Tripometer – 3264 mi

Gas Gauge – 252.968

Location – Buffalo River State Park, Glyndon, MN

Lodging – $23

Cans of OFF – 4

Apparently local ordinances for noise level expire at 8am and some of the locals haven’t set their watches. At 7:56am this morning Paul was awoken by a seaplane taking off on our little lake. The plane left the water and cruised at full throttle about 200-300 feet above the camper. Time to get up and move the house!

We bid the loons of Minnesota farewell and drove post haste to Fargo, ND. The smoke from wildfires really started to become apparent as we moved through Minnesota. For most of the later part of the day the distant hills (what hills there are in western MN) were becoming increasingly hazy and we could just start to make out the scent of smoke in the air.

Dave shipped us a package to a UPS facility in Fargo that we needed to pick up on Friday Morning (more on that later). We booked a site at a small state park just outside of town. Arriving quite late, we dropped the trailer at Buffalo River State Park in about 15 minutes flat and beat feet for a local restaurant that we ran across on Roadside America – a tourist trap finder app – Space Aliens Grill & Bar. This has to be one of the more unusual places we’ve eaten, but the food was good and we were certainly entertained. Things to note: Original Space Invaders video game glasses used as mirrors in the bathrooms, a floor to ceiling Space Invaders game in the arcade, most of the food items were theme named and there was a dead alien laid out for autopsy in the restaurant foyer.

Tripometer – 2942 mi

Gas Gauge – 219.598

Location – Fall Lake Campground, Ely, MN

Lodging – $26

Cans of OFF – 4

More unsuccessful fishing and idle canoeing. Paul is now blaming the Audible book he was listening to in the canoe. Perhaps that was scaring off the fish.

We began the cleanup and pack up of the site today. It will be sad to leave this area tomorrow. Of all of the places in the world we’ve visited the BWCA area is probably our number one for relaxing recreation. We will definitely be back.

Special Note for International Cat Day: This girl has walked her cat around the camp loop twice a day every day this week. A cat… on a leash… and it seemed to enjoy it! (So did Ranger.)

Tripometer – 2902 mi

Gas Gauge – 219.598

Location – Fall Lake Campground, Ely, MN

Lodging – $26

Cans of OFF – 3

Not to be dissuaded by our lack of fishing success last week we decided to rent a canoe today. While Kelly worked Paul found a solo Kevlar canoe at a nearby outfitter and proceeded to match wits with the fish in Fall Lake. The fish won. (A couple of solid bites but nothing on the line.) Paul is visible on the lake in the sunset picture above.

We have the canoe for one more day and a back-up dinner plan for Wednesday if all else fails.

Technical Note: We replaced our first propane tank today.

NOW SOLICITING COMMENT: Montana & British Columbia tourism. Any and all suggestions, tips, or warnings, please!

P.S. We turned off the need to enter name and e-mail to comment. For some reason we can’t figure out how to turn off approval for comments. Kelly is blaming WordPress but promises to look into it.

Tripometer – 2873 mi

Gas Gauge – 219.598

Location – Fall Lake Campground, Ely, MN

Lodging – $26

Cans of OFF – 3

Today was a cold lazy day in camp.

Special Note: The first day we brought our trailer home and started testing out all of the systems Kelly predicted that Paul would hit his head on the lower angle brace of the trailer’s canopy. Neither of us would have predicted how right she was.

The lower angle brace is almost exactly at Paul’s forehead level and situated about 2.5 feet from the side of the trailer – Right in the main path. If he’s looking at the ground (and most often is when walking by the front of the trailer) he doesn’t even see it even standing an inch away. It has been a constant headache (HAR HAR). He probably hits his head on the brace between 5-10 times a day and today was the breaking point. After bloodying himself on the brace this morning Kelly found some fishing tackle to adorn the canopy braces. This has slowed Paul’s onset of dementia considerably.

Tripometer – 2855 mi

Gas Gauge – 219.598

Location – Fall Lake Campground, Ely, MN

Lodging – $26

Cans of OFF – 3

A lazy Sunday morning was had. Once we filled our tanks with coffee and news we went to find a good hike. With the help of the local ranger station we chose the Secret / Blackstone Trail about a 20min drive from the campsite. Neither Kelly or I would consider ourselves avid hikers but we both frequently enjoy a good hike. This was our favorite hike to date this year. The trail wound its way in a figure eight pattern amongst a group of three small lakes. There were several beautiful overlooks of the three little lakes and we got to see the damage from a tremendous blowdown in 1999 up close. The weather started out beautiful but managed to give us some cooling drizzles by the end of the hike. Thankfully the thunderboomers we heard in the distance decided to stay at a distance.

Special Note: We brought 4 cans of OFF from MD. We’re down to one now and the lowest we’ve seen them in Ely is >$7.00. Time to start rationing the bug repellent.

