Nebraska Tailwaters Campground, Lewis & Clark Lake

I left Winnie Dam, MN ahead of my brother and his wife, and headed to our next campground in Nebraska 7.5 hours away. Stopped at the El Toro Mexican restaurant in Wahpeton, ND, for lunch: I was impressed by the interesting and artistic interior, especially the colorful chairs and tables; could not remember much about the food though 😄 .

The weather has gotten hot and was predicted to be even hotter over the weekend, with highs expected to reach 106 the next day. The Nebraska Tailwaters Campground, managed by the US Corps of Engineers, is near Crofton, Nebraska, sitting high on one side of the Missouri river. Yankton, SD is across the river, past the one lane Gavin Point Dam bridge (3rd photo below). The Chief White Crane Recreation Area on the other side has access to the river as well as marshy areas that looked promising for fishing.

There were lots of fishing opportunities in this area, I could see fish breaking surface and huge long fish (either pickerel or paddlefish) from high up next to the dam. I was told that the boats on the river were hunting paddlefish with bows and arrows, since June 1-30 was open season on archery paddlefish near the dam. It was interesting to note that non-residents fishing across the campground (past a certain marker) have to get a SD fishing license, instead of (or in addition to) a ND license.

The campground was pretty, although the sites we reserved (no. 3 and 4) had very little shade, the ones further along the road, closer to the bathrooms and showeres were more shady. Best of all, there were no mosquitoes! However, we were pretty much camped out by now and the prospect of fishing in the heat was not appealing. When my brother and his wife arrived in the late afternoon, they decided to just keep driving back to Dallas, stopping overnight in a motel instead. I stayed just one night instead of the two scheduled. The sunset that evening was beautiful. I slept well (the bathrooms and showers in the campground were great) and left early next morning, heading for Denver to visit my son.

Quilt shop, Blackduck, MN

On our last day in MN, we drove around the Chippewa National Forest in search of fishing areas. I saw a billboard sign on Highway 46 for the Anderson Fabrics Factory Outlet and Quilt Shop, and asked my brother to make a detour. That was how we ended up in this fabric and shop.

The variety of quality fabric in this store was amazing, as were the finished quilts. I was quite taken by the steampunk fabric, first time I have ever seen such designs.

We spent quite a bit of time browsing and talking to the two ladies managing the store. We expressed surprise at seeing such a well stocked fabric and quilt shop in a small town like Blackduck, we were told that there are 3 such stores in the area. We were told that quilting is a popular pastime, especially during the winter months. I bought a yard of Insul-bright batting for the potholders that I have started creating (stay tuned for a blog post on quilting projects). The store also has a website and does online sales as well.

Back at the campground, my brother and his wife went fishing at the river while I took refuge from the mosquitoes under my canopy tent and read. Tomorrow we will be heading to our last campground before going our separate ways.

Winnie Dam Campground, MN

We stayed 3 nights in the Winnie Dam Campground, next to Lake Winnibigoshish, part of the Chippewa National Forest in MN. The campground is managed by the US Army Corp of Engineers: the campsite were spacious with modern restrooms with showers. Site #1 was well located, right at the entrance within walking distance to the dam and the Mississippi river flowing out of it. It was very picturesque, but alas, the mosquitoes were unrelenting.

We quickly set up camp, put the tent canopy over the picnic table and lit mosquito coils while making dinner. The next day, we ventured out to the river and tried to fish. It was challenging to find a spot in a fast moving river with rocky embankments. We caught a few yellow perch, a fellow fishman caught a big northern pike which he gave to us. We observed another fisherman catching walleye (pickerel) so we know they are in the river.

We cleaned our catch in the very nice fish cleaning station, a shed complete with sinks, running water, cutting boards around the sides plus, most impressively, mosquito netting covering the sides. What a relief! We had pike cooked in tom yum soup and pan fried. This is the first time we ate pike, I am afraid I did not care for it -- too many bones and not as flavorful as walleye. The yellow perched pan fried were pretty good.

The next day, we drove around the area to look for other fishing spots. My brother was keen to do some bass fishing. We found a pier near the Little Cut Foot Sioux Lake where I caught a large bluegill and lots of baby yellow perch, and my sister-in-law caught a small northern pike, no keepers. Plus it started to rain, so we went back to the campground.

Goodbye Manitoba!

We packed up and checked out of Gull Harbour Marina and Inn, we really enjoyed our stay here. If not for the mosquitoes, it would have made the perfect vacation! We started our drive to our next campground in Minnesota, stopping by a Tim Holton's in Winnipeg to get coffee, lunch and donuts. We decided that we had enough gas in our minivans to make it through the border and gas up in the US since gas prices there were lower than Canada.

