Rainy and Lazy Day

We awakened to the sound of raindrops this morning, and a dreary, overcast day. We've had beautiful weather up until now, with only a brief flirtation with storms in northern Montana. Our goal for the day was to make our way to the visitor's center at Voyageur's National Park and see what we could see. From what we have read about the park, the only real way to see it is via some sort of watercraft. Having none, we weren't exactly sure we were going to see much of anything at all.

There are four places to enter the park, which encompasses some 218,054 acres of land and water, 500-plus islands and 655 miles of shoreline. We entered at the northern-most of those, Rainy Lake. In case you don't notice them on your own, those are raindrops on the windshield in the image below. It seems appropriate, don't you think?

There was a short hiking trail near the visitor center, but the rain discouraged us. We had a nice chat with the two rangers inside and perused the small museum. As it turns out, there was no boat tour today, but there is one tomorrow. We hadn't planned to stay tomorrow, but then decided we could adjust our schedule a little to accommodate another night here. It is what we came to see, after all, and we probably won't get up this way again. 

So we ponied up our pennies and signed up for tomorrow's tour. It's a 6-1/2 hour tour and will take us around the upper part of the Kabetogama Peninsula and Kettle Falls Hotel and Dam. We'll spend two hours at the hotel where we'll eat lunch and perhaps do a little bit of hiking. We are looking forward to that, and we are also grateful to have an opportunity to experience the park we've driven so far to see.

Remember my discussion of the giant statues from yesterday's post? Well, we managed to see "Big Vic" the 30-foot tall voyageur! Now you've seen him too! I'm telling you, it's a new adventure every second when you travel with us.

After we left the visitor center, we drove to the end of the road where there was a little town called "Island View". Sounds inviting, no? We had to check it out. Along the way, we saw a place for sale, and the sign made us laugh. Check out the name of the web listing for this place.

On the way, we crossed a little isthmus between two sides of Rainy Lake. You can see that the weather leaves a lot to be desired today, but it was a pretty area, nonetheless. There were lots of homes and different kinds of watercraft. There are houseboats for rent in the area if one plans ahead.

After that, we came back to the trailer and paid up to stay another night. The rest of the afternoon, we just lazed around, and when I finish here, I'll go back to doing just that.

First, however, do you want to see a bad cat?

He's been such a good traveler until the last three nights, when he's started whining and mewling at around 2:30 a.m., running back and forth from one end of the trailer to the other, using the two steps up into the bedroom as his launch bad for a mighty leap, jumping on Gracie, and generally, being a pain in the you-know-what. Then, in the morning, once he has everybody wide awake and walking around, he climbs up in his cubby for a day-long nap.

Today we've been hassling him, but good. I think the cat just needs to run off some of that excess energy, and so we've been keeping him awake playing with him and walking outside. Hopefully, he'll sleep better tonight. If not, we might just boot him out the door when we leave and tell him to hunt for his living. Nah. We wouldn't do that. Leave my kitty? Not on your life.

So, carry on. Hopefully the weather will improve, and I'll have some great pictures for you tomorrow. The rain is supposed to let up some, and sunshine would be nice.