Left work at a quarter to five and battled traffic up to Mahtomedi. Arrived at Greg's house with Greg and Steve finalizing the packing of Steve's van. Steve gave me crap about "controlling or being controlled" in meetings. We were on the road by 6. A wind adjustment stop at a rest stop (it was howling) led to some sandwiches and cookies. We rolled into Ely around 10:30. Trip went quick with the help of a Twins victory over the Tigers. Nice! We headed straight to Cranberries for some beer and to meet up with Pete, who drove 10 hours from Chicago. After Greg and I thoroughly beat Steve and Pete (3 games to 2) in pool, we headed out to Moose Lake to the Canoe Country Outfitters. Rolled out the bags in the bunk house and went to sleep with the cold night giving us a preview of the coming days.