Travel on the Horizon

We sure aren't "between seasons" yet. We have nearly 18 inches of snow on the ground still! But that is no reason not to get the "between season" plans started. We have a big list of people to see and things to do to get on our calendar and without some pretty good planning, these aren't all going to come together.

We start with an Easter trip to see Victor's mom and sisters and their families in St. Louis leaving Thursday before Easter.

On our way back to Cedaroma we will stop in Chicago for a night to see another of Victor's sisters.

We spend another week at Cedaroma with a trip for Lynn to Madison on Saturday the 6th of April.

Fly to SF on the 9th

Drive to Groveland on....?

See Linda F on Saturday morning for long overdue beauty services! And that evening we serve dinner to the Yosemite Chamber of Commerce live auction winners of a dinner for 6 from Victor.

Sunday's dinner will be mixed vegan/not vegan pizza with Cherylann and Peter

Monday we return to the Bay area for a few days, then back to Groveland.

We will attend the Chinese Auction on Sunday the 21st and are serving the Residents Club dinner on Wednesday the 24th. We have a baby shower on the 23rd and plan to head back to Wisconsin on the 25th. Victor will drive his van, so those looking for it to move out of our condo parking, there you go, it's gone! I will be dropped off at either Sacramento, Reno or Las Vegas Airport to fly back. That ticket isn't yet purchased.

 

When we leave, we will have two condos on Dyer Court available for vacation rental this summer. We work with the team at the Charlotte to manage these for us. You can check out the condo Wisteria now, I need photos still of Sunflower. www.YosemiteWisteria.com
Meanwhile, we "take over" the resort on May 1 so I am getting all those details in order, credit card machine, tax id, staffing????

And then we move to our summer lodging.

I feel nearly as rushed as Carolyn.

Everything happens at once or not at all.

Winner Carmen visits!

You can see Carmen's Cedaroma visit report on her blog at http://carmenscreativechatter.blogspot.com/2013/03/cedaroma-lodge.html

Last fall when I took over the Cedaroma website and facebook page with 58 fans, I wondered how ever in the world are we going to get folks to know about Cedaroma. I started looking at marketing options and keyed in on Discover Wisconsin, the popular Wisconsin travel TV show, www.Facebook.com/DiscoverWisconsin. When I asked about their options for partnering with lodging properties, I was told all the spaces for our region were taken. Then I asked about their internet promotions and was sent to an outside the box thinker, Chad.

I knew I wanted whatever we came up with to be Facebook centric and we quickly came up with an outline we both liked. After sending in a few photos, the Discover Wisconsin team was able to pull together a marketing prized drawing that ran for a month. Our goal was to get as many people as possible familiar with Cedaroma Lodge. We encouraged folks to sign up for a drawing by liking our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/Cedaroma. Besides the grand prize of a complimentary week's stay, we also offered every signup a third night free, late check out and a complimentary bottle of wine. There was really no reason not to sign up and follow us on Facebook. Hopefully the posts and photos we have publshed over the recent months have kept people's interest in the lodge and inspired a curiousity strong enough to make reservations and see for themselves all the things we are writing about.

Discover Wisconsin administered the program and picked the winning entry on December 20th, just in time for the Holidays. Since then we have met a handful of folks who have stayed with us for their third night free and our Discover Wisconsin Grand Prize Winner, Carmen, came and stayed with us this last weekend. Carmen is a crafter/scrap booker and had a wild weekend with the tools of her hobby spread out in cabin 5.

Carmen's report has some good pictures too: http://carmenscreativechatter.blogspot.com/2013/03/cedaroma-lodge.html

If you have stayed with us and posted Cedaroma Lodge photos online or have a blog yourself with a post discussing a visit to Cedaroma , let me know I would love to check it out and could do a linkback to your post/pictures.

