A visit from Mike in Northern Minnesota who proudly displays his Kuuma badge of honor.

Guest post series continues.  Welcome Mike, a “218’er” (from Northern Minnesota), longtime reader of saunatimes, and a true authentic sauna aficionado: 

Hello Glenn and the Saunatimes faithful,

This post is a two part guest post:  Praise for the folks at Lamppa Manufacturing, makers of the fabulous Kuuma sauna stove, and some random musings about fall at the cabin.

First, as you can see, I have added a Kuuma badge to my hot room door.

Some time back, the fine folks at Kuuma  posted a request for sauna photos in exchange for one of their newly designed stove badges.  I emailed off a photo and weeks later, a beautiful Kuuma badge arrived at my door.  I wasn’t keen on drilling holes in my stove to mount it, but thought instead that it would look great on the hot room door.  I hope you all agree, as I’m very satisfied with the install.

I took delivery of my Kuuma stove five years ago at the factory in Tower, MN.  I continue to be amazed by how well it heats my sauna and how accommodating Darryl and the staff at Lamppa Mfg. have been in the ensuring years.  I can’t say enough good things about these people.  They build a suburb product for a fair price and they serve it up with excellent service.  If you’re considering a sauna of your own, visit their web site, call them on the phone, and then place your order.

Now, onto part two

Today was one of those mid-September days that I think of as a stolen day.  Stolen from the clutches of Old Man Winter, who is sneaking through the woods right now, pulling leaves off the tree branches, breathing his frosty breath down our necks.  Today, something must have tripped him up.  We had sun and 75 degrees in Northern Minnesota.  There were chores to do, as there always are this time of year, but we still squeezed in a final pontoon ride of the year.  I split a small pile of birch that will be dry for next season, and after dinner, we took a sauna.  It wasn’t a three hour, three rounder with lots of time between rounds and it didn’t need to be.  It was more of a quick two rounder, with some cool down time on the deck between rounds one and two and then a nice (albeit brief) swim after the second round.

The lake is rapidly cooling down, but still has enough heat left in it for a quick dip.  We pulled the swim raft last weekend, which is my usual destination when I plunge from the dock.  I had to settle for a few strokes out to the deep water before hightailing it back to the shore.   I almost skipped the swim tonight, but I decided that in February, when I look back on this day, I didn’t want to regret not enjoying the whole experience, and the cooling swim is almost as good as the heat.

Anyway, it was another sauna experience that made me feel thankful for the lake and all that it offers.

Cheers, my friends, and close the damn door!
Mike