March, 2016 | Half Moon Trail Resort Blog

Boot Lake Ice – On it’s way out!

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Ryan Ahrendt

We have another early spring on our hands! I know many of the lakes a little farther South have already been open for a while, but we are typically a couple weeks behind the twin cities. I took a few quick pictures of the ice last evening. It’s started getting dark, cracks are widening, and it’s really opened up around the edges the past few days. As I was taking the pictures, I saw and heard several different kinds of ducks, swans, and geese as they are back in the area now with some open water for them to use – a sure sign of spring!

Posted in Nature, Resort Life

Easter Weekend Campfire

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Ryan Ahrendt

It was a little chilly on Friday, with a few snow flakes swirling in the cool spring air, but we still enjoyed a toasty campfire at Mom and Dads, just down the lake. My brother Nate was home from college for a few days and had made some benches and campfire ring so we had to try it out with a hot dog roast. It’s great being close to family! Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Posted in Family Life

A Man of Many Hats

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Ryan Ahrendt

Today we are playing lumberjack! There is never a dull moment here on the resort, and it seems we are constantly switching our “hats”, which keeps life exciting. Today we harvested a few older trees that were near the end of their life and cut them up into specific lengths. We are taking them only a couple miles down the road to a friend of ours who will saw them into lumber to be used in one of our building projects in the future.

Posted in Resort Life

Half Moon Trail Lodge

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Ryan Ahrendt

We’re in the midst of a little remodel here today at Half Moon Trail. The Department of Health is requiring a new three bin sink be installed, so we are taking the opportunity to get a new floor, cabinets, and ice cream signage behind the desk.

An interesting side note on our vintage ice cream dipping cabinet – the seals were starting to go bad, so I spent many hours trying to locate a new seal, only to find that it is no longer available. The ice cream cabinet was made by a division of the Anheuser-Busch company back in the sixties, which is no longer around, hence the reason I could no longer find parts! We are still in the process of getting some custom parts made in an attempt to keep this piece of history in our lodge.

Posted in Resort Life

“Waking up” the plants

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Ryan Ahrendt

Over the years, mom has gradually “wintered over” (is that how you say it?) many of our plants in the lodge. They don’t require much attention through the winter, but come March, we start to help them wake up a bit in anticipation of the summer. We all worked to water, fertilize, prune, and check for bugs today! Even our little Mabel and Mary Kate got in on the action.