LOWES CREEK TREE FARM

I don’t have much memory of this – I was really young – but when I was kid, my parents loaded the family up in our tiny Dodge Spirit, and we drove over snowy roads to get to a place somewhere up north where we would ostensibly find the perfect tree to cut down, put in our living room, and adorn with ornaments.

The way my mother tells the story, my tiny feet got tired pretty quickly. The longer and longer we searched, each tree not quite good enough, the more impatient I became until suddenly I blurted out: “Can we just get a damn tree and get the hell out of here?”

My short fuse aside, my parents still remember this time fondly, laughing at the grumpy profanity that spilled out of my mouth that day for years and years.

Since then, I’ve come to recognize the fun we had as something I’d come to treasure: A nice moment in time with my family, braving the cold and denying the draw of conveniently soulless plastic trees to secure a perfect evergreen for ourselves. We wanted one that would make the room smell like the woods and lose the majority of its needles well before we’d take it down (which would likely be in March).

Such experiences are great bonding times for families. The Chippewa Valley offers the opportunity to round up the family, head out, and snag a perfect tree of your own, making some priceless memories along the way.

EAU CLAIRE

Curvue Hideaway & Trees (6760 Curvue Road) splits its time as a winter getaway and an outstanding tree farm. If you stop at Curvue, you can delight in tree-hunting while pairing it with hot cider and warming up by the fire. You can also check out Smith Christmas Tree Farm (6202 Deerfield Road), which in addition to tons of varieties of trees offers wreaths and decorations.

NEARBY

There’s lots of trees out there ripe for the cutting down. Osseo’s Anderson Christmas Trees (N49531 County Road O) has been in the business for 40 years, letting you cut down your own or pick from pre-cut trees. Lowes Creek Tree Farm (S9475 Lowes Creek Road, Eleva) is a 290-acre plot of land full of trees and custom greenery. Take a wagon ride at Pleasant Valley Tree Farm (N7240 810th St., Elk Mound) and select from thousands of balsams, Fraser firs, spruces, and white pines.

There’s no excuse for buying that plastic nonsense when you can get a perfect – and real – tree to brighten up your holiday home. Happy hunting!