Thanksgiving vacation was a much needed break from the routine. We traveled to the Cities and spent a few days hanging out with our families, ate a lot of great food, and spent some money. The weather was much warmer than I had anticipated with temperatures reaching 58 degrees on Thursday. People were actually golfing!
Rachelle visits her family more often than I do mine, so it was nice to spend the holiday with the Iowa crew for a change. They drove up Thanksgiving Day to my sister’s house in Shakopee and we had a great time. Sophia had so much fun playing with her older nieces that we had a hard time getting her to unwind at the end of the day. It would have been nice to relax after a six-hour drive, but that did not happen.
Sophia will be turning one this December 8 and we have planned a birthday party for her at the aquarium in Duluth. It is hard to believe that a year went by so fast.
What do you get a oneyear old for her birthday? I thought Rachelle was hard to shop for, but Sophia is even harder. Noisy toys are out of the question since we already have our fair share donated by friends who were overly excited to get rid of them. She can be entertained with a Tupperware container for hours, so the plastic orchestra of flashing toys is not always necessary.
Rather than waste our hard earned money on junk, I would rather start a college fund for her. You know, the boring gift that they will hate you for until they are 18 and need money for school. I think she will have long forgotten about the toys when she is in college, and besides she already has plenty.
Rachelle and I drove back on Saturday hoping to leave ourselves an entire day to acclimate. To our surprise, the Gunflint Trail received six inches of snow on Saturday morning. There must have been some rain before it snowed, leaving a slippery layer of ice below. The driving conditions were perfect until the “Four Corners” where we began to see the road partially covered with snow and ice. Within minutes, driving became a white-knuckle experience with snow blowing across the ice-covered pavement. After moving at a snail’s pace for an hour we finally arrived at our unplowed driveway. It was deep with snow, but we managed to get home safe and sound. The next day I put the plow back on the truck and got to work.
The bigger lakes still have open water, in fact, there was a motorboat running across Sea Gull today. He was breaking through some thin ice for awhile in the bay but managed to get where he was going.
The smaller lakes are showing some good ice but I would not trust walking on it yet. I like to see other people out there first, and then I wait a few more weeks. I rarely swim in the summer and certainly do not plan on trying it in the winter. I am sure that someone has already been ice fishing but it is still too early. We were blessed with warm weather for a good portion of the month so naturally it will take longer to freeze up. Fair enough trade for me.
Cory Christianson has worked as a fishing guide on the Gunflint Trail since 2000. If you have any fishing or wildlife reports or stories to share, send an email to: christiansoncory@hotmail.com or call 218-388-0315. You can also visit Cory’s website at Gunflintfishingguide.com.
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