ice forming on lake

It is finaly happening! The ice is forming on the lake now that the temps have been staying below freezing. It has also been snowing lightly for a few days. I am looking forward to a snowy winter.

waking up to snow on ground....brrr

Much to my suprise after posting a snow day on Oct 26th, I woke up to snow sticking to ground the morning of Oct 27....Not much, but I guess it counts, btw the temp. read 22 degrees.

very hungry loon

My Aunt Patty captured photos of this loon on Lake George back in Aug 2008. If you can see from the photos the loon has caught a good size bass....unsure if was able to feed on all at one sitting....I guess I wouldn't mess with a loon...haha

click on images to make them larger. (ignore time stamp on photos, was not set up at time)

fawns....awww

here are a few photos of newborn fawns that take shelter here at the resort.

TORNADO touch down in Park Rapids and Emmaville

Just less than 2 miles from Sleeping Fawn a tornado touched down. The Tornado started along Hubbard just after 9 am headed north through Park Rapids and north up county rd 4 to Emmaville and toward Lake George. Multiple houses are with damage and many trees lost. No destruction to the resort to report. Most damage is out of main road viewing range, unsure of any fatalities or injuries at this time.
Emmaville was turned into a command post for rescue vehicles. I was able to capture a few photos of the crew. All areas of damage was closed off to public.

Trumpeter Swans land on Stocking Lake

Our truely great regular guests, Tom and Nona had this to say, and to share photos with all of you, enjoy.

Always an adventure at Sleeping Fawn Resort...
The group photo of trumpeter swans on the water was taken along the west side of Stocking Lake (North). As you can see in the photo, they were not stressed by our canoe as we slowed and then turned out to the center of the lake to avoid the family. We continued on our canoe ride around Stocking, our favorite activity on this remarkable lake. Some time after we made the far end, down by Hoosier Beach, and turned for home, we again saw the swan family off in the distance ahead of us. They had crossed to the other side, our home leg, and were swimming near the old beaver lodge below what we call Deer Hill. While they were still a quarter mile or so in front of us, we suddenly heard a horrific racket as the six big swans flapped their wings to take off, and loudly encouraged each other to lift, lift. They were flapping straight for our canoe, sort of walking, running along the surface of the water and slapping the water with their wings while trumpeting like mad! We were quite a distance exactly upwind from them, but Nona had the sense that she better prepare to duck as they seemed to take forever to climb off the water. I grabbed my little one-use camera and hoped for a shot, but the swans were hidden behind Nona who was in the canoe bow. I turned the canoe, ever so slightly, so they could see us... and I could see them. Still, closer and closer, flailing and honking... and they were still just above the surface of the water. Coming right toward us! "Pull up, pull up!" I mouthed to the lead, adult swan. They were clearly not gaining altitude. "What should we do?" Nona whispered back at me. They would be upon us in no time! What could we do? We certainly did not want to scare them off. Seemingly about in our laps... but in a flash as if on cue, the family of four immatures and two adults caught good air and up, up they went. Click! Off toward Lower Bottle Lake. Silence. In our now so small and insignificant canoe, we sat stunned in awe. "What happened here?" We quietly chuckled together with joy for our good fortune to have shared moments with this family of trumpeter swans -- each of us migrating, and hoping for a good life. Always an adventure at Sleeping Fawn Resort.

(click on image to view large size)

MN FilmTV visit

Both Katie , Director of the Park Rapids Chamber of Commerce and myself, a Chamber board member took Christopher Grap, Production Services Manager of MN FilmTV on a tour of the Park Rapids area. Christopher was visiting the area, capturing a few photos and taking notes of all sorts of things found throughout the tour of the Park Rapids lakes area. We visited all the small towns like Dorset, Nevis, Emmaville and Osage and stopped by a couple resorts, Itasca State Park and all sorts of things in between. Christophers visit will put Park Rapids on the map for future film. The MN FilmTV is a go to place for film directors to contact them asking for referrals to specific shots, locations or icons to be used in future films or still shots.

spectacular nights

Peggy Ladwig of Lonsdale, MN captured this shot of the moon coming over the pines from accross the lake, this is just one of many great perks of being at the lake.
(click on image to view larger size)

The Rochester Gang

The Olson's, Lund's, and Fencl's from Rochester, MN sent us this group shot taken under our towering Norway Pines. Rob and Justin also sent a photo of this whopper of a large mouth bass caught and released on Stocking Lake during their visit. We look forward to seeing this fun, outgoing group next year. (click on image to see larger version)

At last, a baby Loon on Stocking Lake!

