When I reflect on all of the vacations I have taken throughout my life, the memories from going to the lake in Wisconsin always seem to stick out the most to me. My dad grew up being around the lake and has had a boat for as long as I can remember. His best friend Mike owned a cabin in Tomahawk Wisconsin and I remember him and my mom telling my brother and I we were going there for the first time. It is a 6 hour drive from where we live and on the way my mom kept telling us to be appreciative to Mike for letting us stay there. Little did I know I was about to be introduced to one of my favorite places in the world that means so much to me. When we are there we spent our days tubing, skiing, canoeing, and going on boat rides at night. I loved everything about being on the water. When we get back to the cabin at night, the cove where it sat was called Sunset Bay because the sun would set directly across from us. Our trips to the lake became more fun when my uncle bought two jet-skis that you could absolutely fly on. As my brother and I got older we were always taking friends to the lake with us. Looking back I am so thankful that I have parents who always welcome our friends with open arms. They have a way of making them feel like apart of our family and always including them in on the fun. I have been best friends with my friends from home since kindergarten and many of our memories come from Mike’s cabin in Tomahawk Wisconsin. We always had so much fun being on the water, hanging with my brother and his friends, the late nights in the cabin, making dinner, and more. One year we even participated in a poker run where every bar on the lake had games for us to participate in. We went pretty much every summer until Mike had passed away. His family decided to sell the cabin, because it was just to hard for them to be there without him. Mike passing away was so sad, and I was devastated that my summers spent in Tomahawk were coming to an end. I remember my whole family and all of my friends being so bummed to hear the news. This past summer I thought there was no way we were going to the lake, but my Dad and I looked into it. We ended up finding a cabin that sleeps 16 in St. Germain, Wisconsin. At this point, it is automatically assumed that my 4 girl friends were coming as they do every year. My brother was not going to invite any of his friends as they all have big boy jobs after graduating college just a couple of years ago. Since there was still so much more room in the house my parents told me to invite the boys from our friend group. Keep in mind, there are 5 of us girls and 8 boys. I extended the invitation to them thinking no way they are going to drive 6 hours to meet us here. Sure enough, 4 of them got in the car, picked up my best friend Megan from ISU on the way, and met us in St. Germain. So at this point including me, there were NINE 19 year olds tagging along with our family vacation. We shared so many laughs, sang songs, had family meals, spent our days on the boat, and stayed up late playing games. I was SO thankful that my mom and dad were able to provide that experience for us. They love my friends so much and my mom even had all of us as students when we were in 5th grade. We have all been best friends since kindergarten and I am so blessed our friendships have continued and that we were able to do fun things like this.
Looking back, I thought there was nothing in the world that could come close to Mike’s cabin in Tomahawk. Although that place will always have a special place in my heart, I am so thankful to be able to make more memories in a new place that I fell in love with. It is funny how things end up working out because our time in St. Germain ended up being one of my favorite trips at the lake. Being at the lake makes me so happy and makes me realize how lucky I am to have amazing people to share the fun with.
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