In the late 1970s, after Deb and I moved to Minnesota, we decided to take up cross-country skiing as a way to combat the cold. It worked! I came to enjoy the winter more than almost any other season, even though we took up bicycling for the summer. We lived in a condominium in St. Paul, and several of our friends took up cross-country skiing along with us. One year we discovered Maplelag, a cross-country ski resort in northwest Minnesota, and we fell in love. Two or three times every winter we would make the trek, stopping at a favorite restaurant in St. Cloud along the way. In 1983 we skiied their annual ski race, called the Lotvola Cup, and Deb came in 1st in her age group! Just in case you don’t believe me, here’s the newspaper article reporting the results. I came in 24th out of 98 skiers, and Deb came in 38th! Yaay!
Our last trip to Maplelag was in early 1984, when our firstborn, Jonathan, was just a few months old. He didn’t like it, and getting up in the night with an infant definitely put a crimp in the skiing time. So we stopped going, even though I continued to ski for several more years, eventually finishing the Birkiebeiner ski race in Wisconsin five times.
This year I decided it was time to return. Initally I planned to go with our 17-year old son, Michael. Then Deb and the girls got invited, but in the end Sarah and Jessie didn’t come. We arrived Saturday afternoon, skiied a couple of trails, and relaxed for the evening. Sunday morning dawned with a glorious and sunny sky. In the night frost formed on the trees, and the trails were gorgeous, with temperatures in the mid-20s. It was perfect weather for skiing. I skiied the Mother Hen trail with Mike a couple of times, and then closed out with a trip around Sap Run, a trail with pleasant rolling terrain – a couple of uphills, but some nice downhills. Here’s a picture of the beginning of Sap Run, just to the left of the building where we stayed.
This is Dad and Mike ready to set out on a skin run.
After all that hard work, it’s time to eat. Their cookie jars never run out.
Dinner is family style, all you can eat, and yummy.
Finally, there are many places to sit and relax. Here’s a fireplace made of petrified dirt and stone.