If you vacationed with us and would like to tell the world about your visit, we sure would appreciate it, there are rare things more valuable than customer reviews. If you have a travel or review site that you favor, post there. If you don't have one yet, www.TripAdvisor.com is a good place to post. You can find the Cedaroma Leave a Review link here:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/UserReviewEdit-g60253-d1403524-a_placetype.10023-e__2F__Hotel__5F__Review__2D__g60253__2D__d1403524__2D__Reviews__2D__Cedaroma__5F__Lodge__2D__Saint__5F__Germain__5F__Wisconsin__2E__html-Cedaroma_Lodge-Saint_Germain_Wisconsin.html

Thanks bunches for following our transition at Cedaroma and Wisconsin in general! We hope to welcome you some day to this great place!
Lynn & Victor

Marge's Rhubarb Crisp

Photo provided by www.food.com as I didn't have my camera handy,
but the recipe is so similar that the photo is true to the intended result.

When Victor and I were last in Racine, Mom made us a delicious many-coursed vegan dinner. The highlight, as is often the case was the finish, a wonderful vegan rhubarb crisp. Marge sent me the recipe in the mail the other day. I can only guess that she wanted me to share it with everyone.

Preheat oven to 350
4 and a 1/2 cups rhubarb
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp flour

Mix and put into an 8" pan

1 and a 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1&1/2 cup oatmeal
3/4 cup canola oil

Mix and add to top of the rhubarb mixture

bake 45 minutes

Serve warm

There was plenty left over for breakfast too!

Vegan Styled Sushi

It is a pleasure living with a chef. Especially one that is full of curiousity. Recently moved to a vegan diet, he can't get enough recipe research and I luck out in that we get to try all his new finds. He says there aren't enough days left in our life to try all the recipes he wants to give a shot at, not to mention all the ones we are going to like and want to eat several times.
 
This week's winner was home rolled sushi.
 

He starts with making a a cup of jasmine rice. This is the Asian sticky rice. Spread flat as shown, add vegetables. This is the perfect opportunity to show off your julienne skills on veggies. These eggrolls have cucumber, carots, jalopeno, cilantro and white onion.

 

Roll tightly. There is a product you can buy to help get the rolls rolled tightly. Do a google search for sushi mat. there are dozens of options under $8

 
 
 

Cut into 3/4' think spirals, Victor gets 8 to a roll. A roll is 6 inches. Serve with condiments  of low sodium soy sauce, pickled ginger and wasabi paste.

 

When we do these again we will do them with different ingredients for each of the rolls adding a little more variety to the meal.

 

Addition veggies you can use in the rolls:

• Avocado slices
• Shiitake Mushroom
• Bell Pepper
• Asparagus (lightly steamed)
• Daikon Radish
• Pickled Plums (seeds removed)
• Lettuce leaves
• Red onion
• Tomato meat, leave the juice and seeds out of this one
• Bell peppers, orange, red, yellow, green all add flavor and color!

This is a great starter list, but really, any vegetables you have should work. Everything inside the roll needs to be cut long and very thin, julienne. Some crisper veggies can be lightly steamed before adding to the roll.

Enjoy!

Icicle Rhythm

Here we are almost through another month and most of winter! It would seem we are picking up the Rhythm of the "Up North" winter lifestyle.

We measure time by the length of our icicles

Victor gets up before me, by 2 hours most days. He has his coffee, watches the weather and news, works out the day's menus and whatever esle guys do in the morning. When he can't stand it any more, he wakes me up. I laze awake in bed for another 10 minutes, mostly talking to the dog, Goose. We have more coffee and start our day. It is now a perhaps a little after 9.

If it has snowed the night before, Victor will need to plow. This usually takes about an hour to do a good job on the whole property. If it hasn't snowed, Victor usually has a cabin related project, fix or improvement to work on or heads up to the front garages to work on whatever our current workshop project we are in the middle of.

I get on the computer and check to see what our stock prices would be if we owned any. I like to check the price of stuff we talked about buying but never did: gold, google, facebook and whatever else strikes my fancy. Then I check facebook to see what posts of great importance have passed my way since the prior evening. Then it is on to email, the blog and a number of other daily check websites like the Cedaroma analytics, TripAdvisor and Flipkey. If nothing pressing needs to be done with whatever  I have discovered in the opening series of clicks, I might run down and pick up the mail from the post office and work on that.