Tripometer – 2794 mi

Gas Gauge – 219.598

Location – Fall Lake Campground, Ely, MN

Lodging – $26

Cans of OFF – 2

It rained fairly constantly throughout the day starting at about 1pm with a light mist and progressing to flat out constant rain through the evening. At some point in the day Kelly cracked and went to a couple of little shops in town. Today has been brought to you by:

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Special Note: Ranger has found a new hobby – Ground Squirrels. The little guy pictured at the top of the post has lots of friends in our campsite. They’re somewhere between a prairie dog and a chipmunk. They’re much smaller than our native grey squirrels and most fascinating to Ranger is the fact that they live in the ground. On day one or two he chased one of these little guys back to its hole on the outskirts of our campsite. Every time we have come back to the campsite, when Ranger is let out of the truck he races at TOP SPEED to the hole. Maybe he thinks he’ll catch the little guy napping at the edge of the hole?

Tripometer – 2778 mi

Gas Gauge – 219.598

Location – Fall Lake Campground, Ely, MN

Lodging – $26

Cans of OFF – 2

Kelly took the day off today. We rented a 15’ Lund aluminum skiff with a 15 HP engine from an outfitter located on our lake. After speaking with a local tackle shop owner and securing a supply of local leeches (ref. above) we figured a walleye dinner was almost guaranteed.  We. Were. Wrong. The only fishy in the entire lake is a 6” perch named Chuck. Kelly chucked Chuck back in the lake after Ranger inspected him… thoroughly.

15’ isn’t long when you have a 1 ½ year-old golden on a boat with you. We tried to make him comfortable by putting up a canoe umbrella (the kind that clips to the gunwale). The first gust of wind ripped it loose from the boat. Kelly caught it just before it went over the side and re-secured it to the gunwale. The second gust of wind sent that sucker flying and before we could get to it, we watched as it rather quickly sank to the bottom of Davy Jones’ Locker.

Long story short, we had to beach the boat and swim a dog for over 45 minutes to knock enough energy off of him to go fishing. All in all it was good day – with leftover pizza for dinner instead of fresh fish.

Tripometer – 2762 mi

Gas Gauge – 219.598

Location – Fall Lake Campground, Ely, MN

Lodging – $26

Cans of OFF – 2

 

At lunchtime today Kelly went back to the wolf center for day two of Lunches With Wolves.

In the early evening we hiked the Kawishiwi Falls trail near our campground, a short hike down to some beautiful waterfalls and a glimpse of a circa 1924 hydroelectric plan located between two lakes. We enjoyed the trees growing along the trail with intricate and elaborate root systems.

Trip Update: After some lengthy talking and a few phone calls to some knowledgeable friends we’ve got a rough plan for what is next. We’ll be leaving our lake campsite on Thursday of next week – Aug 9th. We have one night in a MN state park near Fargo, ND where we need to pick up a package at the P.O. the next day. On Friday we’ll be travelling to Painted Canyons in the Teddy Roosevelt National Park for two nights (unreserved). Moving next to Bozeman, MT for some fly fishing. Glacier National Park for 3-4 days of sightseeing and hiking. Then on to Banff / Jasper Provincial Parks in Canada.

Special Note: I consulted with two different friends who have knowledge of North Dakota. In both cases I was told (aside from the Painted Canyons suggestion from one of the friends) to ‘Drive like hell straight through ND’.

Check out the ‘Where are we’ map to the left to see where we are right now. (We’ll update this more frequently than the blog itself.)

Thanks to Christine for the suggestion!

Tripometer – 2717 mi

Gas Gauge – 200.724

Location – Fall Lake Campground, Ely, MN

Lodging – $26

Cans of OFF – 2

 

Much to Kelly’s delight our campsite for the week is about six miles from the International Wolf Center, just this side of Ely. At lunchtime today we went and saw the wolves having their lunch. The Wolf Center has a pack of about 7 wolves of different types, currently Northwestern Gray, Plains Gray, and Arctic Gray (neutered).

Every day at noon, the center has what they call a “Wolf Enrichment” program. Sometimes the wolves get a strange or oddly prepared food, sometimes a new object is added to their exhibit, etc. Kelly has had a blast going to watch these events as what she calls “the best lunch hour ever”.

That evening we decided to treat ourselves to a meal in town and went to the Ely Steakhouse for dinner. We had wild rice and cheese soup (a Minnesota staple) and steaks with all the trimmings. The service was great, the food was okay, and the ambiance was authentic 1981, complete with an electronic foosball-in-a-bubble table!

Special Note: We monitor the level of the trailer water tank with a push button gauge that tells us if the tank is empty, 1/3, 2/3 or full. When you’re filling a 26 gallon tank (plus six gallon water heater) with 3.75 gallon collapsible rubber bags you rarely see the 1/3 full light go on. There have been more than a few nights after Paul (the water boy) climbs in bed before Kelly fills the coffee pot for morning. There is always a holding of breath and big sigh of relief when water pot finishes filling.