When we got back to George and Lesley's home on Day 5, we were definitely ready for a shower and relaxing sit on his comfortable recliners. It was good to feel clean again. Lesley was bubbling with questions and very excited to hear about our adventures, and we gladly recounted them and really enjoyed having an eager listener to talk to. Lesley had a wonderful dinner of venison stew waiting for us. She does the deer hunting and their freezer is loaded with venison steaks and walleye steaks. We sat after dinner and planned the next 2 days of day trips. Tomorrow would be a relaxing day with a long drive around Cook County, seeing the sights. I went to bed in their beautifully finished basement. I finished reading my Jack Reacher book the 12th in Lee Childs's series.
I woke up the next morning at 8:00, and was treated to another Lesley special - this time an egg casserole. She mixed 5 eggs with mushrooms, bacon, ham, freshly cut asparagus, red and green pepper, milk, sharp cheese, a little dry mustard, and cream of mushroom soup. It was sinful! I had noticed a cooking library downstairs near my bed, and I am sure Lesley could cook at any restaurant in the world.
George and I took off in his truck, and during the next 2 days we drove up the Gunflint Trail, over Greenwood Lake Rd, up and around Shoe Lake Rd, down the Arrowhead Trail, over Esther Lake Rd, and back to the Gunflint. Then over to Devil's Track Rd, up Ball Club Rd, over The Grade, and back. George literally showed me about half of Cook County and dozens of lakes. When we drove into one lake we saw 9 soft shell turtles crossing the gravel road. We saw quite a few deer along the way, and moose tracks along the roadside. It was a marvelous drive through a very remote area with almost no traffic, other than wildlife.
We called Lesley on the way back, and she met us at The Trail Center Restaurant on the Gunflint Trail. They treated me to dinner in a beautiful country-style restaurant with a great menu. While we were eating I noticed a couple men with a Cardinal shirt on, and asked them if they were from St Louis. Yes they were, and we were soon talking about their trip they had just finished into Canada, and up the falls chain. The father of the 2 just talked our ears off with his experience, and he was fun to listen to. Lesley went home before we did, and she saw a moose on the road. We went back a little later and talked about tomorrow's next day trip of fishing at an undisclosed lake where George has had some great fishing days. I was excited. We got back to George's home, and I started packing everything except fishing gear and a couple sets of clothes. By the next morning I was virtually ready to go fishing for a day and packed to go home. I was prepared to stay out all day if fishing was good, and George was going to put me on some good ones!
When I woke up for my last full day in Minnesota's Cook County, we ate a great breakfast, and I must honestly say that there were so many great meals Lesley cooked that I can't remember what this one was. We got our fishing gear backed including changing his Kevlar to ultralight aluminum so that we could use a trolling motor in an undisclosed lake that was not in the BWCA. We drove quite a while seeing some deer along the way. We targeted George's lake of choice with a plan B nearby in case the wind was a little nasty. As it turned out, wind was 5-15 that day and George felt that with the trolling motor doing most of the work, we'd be ok. We trolled around the lake and casted the shorelines during the next 5 hours, catching some small bass and a couple keeper walleyes. As we were trolling back to the points where we got the walleye, I felt a "bang" and the fight was on. I thought for sure I had a huge walleye because the fish never broke water, staying down until it was in close and saw the landing net. Then the fight was really on! He really fought, pulling half my rod into the water. I eventually brought him back up and missed the landing net with my first pull, then pulled him into the net as George was scooping the net toward the fish. Then George yelled out, "It's a muskie!" I caught my first muskie ever. This was no trophy, but my second biggest fresh-water fish, only being surpassed by an 18 lb northern I caught on Ensign about 5 years ago. George was delighted for me, and then said jokingly, "I take you to my favorite lake, and all you do is bring in a muskie which I have never caught!" As we finished this beautiful warm day, we cruised into our put-in and the rush began. After an entire week of almost no bugs, we were now swarmed with skeeters - they were all over us. We packed up as quickly as possible with a great sense of urgency. When we got into the truck, it was full of skeeters. We opened the windows and George drove swiftly down the gravel road while I tried to whip the skeeters out the window. It wasn't long before we had a skeeterless truck and we drove back to George's home with 2 walleye in the trunk, which George cleaned and put into the freezer at home. We showered up and Lesley was anxious to serve us the finale of meals - a chicken and wild rice casserole that was from somewhere in our universe but not earth. We sat around and talked awhile, I finished final packing, and went to bed early for an early start to a ~13 hour drive home. I got up, said good-bye and hugged the Gradeks, then drove to Duluth and stopped at the Duluth Grill for breakfast ( great egg omelette with has browns). I had left The Gradek home at 6:00 and got home in St Louis at 7:00. Saw 8 deer between Grand Marais and Duluth.
Well, I can honestly say I thought I'd never meet someone who loved fishing more than I, but George does. I can't tell you how much fun it was getting to know a wonderful couple who are so at peace with nature and in particular northern Minnesota. Their hospitality was precious to me. I hope our chance encounter on line has turned into a wonderful friendship. Thank you George and Leslie!  Canoe Lake, Alder Lake, East Bearskin Lake

Lakes Traveled:   Canoe Lake, Alder Lake, East Bearskin Lake,