Saturday, May 29, 2010 We wake about 5:15 am. Head towards Ely. Stop at a gas station in Tower, change clothes and freshen up. We make it to The Great Outdoors around 6:30 am. Visit with Jim and get some fishing tips, tackle and a map. What a great guy! Breakfast at Britton's Cafe. Huge portions.... Stephen has the ham and cheese omelette and I had the veggie stuffed hashbrowns with homemade raisin toast. Very good! We visit Piragis and some other local stores. Then head to Semer's Park for Sun Splash 2010. Stephen padled a Wenonah Prism and Bell Magic, he liked the Prism the best. Next stop the Bear Center. We just took the short nature trail deciding not to take the formal tour. We drive by the Rootbeer Lady Museum. Next a quick stop at the Spirit of Wilderness store. Met Steve....nice guy. Now on towards Smitty's.....our place to stay tonight. We stop at the Rookie Pond lookout point. Appears just shallow water but a nice lookout. Another stop at the Red Rock Wilderness Store, we decide to pick up a few more "yellow" hooks. We arrive at Smitty's. Kind of a run down place definitely in need of paint. We check in, not sure of the guy's name but a odd fellow for sure. There is no key for the room....okay? We are in room 13. Tired from sleeping just a few hours in the truck the night before we decide its a good idea to take a nap. It is warm outside today and rather stuffy in the room. I look around to turn on the a/c. Wait! No a/c?!? For $75/night I was expecting at least air conditioning. We ask the guy at the office to write out our permit. I called before the trip and the person on the other end said sure no problem we can do that for you. Well he drags his feet and suggest we go back into Ely and take care of it there. So we head back into town. Stop at the Ranger Station to get the permit, I have to watch the Leave No Trace Video since it is my first trip. Back to the Spirit of the Wilderness to register the canoe, $24 for 3 yrs. Next stop The Great Outdoors to pick up line Jim spooled for us earlier. Then to the Boathouse Brewhouse for dinner. I had the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and Stephen had the All American Burger. Also sampled their brews, my favorite was the Blueberry Blonde and yes it is a total "girl" beer. Last stop in Ely, Spirit of the Wilderness, to get leeches and crawlers. Back to Smitty's to get ready for the trip! Off to bed by 10 pm.