Before you know it, it's lunch time! That's when things get really crazy around here! Our whole day seems to be focused around the meals. Victor is trying out so many new things, each day is an adventure. Some of my favorite recipes are posted here and I have more to enter.

After lunch Victor goes back to his projects and I pick up something hoping to get it done from updating the website to categorizing the 2000+ photos we have, perhaps today is the day I will figure our medical insurance out, follow up on the credits due us by AT&T or maybe learn a new skill in  responsive webdesign. Did I hear there was a new tax tip to reveiw for innkeepers?

Come around 4 and we start wrapping up for the day and head out to the Bear's Den to see other people. Unless we take this daily trip for a beer and orange juice, we might forget there are other people on the planet with us!

Variations are Tuesdays and Fridays. These are the days the paper is published so we always go to the post office together and on Fridays we always stop in the thrift store to see what is new. Sometimes we have a list of things we would like to find, sometimes we just find neat stuff.

On very specials days (once a week certainly!) we head to Rhinelander and Menards for whatever pressing construction/project items we need. This week the list includes a threshold, 3 double plug plates, an electric box and stain.

And my favorite of all, usually on a Saturday afternoon, we go to the Casino. I play my $10 slowly and we are in and out in about half an hour.

It is a very simple life, almost like hibernating! The summer we anticipate great changes to include a lot more outdoor activity and people. I am looking forward to having more people in our life!

Sidebar: There are not enough vowels in that word "Rhythm"

Eggplant Parmagiana

So many ways to spell this one! I went with Victor's spelling which is the traditional Italian version.

Preheat oven to 425


Almost looks like Chicken!

4 Slices of eggplant, 1/2 inch thick, peeled or not
Pat both sides in flower
Dip & flip in soy, almond or rice milk
Cover with bread crumbs

Spray with nonstick veggie spray
Set eggplant on tray
Spray tops

Bake 6 minutes
Flip
Bake 6 more minutes

Sauce serving plates
Layer eggplant
Sauce, Layer, Sauce

Top with Vegan Cheese (optional)
Bake 5 more minutes

Victor's easy marinara recipe is here: www.cedaroma.blogspot.com/2013/02/victors-easy-marinara.html. We had ours with a side of green beans.

Note to a Friend

Dear Friend

I can't believe that Wisconsin is still on the list for vacation destinations this year. I am inspired by that news. Thank you. Sort of makes my day. You have so many questions, let me approach them one at a time....

Lake: Cedaroma Lodge, with 7 of the 8 rental cabins is located right on Little St. Germain Lake. We have 300 feet of wonderful sandy bottom beach with level access to the water. No big hill here! We have 4 straight boat docks and one big pier that is u-shaped with bench seating. Very nice for sunset watching and watching the kids swim.

Amenities at Cedaroma: Row boats, kayaks, canoe, pedal & paddle boat. Bicycles, 1/2 court basketball, badmitton, horseshoes, foosball, darts, more... We also have a 21 ft. pontoon boat and a 20 ft. deck boat for rent along with 8hp motors for the row boats. We bought all new motors this year so the boating experience should be really reliable.

 

The famed Vilas County bicycle trails have an access point just across the street from us and we have bikes to use! We have a campfire ring where folks can meet up for song singing and marsh mellow toasting in the evenings. If you ask very nicely, I think we could even get Victor to let you drive his tractor! LOL, You could mow the grass or level the drive.

1/2-1 mile: horseback riding, go karts, a 32 flavor ice-cream parlor, paintball, archery

2 Miles: the Town of St. Germain with a thrift shop, grocery store, several coffee shops, a handful of restaurants. Every Monday in the town park is what we have been told is the worlds largest ongoing flea market. It really is HUGE!

10 Miles: Eagle River

17 Miles: Minocqua
Both of these are little Meccas for shopping and such.

Events your dates: http://www.vilaswi.com/events/ (scroll down to July) Lots of great festivals and such. This website can give you a good overview of all the highlights in the little towns in the area. Water ski shows, nature walks & talks, Logger show and such are regular weekly events and happen throughout the area.

