Tripometer – 2328 mi
Gas Gauge – 186.171
Location – Little Isabella River Campground, MN
Lodging – $15
NEW METRIC: Cans of OFF – 1
As soon as Kelly was done working in RV-Hell on Friday we packed up and shot out of that KOA like a rocket. It was alright to use as a parking lot for the trailer, but in the future we’ll be using KOAs as exactly that only – an expensive parking lot (with a really nice shower).
Our next destination was Ely, MN – Gateway to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA). We knew we wanted to spend at least a week in the area so the choice of campground site was critical. Every camper knows that finding a good site on a Friday night is nigh on impossible. So, we set out this day with the goal of finding a campsite with good cell signal within an hour of Ely. Our plan was to use Saturday to find a campsite that we could spend a week in.
Our trip out of Duluth took us past the strip of beautiful mansions along Lake Superior’s shore north of the city. Duluth certainly has it’s share of wealth and beauty! At Michele’s suggestion we stopped at the New Scenic Café and had a lovely meal before continuing towards Ely, MN (Paul had Raksmorgas. Look that up for fun 🙂 — Delicious!)
The second campground we tried had an empty walk-up site with 2 bars of LTE coverage. It looked quiet and each site was reportedly on the Isabella River (We didn’t see it when we pulled up but we had faith). We didn’t get 3 minutes into setting up or camp before we had demolished the remainder of one can of OFF and moved on to the next. Come to find out the Little Isabella river would most aptly be referred to as a stream with incredible mosquito breeding capacity. While the itch of a MN mosquito doesn’t last for an hour like the ones we’re used to, what these little guys give up in ferocity they make up for in sheer numbers. Without bug repellent honest-to-god clouds of mosquitoes were gatherng around us.
Side Note: Shower facilities have become a key criteria of a nice campground for us. We love saving money on campgrounds with no facilities, but at the end of a long day there’s nothing like a nice hot shower.