My cabin story is unique in that the "Up North cabin" that my husband and I bought in 2008 was on the lake I had learned to water ski on in 1964!
I grew up in Iowa and two families in our town had cabins in northern Minnesota. Our family spent a long weekend visiting them in 1964 and I learned to ski. I remember the lake had an island on it. Fast forward to 2008 when my husband and I decided we would love to buy a cabin. We set out looking in the fall, and after a search of about 20 cabins we decided on a cabin on that lake with an island. Then we returned to the Twin Cities to wait to see if they accepted our offer. When they had, I called my parents to tell them our good news. My father remembered that our family visited there in 1964. I told him, no, there are probably other lakes with that name on it, and doubted it was the same. After hanging up, my mother called the woman who had owned the one where we stayed in 1964 (she was in a nursing home then). Sure enough it was the same lake — I couldn't believe it.
So now my husband and I are enjoying Mitchell Lake. We love sharing it with our three daughters, their husbands and six grandchildren. Every year on July 4th week, we all gather, having bonfires and water activities. We call it Kamp Kipling and have fun making memories on that lake with the island.
Jane Kipling, Fifty Lakes, Minn.
