Dickerson’s Lake Florida Resort: A Minnesota Vacation Resort For Families

Lake Florida Sunset 2-19-12

Sunday was a gorgeous day with the temperature hitting 42 degrees. It’s hard to believe it is February in Minnesota! The weatherman does say snow is on the way-get ready!

In the afternoon I went to the cabins to get measurements and ideas for curtains and blinds for the new windows. Simon & Sasha love to watch out the dining room window. Here they are waiting for me to come back from the cabins.

Simon & Sasha watching and waiting for me

Of course at the end of the day we had a beautiful sunset!

Sunset with the jungle gym by cabin #7

Lake Florida Sunset at 5:42

I thought I was finished taking pictures, but as I walked back to the house and looked through the cabins to the lake I could see that the sky was changing. This picture is taken in front of cabin #6.

Sunset at 5:52

As always, click on any picture to enlarge it!

2-18-12 The Lake Florida Sunset

Saturday was a long awaited day. I went to Hutchinson to meet my longtime friend Jan and her mom Loretta. Jan & I have been friends since kindergarten (and that wasn’t yesterday! )

Jan & Connie at lunch at Applebees in Hutchinson, MN

Once again God came through at the end of the day and gave us another beautiful sunset at Lake Florida.

Sunset at 5:36

Sunset at 5:39-cabin #12

This picture was taken from the master bedroom deck of cabin #12 at the north end of the resort.

Sunset at 5:49

We’re looking forward to another beautiful sunset tomorrow!

The Ice & the Sunset

Friday Bob went out in the afternoon to take pictures of the ice heaves and the resort from the north. The ice heaves are incredible all around the lake! If you have a lake near you, take the time and drive around to see.

Ice heaves at Lake Florida north of Dickerson's Resort

The docks and lifts look so lonely on the beach. It won’t be long before the water is blue again and everything is in it’s place in the lake!

Dickerson's Lake Florida Resort from the north in winter

The end of the day brought another beautiful sunset at Lake Florida.

Sunset at 5:33 with "Lake Florida palm trees"

I started at the public access noth of the resort. The neighbors have beautiful Pompass Grass which if you really use your imagination looks like Minnesota palm trees swaying in the wind

Sunset at 5:45

Lake Florida Sunset 2-16-12

The sunset at 5:28 from cabin #12

The sunset on Thursday was beautiful again. The ice on the creek and the heaves make it even more interesting.

The sunset at 5:32

The sunset at 5:33

Sunset at 5:38

The end of the sunset at 5:45

Out and about with Bob

On Wednesday, Bob left at 1:00 to go to a Southern Minnesota Tourism Meeting in Springfield, Minnesota. Five meetings are held in 5 different communities each year. Marlys Vanderwerf was the hostess who planned all of the activities. He always comes home with great little facts about each community.

His first stop was the Chamber/CVB Office in Willmar to pick up Willmar Lakes Area Guides to take with him to the meeting. On the way to Springfield he went past the Gilfillan Estate, home of Farmfest. The Gilfillan Estate started as 13,000 acres purchased by Charles Duncan Gilfillan in Redwood County.

His advertising meeting started at 4:00 at Tommy’s Central Street Steakhouse in Springfield. I’m sure he arrived in the nick of time! They finalized the 2012 advertising program for the 36 counties of Southern Minnesota. The dinner was also at Tommy’s after hors d’oeuvres at the Outlaw Bar & Grill. Bob stayed at the Microtel Inn & Suites. It is the only Microtel that was built by the community with investors buying $500 shares. Something to be very proud of!

Thursday morning before the meeting started, Bob dropped in at the Riverside Animal Clinic to see Dr. Phil Gill and Karla Kuisle who have both been guests at the resort (and we hope are coming again) Simon & Sasha are forever grateful for the new bag of catfood they sent along for them!

At 8:30 it was time for the meeting which was held at the community center in Springfield. Bob said it is one of the nicest they have ever met in. Neil Linscheid from the U of MN Extension Service spoke about the importance of Social Media for small communities.

Click to enlarge

After lunch Marlys handed out $10 gift certifcates to all attendees to go shopping in Springfield. Bob chose to use his certifcate at Lang’s Meet Market and brought home smoked pork chops, bratwursts and dried beef. As he left many of the other people were coming to the meat market also-it’s very good!

It wasn’t part of itinerary, but just down the road is Walnut Grove, the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

The Sod House on the Prairie is also there.

On the way home he went by Jackpot Junction Casino. He went right by and came back home to the resort with his money

He also visited with a long time friend, Bill Miller in Olivia at the Master’s Coffee Shop & Bakery. Bill and his family have had a cabin south of the resort forever! What a great trip!

