Around International Falls, MN

On Thursday we continued west taking Hwy 1 then Hwy 53. We stopped at the very interesting Voyageurs National Park Visitors Center. See the pictures of a Voyageur and a stuffed moose. Took a little walk. Continued to the Woodenfrog State Forest Campground on Kabetogama Lake which adjoins the Voyagers National Park. We got a great campsite with a view of the lake. The wild raspberries are ripe. I picked enough to add to pancakes for the morning.
On Friday we went to International Falls. We've heard a lot about I-Falls, as the locals call it, on the weather channel. It's always "and today in International Falls, Mn, the temperature was -50*". We just wanted to see it ourself. As you would imaging, winter sports are big around here. They even have a seven mile long ice road they use in the winter. It runs way out into the lake. Not us. 75* in Florida works just fine.
Did some sight seeing, went grocery shopping, I got a haircut, did laundry, shared three ways a small Pecan Pie Blizzard from DQ while waiting on the laundry. Stayed the night at Arnold's Campground so we could dump the tanks and fill up with water.

Ely, MN

We spent the night at the Forest Service campground; South Kawishiwi River. Had a nice site near the boat ramp. The mosquitoes were terrible so we didn't spend a whole lot of time outside. Work up to a gray and rainy day. Drove to Ely. We visited the International Wolf Center which features ambassador gray wolves in their north woods habitat. That was very enjoyable. The Center is celebrating it's 25th anniversary.


At the end of a rainy day, we would up in the parking lot of the Fortune Bay Resort & Casino near Tower, MN. "Proudly owned and operated by the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa"

Grand Marais to Grand Portage

We spent last night at the Municipal Campground in Grand Marais. A nice facility right on the harbor. On the way here, we stopped at Betty's Pies; a local institution since 1956. Bought a Minnesota Crunch. It's a pie made with a mixture of seasonal fruits. A truly great pie.
This morning, we all walked downtown. A perfect day. Sunny and in the low 70's. Gopher went swimming a few times. Carol went shopping for a warm zipper front sweat shirt. Found a nice one in the Lake Superior Trading Post. For $50 for a sweat shirt, I hope it's nice & warm. Stopped by The Worlds Best Donut shop. Only bought two but they were very good. Grand Marais is a nice little town. A typical summer resort like you find around The Cape, Jersey Shore, Maryland, etc.
We drove to the Grand Portage National Monument. That's as far north as you can go and still be in the US. We toured the museum which told all about the fur trade in the late 1700's. Beaver primarily.
On the drive to Grand Portage I spotted a large pull-off on the Lake side of the highway. When we left the Grand Portage Museum, we drove back on HWY 61 and found the pull-off. We're spending the night here. It's right on Lake Superior!!. The view is just perfect. Gopher & I took a few nice walks along the shore. Mostly it's small, very smooth rocks but there is sand here and there. All afternoon, people have been pulling in to go beach combing. Looking for those very "special" rocks. PaPa used to do that a lot on his trips. We have a lot of "special" rocks around our pond. Trouble is, we can't remember where they came from.
Later in the day, a dead fawn washed up on the beach right where we were. Rather then look at the poor fawn, I put on my rubber gloves and pulled it down the beach away from us. In due time, of course, the scavengers spotted the carcass. Look at the picture of the huge eagle.
Another wonderful day.