Rates: www.Cedaroma.com/reserve.html will give you the rates by date for each of the cabins. 1, 2, 3 & 4 are right ON the lake, like 30 feet from shore. #5 & 7 are set back somewhat, though both have great views. #6 is too small for three adults, unless you like it cozy with one on the pull out couch. Number 8, while likely available, it almost a 1/4 mile from the lake with no lake views. Eight is the lowest price because of it's distance to the lake and feels like a house, not a cabin. If you are looking for that classic family vacation, get any of the other cabinesque units.

Restaurants: There are far more dining options Up North than it seems there should be. Some of them are even great. The cabins all have kitchens too. This summer we will be doing a welcome BBQ during high season on Monday evenings and as a personal friend we might even cook a dinner at your place! LOL, our summer digs are very small. In the winter we stay in what I think is the best cabin, #7 and will then move to a small studio space for the summer.

Berries: Yes, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are all picked wild here. A July trip should catch at least one of these in a ripe stage! My Mom knows where all the good pickings are I will get the map from her and tell her to leave some berries for us.

Look towards the first three weeks of July. We are sold out starting on July 21st and going through August 10th. If you are considering June, that is also fairly well reserved with the exception of the first week.

 

We are thrilled that you are heading our way. Looking forward to catching up.

Lynn & Victor
Cedaroma Lodge

650-400-6923
www.Facebook.com/cedaroma
www.Cedaroma.com

 

 

lynnie -

The "kid" wants to do a family trip this summer (our graduation gift to her) and we're thinking about wisconsin. rumor has it that there are some nice cabins up north. what's around your area? she wants nature (after years in NY) but we are old and feeble. i'm thinking about slow hikes on flat terrain. maybe renting bikes? renting some sort of boat that is back friendly, etc.

it would be cool if we had some surprises up our sleeves too - like a venue nearby with a show or concert? or some random bizarre museum type thing.

is eagle river the closest town?  are the skeeters still a problem or does repellent manage it? is the lodge on a lake? swimming?

anyway, any info would be helpful. also prices. does the lodge do chow? ling chow? HA HA HA. i'm assuming there are some places with signs that say EAT.

ps she picked this over ENGLAND! i can't believe that. 

we're thinking mid july. i remember picking blueberries up there. is that the right time of year for picking?

sorry this note is scraggily. i'm kinda typing faster than i'm thinking (which doesn't say much)

 

Victor's Easy Marinara

A nearly daily staple!

1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tsp olive oil
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup minced carrots
1 28oz can of chopped tomatoes
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 cube veggie bullion base
1/2 tsp ground pepper

Sautee the garlic & olive oil to light brown

Add carrots and continue the sautee for 2-3 more minutes

Add the remainder of the ingredients

Bring to a boil, then simmer 30-40 minutes

Taste, add salt if needed.

Vic's Pita Dipping Sauce

This recipe is by request of a Cafe Charlotte regular, from when we were in Groveland. Not hard to  make at all!

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp fresh chopped garlic

1 tbs balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp honey

1 and 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil

Put all ingredients into food processor except oil. On low speed slowly add oil until all is emulsified.

Salt & pepper to taste

Angel Hair Pasta with Green Beans

Bring 8 cups of water to boil in a 4 quart pot with 1/4 tsp of salt

Add:
1 cup cut fresh green beans

Boil for 3 minutes

Add:
8 oz of Angel Hair pasta (half of a 1lb box)

Cook for 5 minutes, al dente, strain into collander, set aside
--------------------------------------

In the same, now emply pot:

Add:
1 tbsp olive oil
1tbsp chopped garlic
2 tbsp chopped red onion
2 pinches red pepper flakes

Sautee on high heat until the garlic starts to brown

Add the cooked pasta & beans mixture

Add a couple twists of fresh ground pepper (to taste)
1/4 cup of water

Simmer for 2 minutes

toss & serve

This is a low sodium dish.

Birthday visit to Miami

At the end of our first subzero run of days Victor asked me what I wanted to do for my upcoming birthday. GET WARM! I said. We spoke to his sister living in Miami and turns out my birthday weekend would be a perfect time to come for a visit. We book flights out on 1/31, returning 2/5 via Chicago.

