Arrival at Good 'Ol Days Resort

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We left Des Moines at 7:30 this morning, and we hoped to arrive in Nisswa by 2pm. The plan was to surprise my mom for her birthday at 4pm. Google said the drive should take about 5 hours and 45 minutes, but it's hard to plan an arrival time when driving with kids. Thankfully, we beat rush hour in Minneapolis. My sister got stuck in traffic and sat on the freeway for more than an hour!

We passed through the town Baxter, Minnesota around 2:30pm, which is located close to Nisswa. Baxter looked OK, kind of like a typical suburb. There was a Walmart, a Target, and a bunch of fast food restaurants. I worried that our resort was going to be suburban instead of the nice Minnesota getaway I'd imagined. But, as we got closer to Nisswa, the scene changed. Nisswa main street lined with old store fronts, funky souvenir shops, and lots of little restaurants. The only chain that I spotted was an A&W. When we made our turn off of Main Street, the road was unpaved. So, it was definitely a little rustic! We drove under a wooden arch that read "Good Ol' Days Family Resort" and then spotted the cottages. The resort was right on the lake, and I breathed a sigh of relief! It was perfect. All told, the drive took about 7.5 hours for us.



The resort allowed us to use the party room to surprise my mom, and it was perfect for it. I was able to set up the cake and decorations as family members trickled in from all over the country. The surprise went off without a hitch, although we didn't see my mom until it was almost too late! She was really surprised.

After some pizza and cake, we retreated to the outdoors. The kids played on the playground behind the cottages, while the adults gathered around, catching up on life. We then enjoyed the nightly campfire. We'd brought fixings for s'mores, and the kids had a grand time cooking up their own desserts. The resort was absolutely perfect for our group, especially having the little kids. We rented an entire cottage, with us on one half and my parents on the other. We had easy access to the playground, lake, and fire pit. They thought of everything, and it felt absolutely idyllic.

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Photos

Lower Cullen Lake
This is the view of the lake from the cottages at Good Ol' Days Family Resort in Nisswa, Minnesota.

Time for s'mores!
The resort hosts a nightly campfire, weather permitting. They did all the hard work, we just had to show up with our marshmallows and s'mores fixins!

Resort Campfire
It was really nice to be able to just enjoy the campfire without doing all the work of getting it set up and putting it out. The dragonflies flew over our heads as we roasted marshmallows.

Stand-Up Paddle Board
Resort guests can use all of the non-motorized boating equipment for free, like the kayaks, canoes, and paddle boards. The water in the swim area stayed shallow enough to stand, and the water swept the boards back to the shore. That made it so the kids could even try boating without us worrying too much about them!

Chaperoning from the Pier
Lower Cullen Lake, Minnesota