Did we survive cabin life in the north woods? My mom will not do camping, so we were shocked she agreed to stay at a YMCA camp for a weekend. Our trip up to Half Moon Lake was fun, but how was the weekend? Did we survive? One thing was certain, the landscape was beautiful! The leaves were at their peak and looking gorgeous!
Once we rolled into camp, Mom navigated the car to our cabin which was situated right on the lake. We were in the “Cub Cabins” section, where the little kids would normally stay.
Bailie and I were so excited to get going with this whole camp thing. Dogs love to camp, and we have never gotten to try it before so this would be an adventure! We bolted out of the car and right over to our cabin. It was adorable, had a fireplace and a front porch, but it seemed like it might be a bit small for the three of us. Oh well, we like cozy!
I guess looks can be deceiving as the inside was huge! We had the back half of the cabin and our friend with her two dogs had the front half. Can you even believe all the space? We had ten beds to choose from! Our half had a gas fireplace, the front half had a wood burning one for heat. The nights were pretty chilly.
Being total kids, Bailie and I had to choose our sleeping spots right off the bat. It is kind of funny to see the photo, since I never sleep in bed, and Bailie never sleeps on the floor!
Most of our waking hours were spent with nose work sessions, so there wasn’t much time to hang out and enjoy the area, or get fun photos. Our morning walks were mostly in the dark or at sunrise, which meant not many photos because of the darkness. The trails through the woods were beautiful, though.
There were several decks overlooking the lake. We sat on one for a bit, but it was windy, blowing our furs were all over the place.
Mom wanted to take a photo of me in this yellow canoe real quick in between our sessions one day. We had no idea one of our friends was photographing the “blogger” taking photos. Thanks, Gayle! We love it!
This was the photo Mom was taking. It didn’t come out too well, but as you can see, Bailie was not exactly being helpful, and we were in a rush anyway.
After lots of hard work sniffin’ all day, Bailie and I were totally passed out at night. Our cabin life had no internet or TV, so we weren’t missing anything either! One of the hardest parts of the camp thing for Mom was not really getting internet in the cabin. She had a tough time being unplugged most of the time for the weekend, but she did survive. The hot water didn’t work the first morning either which meant she had a nice cold shower to wake her up!
It would be fun to be at this camp in the summer to go out on the lake in some of those boats!
Here is another shot of the gorgeous view from our camp. This one is looking our over the cattails with some steam coming off the lake. We also got to hear lots of Loons in the morning. We don’t hear Loons around where we live, so it was fun. The Loon is the Minnesota state bird.
I think Mom took like a million shots of the morning sun on the pretty colored trees, but I will quit with this one so you don’t get bored. It was just so beautiful.
Cabin life wasn’t all that bad. Mom says she prefers a nice hotel, but we all had a blast and the cabin was part of the whole experience. We learned a lot in our nose work sessions which was great, and the point of the trip! Hopefully I will be able to bring home another title or two at my next trial Halloween weekend. Time for Bailie and I to put our paws up on a jumbo seat and relax a bit! Hope you enjoyed our weekend recap. Have you ever gone to a camp like this with your mom? Do you enjoy going camping?
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What a lovely place to stay. That is more my kind of vacation. Too bad you didn’t get to go canoeing. It sounds and looks like it was beautiful. Glad you had fun Emma!
It was pretty chilly out for canoeing and we were so busy with our nose work, we didn’t have time, but it sure was a fun weekend!
what a wonderful adventure! and the even have small cabins for dogs too! my momma always said BAH HUMBUG! but after I saw how nice your cabin looks and how much space is there, I think even my momma changed her mind. btw: are there bathrooms and shower cabins too in every cabin, or is there just a public one?
At this camp, each cabin had it’s own bathroom with shower…of course, the hot water was off the first morning so Mom had a real fast shower, but they got it running after she mentioned it wasn’t working.
looks like a great place to do ‘camping’ π
This was a close to real camping as we will ever get I think, and it was fun.
Beautiful scenery…we do not get the beautiful fall colors her in Florida. It looked like you had an educational and fun weekend. Hope you learned and retained your studies. XOXO Sparkle the PBGV
Mom says I’ve been a good nose work dog all along, but I’ve found a new lust for the sport she thinks. It was a wonderful time.
Beautiful scenery but I agree with Mom, a hotel for night time !
Mom still prefers the hotel, but to get the whole full experience, the cabin was the right choice and aside from sleeping, we were rarely there anyway.
What fun and compared to the tent camping we do that IS a luxury hotel! I kinda want to try that kind of camping – just once – lol. I love the yellow canoe shots.
Yeah, Mom will never do the tent thing, I’m positive about that. She likes a nice hotel, but the cabin was part of the entire experience, so she did it.
OMG I am sitting here DYING!!! I have a “thing” about log cabins, (“thing” as in I am CRAZY about them and would love to live in one) and this one is GLORIOUS!!!!! What an amazing time you all had to have had! It is just BEAUTIFUL!!! What fun! Your photos are incredible too! xoxoDakotasDen
Thank you. The cabins were much better than Mom anticipated and she did survive, but still would prefer a nice hotel. That being said, to get the full weekend experience, staying in the cabin was the best option and we really only slept there as we were so busy the rest of the time.
Cabins are much better than a dirty tent. Looks like a fun place. We like your little cabin, BOL
Lily & Edward
Even Bailie was too tall for the little cabin! Definitely, it was a step up from tenting, but it wasn’t the Ritz. It was part of the experience and we loved it.