Provincial Trunk Highway 12 in Manitoba led to the town of Sprague and the Canada-US border a few miles south. Not much traffic on the road, and the border crossing was rather quiet, with few buildings or structures. There was just a road sign denoting the border check coming up. I wish I had taken a photo, although I am not sure it that might get me in trouble. I must say that it was nice to go through less busy border crossings, no wait at all. On the US side, the officer checked my passport and asked what type of food stuff I have in the minivan. I started listing food in my portable fridge/freezer and he stopped me at the eggs. Said I could not take eggs into the US. I had to turn around and stopped at the Canadian customs where I was told the US officer had phoned ahead to inform them, but they could not take the eggs from me. My only option was to go back to Canada and find a place to dump them! I asked where the nearest trash can was (surely there must be one close by, I was already low on gas), and he pointed to one across the road, next to a building. I drove over, stopped and threw the carton into the trash can. Continued back to the US customs and this time the officer waved me through.

I stopped at Warroad, the first town over the border,and gassed up. Then met up with my brother to do some grocery shopping (and buy more eggs) as well as fishing bait, before we drove on to our campsite in the Chippewa National Forest, MN. Along the way, we passed by pretty landscape dotted by a lot of lakes which reflected the fact that Minnesota is known as the land of 10,000 lakes.

More fishing in Gull Harbour

The day after the wedding, the rain finally came. It was cold, damp and cloudy, not enticing for outdoor activities. We woke up late since we went to bed so late or rather, early in the morning. There were leftovers from the wedding reception/dinner for brunch: sandwiches, fish and chips, and yoghurt. The rain took a break around 11 am, so we decided to try fishing on the pier again so that my sister, who had to leave in the afternoon, could get another opportunity to fish. She was not disappointed: she caught her second large pickerel.

It drizzled on and off, with the sun poking out every now and then, resulting in a rainbow over the water. We spent the whole afternoon fishing. I finally caught my first pickerel! All in, we caught a total of 7 pickerels and a couple of yellow perch.

Cleaning the fish was quite a chore. The fish cleaning station had tons of mosquitoes trying to find a weak spot to land and feed. A couple landed in between my fingers where there was no bug repellent. I kept thinking I would likely get nightmares of mosquito attacks, it was so bad. Even lighting a mosquito coil under the cleaning tables did not help to repel them! We were too tired to make any dinner, just had left over sandwiches and fish and fries and rested for our drive back to the US.

The Wedding (followed by fishing)

The big day dawned, rain that was originally predicted held off and the sun came up. A full day of wedding activities was on the schedule, orchestrated by a wedding planner. My brother and I had decided to extend our stay in the cabins another day, so that we had more time for fishing after the wedding.

The day started with the bridal party getting their make up done, while the florists decorated the arbor and outdoor seating area, as well as the restaurant, for the reception and dinner later.

Late morning, the groom arrived with his party to gain entry to the bride's cabin. Following Chinese custom, the bridal party refused to let the groom in, and he was made to jump through hoops and pay penalties to get to his bride-to-be. The elders were not involved in this part of the ceremony although we had to stay around the bridal cabin because the tea ceremony would commence as soon as the groom got to his bride. During the tea ceremony, the bride and groom, in traditional Chinese costumes, knelt on the floor and offered tea to the elders in the family, starting with the parents. The groom's parents were in China and unable to attend the wedding due to travel restrictions, so the tea ceremony participants were from the bride's side. The bride and the groom each offered a cup of tea to the elders, in return, the recipient(s) offered good wishes and a red packet containing money to the pair. Since there were only the parents, an aunt (me) and uncle and his wife, the ceremony was quite short.

After a break for lunch, the garden ceremony began at 3 pm. A number of the bride and groom's friends, mostly from Winnipeg, came for the wedding and took up seats in the garden. It was getting hot in the sun, I wished I had a hat in adddition to my sunglasses, but the only big floppy hat I have with me was for fishing. I did not think it would do for this event. The ceremony was lovely, the bride was beautiful as were the bridesmaids. There was a cocktail reception, where our waiter from the previous evening was the bartender. Andrew made me a Hecla Sling, patterned after the Singapore Sling.

And then there was the formal wedding dinner at 6:30 pm: the food and service were excellent. There were toasts, speeches, games and the bouquet toss, followed by the first dance. By 10:30 pm, the elders in the party left the dancing to the younger generation, and went back to our cabins. We changed, grabbed our fishing rods and went out on the pier. It got cold and windy, which meant no mosquitoes! We were still fishing when the dancing ended around midnight. By the time we called it quits around 2 am, we caught 3 large pickerel; the mother of the bride landed the biggest one. I filleted the fish which went into our portable freezers. It had been an exhausting but interesting day.

