By Andrea Hamilton
The day is Tuesday, February 6th. This morning started off with a few hassles, Andrea’s crabby and Rick was not to be found, but we made it on our way to Grantsburg, Wisconsin, for three and a half days of winter activities. We stopped in Rush City, at the Grant House Hotel, for a big, tasty breakfast, which was a little chaotic, but was the least of our problems for the rest of the week. We made it to the cabin and got everything down (we had to hike down the big hill ‘cause of the snow and ice) and put away with few obstacles. I looked around and wondered how this was going to be with such an eclectic bunch of kids, Casey Wright and Dawn Hesselgrave our couple, Patti Heien, our mom, Rick Dennison, our dark-sider, Gabe Hargrove, the local idiot (you know I’m teasing) me, Andrea Hamilton, our redhead, and of course, as usual, Doug. Things seemed to be going all right so far. Then, in mid-afternoon, we went cross country skiing in the beautiful woods by Sandrock Cliffs on the St. Croix River. Doug, of course a mile ahead of us and the group with our newly born ski feet, wobbling steadily behind him with few falls. I fell on my bad ankle from the Boundary Waters, so Patti turned around with me and later learned the cliff we were skiing to was only two minutes in front of us. We told Rick and Gabe to tell Doug, but they turned around too, so Doug was pretty upset when he got back. We loaded up and went back to the cabin for a traditional Dinty Moore meal and bummed around a bit, with a few more fights- some of us didn’t sleep too well that first night.
We woke to the insistent urges of our fearless leader making a wonderful meal of French Toast (now if I overemphasize the meals, it’s only ‘cause Doug told me to include his cooking expertise in this article). We picked up, packed up and went on our way to the Timberland Ski Area in Cumberland, Wisconsin. The trails were in the woods, all groomed and ready for us. Most of us went out for about an hour, Doug doing his 9 miles to prepare for the Mara Vasaloppet. Patti and Casey took off, while Dawn and I took our time enjoying the warm air, which hasn’t been around for too long. Gabe and Rick were nowhere to be seen. We found that the small trail was not groomed and we were hungry, so we went back to the warming house for lunch. There was a group of little kids there that day, so after lunch Gabe and Rick went out to build a snowman with them. Casey was right behind with us three girls close to follow. We had our snowball fight, with some of us getting a little unruly and pegging some of us where we shouldn’t be. You know who you are. I got some great pictures of the boys with their snowman dressed as Gabe and the kids. The day was sunny, warm and nearing perfect. Casey, Dawn and Patti went out for a while, while I sat around and wrote in my journal. Then I went out on my skis for a solo ride. It was so peaceful, gliding over the snow, with the sun and my thoughts. We regrouped and set out on our trek to see Doug’s new cabin. We drove for about half an hour then parked the van on the side of the road because the snow hadn’t been plowed on the road in. All I could do was stare in awe at the surroundings, the huge, old trees that arched over and made a canopy, some flat land meadow, and a river. There was beauty in every step. Doug’s new cabin is a dome shaped knotty pine building, with a loft, a little kitchen and bathroom (there’s also an outhouse). I think we were all impressed. It was homey and perfect. We got cold so we hiked out and went on our adventure for dinner. Doug had heard of this Italian place so we went there to find it closed. He turned around and he took us to a dinner club. There we were met with a crabby waitress and a lot of old people. Everyone ordered a burger or some form of beef and one word of advice, NEVER eat meat at a restaurant in Wisconsin, they are required by law to cook it until it resembles jerky. It was gross. We were all in high spirits by the time we left. I was laughing hysterically at everyone, and Gabe insistently chattering, Doug got kind of annoyed and he turned around and yelled at Gabe to “Shut Up!” (with the swear deleted for fear of tarnishing his reputation) and everyone was laughing now and Gabe, having his airhead moments asked him (jokingly) if he was serious, which made us laugh harder because of course he wasn’t. We got back to the cabin and wrote, read, played cards, what not and fought over who got to sleep on the couch.
Thursday, Doug woke us up to another grandiose meal of delicious pancakes and bacon. We then sat down and got settled to a story called The Foxman, a Gary Paulson novel, which is about a teenage boy’s experience with a man in the woods. It was an insightful tale. After the book we strapped on our snowshoes and took off on a hike for a few hours. We explored the St. Croix River and Wisconsin woods, learned about nature in the winter, animal tracks, and how humans and animals survive the cold months. We crossed over the river to the Minnesota side, which looks the same, hiked along the river then headed back to cabin. We gathered wood for the fire we were to have later and went sledding down a big hill that Casey and Dawn had made a track on. Patti and I went up it and I was so scared watching her go down I almost couldn’t do it. We had a good laugh at what a chicken I am. We read and wrote in our journals. I think a lot of us learned a few things about each other, ourselves, and how to deal with people. After our hot dog, macaroni and cheese, and green bean dinner we made our way to the fire outside and had some deep conversations on drugs and life and some things we won’t mention. We all went to sleep comfortably and with some strong emotion. I think we were ready to go home.
We woke up, ate, cleaned up, packed up, and finally got everything in the van and headed out, some of us fighting, laughing, crying, seething, all of us excited for a flushing toilet and a warm bed. It’s been an interesting trip. All in all it was fun, comfortable, and a great learning experience! It brought us all closer, which makes this program work. The love, trust and friendship cannot compare. Thanks for the memories guys!