Lutsen

Chuck and I got a much needed vacation last week when we headed up to Lutsen for a few days of skiing with our good friends, Sandy and Ray. We left after school on Wednesday and drove all the way to Lutsen, arriving at about 10:30 pm. Fortunately, the roads were dry, but the wind was howling the whole way. Unfortunately, it was still blowing like crazy the next morning so our first day of skiing was spent hanging out at the resort and then driving up to Grand Marais. Back in the olden days, when we were totally driven to be the first ones out on the slopes (nothing like "fresh corduroy!"), we probably would have been out there in the -20 degree wind-chill, but we're pretty much over that!

After coffee and some shopping, we did venture out long enough to take a very short hike up to see the falls on the Cascade River.

My batteries died in my camera, so I only got a couple of pictures to prove we weren't total wimps!

We had dinner at Moguls, the newly remodeled restaurant at Caribou Highlands.

Dinner was great, but...

the view of the sunset over Moose Mountain out the restaurant window was even better!

After dinner, the wind died down (although the temp was still -5), so we decided to take a shuttle from the resort to the Okonto Ranch for a sleigh ride. The ranch is halfway up the Gunflint Trail, smack dab in the middle of nowhere.
Our wooden sleigh was pulled by two huge Belgian horses, 2000 pounds each! The trail was lit by 110 lanterns hanging from trees along the way, and it wound around a lake, across a stream, and through the woods. The air was crisp and clear, and the sky was filled with more stars than I have ever seen! It was gorgeous!

Needless to say, we were bundled up, and they gave us several quilts to keep us warm. We also had hot chocolate in an old Finnish log cabin afterwards.

Friday was a beautiful day, although still a bit chilly. No wind, though, so we hit the slopes and skiied all day. This is the top of Bull Run on Moose Mountain, one of my all-time favorite runs. That's Lake Superior in the far distance, and Superior National Golf Course at the bottom of the ski run.

Chuck and Ray stopped for a break.

And....here I am (see - I really can ski!). What a day! The snow was great, the temps were OK, no lift lines, and the legs still felt good!

After skiing, we hung out at Papa Charlie's for awhile, and then headed back to Grand Marais to a new restaurant called The Crooked Spoon, where we were entertained by a very mellow folk singer.

The next morning, we had our traditional last-day brunch at Bluefin Bay. This was the view from the restaurant window - beautiful!

We've been taking late-winter ski vacations to Lutsen for almost 30 years. I remember going even when I was 8 months pregnant with Jenna, although I didn't ski that year! The next year, when she was almost 1, she came along, and Chuck and I took turns skiing. We had to put her crib in the loft bathroom, with two legs in the bathtub, so she could have some peace, quiet, and darkness at night.

It's been fun watching the ski area expand and change over the years - there's nothing else like it in the Midwest!