I couldn't come up with a reason to stay, so I packed up and hit the road around 4:30. The St. Francis border crossing always seems like I'm somewhere I shouldn't be. And after bitching about a $2 toll to Illinois, the $7 to cross the bridge at the border seems oddly reasonable. I guess it is just me.
The border guards seemed bored so early in the morning, but they were also really friendly. They actually checked the serial numbers on my guns which hasn't happened in a long time. This also meant unpacking just about everything from the Maverick. He commented that he liked the TC shotgun as well, "I almost never see a slug gun like that with glass up here."
Once through the border I made my way north and west. I had the most stunning sunrise which I could only get a few glimpses of in the boggy areas. The pictures didn't do it justice through the window of the trucklette.
My mileage was absolutely amazing for the first hundred miles. It did trend down a bit after this, but nearly 40mpg from a Maverick with the 2.0 Turbo is shocking.
I stopped in Kenora to get some more food even though I didn't need it. While getting out of the vehicle a girl hit me up for spare change. I was really curious about the story there since she didn't look like someone who should be asking for money. I had a good wad of change which I gave her (all US coins through). The world is almost never, ever fair.
I continued on and at a biobreak I thought the Maverick looked really cool with the northy birch trees, etc. When I took this picture something was scurrying around in the dumpster only a short distance away. I couldn't help but look, "If this is a bear, I'm running." But it was just a really noisy squirrel.
As is usually the case I got to camp way too early. I hung out and just enjoyed practicing doing nothing - not something I'm very good at. I did take one of the fishing poles off the big boat to cast for a bit, but I dropped another one in the water when I took it out of the rod holder. I had a great sense of relief when I was able to snag it and bring it back up.
Vance had new hunting areas which are not accessible by boat, so I went along with him to bait them - any chance to see more bear baits. A few of them were accessed by a very long 4-wheeler trails which was a little rough being a back passenger on the 4-wheeler. I'm not so sure how this will work while hunting, but we'll see.
A few of the baits were hit hard and some weren't touched. So it goes.
We stopped in at the rice lake on our way out. Vance walked through the property giving me the big tour. The lake (where they also duck hunt) was absolutely gorgeous.
The buildings were an exercise in contemporary archeology. Most of the equipment is home made so it was really interesting to see it all. Wild rice is hit or miss and even on a good year it looks like it is a phenomenal amount of work. The family that owns it is getting older and the future of the entire operation is in question. I left with a bit of melancholy at what could end up being lost.
Back in camp four people from Kentucky were there (Curt, Jodi, Mark and Tammy - I think...). The rest of the people filtered in over the rest of the afternoon. There were a few people from Minnesota, a group of four from Texas. Names will have to wait until later; maybe I'll know them all by the end of the week.
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