The Next Adventure

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 p...

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. They said 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 ...

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...

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 miniv...

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...

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 C...

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 an...

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 ...