The entire Cascade Lodge staff recently bid farewell to an integral part of our team from spring to late fall. David was an outstanding cook who put in lots of hours and helped lead the restaurant to a successful season. We held a fantastic potluck dinner party last Tuesday night in honor of him and his wife Lek, who are moving back to Thailand soon to teach English. Thank you for all your hard work! The spread was amazing and somewhat Scandinavian with Swedish Meatballs, Pickled Herring, Seafood Enchiladas, Sweet N’ Sour Chicken, Spinach Dip, assorted breads, and even Sonja’s homemade Pumpkin Cheesecake!
Cold temperatures settled in over the weekend just in time for the Deer Season Opener. Many hunters reported great success including a nice pair of 8 & 10- pointers here at the resort. In fact the annual “Big Buck Contest” at Buck’s Hardware in Grand Marais has a youngster sitting atop the leader board. It is the young man’s first season hunting! It seems blaze orange is the hot fashion trend this season as bright colored clad visitors scurry to get some last minute hiking in. They are being treated to some roaring rivers and waterfalls and excellent vistas of Lake Superior now that all the leaves are gone.
Maintenance is super busy getting everything winterized, put away, and equipment readied in anticipation of winter. The removal of a large pine tree went sour the other day. In danger of falling on either the old owner’s home or the maintenance garage, it was determined that this dead tree needed to come down. It ended up coming down all right, but the large branches ended up knocking out our satellite TV dish and damaging part of the roof on the garage :( Oh well, I guess the damage could have been a lot worse. On a lighter note, Matt reported a moose sighting up along the ridgeline on his way into town the other day. However, the report was discredited after finding out his “moose” was actually a farmer’s rather large chocolate colored donkey!