon. He's going to start on the remodeling this week. By the time we get back there the new circular staircase should be in and the old stairway may be gone.

It was a pleasant day and evening. We got some little projects done. I stuffed the drainpipe with rock salt. Don't ask. Dar put mothballs in the Party Barge to keep the mice out. No more poison bricks for Louis to feast on. We mostly just enjoyed the quiet and tranquility of our northwoods spa. Even the animals seemed to be relaxed this weekend.


Saturday night Dar sewed some merit badges onto Tyler's scout sash while we watched a Bollywood movie on my computer: Kaho Naa, Pyaar Hai with Hrithik Roshan and Amisha Patel. What a disappointment! There were a few laughs, but the music and choreography were not very good, and there was no chemistry between the leads. Don't add that one to your must-see Hindi film list!

We woke up this morning to a sprinkling of light snow. It was very nice. The snow was gently falling, no wind, the temperature was around 32, it was quiet and peaceful. The first thin sheets of ice were forming on the lake. We went out and took a long walk with the dog.




The roads were slippery coming home. I'm pretty sure the morning class at the Princeton School for Stupid Drivers had just let out when we drove through there. The road seemed full of people driving way too fast and way to recklessly for a snowy day. We saw one SUV almost lose it on a bridge, and a little farther down the road we had to slow down because the highway patrol was pulling a jeep out of the ditch that looked like it had rolled.

We got home safely and can't wait until we can get back to our little Dam Cabin!

Circular Staircase

Darlene tells me I write too much, so I'm just going to hit the highlights of this past weekend's trip to the Dam Cabin.

We spent the day Friday driving to Winona and back. Tyler is thinking of going to school there in a couple of years so we set up a campus tour. None of us had ever been to that University before, and I think we were all pretty impressed. It looks like a good school. I liked the setting, nestled in the river bluffs.

We got home from that long drive in the early evening. Well, not too early. It was after dark. I went to bed around ten. Tyler went over to pick up his friends that were going to help us move the staircase on Saturday morning. The next thing I remember was being jarred awake by Louis barking in my ear. It was 12:30. Ty and his friends had just rolled in. Dang! I was sleeping so soundly too!

The alarm went off at 5 on Saturday morning. We got everyone up, ate breakfast, and drove over to Gary's to pick up his SUV. We don't have a hitch on any of our vehicles so we were going to borrow a car and trailer for the day. It was snowing as we pulled up to Gary's house. He had just opened his garage. After swapping keys we headed over to Deb's to pick up the trailer.

We were on the road by 6:30 heading through the snow/rain mix to Lakeville to pick up the staircase. It only took me about 20 miles before I stopped looking back to see if the trailer was alright. I just wanted to make sure I didn't screw anything up!

Stairway Mike was waiting for us in Lakeville. He was in a hurry because he had a job to run off to, so we lifted the staircase onto the trailer, strapped it tight and took off for Aitkin. We didn't get too far up the freeway before I had to stop. It looked like the stairs were going to bounce right off the trailer! I got out, tied another strap on the front end and tried again. That seemed to help.

We got up to Rogers with no further problems and met Dar up there. Ty and his friends hopped into his car and Dar joined me in the SUV. Then it was off to Dam Lake. Actually, the trip up was very uneventful. There was no precipitation, and I stopped looking back to check the load every five seconds and came to the conclusion that if it was going to fall off it would have already, so I ignored it and enjoyed the ride.

We stopped in Malmo for gas. The station was full of trucks, cars, trailers, vans, and men in orange. It was the first day of Deer Hunting season: the annual struggle pitting man against beast! I'm happy to report that it appeared man was winning the battle. Many of the trailers we saw had deer carcases in them. We didn't see any deer walking around with dead hunters on their backs. A true sign of man's superiority in wiles and firepower!

One orange-clad warrior walked over to our trailer and asked, "Where'd ya get the staircase?" "On Craig's List," I explained. "Wanna sell it to me?" he asked. If I had been a more shrewd businessman I probably could have scored a quick couple of Benjamins, but I passed on the offer. My goal was to get that stairway to the cabin safely and get it into the basement.

Mission accomplished as we rolled up to the pole barn with our cast-iron helix still in one piece.


Our next goal was not as easy. Mike said he got the stairway out of his house by slowly rotating it through his doorway. We tried that twice. It didn't work. The only thing I can figure is our walls up there are 2x6 construction, and that extra two inches made the difference. We got close, but we just couldn't quite get that sucker in the door! We unscrewed it and carried it up to the pole barn. The consensus of the group seemed to be, let the carpenter figure out how to get it in the house!



