It all began in 1965. I, my wife, our three children and our dog started camping, hauling along our trailer, a tent, canoe, trail bike and everything else. This developed our sense of the great out-of-doors.

We bought a small A-frame cabin in 1979 in the North Woods. It was on beautiful Long Lake. We had such good times with our family and friends.

In 1988, we bought a larger place on the most beautiful lake in Minnesota: Woman Lake, in Cass County.

We all worked to upgrade the cabin, boathouse and garage, working on new siding, and staining and building a new garage and workshop. The "Tack Shack," as it was called, was looking good.

We hunted, fished, swam, kayaked and motorboated. My wife's favorite paddle boat survived many storms on the boat lift. We four-wheeled with the camp Jeep, and I hauled kids around on a John Deere tractor. We had campfires and told stories of the big one that got away. We saw bears, fox, wolves, deer, grouse and bald eagles. What an education for all. God forbid the person that tells where on the lake we caught our limit. Fairly soon, grandkids started to show up and learn how to swim and fish.

I thank the good Lord we all had this opportunity to experience it. How fortunate we are now when we hear our kids telling their families of the events they shared. People have their own lives and we are getting older, so we sold. We enjoyed it so much.

Bob Tachovsky, Bloomington