What a fabulous place!! Love the cabin, love the scenery, everything!! Lovely.
α¦ husky hugz α¦ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
It really was an absolutely perfect weekend.
I get the obsessive camera clicks – those fall colors are gorgeous in the morning sun. Looks like an awesome adventure.
It was so much fun, lots of friends, lots of learning, and a gorgeous spot at the perfect time of year. We are thankful for digital cameras as with all the leaf photos Mom took we would be broke if we had to pay for developing like we have heard of from the old days!
OMD! What a fabulous place. We could take a moonlight cruise on the lake, Sweetie. β₯ My mom said that is the most beautiful location to camp. They camped when their humans were small, but are hotel or cabin folks now. No more tents! I know that you are going to rock your test on Halloween! XXOO Bentley
No tents ever for my mom, this is about as bare bones as it gets, but it was perfect for the whole experience. A moonlight cruise would be lovely π
What a great place. The cabin looks very nice. I love the reflection shot, so pretty!
The reflections were awesome in the mornings! Just a beautiful setting for an outdoor event, and perfect weather too.
It looks like a lovely place!! I sort of like some down time disconnecting from the rest of the world, but I also get where Mom is coming from too.
I hope this was the boost you need to seal that title!!
The down time was nice, but then the pile of of work was waiting when we got back to civilization.
OMG I would LOVE to do this. I’m going to look around for dog friendly cabins in our area.
It was amazing as there were probably 30 or so dogs there. Everyone made sure to take good care of everything so we can hopefully do it again next year. It was a lot of fun.
That does look like a darn good camping spot!!!
You kitties would have liked it, lots of windows for you to look out of into the woods, and a fireplace.
What a beautiful spot – the fall colors and reflection off the lake…perfect. Looks like you girls had a great time!
It was an awesome weekend all around.
It didn’t look too rough! It’s very pretty there and the cabin looks huge. I have been to a camp like that before, but not with the dogs.
We used to camp with our first 3 dogs though. We went from a pop up camper to a 32 foot trailer…that pop up was too rough for the Momz! π We also prefer a nice motel room these days, but it would be fun to take the current crew camping. I know they would love it, just like it looks like you and Bailie did.
For Mom it was alright, a hotel would be much more her style, but it was fun and we were rarely in the cabin except to sleep anyway.
That looks like such a fun place! I bet you girls had a blast! I’m with your mom, though. Traditional camping is not very fun! Give me a cabin any day over a tent! Haha!
Mom says never a tent, the cabin was as much roughing it as she would do. It was a great time for all of us!
What a nice trip! The cabin looked really comfy. The mom is like yours…she won’t do tents…hasn’t done one since she was a teenager, and that was a long time ago! The fall colors are spectacular!
My mom hasn’t done a tent since she was a real small girl, and doesn’t want to do it again, but the cabins were a good idea.
What a pretty place!
It was beautiful and probably the best weekend of the entire fall to be there too.
We love the oversized bench and the undersized cabin. Oh yeah, and the gorgeous scenery! And the surprise photo of your mom taking a photo!!
We’re so sorry we’ve been AWOL. Our other granddad got VERY sick three weeks ago and passed away last Wednesday. We’ve been home alone for much of that time while our humans were out of town helping. *sigh* Our humans lost both their dads in 4 months. They are kind of hoping 2016 will be better…
That is so sad. I remember your Mom just lost her dad who was such a special man. No worries. Life always takes priority over the blog and people usually come back when they can. I never thought about the oversized bench, undersized cabin comparison. Good catch!
What a fun weekend you had!! Our Mama is kinda the same as your Mama when it comes to camping…but even she may have stayed in that cabin!
Smileys!
Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo
It wasn’t the Ritz, but it wasn’t bad. Mom would do it again because the entire experience was so fun.
You both look like you had a terrific time. I can’t wait for my mum to organise a trip like that for me and my siblings !
It was so much fun! We loved being out in the woods and doing our learning at the same time.
That looks like a really cool camp, but I’m with your mom. I prefer a nice hotel!
For that weekend it was perfect, but she is more the hotel type.
It looks beautiful there! I’m glad you all had a great time!
It was the perfect setting with perfect weather.
That looks like a really fun time. The weather looks so nice too. Glad you had fun!!
It really was a perfect weekend with the colors, weather, and the event.
I have never stayed at a cabin with or without the pups (although it would probably be fun!), but I will never go camping..you know, as in sleeping in a tent and such. I’m more of a “glamper” π
Mom won’t go in a tent ever, the cabin was pushing it, but for the experience and the entire weekend, it was great!
absolutely breath taking, what a great time at the cabin.
The setting and time of year could not have been better.
What a beautiful place! Do you think the pups would fare well in a canoe? I have attempted that with Chuleta, but there was a lot of shaking and I over-worried (as a dogmom tends to do), so the ride was very short and we stayed close to shore. I’m glad you all had a good time!
I would be fine in a canoe, Bailie might cause issues if we came upon some water fowl. If we do try canoeing, we would be wearing life vests too. Mom does want to try it with us, but it’s hard to find a place we like to rent one of those canoes.
Welcome to my world. At our cabin I do not have reliable internet (which is why I am so behind). I can sometimes get 3G on my phone, but mostly it is 1X. lol That camp looks gorgeous. Right up our alley and we love fall. It would be the perfect season for us.
It was so much fun, and being unplugged was only hard those few times when we had a bit of down time. Some places at camp had 4G so mom could use the phone, but it was real spotty.