Yippeee! A warm holiday! I found all the summery clothes I wanted to take with and even packed a pair of sandals. We drove down to my folks in Racine on Wednesday and spent the night. Mom made a 5-course vegan birthday dinner for us, appetizer, soup, salad, entree and dessert. That was really cool. Jim said she was reading cookbooks all week. Turned out delicious and we were really thankful for the effort. Vegan wasn't too big a leap for them, they already are two of the three healthiest eaters I know.

So we get up the next morning and drive down to Chicago, easily finding our economy parking lot F and the corresponding bus to the train that will get us to terminal 3 and proceed to check in without incident, though I was fairly certain I would be busted for too big a suit case. We bought new suit cases in November and this was our first flight. We stopped at a Romano's Macaroni Grill and I ordered the Eggplant Quadratini with roasted eggplant, basil, tomato, ricotta salata and red chile (hold the ricotta of course!). This dish was vegan with square pasta that was both hollowed and curved almost like the mac & cheese pasta elbow macaroni, but square instead of round. It was an intriguing and well prepared dish, and big enough for the two of us to share. Victor also ordered a small  Caesar salad, so that was perfect.

We then walked over to our flight, waited til our group was called and board. I did have butterflies as I watched one of the security people stop a lady and make her try to fit her bag into the box frame that says "bag must fit this size" or something similar. Her bag did not fit and she was busy repacking everything and trying to shove that poor bag into the frame. I knew I was going to be next. But apparently it takes so long to bust just one person, this flight I got a fee pass on the too big bag. I was tempted to try putting it into the frame, but was afraid if it didn't fit someone would see me trying and flag me to pay for the bag. (The cost of which for one flight would be more than the cost of the new bag!) So I still don't know for sure, but the bag fits just fine on the plane.

We land in Miami at 6:30 and I have two messages that Cedaroma units 5 & 3 have frozen septic and what did I want to do. Hmmmm, what do I want to do about that? Hmmmm, how long ago did they call? Hmmmm, has it been resolved yet? Hmmmmm..... DANG!

So, let's review the weather again. Monday and Tuesday the temps reach 40 degrees and the snow is all but gone again. Wednesday it drops to zero. Wednesday night it drops down to 20 below zero and with no snow coverage, which acts as an insulator. Everything in sight and some things not in sight froze! 

So, I place the call. Yes, the guests have been relocated to the management company, Black Bear Lodge. A viable solution was found and all are seemingly happy. Continued report has all the units down, and what sounds like sewage backup in the cabins.We decide to try to enjoy the evening and see what we can do the next morning when we can speak to someone who was actually on site. 

Next morning we get a clearer picture. We learned that our own cabin, #7 does not appear to be suffering any freeze. The days new arriving guests have already been relocated from 6 to 8 and we have until Sunday when we will have overlap to resolve the problem. Time to call American Airlines and figure out the best way to get home. My helpful operator offers a $150 per ticket change fee and a $550 fare differential cost, per ticket to fly out on Friday. Saturday he said would be the same. This is substantially more than the loss of the business in moving one of the cabins to Black Bear again. So, I hang up and talk it over with Victor while I also do a search for a new one way ticket to Chicago. Wouldn't you know it, $300 on the SAME American Airlines, quite a different story than that offered by my "helpful" operator. BTW, American Airlines if you read everything published on the web with your name in it, I consider your trained approach in this matter total BS. I expressed an emergency need and asked for help finding the most cost effective way home. Your guy came up with over $1500 for the two of us for a one way flight. I got $600. Your help was not helpful, and really, in the long run is going to cost you a whole lot more than that in bad vibes as I share my dismay with your approach to customer service with my friends and family in the retelling of this saga. 

We make our decisions quickly, pay for the tickets and enjoy the rest of the day and then a night out in South Beach. The next morning we are up and on the road before 5:30, and in the air a little after 7am. We land Chicago 9:30, Racine for lunch with Marge & Jim and back home to Cedaroma moments before 5 pm. Nine seconds outside from car to house and I am frozen from head to toe as if I had never left! 

