Day 1 I left Cedar Rapids @ 5 am to pick up my brother in Ames IA. We leave his apartment in Ames around 7 AM and head up I-35 towards Ely. We stop north of the Minneapolis for lunch @ a KFC, big mistake. This is the last time I will ever eat KFC. We hit Ely around 4’ish and meet up with my dad who has been in town for a full day. He can never wait to get there when he is supposed to. He has made all the arrangements for this adventure which include our overnight accommodations @ CCO. We break down the packs and get fathers approval on our cloths and get all of our crap into one big heavy pack. My brother Rob and I wanted to single portage. We flip the hitch around on my minivan to tow dad’s trailer. He towed it up from Madison with his 63 corvette. The corvette can’t sit in the parking lot @ the EP so my van will have to haul everything. We hang out a bit and catch up. Dinner was across the street @ Sir G’s for some yummy lasagna and beer for me and my bro. Rob and I hang out with some more beer and conversation on the porch of our rental house and decide to wait for my brother Ben and his wife to get into town from Des Moines. They ended up getting into town after 2am and we passed the time with many beers. We will pay for this later that day with hang overs and a very tippy canoe.