Gas Up the Cars…Let’s Go!
It’s July, 2022, and although gas prices and inflation are soaring, that won’t keep us from our annual 700-mile trek to the lake. I mean, if a global pandemic didn’t stop us, a little pinch to the pocketbook won’t stand between us and our family tradition!
This will be year 18 at Cass Lake and our 17th year at Birch Villa Resort. We woke up between 6:00 and 7:00 a.m. on Friday morning with most of the bags packed, and hit the road shortly after 9:30 a.m. We started out with four of us (Tom, Leah, Chloe, and I) in THREE cars (did I mention gas prices are soaring?), and after two and a half hours on the road, including at least 30 minutes of stop-and-go traffic backups, we arrived at my niece Sandra’s house to drop off Leah’s car. Leah will hitch a ride back with my sister Phyllis (who is staying in our cabin this year) at the end of the week so she can get back to work.
After a short visit with Sandra, her kids, and my sister Beth who lives nearby, we were back on the road…for about 5 minutes. It was time for lunch! We had a nice sit-down meal at “Anyways” in Oakbrook Terrace.
A couple of hours farther up the road we stopped in Middleton, Wisconsin (a suburb of Madison) to see the house Chloe will be sharing with two roommates when she starts grad school at UW in the fall. The house was located in a lovely, peaceful neighborhood and looked great! Since the landlord and current tenants were both out of town, we weren’t able to get inside, but Chloe was beyond excited anyway!
While in Middleton, we filled our coffee mugs at “Grace Coffee Co.”, filled our tanks with gas, and filled a couple empty spaces in our car with some New Glarus beer (a brew you can only get in Wisconsin and one we always enjoy at the lake).
The rest of the trip was uneventful and we arrived at the AC Hotel in Bloomington (MN), across the street from the Mall of America, at around 8:30 p.m. The girls had eaten some lunch leftovers in the car so they didn’t need supper. This allowed Tom and me to have our own little date night at Hazelwood Food & Drink–a great place next door to the hotel that has become a tradition over the past few years. Sitting outside under the patio lights, a warm breeze caressing my face, was just what I needed to slow myself down in preparation for a relaxing vacation.
