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September 1, 2003
Labor Day weekend, Dan and I both took Friday off and went to his family’s lake cabin. We were really up in the air about the timing, since the finalization of the house closing date didn’t happen until Wednesday the 27th. Since we’d been running around like crazy people for weeks, we decided against leaving Thursday evening. Instead, we went to the Minnesota State Fair that night (and put off the packing and planning). I hadn’t gone in a few years, and we had free tickets, so why not. We each had a few must-do’s, and the three hours we spent there were just right. I made a beeline to the dairy building and bought a vanilla milkshake. Mmmm. Then Dan wanted to take the flying cable car (like in Disneyland) across the grounds. We got Italian food for dinner that was neither deep fried, nor on a stick (very hard to do—even cheesecake and candy bars come deep-fried on a stick at Minn.’s state fair). I wanted to check out the Light Rail booth, and had a nice chat with the attendant discussing transit use in Minnesota. Then we went over to the technology building so I could show Dan the Personal Rapid Transit vehicle on display. A retired U of Minn. professor has been working on them for the past 30 years, and has actually been getting funding lately. They look cool :) I’m not a big fair-goer, and the idea of just wandering around for hours doesn’t appeal to me, but we had a good time. It was more walking than I’d done in ages, but that’s good for me. On the shuttle bus back to the parking area, an older man starting discussing his life with me, and I heard about how he’d found his wife dead at Christmastime. I hope I was able to brighten his day a little. It’s so sad that people like him don’t have more people to keep them company. It sounded like he’d been going to the fair a few times just to have people around again.
Friday morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed by 7:30 like we’d hoped. I had fun driving around running last minute errands. I drive so infrequently that having the car now and then is an enjoyable experience. When I had a 45 minutes commute, I hated getting in the car every day. Have you realized how big a fan of transit I am yet? Anyway, I had the oil changed and tires rotated, filled the car with gas, got my daily Caribou Coffee medium skim cocoa, bought some snacks for the road, and was 2 pennies short buying a bagel. They let me raid the penny dish. Isn’t it great to have just the right amount of cash on hand?
Dan had finished some laundry while I was gone, I checked the computer one last time, we threw clothes into a bag, and by 10am we were off!
Dan’s family, like half of Minnesotans’, has a cabin on a lake in the northern part of the state. Technically, his grandma and her sister own the place. The great aunt spends the better part of the summer up there, and various sons, daughters, and grandkids come and go as time allows. Dan is the oldest of his generation, so we’ll be the first to bring a fifth generation up to enjoy the peace and quiet (his great-grandfather built it in the 50’s). We’ve gone for at least a long weekend every summer since Dan and I first began dating seven years ago. Last year, we went for nine days in early August, then again for Labor Day weekend. Since Dan doesn’t have benefits at his current job, and I’m desperately trying to load up on personal days for after the baby comes, we didn’t take any real vacations this year. 72 hours at the cabin had to do.
Dan drove the whole 200 miles up there (3 ½ hours). It’s a fairly pleasant drive. The first hour is on an interstate freeway where everyone drives 75 mph. The second hour is on a 4 lane highway where 65-70 mph is still okay. The last 60 miles are on a 2 lane 55 mph road (that was recently repaved!). At busy times, the 2 lane road can be hectic, trying to pass slow people hauling boats, but it’s so gorgeous with the big trees surrounding the road that it’s okay. Last year, we arrived around 1am, and the last 10 miles we saw so many deer that we were barely inching along for fear we’d hit one. It was so nice to avoid rush hour and the throngs of people you’d expect over the holiday weekend. I knew I’d be too tired to drive at night, and having the extra time to get things organized worked perfectly.
I love spending time at the cabin. It has electricity, plumbing (usually), and a phone, but no TV, computer, or other electronic extras. During daylight hours, I tried to listen to all the Twins games on the radio, but other than that, we have only ourselves to stay occupied. We usually time our visits to coincide with some of Dan’s cousins. They live an hour north, and have a ski boat. If they’re around, I can waterski, and we always have lively conversations and good card games.
The lake is spring-fed and quite deep. This means that it’s pretty cold. Not cold enough to keep an excited six-year-old out, but just enough for me to avoid it without encouragement. The youngest of the northern cousins always drags us down to the lake. For some reason, the lake is always calmest in the early evening, so we’ll often head there for a quick ski trip around our end of the lake while someone makes dinner. Some years, a neighbor puts a floating raft out, and I’m a big fan of those, too. I’ve told Dan that my contribution to the cabin will be to get a floating raft of our own one of these years. I love diving.