Wedding rehearsal and dinner

We could not wait to check in to our cabins at the Gull Harbour Marina and Inn, the venue for our niece's wedding. I have reserved a cabin for 2 nights, and looked forward to sleeping in a regular bed, having an ensuite bathroom and getting a respite from the mosquitoes. Well, I got the first two but not the latter. The cabin was one of 4 adjoining cabins with a big common deck; it has two queen sized beds, a refridgerator, microwave and coffee maker. There was a ceiling fan and a stand fan, and best of all, the windows (with mosquito netting) look out to the lake. Outside each cabin was a big round table with comfy deck chairs; unfortunately we could not use them because of the mosquitoes waiting to attack any skin not doused with repellent. It seemed like I spent a lot of time trying to kill mosquitoes that got into the cabin, and ended up sleeping with the stand fan blowing on me to keep any remaining mosquitoes from landing on me.

My sister and her husband, the mother and father of the bride, arrived from Toronto later in the afternoon and we had a small reunion in their cabin. Like my brother and I, she is crazy about fishing and could not wait to get on the pier outside our cabins. However we did have to get through the rehearsal and dinner, as well as the wedding itself the next day.

Since we did not have a part in the wedding rehearsal, we socialized and watched the proceedings in the garden from inside the Lighthouse Restaurant and Lounge. The restaurant offered four local draft beers named after Icelandic gods. I ordered the Thor's Hammer IPA which was excellent. Their caprese flatbread and black island calamari appetizers were also very good. Too bad I forgot again to take photos of the food. Andrew, our server, was very friendly (people here are so friendly!), patiently answered our questions and gave us tips on the best places to catch pickerel.

Just before the wedding party was going to sit down for dinner, the restaurant manager also named Andrew, came over and offered to take a group of us out on his pontoon boat for a free tour of the lake and the islands. We had an amazing experience, he gave us a lot of information about the lake, activities open to visitors (sailing, fishing), including in the winter (ice fishing, dog sledding) when the temperatures can get down to -40 F.

Andrew lives in the boat below, and we saw his dog Gracie standing on the deck waiting for him.

Dinner was ala carte and superb; everyone enjoyed their meals. I had the chimichurri steak (excellent), my brother and his wife ordered beer battered pickerel and chips, while my sister had the orange miso pickerel. We also ordered a jug of Ordin's blonde ale which was good, but I liked Thor's Hammer IPA better.

By the time we finished dinner, it was pretty late although the sun set at about 10 pm here. We decided that we would not be able to go fishing until after the wedding. I went to my cabin to enjoy the space, room facilities and the view from the windows, relatively safe from the mosquitoes.

Gull Habour Campground, Manitoba

We arrived at the Gull Harbour Campground, Hecla Provincial Park near Lake Winnipeg in the late evening of June 8. We were immediately hit by swarms of mosquitoes. We quickly set up camp and lit some mosquito coils to try to ward off the insects. After spraying ourselves with bug repellent, we took a walk to the lake to check out potential fishing spots. We stopped at the store at the Gull Harbour Marina and Inn to get another box of mosquito coils and met Joy, the very friendly cashier who printed out our park permits for us (which we bought online) so that we could put them on the dash of our vans. She knew all about the upcoming wedding and gave us some fishing information. We then walked back to our campsite; dinner was dim sum leftovers.

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we drove around in my brother's minivan to check the lay of the land. We visited Hecla Village which was very interesting. This area was settled by immigrants from Iceland in 1876, and many of the houses have Icelandic names.

We spent some time at the general store, bought a pound of frozen pickerel fillets for dinner, as well as a bottle of Canadian wine. The very friendly store manager was well aware of the Zhang wedding, he said he was supplying liquor for the reception and had talked to the bride and groom to-be a few times. My brother also filled up his minivan at the store, the price of gas was slightly lower than in Winnipeg.

We stopped at the fishing pier where a few people were fishing, including one who was filleting his catch. His buddy told us that they had caught their limit of 6 pickerel (also known as walleye) and had to throw back one that was over the size limit of 75 cm (about 29 in.) We went back to our campsites, and made dinner. The pickerel fillets were delicious, and we were eager to try catching pickerel ourselves. After two nights in the campground, we were ready to move to the cabins at the Gull Harbour Marina and Inn to attend our niece's wedding.