Ty and his friends ate lunch and had a Jenga tournament -- well, Ty and Eric played one game, but I swear there was a tournament atmosphere! -- Eric won and remains the Dam Cabin Jenga Champion. Then they drove home.

Dar and I putzed around doing little odd jobs until Dan the Builder drove up. He is our carpenter of choice to do the remodeling for us. We're going to demolish the existing stairway, install the circular stairs, put in a gas fireplace and an island in the kitchen area. We talked over our plans with Dan and he gave us a quote. We went out to the pole barn to look over the stairs and Louis, the dog, came with us. As we were leaving I noticed Louis eating something on the floor. I pulled him away and saw the greenish crumbs of a cake of mouse poison.

OH MY GAWD! I'VE KILLED THE DOG!!

Dan left and Dar and I started frantically looking for a vet we could call that was within a hundred miles. It was about four in the afternnon so there weren't any clinics open. We did, finally, talk to an on-call vet who told us to make Louis vomit and then get some vitamin K from our regular vet. I raced into Aitkin and bought some Hydrogen Peroxide and a rubber syringe and raced back. I kept thinking of the scene in It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World where Sylvester is racing off to help his mother, tears streaming down his face, sobbing, "I'm comin' Momma! Your Sylvester's comin' Momma!" That was me racing back to the cabin, only without the tears and the sobbing.

We are such wimps. We tried to squirt the peroxide into Louis mouth but we weren't very successful. He was supposed to throw up the poison, but he never did. Then Paul the Builder showed up to give us his bid. I think we were pretty preoccupied with Louis and we kept trying to hurry Paul up a little.

He finally left and we decided we better get Louis to the emergency room. So we packed everything up and drove home. We were in a borrowed car with a borrowed trailer with a sick dog that we hoped would throw up. But not on Gary's leather interior! I put a blanket in a big plastic tub and put Louis inside. He didn't like it very much, but it was better than having to clean up an accident!

We got to the Golden Valley Pet Hospital around eight o'clock. Louis seemed fine. He didn't get sick in the tub. We had called ahead and they said they could see us right away. Two and a half hours later we saw a doctor. It was just like going to the ER at a hospital. I did that three times with my dad and once with Dar. You run in with an emergency and you sit there for hours! They should call it the "We know you're sick, but we'll get to you as soon as we can, so don't die before we call your name" room.

Dar was mad. She was barking and snarling louder than any of the other animals in there! In fairness, she was okay for the first two hours, but then she'd had enough. We hadn't eaten, we were worried about our dog. The doctor finally saw Louis. She explained that by then it was too late to induce any purging. He was most likely going to be just fine. We had to make sure we gave him Vitamin K every day for the course of a prescription she'd give us, keep an eye on him for the next few days and if he had any visible signs of bleeding to take him to our regular vet, and make sure he didn't eat any more mouse poison.

That made both of us mad. We sat for three hours so you could tell us he's okay and to give us some pills? Ooohhh, Louis and I both wanted to bite her!

We dropped off the trailer in the dark and finally got home just before Midnight.

It was a long, eventful weekend, and we were all glad it was over!

So far Louis seems okay, but we'll keep you informed.

For The Record

Just for the record. It snowed up at the lake this morning. I don't think it'll amount to anything. It was just really windy and blustery, but there were flakes in the air as we were leaving. In fact, it got worse as we got closer to Hamel.

Mark it down in the Dam almanac: bare trees and first snowfall, October 26, 2008.

Weekend two

It’s only been a week since we closed on the Dam Cabin. It seems much longer. We drove up on Friday night in the rain. It’s a much easier and enjoyable drive during the day. I’m sure that once we’re used to the roads it’ll be better. It takes about two hours to get here from our house in the Twin Cities. We’re feeling more and more at home each time we come up and stay. We both think it was a good decision on our part to buy this particular lake home. It seems comfortable and warm.

Saturday was a windy day on Dam Lake. I got up early and took Louis, the dog, out. We’re trying to let him run more up here than we do in the cities. Down there he takes off and runs all over the neighborhood. This morning he ran around the yard a little bit and then took off down the road. I watched him as he sniffed his way down the dirt path. It occurred to me that he was following some trail of scent and would probably never find his way back. I don’t think he knows this is his home yet, so I followed him, picked him up about a quarter mile down the road and carried him back.

Louis is having the hardest time adjusting to the new digs. For some reason he’s afraid of the hard kitchen flooring. We don’t know why. It’s darker than our kitchen floor at home, but the same color as the neighbor’s where he spends time while we’re away on trips. It’s slippery, but not any more than anywhere else he’s been. We can’t figure it out, but he hides in the bedroom and shakes when we try to get him to walk out from that carpeted room onto the harder kitchen floor.