The Sunset at Lake Florida 2-12-12

Sunday was another busy day. It was our day to work in the church office/welcome center so left home at 7:15 a.m. It was 6 degrees below zero! The youth of Calvary Lutheran Church had a brunch to raise funds for their youth gathering this summer. After church we were off to our obligatory stop at Menards. Saved an extra 11% on the new door for cabin #13! Now off to Atwater to a spaghetti fund raiser put on by Farmers Union for scholarships. Looked all over town, but no fundraiser here! We drove around Green Lake and then stopped at Jahnke’s Foods in Spicer. Bought some beautiful steaks which we took home and grilled – medium rare steak on the grill with sunshine in the middle of February in Minnesota – it’s hard to beat! Baked potato and a salad were just the accompaniment we needed.

At 2:30 we went out to check on the docks and lifts once again. From our kitchen window we can see that the ice has moved again. The sand snake is getting taller and fatter!

The sand snake on the beach keeps getting fatter!

Sure enough, a couple of the lifts had shifted, fallen off of the blocks they were set on and now needed to be raised up again. After a couple of hours we had everything secured and went back inside. But wait, it’s almost time for the sunset!

5unset at 5:27 at Lake Florida

Sunset at 5:31

Sunset at 5:40 at Lake Florida

I was just ready to take my frozen fingers and walk home. Turned around one more time to check the sunset-the sky now had a purple tint to it-who knew?

The end of the sunset at 5:44

In case anyone is interested, the spaghetti dinner is February 19th in Atwater starting at 11:00. There is also a silent auction and bake sale! Everybody come!

2-10-Sunset at PWELC

Friday we set out for our sunset picture at Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center which is right next door to the resort. We went to the Westby Observatory Building hoping for the best view. There weren’t any clouds, but the sun was pretty.

Sunset at 5:25 at Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center

: Sunset at 5:36 with stone fireplace

Sunset at 5:38

2-9-12 The Lake Florida sunset

The plan for today is to go to the top of our neighbor’s (Al & Lila’s) hill and get shots of the sunset. Some of you have been there many years ago. I have lived here for 30 years and have never been to the top of the hill!

Just to be safe, we started with our first picture at the beach in front of cabin #2.

Sunset from the Lake Florida beach at 5:04

Armed with our Olympus and a new Canon camera we headed for the hills. It’s quite an adventure following the paths of the deer. A clearing in the path gave Bob the chance to take this picture of me. Onward to the top!

A clearing in the path

The growth was thicker than we expected so we stopped on this hill to take pictures not knowing if we could get the rest of the way to the top in time.

Sunset at 5:18

Lake Florida sunset at 5:20

Bob decided we should be in 2 different places and headed back down the hill to get his pictures from the neighbors on the lake.

Lake Florida sunset at 5:26

It’s amazing how different the sunset can look from a different location. We didn’t make it to the top of the hill so will have that to look forward to another time.

Lake Florida Sunset 2-8-12

I told you we were going in search of new sunset spots and yesterday we did. At 5:20 we left and went through the Environmental Learning Center the back way. Bob thought we should go to the Westby Observatory, but the sun was still too bright. Interesting what a difference the location can make.

When we got to the entrance of the ELC I snapped a picture, but the sun was still too bright. We headed north on #29 and pulled over at the top of a hill. Our neighbor was out with her dog so we chatted a minute and took the first picture at 5:30

Lake Florida Sunset at 5:30

We continued north, turned into a field road and went as far as we could. We hiked the last 50 feet to the top of the hill. What a beautiful view!

Lake Florida sunset at 5:34

Lake Florida sunset at 5:37

Now comes the really good part! We ended up in New London for dinner. Wednesday night the American Legion serves B’BQ ribs which are scrumptious! We had a delicious meal and ‘paid it forward’ by buying dinner for an elderly couple who drove all the way from Willmar. It’s early, but we told the waitress to wish them a Happy Valentines Day!

Lake Florida Sunset 2-7-12

One of our great resort guests (& friend) Betsey, informed me that yesterdays sunset had a January date on it! So sorry-guess I’m not ready for summer yet. With the weather we’ve been having it seems as though it should still be November.

Yesterday was another nice day with the temperature getting to 28 degrees with sunshine! The sun was a big, bright, yellow ball in the sky again at sunset. So interesting how it turns to orange and disappears so quickly!

Tuesday sunset at 5:33

As the sun moves south we’re going to have to move to a different location to take the pictures. As you can see there are taller trees on the point which will move up our sunset time. Maybe a trip to The Westwood Cafe in Spicer or McKales Family Restaurant in New London would give us the chance for some new locations to photograph from. We also know we will have good food!

Dickerson's Lake Florida Resort

Lake Florida Sunset 2-19-12

2-18-12 The Lake Florida Sunset

The Ice & the Sunset

Lake Florida Sunset 2-16-12

Out and about with Bob

The Sunset at Lake Florida 2-12-12

2-10-Sunset at PWELC

2-9-12 The Lake Florida sunset

Lake Florida Sunset 2-8-12

Lake Florida Sunset 2-7-12

Dickerson’s Lake Florida Resort

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