Cabin Fever Part 1

Last year, Trevor took me to Candlewood Cabins in Richland Center for an incredible birthday weekend. I fell in love with the area and the cabins so much that I made a reservation for one of the larger cabins for Thanksgiving weekend, but had to cancel because Trevor had to work the day after Thanksgiving. We had better luck planning a getaway for Maya's birthday, loading three of her friends in the car for a weekend in the Hillside Cabin.

We started out when I got off work. The hour long drive along Highway 14 is always lovely, but especially so on a spring evening. We arrived in Richland Center a little bit before sunset, made a wrong turn and stumbled across the Dairy O, a walk up ice cream shop. This is why I rarely get upset about wrong turns when traveling. You almost always discover great places, or at least store away a little geography that may come in handy later.





Photo by Maya


Oddly, I was more tempted by the sodas than the ice cream. I don't think I've ever turned down ice cream in my life.



Hello Barney piñata. You are exceedingly creepy yet oddly fascinating.
We eschewed the outdoor seating in favor of eating our treats in the car. We made it to the cabin just after dark.






We were all thrilled with this adorable cabin. The girls were giggling with glee almost as much as they were over the country boys they spotted at the ice cream shop. The Glass House, where we stayed last year, is more suited for romantic getaways, but the Hillside Cabin is perfect for gatherings of family and friends. Between the beds in the sleeping loft and the futon downstairs it sleeps up to six. There's a full kitchen, deck and screened in porch as well as a comfortable living room with wood burning stove. The decor is not over the top huntin' and fishin' rustic. It simply looks like someone's cabin home.




The first order of business after putting our things away was to start a fire. I'm not the best fire builder, but we managed to get a good one started. Searching for kindling in the dark is hard. We went through almost a box of matches before it was fully lit. I let the girls handle the fire building the rest of the weekend.

We had a half hearted attempt at S'mores and marshmallows, but I think the girls were all sugared out from the ice cream, so we let the fire burn out and returned indoors. The girls headed to the loft to play board games and engage in other slumber party shenanigans, while I chose a book from the shelf, made some tea and took advantage of the whirlpool tub.


Photo by Maya




Eventually, the whispers and giggles upstairs subsided, and we settled in to sleep with the windows open and only the sound of the wind in the trees and the occasional owl or coyote call.


Cabin Fever Part 2
Throwback Thursday: At the Drive In
Cabin Fever Part 3