Prairie Waters Region, Montevideo, Minnesota We stayed one more day in Southwestern Minnesota because Joan had one more thing (I call them rebellion items) she wanted to see. At this point, though, as tired as we both are and as overwhelmed by everything we’ve seen, I’m not sure either one of us really had our hearts into this day. The original idea Joan had was to drive up to the Marsh Lake area, known as the Prairie Waters Region, rent a canoe and maybe do some paddling around some of the marshes and streams. She had read an interesting article about the area in our travel magazine and it appealed to her. One of the lakes in the area serves as a bird wildlife refuge. In fact it is, reportedly, the largest pelican rookery in North ... read more

Camden State Park, Lynd, Minnesota We broke camp yesterday morning and drove around 380 miles southwest to this State Park in southwestern Minnesota. Our original plan had us spending a couple nights in St. Cloud, but we canceled that stop to add time to our Voyageurs stay. We both think that was a good idea, although it would have been better if we could have been at a better campground - we aren’t very happy with Arnold’s and Joan gave it a pretty poor review. But you don’t know these things when you make early reservations, and there really weren’t too many options available up here anyway. We are now done with Voyageurs and although it was a long drive, we managed it OK. We picked up US 71 right in International Falls and just followed ... read more

Rainy Lake Visitor Center, Voyageurs National Park, International Falls, Minnesota Ranger-led programs are some of the most important things to participate in when you go to a National Park. They operate on a schedule and, sometimes their schedule doesn’t dovetail with yours, but whenever possible, take advantage of their programs. Even in this day and age, Rangers maintain an infectious level of enthusiasm which helps animate their message. Plus they simply know so much, because they have the opportunity to read and study a particular park full time - something us casual visitors can only hope for on a four or five day visit. In some places, it can become your only way to see the park, as at Voyageurs. If you don’t have a boat of your own, and maybe aren’t interested in renting one ... read more

Ash River Visitor Center, Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota We had signed up for the ‘Wildlife by Canoe’ ranger program out of the Ash River Visitor Center. The park has three visitor centers, although they aren’t all open all year round. Rainy Lake is the one closest to International Falls, where we are camping. Ash River is nearly an hour away back down highway 53 towards the southeast. We had phoned there several days ago to sign up for the two-hour canoe trip. The description of the trip included skirting the shores of the Ash River to see what might be visible from the water. Even though it involved some paddling, we thought it would be fun. When I signed up they said that you didn’t need to be experienced rowers, just that you needed to be ... read more

Arnold’s Fishing and RV Camp, International Falls, Minnesota Yesterday was a down day. We will be taking a few of them this week as we rest up to start the trip home. It is also a little warm up here - in the icebox of the nation - so, in general, we will be trying to take it a little easy and not push our poor, old, tired bodies further than they can go. (Cue the violins!) I made a bacon and eggs breakfast and we took an early afternoon nap. I beat Joan at Yahtzee - I never mention the times she beats me - and she got mad at me for gloating again! But it was, generally, just a do-nothing day. Except, I actually finished a book. It is part of our traveling routine ... read more