Black’s Cliff Resort’s Birch Bark Blog

With 4 inches of snow coming in today I decided to go to my mail box for pics I refuse to post any pics of the outside today I am done with snow.  These pics were sent in by Rob Moore who was watching the resort for us this weekend along with Bob and Barb.

What does this picture mean..  Outline of a missing mini van and a pouting dog in the driveway…..  Poe literally sits in the driveway when we leave and gazes down the road waiting for the sound of the mini van coming home.  It is truely pathetic but a commen sight at the resort.  This time he snapped out of it after a day and headed over to see Barb, Bob and Rob who were up watching the resort for us while we took our final weekend trip away before the spring clean up and summer chaos locks us in

Bob was taking his resort watching job seriously and went down to check out Cliff and bring up a log from the beach…  Don’t strain yourself Bob

Rob caught this great pic of a Pileated Woodpecker who was rooting around on the hillside for something.

Thanks for the great pics and watching the place Bob, Barb and Rob.  Poe would like to thank Barb for his Fillet Migon dog snacks this weekend.  He has had a lot of snacks but never Fillet Migon

Looking for something to do this weekend?  I have plenty of cabins open (ok right now not a single reservation).  Cabins will be 100/night.  The Fools Run at Midnight is going on and rumor has it half of the Black Family is running the 5k.  Last I saw Bryon was designing the crown for the winning Fools.  I guess it is quite a sight to see with people with head lamps dressed goofy running through the streets of Minocqua on Saturday at Midnight.  Free T Shirt for anyone who is foolish enough to run.  www.minocqua.org has all the info on this event if you are interested

Cold weekend and not much melting.  Cliff even had some visitors who came to take some pictures with him at his lonely post.  Poe was considering going out for a visit but did not move off the shoreline

Lake shoreline solid

There was a siting of a yellow ball in the sky which we have not seen in about a week.  It was quite a contrast to the white stuff that came down last night

Cliff thought Spring Break ment spring was here…  This does not look like spring

Cliff was hoping for a Root Beer Float with his friend Acelyn who chose April 1st as the day for him to sink but it does not look like an early ice out this year

Troy did spot some open water under the boats the other day but now it looks froze up again

Glimmer of hope, Poe chose not to go out on the lake today.  Must mean something…  We grabbed a log from the pile and headed up the steps for a cup of coffee at Life Spring

After the whirlwind of chainsaws taking down dead birch this winter and crashing into things it is time to haul the logs up the hill.  Rule #1 at the resort at the moment, going up the steps don’t come up empty handed.  Who needs a stairmaster work out just come to Black’s Cliff and hike up and down the hill a few times

Everywhere you look more and more wood

The pile up the hill so far.  If you burn a some birch this summer know that it might have made a trip up the hill.  Each of these logs were taken up the hill

Troy and Steve’s winter wood stash.. Anyone up for piling it is almost as good a work out as the beachsteps stairmaster

Here is the official Ice Out List meet our crazy list of folks that have taken the time to join in the fun

April 1st Acelyn Brown entry from Hilltop and tried to bribe Cliff with Rootbeer Floats

April 2nd Cathy Brown accomplice to Acelyn

April 4th Linda Hoadley enjoying Spring Break and ready to soak up the rays at the beach on a blow up mattress with as little sunscreen as they allow

April 6th Roberta Cikowski has been known to bribe Cliff with her pizza

April 8th Barb Moore in charge of watching Cliff March 27 and 28th

April 9th Jimmy Cikowski famous Muskie Fisherman

April 10th Rob Moore (makes the bass tremble), Nancy Kotowicz spent a week with Cliff getting the inside scoop

April 11th Kay, one of Craig’s accountants who tries to keep him in line.  Lives up North and may have instincts for ice as much as she does for deductions

April 12th Margaret Coffen (better than Paul Bunyan at building log homes in the Northwoods), Bob Moore (watching Cliff March 27th and 28th with Barb and may have a few conversations with our friend on ice) Randy Brown (the ring leader of the insurgence from Hilltop will they win the contest this year for the glory of Hilltop?)

April 13th Landbo parents (they have no names but are just trying to beat the kids) Fritz (2008’s winner can he do it again) John Wrobel (has been known to look a little like Cliff to get a smootch from the local ladies) Jan Miller (looking for bragging rights around the campfire this fall)

April 14th Jim Kotowicz had a beer on the lake with Cliff mid March what were they talking about?

