Earlier this summer we had to make the difficult decision to said goodbye to our beloved dog Crunch who we spent 16 great years with.  Losing him was really tough on us and as a family we needed a break and to get away. We decided to do a roadtrip up to lake country in Northern MN and Wisconsin and bring our 17 year old Shiba Inu, Karma with us. This was her first trip in 6 years so we weren’t quite sure how it would go in this stage of her life. We knew she would be limited in her activity so we didn’t plan to do much outside of some walks and relaxing.

On the way up to Brainerd we stopped at one of our favorite breweries, Starry Eyed in Little Falls, MN. We hung out here for a bit enjoying some beer, seltzers and music before heading up to Cragun’s Resort in Brainerd.  The peak summer crowds were gone and we were able to enjoy a quieter time at the lake and the resort. 

The next day was gorgeous and we made our way to Nisswa to walk around the shops and stopped at Jack Pine and Big Axe Breweries to enjoy some beverages on the patios soaking up some fall sunshine.  

We spent 2 nights at Cragun’s and then made our way over to the Airbnb we booked in a small town in northern Wisconsin. The place was remote and quiet but had everything we needed to escape the typical day to day routine including our own personal spa retreat. They had everything you could need to unwind and relax including a deep soaking tub, multi person cedar sauna room, cold plunge tub, a massive steam and shower room, all set with large windows and views of the surrounding forest. We arrived and were amazed with the place we’d be spending the next week at.  https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1607629499616572787?photo_id=1688729784&source_impression_id=p3_8c70bde3-af16-46b0-ad5a-240fd06f9745_1607629499616572787_0&previous_page_section_name=1000

While the point of this trip was to relax and enjoy the slower place we did venture out a bit each day with visits to the north shore, the world famous Betty’s Pies for lunch and a pie shake, and stops at Gooseberry Falls and Amnicon Falls State parks in both Minnesota and Wisconsin.  We knew that we wouldn’t be doing any extensive hiking with Karma but wanted to get her out a bit for a few short walks and she seemed to really enjoy walking through the parks and trying to get close to the falls.  I think she also secretly liked all the attention and compliments she was getting.

We spent the majority of our evenings back at the house cooking dinner, listening to music, relaxing in the sauna and sitting by the fire. 

The time away was a great reset for our family and we were so impressed with how Karma did on the trip.