Ely, Minnesota


Wolf at the International Wolf Center

The weather during our stay at Bear Head Lake was not the best. Rain off and on. We did do some hiking but didn’t get the kayak in the water. We did make a trip into Ely. This is where a lot of the boundary waters canoe trips begin so the town is full of outfitters.  It also is home to the North American Bear Center and the International Wolf Center so that is what we did on our rainy day.
We stopped at the North American Bear Center first. They have a couple black bears that you get to see either through glass or up on an outdoor viewing platform. Inside was a wealth of info on bears. What we really liked were all the video presentations to accompany the stationary exhibits. It really stressed how shy black bears are and how easy they are to scare away. Even if you get between a mother and cubs she will not be aggressive, she may be startled and bluster but then will try to get away. Now grizzlies they are more aggressive. Luckily in Minnesota they don’t have grizzlies. John and I agree we came away less afraid of black bears - though I really don’t want to test that in the field.

The wolf exhibits were equally as impressive. They monitor many of the wolves and the thing I found the most interesting was the story of one of the wolves they followed. I took a photo of the story for you. We did get to see a live wolf here too. Wonderful photos opps for me. :)
Today it was moving day. We are now parked at the Burlington Bay Campground in Two Harbors Minnesota. The campground is ok but the view is magnificent. I’ll save the details for a separate post.
Happy trails..........

Comments

  1. The Gypsy G-MasSeptember 3, 2011 at 10:04 AM

    Hey there! I'm back to the blogging world after too long of a break and am just catching up on your adventures. The museums sound very interesting with a wealth of information. I bet it's beautiful up there. We just left Portland and are now on the move, although still in Oregon. It feels good to be traveling again! Look forward to following your upcoming adventures!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Time for me to learn to drive this rig.

Image
Trail at Squaw Creek park Yesterday we moved back to Morgan Creek park (about a 15 mile drive) and I drove the rig! We have always said that I needed to start doing this but I never seem to do it. The first year I think John just felt he needed to get proficient at all the driving & parking things before he had me do it and then we just got lazy. It was just easier for him to do it. Recently friends of our that we met in Tucson, John and Terri had a very harrowing experience that reminded us why we both need to be able to drive this rig. John they think had a seizure while driving, luckily not towing but still it is amazing that they survived it. What this meant is that now Terri had to do the driving back to their former home town Sacramento and like me she had not done much driving. She did great and they are now coming off the road and starting a new phase of life. All of John's test look good so far and we wish him the best and hope that it was just a one time isolated...
Read more

Three plus years of full timing....what have we learned

Image
Zion National Park,  Utah, December 2010 Harris Hawk at Sonoran Desert Museum, Tuscon Feb. 2011 When we left Cedar Rapids it began our 4th year of living and traveling in our RV. The last three years have flown by and we are still not ready to go back to a sticks and bricks life. We have traveled a lot of the western US but even with time out there all three years there are so many places we have yet to discover. This year will be our first going south and east, all new places for me and many new ones for John. I think one of the things that I learn every time we find somewhere new is how beautiful this country is. If you slow down and take the time you will find amazing things everywhere. I think the thing I appreciate the most about this lifestyle is that freedom to take it slow. BLM land near Quartzite, AZ in January 2011 Putah Creek, Winters CA in Jan.2013 Crater Lake, Oregon, fall 2012 Diamond Lake, Oregon, fall 2012 When we first took off we w...
Read more

The Urban Life

Image
The view from our balcony I have been thinking about this post for awhile. When we are not traveling I find it hard to sit down and write but I have wanted to tell you about our new digs and what living downtown has been like for us. Another balcony view We moved into a one bedroom apartment on the west side of the river in the downtown Cedar Rapids area. This is a brand new building that actually they are still working on. The first floor is businesses, floors 2 and 3 are apartments and floors 4, 5, & 6 are condos. We love the building. Every apartment and condo has a balcony that looks out over the river and the McGrath Amphitheatre. Our little apartment in this building is 767 sq. which, after living in our 5th Wheel for 7 years, seems huge. We feel these apartments were well thought out. The kitchen is wonderful. It has a large island (all  solid countertops - quartz I think) with a large sink and plenty of seating room . We started by buying 3 barstools but f...
Read more