We drove into Aitkin Saturday morning and ran some errands. We stopped by the library and signed up for library cards. We visited the thrift store and bought a step stool. We also ate lunch at the Birchwood Café. The food was good, the prices were reasonable, and there was a lot of local color. I think we’d eat there again.

From the “What were they thinking” file: What were they thinking when they put in the kitchen cabinets in this cabin? They are about 10 feet tall. Even I, at 6’ 3”, can’t reach the top shelves. We had to buy a step stool so we could make use of the cupboard space.

From the “What were they thinking” file part two: What were they thinking when they drew the floor plans for this place? They put the staircase right in the middle of the main room. It takes up almost a third of the square footage of the room. We’re going to remodel and take out those stairs. Dar’s been looking on Craig’s List for a circular staircase and finally found one in Lakeview. We’ve agreed to buy it for $800. Now we just have to figure out how and where to put it. But that’s a discussion for another time.

We met another neighbor this afternoon. Diane was walking her dog Jessie and she stopped by to introduce herself. We were outside cleaning up some leaf piles and flower beds.

Speaking of wildlife, as I was walking Louis this morning a large Bald Eagle flew overhead and down the lake shore. We walked up the road late this afternoon and saw another Bald Eagle flying by. They’re always fun to see. The only other wildlife we’ve seen are the hoards of Asian Beetles in our kitchen. At one point Dar got six of the little buggers in a row. I know we didn’t get them all, but we haven’t seen any tonight.

We won’t be able to come up next weekend because of Halloween and other party invitations, but we will be coming up the following week. We need to pick up the spiral stairway and figure out not only how to get it up here, but how to get it into the house. It’s over ten feet long, five feet in diameter, and weighs about 300 pounds. That should be an adventure!

Sad news: Our free Wifi is gone. Whichever neighbor had the strong signal must have turned their router off for the season.

Day Two

Day Two at Our Dam Cabin!

Musings:

Wildlife. We haven't seen any yet. Even Jessie the dog has been noticeably absent. Jessie belongs to the neighbors at the end of our road. She's a very friendly golden lab who, according to the previous owners, is always hanging around the house. Haven't seen her since we came up in September to look at the cabin one last time before making our offer. Haven't seen a squirrel, a rabbit, a deer. I have seen some birds, but not many. Maybe it's the wind. The wind was howling in from the South all day today.

We heard stories about the abundant wildlife in these here parts, but so far they've been unfounded. Right after we closed on the property we all went to lunch together, and as we were sitting there Al and Betty, the former owners, started talking about the wildlife. "Oh ya, there's always deer in the yard eating my hostas, and there's skunks and racoons around, and wolves." "Wolves!" Darlene's eyes got as big as saucers. "There's wolves around here?" I think that kind of amused the locals. "Oh sure," they all said, "But they're more afraid of you. You can watch 'em on the road and then they just wander back into the woods." "But," said Dar, "what do you do?" "Oh," they said superciliously, "you just don't go outside until they're gone." They probably thought we were a couple of real bafoons; a couple of real citified ignorami. They might be right! I didn't think wolves' territory was this far south. That would be a cool thing to see!

Docks. As the day of closing drew near, both Ty and I were worried about having to take the dock out. We were told it wasn't a big deal, and I'm sure it's not. The thing's on wheels, and the lake bottom is hard sand. But it was just going to be the two of us, and we were going to have to do it by hand. We don't have an ATV or a vehicle with a winch. I imagined we were going to have to go into the water to separate the two sections and pull them out by hand. And I knew the October air and water temperatures would be freezing. That did not sound like fun! When we drove up Thursday morning the first thing we saw was the dock sitting out on the lawn. I don't know about Ty, but I let out a small little sigh of relief. We won't have to worry about that until next spring. I figure we can round up a few extra helpers by then.

Boats. Tom-the-Realtor called us a few weeks ago and said that he had found us a pontoon boat for sale. He had looked it over and thought it was a good deal. We were supposed to call his friend 'Rocky' who owns a marina near here. I thought that maybe he was going to make us an offer we couldn't refuse! He sent us some pictures, and it looked okay for the price. It was an older model, but it looked in good shape. We talked it over and decided to go ahead and buy it. Rocky said he'd bring it up and put it in our pole barn for us. The next day Dar says, "A tree fell on the pontoon." "What?" I said. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Rocky said that a tree fell on the pontoon, and it dented in one of the railings. That's why it's for sale." "Oh," I said, "that's good to know." Turns out it's not as bad as it sounds. You can't open one of the gates all the way, but it's structurally sound. Anyway, they brought it out on Thursday afternoon and put it in the barn. Only, it's not what I'd call a normal pontoon boat. This thing is like the Queen Elizabeth II or the Titanic (Oh I hope not!) It's huge! I told Dar and Ty that it would be a misnomer to call it a pontoon boat. So we now refer to it as the 'Party Barge!' That thing barely fits in the pole barn. It has like a 6 thousand horse power engine on it. I'm pretty sure if we welded on some fins, it would hydro-foil across the lake. It's humungous! I'm sure our neighbors are going to be whispering behind our backs next summer about the new people on the lake with the huge yacht -- making innuendos about size and compensation -- I told Ty we should paint it pink and put a Party Barge sign on it. It might be a good way for him to meet girls. If you come and visit us there's going to be plenty of room, that's for darn sure!