We check cabins and learn that two of the units had frozen in the line to the holding tanks, but there was no overflow into any of the cabins. Ed over saw the fix with a technician with a steamer hose from Rhinelander and all is flowing nicely! We figured out what caused the problems, different for both cabins, but the subzero temps froze them both at the same time. We believe it is better to have returned early to Cedaroma and have no back-up problems than to have stayed in Florida for the rest of our planned trip and perpahs come back to a to a different outcome.

I love the new life we are transitioning to here in Wisconsin at Cedaroma Lodge, really, I do. It's just those dang subzero days that I could do without!

This is the view from Favi's apartment on Miami Beach,
40 stories up with a huge wrap around balcony.

For the curious, yes, I did stick with my plant based diet throughout the trip. Saturday night I did manage to drink two beers, but did not really enjoy them. Will likely stay non drinking for now, it really helps with my resolve to not smoke, which has been successful since 12/28/2012! Yippeee, to be a successful ex-smoker, I think I can give up a few beers.

Roasted Red Pepper Humus Wraps

One of my very favorites because it is so different from everything else we tend to eat regularly.


This is a very small 2.5-cup to the rim food processor.


First make your humus.
1 12oz can of garbanzo beans
1 roasted red pepper
1 tsp garlic
2 tbsp cilantro
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 pinch salt
1/4 tsp cumin
juice of one small lemon
1/4 cup of onions
1 tbsp veggie oil
1 tbsp tahini
1/2 tbsp jalapeno pepper

Blend all of these ingredients in a food processor until nearly creamy. You may need to add a splash of water if too thick.

Substitutions: If you don't have tahini sitting around you can eliminate the vegetable oil and tahini and replace it with 1tbsp of sesame oil. You can also replace the tahini with 2 tbsp of peanut butter.

For the wrap we used a whole wheat wrap and warmed it over the stove.

Mix together:
1 cup of lettuce
1/2 cup of cucumber
1 chopped tomato
2 tbsp red onions
5 chopped kalamata olives

Shmear the tortilla with a generous serving of humus, add your filling mixture. Wrap or Fold and eat!  I wrap mine as a like a burrito, Victor prefers his folded like a taco as in this photo.

Makes 4 of the 8 inch size tortillas and you will have half the humus left over for another meal or snack with crackers.

 

Tortilla Soup

This vegan soup is great, a little heat, big beans, super veggies. Thick and heavy, perfect for a cold winter night's dinner in January in Up North, Wisconsin, or pretty much anywhere I suppose!

Let's build our soup! Start with a 4 quart sauce pan

1 chopped small white onion
1 tsp chopped garlic

Saute these two ingredients until translucent, usually about 3 minutes, add:

8 cups water
6 oz can of V8 or tomato juice  (lowest sodium)
2 cubes of vegetable bouillon
1/2 cup barley
1 cup frozen lima beans
1/2 cup chopped Swiss chard
1/4 cup julienned carrots
1 tsp chopped jalapeno pepper
and any variety of veggies from the refrigerator
1 tortilla chopped small
1/4 tsp black pepper

Simmer for 30 minutes then add:

2 tsp rough chopped cilantro

Simmer another 5 minutes, then serve into bowls. Decorate each bowl (see photo above) with:

chopped green onion
chopped tortilla strips, baked til crispy

Enjoy! Makes plenty for left overs and this is one that gets better as it ages and the flavors blend.

Ingredient Notes: We had difficulty finding vegetable bouillon in our regular grocery stores but just this week found Rapunzel vegan no salt added vegetable bouillon at our local whole foods store, 8 cubes for $3.55. Look closely at salt content some of the other brands were as high as 42% daily recommended allowance per serving, about half a cube, compared to the Rapunzel at only 5%.

Healthy eating. What?

Most who know us, know that Victor is a long time chef and have shared meals with us at the Cafe Charlotte, Peninusula Yacht Club, Stanford or somewhere else along the line, over the years. It is an absolute dream living with a chef... All that cooking I don't have to do. Thank you so much Victor. On the one hand it is so very unfortunate that Cedaroma doesn't have a little restaurant, he loves to cook for people.

