Summer on America’s North Coast!

The weather is starting to warm nicely and all the fun woods & waters adventures have officially gotten underway! We have a full line-up of weekly summer activities laid out at the resort thru Labor Day Weekend. We have Bingo, Canoe Trips, Wildflower Walks, A.M. Nature Hikes, Disc Golf, The All-American BBQ, and Campfire Presentations with S’mores! The big 4^th of July weekend is coming up fast and everyone is very excited. It has kinda turned into a tradition where most of the staff runs into Grand Marais at dusk to watch the fireworks over the harbor with ice cream and hang out afterwards for a while. Alice is our new international student worker. She is a very smart, friendly girl from the Ukraine. She arrived about a week ago and is adjusting nicely to life in America! She would like to travel to Chicago and New York after fulfilling her work requirements. Say hi to her over in the restaurant, or out housekeeping. We may be getting two Russian boys coming up in July, but students are having problems with their visas this summer. We’ll keep our fingers crossed because it will be a busy season! In other staff news, Matt bought himself a new (used) boat! It’s a 16 foot Lund fishing boat with a 25hp Mercury outboard with all the bells and whistles. He is very excited and should be reeling em’ in soon. It’s pretty funny - Michael Jr. is mad because Matt’s new boat blows his out of the water! He is currently trying to convince Amanda to let him buy one too. Happy Independence Day to everyone out there and happy birthday to the great US of A!

Showers upon Showers

Lutsen and Grand Marais residents woke up to flooded creeks and rivers, washed out roads and debris everywhere last Thursday morning. The area received 5 inches of rain on Wednesday and Thursday, June 4th and 5th! Eight inches has fallen in the last week! Local creeks and rivers flooded their banks leading to closed county roads and sections of Highway 61. A tranquil Cascade Creek erupted overnight moving large boulders and hurling logs, branches, and part of an old foot bridge towards the mouth of the creek. Some of this debris got wedged under the bridge to the restaurant and had to be removed. The scene was eerily reminiscent to the “July 4th Storm of 1999” on a smaller scale. However, all this moisture is good for many reasons. Here’s just a few: The fire danger will be greatly reduced this summer…meaning we can have campfires and use our grills! Lake levels are on the rise…whereas last summer they were at historically low levels. There should be a long wildflower season followed by a bumper crop of raspberries and blueberries...satisfying both the peepers and the tummies!

Some of the staff went on a fun camping trip this last week to the End of the Gunflint Trail. They encountered moose, bald eagles, deer, and caught some dandy smallmouth bass- some in the 5lb. class range! The campsites sat right along white water rapids on the Seagull River. The party mentioned that they will be returning to the spot again sometime this summer. Here’s to an excellent summer for all, and hopes of getting some of that nice summer weather soon!