I'm coming from Chicago area and 3 of my trip buddies come from the Milwaukee area. The logical place to meet up is the park 'n ride in Madison, so we do exactly that.

I was nervous about fitting 4 grown men, 4 grown men's camping gear, PLUS 4 sets of golf clubs in my van. It turned out to be no problem. I swear there is no car that offers more space and utility than a minivan. The amount of cargo room with the seats folded down is unmatched.

So we're on the road...never a group to take things slowly or miss an opportunity for fun, we have a 3:00pm tee time at The Wilderness on the shores of Vermillion. Nothing like spending the afternoon/evening before your trip on the golf course.

We make it at about 2:59 (perfect timing) - meet up with the 3 other guys in our group that came from the Twin Cities, jump into the carts and hit the first tee. What an awesome golf course. It was a gorgeous evening and we had a blast out there.

Finished at about sunset and headed to Ely for supplies and dinner. Can't honestly remember the restaurant, but they had a good burger. Bait shops were all closed, but one of the gas stations had some leeches for us.

Headed to Echo Trail outfitters on Fenske Lake and found the bunkhouse. It was probably well after midnight before we got settled.