Pine Ridge Resort News & Views

What a great year this has been. Except for one extremely unpleasant septic system disaster, everything went well. The weather cooperated, (we only lost power once for a few hours), most people who wanted to catch fish and put their time in caught fish, (including some very nice fish), none of the water lines broke, the heaters all worked when it got chilly and, most important, beyond a couple of bee stings and one twisted ankle, no one got hurt. No fish hooks had to be removed, no boat accidents, and nobody went rolling down the hill while sitting around the campfire. It was a great year.

And now we’re almost ready to close up the cabins for the year. Five groups are in for this first weekend in October and next weekend our regular group of guys from Honeywell are here for their fishing weekend. Then we get all the boats off the lake, pull the docks, drain the water from the pipes, winterize the sink traps, rake up all the leaves and turn off the heaters.

In the midst of all that, we also try to mix in a few fall projects. Last week, we cut down several dead trees and I’m busy turning them into firewood for next summer’s campfires. And there are several cabins that I really want to get painted before next season. Last weekend, I got some help doing that.

Rich and Angie Armstrong and daughter, Bailey, were here to help paint one of the cabins. The Armstrong family have been regulars at the resort each July for 12 or 13 years now. But Rich and Angie love the Fall and decided to take advantage of our “Work Week” program where we trade a few hours work each day for time in a cabin.

Angie and Bailey worked on the lower portions of the cabin while Rich and I took the ladders and did the higher parts. Painted the blue one day and did the trim the next. What a great difference. Had to take a picture of Rich to prove to his brothers that he was really working.

They had plenty of time to get out on the water also. Sunday morning it did rain a bit but we were painting by 1:00 pm and they were fishing by 4:30. Monday was a perfect fall day and they fished in the morning, painted in the afternoon and fished in the evening. Worked out great for all of us.

Well, you could make a case that Bailey had more paint on her than on the cabin but she worked right next to Mom and Dad all the time and did a great job. Except that her painting shirt is now blue and she had to take a shower to get all the blue off that soaked through.

Closing up the resort for the year is always kind of a downer.  Resorting for me is more than just a business or a way to make a living. Resorting is about people and providing people the opportunity to experience the outdoors away from traffic and smog and schedules. And what makes it so fantastic is the wide variety of truly wonderful people who are looking for some special time to spend with their family. It is a pleasure for me to get to meet and know and become friends with so many people. I’m already looking forward to next season.

Thank you all for coming.