This year, since I’m not allowed to water ski (boo hoo! I don’t fall THAT often! The baby will be fine!), it didn’t matter so much if the boat was there or not. As it turned out, Dan’s great aunt wasn’t around while we were there, and some of the cousins showed up after all.
I spent most of Friday sleeping on the couch and occasionally waking up to read while Dan bought groceries and wandered around. Unlike our kitchen at home (ergh, smoking neighbor lady!), the kitchen didn’t reek of cigars, so I didn’t mind making dinner. We were about to go to bed at 11:30 when the phone rang. The male contingent of the cousins (Dan’s uncle and two sons, ages 21 and 23) were 15 minutes away after bailing on a camping trip. Did we mind if they came over? We stayed up another 2 hours chatting before finding our way to bed.
As much as I love it when the cabin is swarming with family, only having a few people around meant that Dan and I got the big bedroom with the good mattress. 15 years ago the one room cabin was expanded. It now has 2 insulated bedrooms, a living room/dining room, a kitchen, and a loft that can sleep 5. I’m usually stuck up on the loft, but that’s better than the couches that the male youth tend to sleep on.
The cousins stayed all day Saturday. I stayed glued to the couch, mostly crosstitching, while Dan and the guys came and went, discussing theology, college, and life plans. Dan’s uncle and I lost two rounds of 500 that night after getting some very unlucky card hands.
Sunday morning, we went to a church in town, and the boys went home so the younger of the two could prepare for college in a few days. Dan and I took the fishing boat out for a spin that afternoon, inching up on a group of loons, and exploring the shoreline. I soon returned to my spot on the couch, reading about Frodo’s adventures (I think this is my third time through the Lord of the Rings trilogy) and tangling up yarn for Allisun’s blanket. We had one more late night chat with Dan’s uncle (who’d been abandoned carless), and after the others had gone to bed, I went out to see if I could find Mars. I couldn’t find the binoculars in the dark, but it was so peaceful to walk out to the dock in the pitch blackness, and to be able to see the Milky Way, and all the stars in the Dippers. (my astronomy knowledge doesn’t reach too far). After finding my way down to the lake (there are 60-some stairs down a hill), I realized that Mars must be behind the cabin in the only blocked stretch of sky. I went up to the road and there it was, obvious as anything. Neat.
Monday I woke up fairly early, but discovered that I was still the last one up. Something about being so near the outdoors usually makes me wake up earlier when we’re there. It helps that afternoon naps can be managed :) I started to head out to the living room, but the door was closed. Aha! Dan hadn’t forgotten my birthday after all!
When I was allowed out of the hallway, there were balloons strung around the room, and the smell of cake wafting from the kitchen. Dan was fighting the frosting and losing the battle. He hadn’t realized that he needed to buy decorating tips, but managed to squeeze “Happy 25 Amy!!!” onto the cake. Nothing better than cake for lunch! What a sweetie.
Two years ago, not even married for a month, we were at the cabin for Labor Day, which also overlapped with my birthday. It was my first birthday out of my parents’ house, and I wasn’t sure what would happen. I waited until 7pm or so to see if Dan would do anything, then went into town and bought myself a brownie mix and candles. I had half cooked them before Dan found me in the kitchen crying. He vowed never to overlook my birthday again.
We’re both cheap and are perpetually students low on funds, so we tend to not buy each other much at holidays. For me, as long as the sentiment’s there, I don’t care about monetary gifts. Acknowledgment and a “good morning, birthday girl!” go a long way with me.
Dan’s aunt and one of their daughters came for lunch. They brought me flowers and a card, which was very sweet of them. Better yet, they brought lunch food. We all had cake, then Dan, the cousin, and I went for a quick dip in the lake. We tidied the place up, packed our things, and left for another season.
I drove part of the way home. It wasn’t as pleasant as the drive up, due to my bringing up the possibility of traveling to Chicago to visit iParenting friends. Apparently after sitting on a couch all weekend, mentioning the possibility of leaving for more time away from him was not the best plan of attack. Whoops. We hashed the whole thing out once we got home, so it wasn’t the worst birthday ever.
I realized that I’ll be 25 years older (and almost exactly six months) than our child. It occurred to me that I’ve now been alive a quarter of a century. I’m in my upper 20’s now. I wonder what will happen by the time I’m 30. Will we have a second child? A third? Will we move to yet another new house? Will I be working? Will Dan get a teaching job? How many of my relatives will still be around? I like the fact that when I hit half a century, our child will hit a quarter of one him or herself. That’s just neat for some reason. But I’ve always been a numbers geek.
This is getting long enough in itself, and my workday is nearly done, so I’ll quit here and get caught up in house closing, floor ripping, and midwife interviews next time.
Talk to me:
Does your family have a perennial favorite vacation spot? What do you think about when you dream about the future?
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