Wildlife redux. We went across the lake (by car, not by Party Barge) and ate at the Lake View restaurant on the other side of Dam Lake tonight. The first thing we noticed was the Happy Hour sign: M-F 3-6 pm, Saturday 10:30-12:00 am. Darn. We missed happy hour by seven hours! That must be a misprint I said. So Dar asked the bartendress. "Yup," she says, "people come in before they go out fishin' in the mornin' or after they get done fishin'." What exactly are we promoting here? Welcome to the great "It's Never Too Early For A Beer" North Woods! Then we went into the dining room. There was one other group in there. They were dressed like they might have been fishing, or hunting, or motorcycle touring. Motorcycle touring is not very accurate. They looked like they were part of Marlon Brando's motorcycle gang in 'The Wild One'! No, that's not quite right either. They looked like banjo players from 'Deliverance' would look if they could ride motorcycles. And they were loud, and they were staggering to and from the buffet table, and I turned to Ty and said, "Let's not go out on the road 'til long after they're gone." I'm not sure what was a scarier thought: that group in a boat throwing fish hooks around, that group walking around with guns looking for animals to kill, or that group riding bikes down a public highway.

Names. I've been thinking about the name of this blog: Our Dam Cabin. Maybe it should be something more, oh I don't know, Laura Engels Wilderish like, 'Little Cabin on the Dam Lake' or 'Little Dam Cabin on the Dam Lake.' I don't know. Work in progress I guess.

Neighbors. We have great neighbors. We haven't even met them yet, but I know they're great. Ty brought my laptop up here Thursday to work on a paper for school and discovered that we can pick up a wifi signal from somewhere. We can actually pick up three separate signals. One is locked, but two are available. The signal isn't strong, and it comes and goes, but it's there. We can't get a cell-phone signal, but we can get online and blog. Thanks neighbors!



Louis, ready for his first boat ride!

Tonight is the first night in Our Dam Cabin.

This is the view from our deck.

We hope the name won't be a mantra for the days, months, and years ahead. You know. "Our Dam Cabin is so expensive!" or "Our Dam Cabin is so much work!" or "Our Dam Cabin!" That last one just a blanket expletive yelled out in angst.

We call it Our Dam Cabin because number one, it is now officially ours. We spent the morning doing a last walk-through with the owners, trying to figure out why the lower level bathroom had a puddle of water in it. Explaining to Tom-The-Realtor that yes, I brought some tools up with me, but no, I was not handy enough to turn off the water, take the toilet off, put a new wax ring on it, and get it all put back together without something else much worse happened to the plumbing. I didn't mention it, but I had visions of the time I tried to change the hoses on the washing machine, broke the copper tubing and had an impromptu facial shower of boiling water. Luckily I am handy enough to know where the shut-off valve is. No, Tom, I don't think I'll handle that job. Let's call in an expert handyman instead.

We spent the rest of the morning signing papers. "Initial here, here, and here, and sign here and here." "This is an exact copy of the papers we signed earlier, but I always like to have a spare copy just in case." "Shake your hands out and the cramping should go away."

Then, we handed over the big cashier's check and it was done. The Dam Cabin was ours. Now what were we going to do?

We call it Our Dam Cabin because it's ours, but also because it's a cabin on Dam Lake. Dam Lake is about 12 miles East of Aitkin, MN. If you try to find it on Google Maps or Google Earth we are on the Northwest corner of the lake. I can't tell you much about the lake except it was so named because at one time there was a natural rock dam at one end, it's about 48 feet deep in the middle, has some good fishing according to the locals, and it's now our Dam Lake. Well, we live on the Dam Lake anyway.

Tonight we're going to spend the night sleeping on luxurious air mattresses. Tomorrow we're going to drive over to Duluth to visit the UMD campus with Tyler. Then we'll be driving home to pick up more furniture to bring back up to the Dam Cabin. Luckily gas is down to about $2.60 a gallon.

We are excited about being here and the prospects of actually owning our own Dam Cabin!



View from the West

View from the East

First night on the deck overlooking Dam Lake.

More to come . . .