Back in the USS....A

Two hundred ninety seven miles from our rv park just west of Winnipeg, we find ourselves checked into site 6 at The Pines at Kabetogama Resort, about 30 miles from International Falls, Minnesota. We left Monday morning early expecting a long drive on secondary roads, a stop for fuel, and a border crossing. Getting on TransCan 1, we finessed a bypass around the main part of Winnipeg, and got onto MB 59 south. At Steinback we turned due south onto MB 12 through rolling hills and small towns. The road was in excellent condition, but, like so many of the Canadian roads we've been on, a random stop sign or light will appear, usually at the most unexpected moments.

Causing along through South Junction, Sprague, and Middlebro, we rather suddenly came upon the border crossing checkpoint between Canada and the US at Warroad, MN. A reasonably thorough search of the motorhome by a courteous officer led to the loss of some very fine tomatoes, but nothing else. I guess they needed something for their lunch salad....

We stopped for lunch a few miles further down the road in Baudette, an agricultural center along the Rainey River. MN 11 follows the Rain
y River eastward toward International Falls, MN, but we turned south on US 53 to get to Kebetogama, on the shores of Kabetogama Lake. Primarily a refurbished fishing resort, The Pines still has boat slips available. In fact, our premium site comes with a boat slip and a golf cart for our exclusive use! Not bad for $110 a night!

Unfortunately, a season of much rain undermined our assigned spot, requiring some civil engineering and carpentry to get to a reasonably level state. We were disappointed at first, but AJ, the park maintenance man, and Jackie, the manager jumped in 100% to fix the situation. While Jackie drove into International Falls for materials, AJ and I began designing the fix. After 4 hours of work, we were able to say "that's close enough". Our site overlooks the lake, and has a bit of a fake grass patio, and the weather is warm, so, in the end, all is well.

Rain early in the morning Tuesday dampened our plans a bit, but about mid-day we were able to comfortably drive into International Falls to see the waterfall.

International Falls is situated on the Rainy River, across the river from Fort Francis on the Canadian side. Both towns are dependent on the paper industry for their survival, so huge piles of trees are stored outside of town, ready to be ground into pulp, processed, and made into paper products. This photo is taken looking northeast upriver toward Packaging Corporation of America, the largest employer in IF with over 700 employees.

And this pic is taken looking downstream toward the pulp mills. In between are the falls.....under twenty six feet of water.

International Falls was recognized as an important crossroads by French Voyageurs as early as the 1600's, but was not formally established until 1901 under the name Koochiching, meaning "at the place of inlets", referring to the lakes and rivers in the area that made trade routes more manageable. International Falls has a humid continental climate with lows in January averaging 2.7 degrees F and has 109 days per year with a high temperature below 32 degrees F! IF promotes itself as the "Icebox of the Nation", but has squabbled with the city of Fraser, CO, for the title. International Falls paid the town of Fraser $2,000 in 1986 to relinquish it's "official" claim, but in 1996 failed to keep it's trademark up to date, and Fraser filed to gain the trademark. Lengthy court battles were settled in favor of International Falls on January 29, 2008, and the city of International Falls, celebrating appropriately, had a daily record low temperature of -40 deg F!

International Falls may not have the falls it once had, but it does have a large statue of Smokey the Bear!

And a museum comforting the life and career of "Bronco" Nagurski, a Canadian born US citizen, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame for his outstanding play in Minnesota during 1927-1929. His professional career with the Chicago Bears made him an inaugural inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Not bad for a son of Ukranian immigrants.

In addition to those two outstanding landmarks, we noticed another amazing sight at a local equipment yard: tree trunk loaders with the largest tires with tire chains that we've ever seen!

Searching for a bit more to see in the area, we started east on the Waters of the Dancing Sky Scenic Byway (MN 11). A few miles east of International Falls brought us to the hamlet of Ranier, where we visited a huge statue of a French Voyageur.

Voyageurs National Park encompasses some 218,000 acres, mostly accessible only by water. The name commemorates the voyageurs, French-Canadian fur traders, who were the first European settlers to frequently travel through the area. The Park lies just east of International Falls and includes Rainy Lake, Ash River, Kabetogama Lake, Namakan Lake and Sand Point Lake which make up most of the water area. In winter, skiing, snowmobiling and ice fishing are popular, and fishing and water sports during the summer draw thousands of visitors. We visited the Rainy Lake Visitor Center to get a feel for the area. A short film details the history of the area, and an exhibit area shows some of the areas native inhabitants.

A soft Beaver pelt on display showed us just how soft and luxurious the pelt is. Now we can understand the huge market for these years ago. They are soft and warm!

By the By.....the name this area, Kabetogama is pronounced: Kah-be-TOG-ama. Who knew?