After a warm, "dry" spell we finally got some fresh snow! It took two days of flurries, but we probably got 3-4 inches of fresh powder. 'Cede and I cleaned the driveway to accommodate our guests. We have a full house this week-end and are so happy to have some of our favorites returning and some new friends we haven't met yet.







The new "Michigan Travel Ideas" are hot off the presses and we were delighted to find Borchers featured on page 75. Whitney & Emily, cousins of staffers Alex & Allie, are picture perfect! Whitney is one of our regular customers, paddling down river as often as she can.

Our son lives at Lake Tahoe where they have been measuring their snowfall in feet. Out there they refer to some of the accumulation as "Sierra Cement". Well, we have not had any new accumulation in two weeks and with the warmer temperatures we currently have "Crawford County Concrete". It's still usable, the trails are still beautiful, but it's not perfect. The weatherman is promising some new snow this week.

We have had some wonderful guests over the last couple of week-ends and they have been making the most of the winter weather. Last week-end, our Toledo gang was here. It's pretty special when you can reminisce with guests about their visits over the last one and half decades!

Although we experienced temps in the low-mid 30's. They reported exceptionally good trail conditions.

The week-end prior to that, we met some new regulars. Two of our couples originally headed to Tawas and had to change their destination to Grayling to find snow. They shared the house with travel writer, Kath Usitola, Anita from Indiana, Mark & Beth and Tom & Kathy.

Beth writes:
Cheri, I just wanted to thank you for your hospitality.
We really enjoyed staying there and will tell everyone about it. Thank you for telling us about Wakeley Lake trail. We snowshoed the trail after we left the B&B and we loved it. It was our favorite trail of the weekend. We walked all around the lake even though early on we came to a junction where one way the trail was posted "closed" due to erosion. We chose the "closed" route and we had no problem but you may want to mention it to anyone who may be going out there that they should stick to the open trail and not go down the closed path because the trail is lost once you pass that sign. We stayed near the lake and we picked up the trail after some time and had a great outing, but others may not want to be so adventurous. Another option would be to just do the campground loop, which was beautiful.We appreciate the compliments and the photos that Mark sent!

Happy New Year!!!

I've already broken my resolution to take photos and blog on a daily basis. The New Year finds Mark, 'Cede and I healthy & happy with a very good Christmas Holiday behind us.

We spent Christmas Eve eve with our staff having pizza and catching up on everyone's lives since canoe season.

Mark & I "had our tree" before heading downstate to spend Christmas Eve with Mark's side of the family. We spoke with both sets of kids numerous times. Mark & Kristin sent a goodie basket and Michael & Teresa sent "way cool" ski jackets and pants.














We are all set to stay warm on the trail with a little "something, something" for apres' ski.


My sister-in-law, Jen, and I both made mom & dad a calendar on snapfish. What are the odds of that? Everyone can always use more than one calendar, right? Mark & I got a Reciprocating saw from Mom & Dad. We can't wait to make sawdust!!















Christmas Day was spent with my side of the family. As always, mom prepared a wonderful meal. My niece, Emily, is learning to be as awesome a cook as her grandma.


We came home to find our sign leaning precariously.
Mark spent the afternoon winching it back into
place and rebolting, but the high winds on
Monday prevailed.
I swear I was no where near that sign with my new saw!










We hosted the nicest people over the holidays!
We had some first timers from Columbus for the week. Hal & Sylvia skied all over the county. They enjoyed Hartwick Pines, Forbush Corner, Hanson Hills, & Cross Country Ski Headquarters. They also stopped at The Cross Country Ski Shop for accessories and advice.


Also joining us for the first time (but not last time - they have already rebooked) were Mike & Judy and Cheryl & Tom. We all played Apples to Apples and Scattergories in the evenings. We were joined by regulars, Eric (who is very good at Apples to Apples and skate skiing) and Shaun & Matt who were gracious to take our photo. They did let us hold their turkey. Matt officially joined us for Scattergories , Shaun ad libbed her answers while making snacks.








Since our busy week-end, it has been
really cold with only snow flurries.
According to 'Cede (and me)
there is still plenty of snow to play in.

We are expecting new guests tonight and tomorrow night and hope to see all of our regulars this winter.