Our Road Department Engineer

John is a man of many talents and as most folks know, when you own a camp, you wear an assortment of hats. One of John's hats is as our road department engineer. (Doesn't that sound impressive?) Our plow truck is pretty impressive too. It pushes and clears an awful lot of snow for us and it takes a good bit of expertise to operate it, especially when you have to plow 30 miles round trip and climb up two very steep hills. That's right. Our driveway is the 325 road. It is no longer being used for logging, so since we're the only ones out here, we have the privilege of plowing it all by ourselves. John has always had an innate ability to drive different kinds of equipment. He drove large semi tractor/trailer rigs for years, including driving for Schneider National (nicknamed the Orange Pumpkins) for nearly two million miles. Now he's driving an orange dump/plow truck. Is orange your favorite color, John?

Off To The Races

It's dog sled racing season for Joanna again and she's got four exciting races lined up this winter. The first and most challenging was the John Beargrease mid distance race along the north shore of Lake Superior in January. There were 43 other competitors running the 106 miles to the finish line with eight dogs. Much of the race took place at night with two checkpoints to feed the dogs and rest a bit. I went along to drive the truck and 18 foot trailer and offer what assistance I could. Joanna's cousins, Sarah and Holly Oberg and friend, Leah Richter graciously gave of their time and energy to be Joanna's handlers, which are a bit like a pit crew. Handlers keep track of the racer's times in and out, prepare meals for the dogs so they can eat as soon as they come into the checkpoint, walk and massage the dogs, checking for any injuries, and see to the needs of the musher to make sure they get as much rest as possible. It's quite an adventure.
Joanna did quite well on the first leg of the race. She seemed to be in good physical condition and so did the dogs. But, as it turned it out, she ran into a series of problems on the second leg of the race which combined, caused her to have to withdraw from the race. It was very disappointing for her after all the months of preparation involved. Even so, she has bounced back with a great attitude and is looking forward to her next races in Dryden, Ely, Shebandowan and Pickle Lake. There's never a dull moment with our Enjoyanna!

Our Family

We've been wanting an updated picture of our family. What better time to do it than at Christmas when we were all together. That doesn't happen too often. And what better person to do it than Reseth, our own professional photographer. Getting everyone to keep their eyes open and smiles going all at once, even for adults, is a challenge.
Great job, Reseth!!

From left to right in back row- Cherish, Joanna, Jonathan and Reseth

Guess Who

No, it's not a visiting Eskimo from the Arctic Circle, but our very own daughter, Cherish. Reseth, our daughter-in-law from Oklahoma took this unique picture while we were all together at Christmas. It must have been one of those chilly days.