Sometime mid-Deccember I got this bug in my bonnet about changing my eating patterns. I was not getting any smaller, wasn't even trying. Over the last 10 years I have gained 35 lbs and I can't say that I have tried a diet since my 20's. I often think about foods and usually follow a "I shouldn't eat that" thought with a "there are lots of things I shouldn't eat, and tomorrow I will start changing" thought.

So, one of my FB friends is a vegan/health food guru and I tend to read much of what he posts. (I think he actually reads before he reposts something and only posts interesting and valid ideas) This particular day he posted one about a 21 day kick start vegan program after I had mentioned that it takes 21 days to develop or break a habit. So, I off I went to see what it was all about.  http://www.facebook.com/21DayKickstart.

I signed up that day, with little thought that it would actually happen as I am not the cook around here. A week later I mention it to Victor who sort of nods. Over the course of the next couple of days I share a tidbit daily that I have gleemed from the "get ready" emails 21Days was sending me. It is now December 30th and Victor asks me if I am still thinking about doing this vegan thing. Yeah, sure I guess, if you are... He will! So we don't start on the 1st, of course our fridge is full of meaty, cheesy, and creamy products. We eat through what we can for a few days and begin interspercing a vegan meal here and there. I have set myself to kind of ease into it for January and really start it in February.

By Saturday, January 4th, we had a vegan breakfast, vegan lunch and would you believe, vegan dinner. So I say stop screwing around and just do it. I announce myself as a vegan now to Victor so he knows what to start cooking for every day and haven't looked back since. Victor cooks only vegan at home. When we go out, he will order meat and he hasn't given up his cream for coffee, but he's with me most of the way on this.

I mention this all here because so many folks are calling out for the recipes for the courses that I am posting photos of. I can't keep up two blogs and facebook is not the place to post for recipes. I will blog here and blend it with the Cedaroma Blog. I hope you will follow along with us.

Saturday's lunch was a Thai soup with coconut milk, lemon grass
and a billion other delicious frech vegetables and interesting seasonings paired a cold potato salad.

Cold Feet

Seems my feet won't warm up... ever again. But we know this isn't true. Our first winter here is awesome. There are so many things that are new to us. Living on the shores of a frozen lake is one. Did you know that the ice groans? Different tones based on how cold it is. The snow here is different than Groveland snow too. The lightest flakes of stunning white. Sometimes you can't even see that it is snowing but for the accumlation on the ground. It billows with the wind too, like a bridal veil fall in Yosemite, whisping around. It's quite odd really.

The enormity of the color variations just by a matter of sunny vs. cloudy day. The extremes seem more so here than they did in California, and perhaps they are, or maybe the newness of so many things makes them appear more extreme. I don't know which answer is closer to right, but so far, we seem to like it.

This is one of my favorite bedroom views. This is from Cabin 5, the front room with views of the lake and grounds.

Sunny days are warmer, regardless of what the thermometer says!

There are a million ways to enjoy winter. Blowing snow with the John Deere is just one of them!

 

I call this my dancing tree.

Many winter days we keep a fire going. It is so homey. I like to have one in the evening too.

There we go, safe ice walking. I have two pairs of these, join us?

That's my proof. COLD!

Sunsets can be very colorful.

Over his belly. I bet his feet are cold!

Opening the package in Chicago

How we arrived at Cedaroma, part 3ish...

Arriving in Chicago, we successfully get the car stored away in the garage having traversed the labrynth of streets, high and low, that make up the busy downtown. After our hellos and hugs the first question is "So, what have you two been doing." and I, not Victor, reach into that closet, pull out the package of neatly wrapped properties and untie the knot that was to stay tight for 5 years. I picked out Cedaroma Lodge from the grouping and waxed on about how neat it was. That one small act started the dream of possibilities up again, no way to return to the back of the closet.

We continued our trek, not knowing when or if there would be an acceptance or counter offer and each day we were further from Wisconsin having headed South through the states of Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, then East to South Carolina and Victor's sister and her family. Here we spent 4 too warm nights on a too warm lake enjoying family duriing a too warm spell. But we love seeing Gary and Favs and always have a great time.