Snowstorm at Horseshoe

For those of you not privy to the FIFTH biggest snowstorm in Minneapolis history, here are a few pictures. We were, thankfully, stuck at the cabin with our first guests!

A Post-Thanksgiving Surprise!

So.... All of the planets aligned and we were able to close, bring a truckload of junk, and carpet the place all in the three days before Thanksgiving with the goal of surprising the kids that Friday.

WHEW!

We conned them into the car with promise of bagels and a road trip. Copying some friends of ours that go on "circle drives" to look at lakes, we austensibly wanted to see holiday decorations.

At some point, John realized that we had headed quite far in one direction and that it was, apparently, NOT a circle drive, and inquired as to my sense of direction and if I was lost.

We had a great weekend setting the place up and playing games and exploring (inside and out) and drinking cocoa. We're not planning on having television there, so that introduced some challenges for us (particularly at 6:30 a.m.), but in the long run, it'll be well worth it.

Ours! (and the bank's. . . )

We closed yesterday.

It was a whirlwind of logistics as we are trying to surprise the kids on Friday. We wanted to have a Uhaul full of stuff from our Minneapolis home and have it there for us on Friday so that we could move it in and actually have a place to sleep that night.

Oh, and get it re-carpeted in the mean time while it is empty.

I met Sheila up there with the truck and she followed behind having had to attend a meeting in the morning.

Without her, I took a wrong turn and ended up at someone else's place.

Oh and did I mention the ice storm?

Anyway, I must've been nervous because at the walk-through the sellers and their Realtor asked if I was okay.

Having never performed a walk-through before, I was definitely nervous.

But it went swell and we signed our life away and here it is! The cabin in winter.

Closing!

We're finally closing in a couple of weeks. . . !

If all goes as (logistically) planned, we will surprise the kids after Thanksgiving with a couple of nights away.

We can't wait!

In Underwriting

God, it's painful to get a loan these days.

We're in the deadzone of underwriting.

Will post more when we know more.

Considering Names

So, a friend of ours (I like to call her the Martha Brown of Minnesota -- for those of you who know and love Martha Brown, Martha Brown included, of course, the Minnesota-version lacks only the "East-Coast Edge") suggested naming the place "Lucky Lodge".

Previous readers will note the link to Horseshoe Lake, but locals will note that the nearest (not-so-cute) town is home to a casino.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Keep it clean,* Sheila's niece is looking at this blog! (Hi Carolyn!)


*One interloper suggested, for example, putting a "get" in front of Minnesota-Martha's suggestion.

The Inspection

I've never purchased anything more significant than a computer, so this whole mortgage/house thing is new and exciting to me. We headed out to the cabin today to go to the inspection and all went well!

Here are some photos of the lake from today (October 15th).

The seasons change fast up there. You can see that the leaves have nearly all fallen and the geese are on their way south.

First Edition of Horseshoe Times: October 11, 2010

Friends, family and countrymen. . . Welcome to The Horseshoe Times!

I've been enthralled with all-things-Minnesota since moving here in August of 2000 from hockey to 60-degree below nights in the winter, to backyard skating rinks to cabin-ownership.

So.... Last Saturday afternoon, Sheila and I came to an agreement with the sellers of a cute little cabin on the Horseshoe Lake in Northern Wisconsin, fulfilling our dream of being cabin owners.

This blog will chronicle our first year exploring cabin-life.

Enjoy a few pictures of this as-yet-unnamed addition to our family.

-Lisa

p.s. the kids don't know about it yet. . . We are going to surprise them. So don't give them a link to this blog. . . Yet!
p.p.s. No, the shack down by the lake is not an outhouse. It contains a little refrigerator (compensating for the kazillion stairs).