Nancy's Cabin

My friend Nancy invited me to come to her cabin last week. Her parents bought this land in 1959 and Nancy has told me about ever since I have known her. This was my first invitation, and I was really excited to see it.

After visiting Pine Haven Christian Assembly, we drove to Park Rapids and ate at Summerhill Farm, just north of the city. They had a lovely outdoor seating area. Here's Nancy with her lunch.

Entrance to Nancy's property

This is a big meadow. Just beyond it are red pine trees. Nancy had 35,000 of these trees planted 6 years ago.

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I love this shot of Nancy standing among her the trees in one of her woods.

The drive to Nancy's cabin is really long. I didn't ask her just how far it is. 

Inside the pole barn. This building was a big part of the nursery business she and her father ran. Nancy is standing on the back of the big John Deere tractor. She's been working to clean out this building and I thought it looked great!

A beautiful, little waterfall, gurgling from her lake, which they named Rose Lake. This water flows to a little creek.

Nancy's cabin

The kitchen. Nancy recently remodeled this room with granite counter tops, new backsplash, and new appliances.

Living room with new carpet

I love this fireplace. There is no shortage of birch wood!

Putting on her shoes to join me in the front yard

Beautiful Rose Lake. This is a 50 acre lake. There is a bit of wild rice growing along the shoreline. 

Lone Canada Goose. I watched this goose for quite awhile. It seemed to enjoy snacking on the wild rice. Later I spotted about 30 Canada Geese in one of the bays. When they decided to make a move, they swam in single file to another part of the lake. 

Nancy in some of the tall grasses

Later in the afternoon we took off for Itasca State Park, which is only 7 miles from Nancy's property. Here we are walking on the pathway that leads to the start of the Mississippi River.

 I don't know how long this post has stood here, but I believe it was here when I was in 6th grade. It was so nice to see how nice the park is kept, in spite of the big wind storm that blew through the park early in the morning of July 21—the same storm that hit Ely when Peder's family and my cousin Linda were at a resort on Burntside Lake and Janet, Pat and I were in a hotel in Ely.

Nancy and I had a delicious dinner at the Douglas Lodge within Itasca State Park. The table was set with the beautiful, scalloped place mat shown below. The flower is the Lady's Slipper, Minnesota's state flower. If you double click any photo, you'll see it enlarged. The placemat boasts of the state park's 125th anniversary year. 

Notice the log over the pathway? It should not be there. It is one of the many, many trees that fell in that terrible July 21st storm. Our waitress told us the state law allows fallen trees to be removed from the roadways, but if they are not interfering with the road, they must remain where they fell due to nature. There were parts of the park that looked like a war zone—especially at East Entrance.

The next morning we drove back to Nancy's cabin to check on a few things. This part of her land has been named Norway Pine Point. Apparently, years ago, one of the friends became lost during a winter storm. He wandered around and when he came to a familiar Norway Pine tree on a point of land, he knew where he was and could walk back to the cabin. Thus, the name Norway Pine Point.

Nancy grew up on this land and it was obvious to me just how much she loves it. 

The front view of the cabin

Paul Bunyan and his baby crib in Akeley, Minnesota, home of my dear, dear friend, Lil.