Baby Ducks

Oh so cute baby ducks on the move with mom.  These poor little ducks were headed toward the water but faced a barrier of bricks.  It was amazing watching these little guys jump up and over the bricks.  They all made it even the littlest one.  Mom then guided them to the edge of the dock and jumped down into the water.  It was over a two foot jump down to the water but the baby ducks all followed her and jumped in the water.  I don't know if human children would be brave enough to make a jump like that to follow mom. 

Its been raining off and on for a week and it doesn't look like its going to stop any time soon.  Hopefully we will get out fishing again but its not looking good.

Beautiful Lake Kabetogama Walleye

Of course Jim caught the first really nice walleye.  It was over 20 inches long so it had to go back but he had a great time bringing it to the boat.  I also got a picture of this baby snapping turtle.  It was only the size of a sand dollar so it was kind of cute.  They are not so cute when they get big.  

Since its a holiday weekend we are actually pretty busy.   All of the cabins are full and many of the RV sites are taken.  This is not a cheap place to stay for RVer's.  The sites range from 60 to 80 dollars a night depending on if you get a view of the lake or not.  People seem to be willing to pay it because there just aren't enough RV sites with full hookups available around Voyageur National Park. 

The Boats back in the water

After almost two years it felt good to be out on the water fishing again.  Jim got time off so he got a head start on me.  He caught a small mouth bass, a few small northern pike and one eating size walleye.  It was just over 16 inches so we could keep it.  Any walleye over 17 inches has to be thrown back.  I grilled the walleye and it was a tasty treat.  A few more to eat would be great.  Fishing has gotten off to a slow start.  Most fishermen are complaining that its hard to find walleye that want to bite.  The water is warming up so fishing should get better.  

The resort is starting to get busy and expansion of the campground is going on so there are lots of "projects."  Jim has been helping clear debris -- moving rocks and tree limbs-- not much fun.  I'm just cleaning cabins and cleaning cabins and well you get the idea.  We will be much happier once everyone that's been hired starts working so we can get to a normal schedule and do more fishing. 

Typical Minnesota Fishing Opener

It snowed on and off all day Saturday, walleye fishing opener.   I took a picture behind us of the snow coming down and then one of it accumulating on the boat.  Of course, we worked in this blustery cold.  I forgot how much sleet can hurt hitting your face.  We wore four layers of clothes which makes it tough to work but we just aren't used to this kind of cold anymore.

One guy at the resort braved the weather and took his boat out in the wind, sleet and pounding waves.  He came back with a boat covered in snow and needing an ice scraper to clean the windshield on his boat.  He only caught a few northerns so it wasn't even worth braving the elements.  Most guys just stayed in their cabin and watched tv and drank beer. 

We hope to fish sometime later this week or early next week when the weather is supposed to be much warmer and nicer. 

Our Summer Home

We are now at our new home for the summer.  The resort we are at is called The Pines of Kabetogama.  The lake is our front yard and the pines are our backyard.    The cabins and half the campsites are down next to the lake.  We are up on the Cliffside in the other half of the campground.  They cleared a huge area which was all huge rock and put in RV sites.  They hauled in lots of gravel but we think it could use a lot more since the sites aren't very level.  It is a beautiful resort and we can't wait to get fishing.

We managed to get a day off and put the boat in the water just in enough to test the motor.  After almost two years of being in storage and bounced down miles of bumpy highway the motor started right up.  Now we just have to wait until next week for walleye fishing to open.   

Minnesota Wildflowers

The Trilliums are blooming.  Thats the big white flower.  The deer love to eat these so its very nice when you see a bunch of them. The other picture is of some Jack-in-the-Pulpit.  Cute green stalks with little hoods covering up the "pulpit."  These are just some of the wild flowers I've seen in friends yards and in the state park.  There was also Dutchmans Breeches, several kinds of violets, bloodroot and the list goes on and on.  You just need to look around and you will see lots of amazing flowers.
Most are very small but when they bloom in bunches its a beautiful sight.

We've spent a week enjoying the rainy and very cool weather just north of the Twin Cities.  Now we get to enjoy some cooler weather "up north".  We will be in northern Minnesota the rest of the spring, summer and into the fall.  I guess we will have toughen up to survive working and fishing in the cold.

The Weather is for the Birds

We ended up going through western Kansas and Nebraska and on in to South Dakota.  No matter how hard we tried to avoid bad weather we finally hit rain in South Dakota.  We are now in Minnesota and its still raining.  It looks like we will be in rain for the rest of the week.  Its strange to be in a steady rain after being in the desert since October.  We only had three days of rain the whole winter.

We got to go on a little pontoon ride and enjoy seeing some ducks, geese, turtles, pelicans and ospreys.  I managed to catch a goose in flight.  Also, I got some great shots of these ospreys building a nest.  Its amazing how they can handle big sticks to add to their nest.

We have a week reprieve before we head to our job in northern Minnesota.   We're hoping the weather improves before we have to go.