Mid Summer 2010

After the gully washing rain we got on July 15^th of well over two inches, there was a bit of clean up work to be done.  The big rain had washed out both our main resort roads so 10 yards of gravel had to be ordered and graded on the C11- C14 road.  On the main paved road both sides of it were washed out and rutted up pretty bad.  Matt and Christian from Romania worked to fill in black dirt and re-seed.  Prior to the rain, the Cascade Creek was running nice and mellow, but it erupted overnight.  There was also nice pond that formed at the bottom of the Lodge front lawn (see pictures below).  After the storm, a  massive hatching of voracious black flies had staff and tourist trading in their shorts for long pants.  Fortunately the hungry little flyers only lasted for a few days.

There was two bear sightings during the month of July by guests.  The first occurred at dusk as one family was heading home from dinner in Grand Marais.  The bear ran across the highway in the State Park and was headed for the picnic area down by the lake.  The second sighting was a guest who was hiking somewhere along the east side of the Cascade Creek Trail between the Halfway Trail and the Superior Hiking Trail.  Perhaps the bear was enjoying some of the same delicious raspberries we currently are.  Our chef and guest blog writer David  lives at the resort and is an avid hiker of our trail system.  He has seen numerous moose and bears during his morning and evening hikes.  Last Friday morning he discovered fresh bear tracks and followed them to a deposit made on the ground that was still steaming, so he just missed seeing one again. 

In staff news all of the student workers are in for the summer.  Representing the USA is Natalie who is Sarah’s best friend from back in the cities.  She is a very sweet girl who has worked for 3 or 4 different summers now housekeeping, serving and dishwashing.  Representing Colombia we have Heiner, Juliette and Andres.  The all take turns, housekeeping, dishwashing and serving.  Heiner may even do a little bartending.  Last but certainly not least is Christian from Romania.  He is working maintenance with Matt and Dale, housekeeping, and dishwashing.  All of them are really nice kids with good English skills and we are very happy and blessed to have them.  Matt is excited about the upcoming Dragon Boat Races in the Grand Marais Harbor July 30^th and 31^st.  He was asked to race for a team in the Friends and Family division that has won it two out of the last three years, so he is optimistic about their chances again this year.  Good Luck Matt!!