I was invited up to Dave’s cabin on Lake Wabedo along with my
brother-in-law John and his high school classmates Bud and Joel for a weekend
getaway. I rode up with Dave on
Thursday afternoon. We stopped for lunch
and happened across an old Studebaker in the parking lot of the restaurant. We arrived about 7:00 and unloaded our stuff
and then headed to the Anchorage Inn for dinner.
After dinner, we built a campfire and enjoyed a relaxing
evening catching up with each other.
Dave built a new garage last fall with an attic above for guest
sleeping quarters and a small kitchen an bathroom area while he tears down the
existing structure and builds a new house on the property. The sleeping area is called the bunkhouse,
and has various beds and furniture in place for the time being. He also has a trailer parked next to the
garage for him and Vicki’s living quarters.
On Friday morning, we did a few chores around the lot, and
then went for a 4 wheel ATV ride. This
was my first time riding an ATV, and it was a lot of fun as we drove through
the state park land just down the road from his place. This has long been his hunting grounds, so he
knows the area very well. There are both
wide main trails and some smaller trails shooting off into the woods
The rest of the group arrived around noon, and we had a tee
time set up at Ridgewood, one of the local golf courses north of Longville. The course was in really nice shape, even
though our golf games weren’t. However,
on this trip, it was more about the friendship and good times than the score. We went back to the Anchorage for dinner
after our round.
Lest you think we ate every meal out, this was the last
restaurant meal. Dave and Vicki had
prepared sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast on Saturday. After breakfast we headed back out on the 4
wheelers with the whole gang. Dave had
picked up his son-in-laws ATV so that everyone could ride together. It was another beautiful day in the
woods. We had one minor issue with a
sled overheating, but after letting it cool and towing it part of the way, we
were all back up and running for the ride home.
In the afternoon, we took the pontoon out for a tour of the
lake, and the adjacent Little Boy Lake.
These are connected by a channel and you have to go under a couple of
bridges, with not a lot of head clearance.
Since there is no canopy on the pontoon, we fit under just fine. We saw a lot of loons while on the boat ride, and also hear them all weekend long. We took a little swim out in the middle of
the lake before heading back to the cabin for dinner. Dave had prepared some smoked ribs for dinner,
along with potato salad and corn on the cob.
The evening ended with cocktails and conversation around the campfire, discussing
some of life’s greatest issues.
Sunday was a relaxing morning at the cabin, and then another
round of golf at Ridgewood. We played a
little better today, as it helped having seen the course a couple of days
earlier. Even though it is relatively flat,
there are some hidden trouble spots that can surprise you on your first
round. We came home and barbecued some
huge rib eye steaks along with potato salad and corn on the cob again.
Monday morning, we finished off the left over food with a skillet
fried concoction of potatoes, steak, and summer sausage before heading out on
the lake for another pontoon ride. Besides the loons on the lake, we saw a couple of eagles keeping watch over the lake. We
had great weather all weekend with mostly sunny skies and comfortable
temperatures. A sweatshirt in the morning
would feel good, but then give way to shorts and t-shirts in the afternoon.
Dave was a wonderful host and we had a great mix of activities
and down time to enjoy the cabin, the lake and the north woods.
