Birkie Weekend at the Cabin!

Six in the truck makes for a cozy ride up north. 

Good thing it's just over two hours and no longer!

Plus there's the dogs...  Lacey, and

Theodore.  Note that she is sitting on a pillow while Theo's

got the floor.  He wonders what is wrong with this photo!

Here we are on race day, watching at Main Street!

As you can see, we're not alone!

The whole town and then some turns out to cheer on the skiers.

Here comes Tad Elliott, skate winner of 2012 American Birkebeiner!

He managed to cover 50K in 2:04:48.  Not a bad day's work.

More skier's coming in, both classic style and skate alike.

After the race, the skiers have to collect their belongings from

this sea of bags.  There are a lot of volunteers and they've got a system down.

Between the Birkie and the Kortelopet there are almost 10,000 skiers,

that's a lot of clothing and bags to distribute!

We enjoyed our meal at the Lost Land Lake Lodge,

home of the world's best fish fry!

Emily and Jessie before they head out on the

snowmobile on the lake.

The cabin at night from the lake.

We went for a long walk with the pups.

Even though it was a lovely night, it felt good to come back

in and warm ourselves by the fire!

Bruce and Perky joined us for the weekend,

making it even more fun.



It's become a tradition to head north to watch the American Birkebeiner, the largest cross country ski race in North America.  We are the fortunate recipients of being a stone's throw away from the race course.  The Birkie, as it is affectionately called, attracts skiers from all over the world and is quite an event.

Last year the temperatures were brutally cold so this year's milder weather was quite appreciated by skier and spectator alike.

The girls and I promised to give the Kortelopet a go this year but the lack of snow and ability to get out and practice killed our dream.  There's always next year, right?