So two weeks ago we skied into the cabin for the weekend. It ended up being kind of an adventure.
We drove up Thursday night and spent the night at Obie and Kathleen's new house, it was the first time we had been there and it made us envious. It's an actual house (reasonably sized) on Deeryard lake with electricity and heat and running water.

Friday morning we got up and drove up to a snowmobilier parking lot near our lake. It was cold, I think about -10°f but we were expecting that so we were well dressed including Lucy with her new boots.
We packed up a bunch of food and gear on a sled and then realized that one of my skis was messed up.

The leading edge of one ski (for about 16") was delaminating, the bottom layer of it was completly detached. I managed to tie it in place with a piece of rope around the tip of the ski. After that we set off toward the cabin.
It's about 2 miles to ski in there which isn't too bad but it was a lot of work pulling that sled. It was a little difficult for Lucy too, it seemed like she was having some joint pain probably from arthritis combined with the weird stride because of the snow and boots. But we all made it ok.
We spent the rest of the day Friday hanging out in the cabin because it kept getting colder. Sandy kept rearranging things trying to create more room and I read a book.
Saturday morning it was -24°f but we wanted to get something done so we went out and burned one of the brush piles we had accumulated in the Fall. I also pulled down a bunch of insulation in the upstairs of the house some of which we melted in the fire. It's remarkable how such a big piece of insulation can melt down into such a small glob. The high for the day was -17°f.
Sunday morning we had to get up and get home so we could see all the Superbowl commercials. I was interested in the game as well. It was -32°f which I guarantee will make any trip to the outhouse as short as possible. It was also windy, but it was out of the North so would be at our backs for all the sking. We gave Lucy an Aleve so the arthritis wouldn't be such a bother. I also made her a little jacket out of some duct tape and a plastic bag, I used the duct tape to better repair my ski as well.
The trip out took almost exactly an hour which was a lot shorter than the trip in. Unfortunately when we got to the car it wouldn't start. The battery was just too cold to get the thing going. I messed around for about an hour trying to start it while Sandy and Lucy stayed in the car out of the wind. We debated our options for a while and eventually decided to ski down the road toward Grand Marais to find someone who would drive us back and jump the car. We left Lucy in the car which was actually not too bad in the bright sunlight. After about 5 miles of sking we came to a house with smoke coming out of the chimney. A nice retired guy answered the door and after hearing our story agreed to drive us back up there. It took a little effort but we eventually got the car going and he followed us back down the road to make sure we didn't have any other problems.
The fan for the heater was apparently frozen up because we drove about 40 miles before it started working which made for kind of a cold ride since we were all sweaty. But in the end it came on and we warmed up/dried out, and eventually made it home in time for the football game.