Stepping Back to Step Forward — A Weekend in the Woods
Life has a way of stacking up. Over the last couple of months we’ve been grinding hard — purchasing Adventure Cabins & Campground, renovating numerous properties, celebrating Alex getting ready for graduation, cheering on Corbin as he excels in Special Olympics swimming, MTU graduation, and the list goes on and on. It has been a full, fast, and incredibly rewarding season of life.
But sometimes — you just need to stop. Reset. Breathe.
That’s exactly what this weekend was.
We escaped to the woods and the river, surrounded by old friends and moving water. No phones buzzing off the table, no traffic humming in the background — just the sound of a river running high, a grouse drumming somewhere back in the timber, the crash of a deer bounding off through the brush, and the occasional holler of “Fish on!”
We were wading in search of Steelhead, and the river had other ideas — the water is STILL high and dirty — but the woods don’t care about conditions, and neither did we. We landed 3 brown trout, 1 small rainbow, and 1 decent Steelhead. Semi-successful by any measure, and completely successful in every way that mattered.
The highlight nobody planned for? A lone wolf, moving quietly along the bank ahead of us. We tracked its path, strained our eyes, listened — and never did lay eyes on it. Some things are better left as a reminder that you’re a guest out there.
Spring is strutting in the U.P. Grouse are drumming. The woods are waking up. And for a couple of days, so were we.
Good Company on the River
One of the best parts of a weekend like this is who you share it with. We had the pleasure of fishing alongside the owner of The Yooper Lodge — and he made the most of it. He pulled in a gorgeous, fat brown trout that was absolutely loaded with worms and eggs. That golden color, those red spots — it’s the kind of fish that reminds you why you wade through cold, high water in the first place.
If you haven’t checked out The Yooper Lodge, it’s worth a look. Good people, great taste in rivers.
Back to Work — and Back to What This Is All About
This week, we hit the ground running again. We’re starting to furnish both Adventure Cabin 1 and Thor’s Den, and Memorial Day is less than three weeks away. Summer travel season is officially upon us.
That means kayaks and rafts coming out of storage, hotdog and marshmallow sticks getting hung up by the fire rings, yards getting cleaned up, and everything coming together for a season we are genuinely excited about.
Memorial Day weekend. Graduation party season. The start of summer travel for families all across the Midwest. We’re ready.
Here’s to a great spring, an incredible summer ahead, and to the weekends in the woods that remind you exactly why you do any of this in the first place.
Cheers. 🎣
