The sunrise this morning was bright pink so I knew we were in for some bad weather. I was wrong. It never came. We got a couple sprinkles later but that was it. Milwaukee got 8 inches of rain and our customers are not from there, so they don't care.
John and I visited with some customers, did some "putzing" as we call it and then we started on the office again. We worked on that most of the day but we got a lot of interruptions. People wanted to buy ice cream cones, talk, and ask about waterfalls. We recommended several but they chose Superior Falls and Saxon Harbor. Saxon Harbor is about 40 minutes from us and is a favorite with little kids because of the huge sand dunes. The four boys who's parents took them there had a great time for hours climbing the sand cliffs. Then they went to Superior Falls, one of our favorites, to pick rocks, swim in the big lake Superior, explore and walk up to the falls.
We do a lot of outings with our customers, which a lot of resort owners don't do. In the past we took these and other customers to see these and other waterfalls. So now most of our customers go by themselves. We sort of feel left out sometimes. We know they are making the most of their vacation and that's important. A lot of other resort owners work full-time besides running their resort. Then the people who stay at the resort feel as though the owners don't care about them. We try very hard to make sure our customers feel wanted, needed and we will try our very best to make their vacation fun. One resort owner we talked to was so proud of the fact they fixed all their own windows, which saved them several thousands of dollars. We asked them how long it took and they said 40 hours and two weeks. They had dedicated almost every day for at least half a day working on those windows. We asked them more questions, and it turns out they don't do anything with their customers like we do. Now their business is gone. They can't get any rentals at all for their few cabins.
John deservedly gets all the credit at our resort for spending so much time with the customers on activities. He used to organize sports and recreation programs for people with disabilities for several years. When he didn't do that anymore, he organized recreation for our customers. When I came into the picture 2 years after he bought the resort, I just fell into his routine. I loved it so much and it felt so right to be here, helping, contributing, socializing, and he liked my company so much, that he asked me to marry him. It is very fulfilling to feel needed and so the rest is history.
Being the wife of a resort owner has its ups and downs. I no longer have that "deer in the headlight" look and haven't since the first year. I tried working full-time, part-time, doing side jobs like secretarial, but I hate being away from the resort. There is always something to do, something going on, someone to talk to and I love that. If we didn't send away all the sheets, etc. to a laundry service though, things would be different.
John and I have fallen into our individual routines now. I take care of the inside of the cabins, inside of our lodge/home, cooking, laundry, and most of the gardening/mowing. If something needs to be repaired and I cannot do it, John puts on one of his many hats, plumber or electrician for example, and he does it. He puts in the piers, the boats, winterizes the cabins, works on the rock walls, gravel, log cutting and manly man stuff like garbage runs. I used to do all the paperwork, but now John does that too, except the taxes. I still do those. He actually does more than me now and he spoils me that way. I love it. Eventually, when we get our bank business in order, I will take over the paperwork again. Its only fair and it is important for both spouses to be involved in the bookkeeping aspect of their mutual business, I think.
Most resort owners have a terrible personal home because they give everything they can to their cabins. I saw another resort owner's kitchen and I almost got sick. There were doors hanging by one hinge, holes in the floor, piles of household items everywhere, etc. I thought that was sad but hoped that was just hers, and not the majority of resort owners personal homes. Then I saw another resort owner's home. The same. I'm sorry, that wasn't how my grandmother brought me up. Since the first year of my moving in here, we have taken out drop ceilings, repaired ceiling holes, pulled out indoor/outdoor carpeting, refinished wood floors that were hiding underneath, painted old panelling, put stucco and paint and decorations up and now that the office is finished, the entire house is done. Nine years to finish our house isn't bad when you consider that we have 9 others to work on too. We put in all new mattresses, on all new roofs, replaced old sofas with sofa sleepers, added microwaves, homemade quilts (by me) and decorating themes. After awhile I noticed that there was enough of a mixture of things in the cabins that each cabin could have a theme. One is rustic - bears, canoes, alaska pictures; two is southwestern and Native American; three is baskets everywhere; four is farm; five is flowers; six is loons; seven is moose; eight is birds and bird houses; nine is whitetail deer. It was very fun doing this. I have an old friend who said that resort life was my destiny because when I was a kid, I had a loom, a sewing machine, loved to bake, was always cleaning and babysat a lot.
Tonight I ended up talking with a friend/customer until very late. So now its morning and time for bed. I hope you enjoyed tonight's blog.
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