Winter Break

We left on Christmas Day and headed northwest about 3 or so hours to a place near Eagle River.

We check into our lodge...

and this is the first thing we see inside...

whaaa?? Snoozing in the berry bushes, for real?

IF STARTLED in caps is really too much.

and the choice of the word snoozing is somehow very funny to me...along with reference to berry bushes.

kinda reminds me of when we went to the Grand Canyon and saw this little bit of signage...

Here's what they're reading...it says, "People die here..."

PEOPLE DIE HERE??

I don't know why we all thought this was amusing, but it was just so, ya know-blunt, I guess. I can see "berry bushes" and "startled bears" will be phrases added to our inside joke repertoire, of which, "Hey, people die here..." is already penciled in.

moving on....

we get here after driving for what seems like f o r e v e r , and I think James is lost for all of the meandering forest roads we are traveling.

But he is not lost.

Andrew cracks that at any moment the trees would part and we'd happen upon a huge parking lot, totally packed. A country club in the middle of nowhere. Which makes the second thing we see in the lodge even funnier;

This is the front cover of the 3-ring binder which holds all of the resort info. Makes Andrew's little joke all the better.

But the truth is.....the place is adorable and perfect. It truly is in the middle of nowhere, if by nowhere that means in the middle of Nicolet National Forest which is totally gorgeous, especially with trees heavy with new snow and a clubhouse that drips with huge icicles. Inside, it is rustic and traditional, yet decked out with the nicest of amenities.

The pool is like bath water, I love it!

The kids love it!

Racquetball, a favorite of mine, is becoming a family event. (we are looking forward to the second half of our week when our friends Becky and Tim come with (our) Maddie and their kids so we can stretch the net across the court and play wally ball.

Tonight we drove into Iron River and ate at a little restaurant called "The Depot" It consisted of a few rustic dining cars turned into, well....a diner. Appropriately so I guess, but the restoration was phenomenal, and the food terrific.

We've otherwise eaten here in the lodge, in between watching Footloose and The Sound of Music, swimming, skiing and nothing other than totally chillin.

playing backgammon....(on the ipad, I know. Lame(ish) but we didn't think to bring our own, and the game room has most every other game but this one).

and enjoying the views.