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.