Our resort guests, Mark and Lanette Wignes of Rochester were happy to share these images taken of the baby Loon riding the back of the mother. a big THANKS goes to the ESB Lakes Association for the funding of a man made Loons nest and the Tweedales for placing the man made Loons nest out on Stocking Lake.

Whatta catch!

Chris Lang from Minneapolis MN landed this nice slightly under 5 lb. Largemouth Bass over the Memorial weekend. The Lang family have been enjoying the resort for the past 3 seasons now.

holiday news letter in case you missed it!

December 2006

Happy Holidays to all our friends

It was another enjoyable year at Sleeping Fawn, even though we experienced the heat wave in mid/late July. It was nice have a warm and sunny season so everyone was able to enjoy the lake - lots of people were out fishing, scoping out wildlife along the shoreline, or just reading a good book. Stocking Lake was very active last season, more than we’ve seen it in the past.

Sleeping Fawn had some new amenities this year. There are more Adirondack chairs for everyone to enjoy campfires and the beach; cabin 4's kitchen was completely redone and updated, including new stove and refrigerator, dining table, sliding glass doors, and cabinets; a couple docks have new boards, bumpers and tie downs; the teeter totter got a facelift; the fish cleaning house got a much needed remodel; there has been significant progress on the rock wall along cabin 4. Many friends of the resort helped us make progress on these projects. We want to thank all of you who have helped, Joe couldn’t have gotten this far on his own!

For those of you here last season, you may have noticed that Ellen has been sporting many new hats. The reason for this is because she has been diagnosed with a hair loss condition known as Alopecia Areata. This is an autoimmune disease where the immune system mistakenly attacks the hair follicles. This disease has no pain nor is it contagious. Although it is awkward for Ellen, she is in good spirits and has been busy shopping for stylish hats. This October, Ellen and her friend Donna went on a bus tour to New York and the surrounding states. They were glad they went, but it was a bit overwhelming. This off season, Ellen continues to drive school bus in the Elk River area, and even claims its her last year of driving. Joe finds that hard to believe. We will see...

Joe took a break from the resort in October, also. He and his friend Chris took a road trip to Colorado. They toured the area around Boulder, the Rocky Mountains, and Estes Park. They both want to go back, its such a beautiful area. In Joe’s off season, he is a recreational employee at Wonewok, the 3M conference center on Mantrap Lake. He also has become a board member for the Park Rapids Chamber of Commerce. This position will help him learn and grow as a business owner. Look for Joe at sportsman and vacation shows as well. He works at the Explore Minnesota and Park Rapids Lakes area tourism booths.

This fall we had a special visit from the original owners of the resort, the Littrell’s. They noticed many changes since they owned the resort in the 1950's. They wrote us a letter with some history of the resort along with a few old pictures. We will have these items for all to view in the office.

Fall has seen the return of some new off season guests - a group of deer have decided it’s a good place to spend the winter. Joe feeds them apples and corn and the deer hang out in the front of the house, near the office. In fact, they are so used to Joe, they stay around when he is outside. They have even taken to looking in the window when its feeding time. There is another spot near cabin 4 where Joe has been trying to get them to eat also. If you stay this winter, you may see them outside the window. We have many pictures of them to share with you next summer!

Our focus for 2007 will include a focus on energy conservation and recycling, and we will continue to enhance the grounds, continue our projects, and expand amenities.

We look forward to another fun filled and relaxing season in 2007. We hope you will have the opportunity to stay or visit.

Thanks again for your continued friendship, we look forward to seeing you soon.

Joe and Ellen


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