Dancing on the Beach In Minnesota in April

---

I'm from Canada (southern Manitoba to be specific) and I'm 46 years old. 46 years of bitterly cold winters followed by that wonderful feeling of exhiliaration (and appreciation) when spring finally comes!

Not only did we have a short, mild winter but spring has been beautiful. This past weekend my 13 year old daughter and I plus a niece and nephew drove about five hours southeast to a lake resort near Brainerd, Minnesota. Now, some years in early April we could have gone cross country skiing in those parts; this year however the temperature was in the upper 60's and there wasn't a speck of snow to be found. We took part in the usual activities....swimming in the indoor pool, karaoke, bingo, lots of silliness. But we all agreed, the highlight was building a campfire on the beach of Gull Lake, turning on the mp3 player and dancing in the sand to Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'". That will forever be a special memory for all of us; a special spring day here in the north.

---