After a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs with chopped hot dogs (a family favorite in their house) and potato pancakes, we decided to go canoeing and really explore Fenske Lake. It was a very interesting trip!

The morning was sunny and warm, and the lake was calm. A good day for it. We were using the aluminum canoe that belongs to the resort.

We paddled through the narrows,

and stopped because Grandma wanted to photograph this pink flower. We didn’t know what it was.

Then we saw the eagle! So Grandma got the camera out again.

We looked at the little waterfall. It wasn’t anything spectacular.

But Mr. Eagle was hanging around and wanted to pose!

On our way back we saw a loon. At first it was shy,

but later we did see its red eye. This was Robert’s first time to see a loon, so he was amazed at how large it was, and interested in watching it dive and fish.

We went in to town and had lunch at the Chocolate Moose. The watermelon was more of a hit than the mac and cheese! We ordered extra watermelon. Yea!

And then we went to the Dorothy Molter Museum. Dorothy was an interesting person who lived alone in the BWCA after everyone else was gone. They kept her cabins after she died so that people could see how she lived. Her motto was:

Dorothy sold homemade root beer to the BWCA campers. The camps in the area gave her decorated paddles for her fence.

Robert was interested to learn that Grandma and Grandpa had visited Dorothy at her summer cabin on the Isle of Pines in Knife Lake in 1974. They enjoyed some of her homemade root beer and signed her book. Grandma took a picture of her then. It was on their third Boundary Waters canoe trip. This is the photo that Grandma took in 1974.

We listened to the tour guide and toured the cabin. We walked outside and admired the early spring flowers.

And at the Visitor Center Robert had fun putting the little puzzle together.

This is the Kawishiwi Ranger Station in Ely. We stopped in and looked at the exhibits there.

After that we stopped at Voyageur North Outfitters to see Lynn for a minute and Grandpa showed Robert the tanks of bait fish. Then we went to the Farmer’s Market and looked around for a bit. Grandma wanted to buy something that she had seen last week, and we needed supper. We bought a pizza and took it to a picnic table.

While we were eating our pizza Grandma and Grandpa’s friends Bill (Ho Ho) and David came by, so we talked with them for a while and then their friend Heidi Pinkerton stopped to chat. That got Grandma all excited because she is the one who takes the wonderful Aurora Borealis photos! (Grandma has never actually seen the Northern Lights.)

Finally we went to a store to buy sweatshirts, mainly because Grandma had forgotten to bring any warm shirts with us and we were staying in town for the Pat Surface Concert. Shopping for sweatshirts is boring, so Robert just found a corner to read a book.

There was an outdoor concert by Pat Surface and the Boundary Water Boys at The Front Porch that night. Grandma and Grandpa (and cousin Anna) really like Pat Surface. Robert wasn’t as impressed, but he tried to be a good sport about it. Donna, Pat’s wife, invited him to come up and “sign” a song with her, (cousin Anna just loves to do this), but he wasn’t interested. Golden Oreos helped to pass the time, and a new sweatshirt kept him warm.

It was a late night, but we had a full day of experiences, and everyone slept well in the peaceful cabin.