April 15th Marie Voight (first time entry just hoping the ice is off by Memorial Day weekend) Will Flower (the best garbage man in the nation!) Mike Grady (in the same boat as Marie hoping that ice is off by Memorial Day)

April 16th Jordan Schad (ready to bring a marching band to the Northwoods if Cliff sinks on this day) Al Cikowski (ready to meet Cliff at Hilltop for a beer and pizza)  Amy and Abigail Hebert (co entry just wanting to remind everyone to not take their organs with them but save a life and donate!) Tom Love (looking to beat jan for bragging rights in the fall

April 17th Dan Biwan Craig’s accountant and after Tax day he is ready to join Cliff on the ice for the final plunge

April 19th  Tom Cikowski (tired of hearing Fritz brag about his winning last year and ready to win) Kim Flower (sitting under a palm tree in Miami and enjoying watching the lake unfreeze)

April 20th Landbo Boys wanting to win and take their parents to Hilltop for Rootbeer Floats

April 21st Horst Voight (our wiley german who may have an instinct for picking the ice date) Linda Wrobel our 2007 winner who has brought old Cliff chocolate cake and a kiss on the cheek

April 22nd Ruth Grady who just wants the ice to leave for her fishing adventure in may

April 23rd Roy Voight wanted the 23rd but nicely let his wife take it and took the next best date

April 24th Gail Voight looking forward to this date for a year as the twins are now 2 and she and Roy have survived Parent  Survivor.

Who will win…… stay tuned

My blog will not let me comment back to comments so this is the only way I can do it is directly

Dan, you and I will have to compare notes on Beale street this summer.  It was definitly an experience with 3 kids and grandma on a Friday night.  BB Kings was too crowded and loud or we would have gone.  The food at Silky’s was good and music was…. interesting…..  See you in July to compare notes

Rick, the converter boxes gave us 2 more PBS stations (Steve and Jen are in heaven with the create channel) one more NBC, Fox, The CW Channel, and a constant local weather channel.  The reception I think is better.  Getting our analog Satellite channels and the Digital local channels to work together and get to all the cabins was a challenge.  See Troy if you have any questions, I stay blissfully ignorant of the entire system beyond turning it on our TV along with all DVD, VCR’s and remote controls in the resort.  We now have directions by each TV should be interesting this summer training everyone in to switchng from Analog to Digital

Steve was busy over spring break bringing the horse swing recruits back into form

He did some reinforcement of the swing joint so the swings do not tilt as much and buck unsuspecting kids off, or is that the best part of the swings that I remember…

Ready for Use

Each set lasts 2 years so we are good for 4 years and Bella Nova will be able to appreciate what her dads handiwork

Got back from Spring Break hoping for no snow to be seen.  There were a few banks of snow

Looking Happy

Cliff taking his post back

Tilting a bit to the left.  I don’t think Cliff missed much

Lake just showing signs of thinning around the edges

I will be posting all the Ice Out guesses in the next post as soon as I unbury them from my desk

Cliff had a little time to kill in Memphis on his way home.  He kept a low profile but enjoyed the sights and sounds on Beale street.  It was a completely different world than life at the lake.

Somebody out there is going to post in whey this theatre is famous in Memphis… I can’t remember

Definitely the most interesting and flavorful part of the whole trip was when Cliff stumbled into this Irish Bar on Beale street for some BBQ.  The singer for the evening was this lady complete with Tattos belting out Johnny Cache and Walking in Memphis along with a few others.  Cliff was just happy when she quit using the F Bomb with kids in the room.  Definitely a night that will be remembered.  Time to get back to the lake! Choooo Chooooo

Cliff took his last day in Chattanooga to hang out with some other ice diving friends of his.  He was getting pointers on how to deal with cold water from the best.

The penguins of the Tennessee Aquarium where more than happy to give Cliff pointers and lessons.

Last Stop

One final stop to see the famous Ruby Falls.  It was a 280 foot ride down an elevator, 1/2 mile walk into Look Out Mountain to reach Ruby Falls

Enjoying the sights of a north bound donkey facing the south

The famous Ruby Falls were worth the hike.  Time to head back North for Cliff to take his own fall into Lower Kaubashine.  Back to Amtrak and Homeland Security.  What friends will Cliff run into at Union Station….. He met some interesting folks on the way out who were very interested in helping Cliff find his way around town and extracuricular activities for a price.  Union Station is a very interesting place…..