Boundary Waters, Day 1

Jane and I have been back from vacation for a week and a half, but I've been so busy getting the garden back under control that today was my first chance to post. Long time readers may recall that we spend the week in northern Minnesota blissfully off the grid.

Day 1

We left my house at 6:50, ten minutes ahead of schedule. Our first wildlife siting was half a dozen sandhill cranes in a field north of Madison.

Following a tip from Diane N., we stopped at a restaurant/convenience store in Hixton that carried Chocolate Shoppe ice cream. The last line of its “nutritional information” is “If you want nutrition, eat a carrot.”  Many of the flavors were odd, like Matcha Green Tea, Maple Nut, Black Walnut, Blackberry Lemon Bar, etc. We both got Zanzimint, a combination of their very dark chocolate Zanzibar™ Chocolate ice cream and (obviously) mint.

Zanzimint ice cream in Hixton

We drove and drove, stopping now and then for food, stretching, and/or bathroom breaks. We got to the cabin a little after 6:00, took the luggage in, put a frozen pizza in the oven, found the bottle of premixed margarita and the bag of ice we just bought in Grand Marais, and sat down on the deck for happy hour.

We didn’t have to wait until the last minute to see loons, like we do some years. Jane was the first to spot them, as she is the one with better distance vision. Binoculars confirmed that it was an adult with a chick. It was getting dark. They were far away. Nevertheless, I took way too many pictures, none of which were in focus or properly lit. Eventually, the pair worked its way over closer to us and out of the glare of the setting sun. The adult dove and dove. As soon as it surfaced, the chick went over to it. Often it was for naught.

Loon adult coming up empty as baby follows

Every now and then, the adult had a fish for the baby. As this picture shows, the baby was not yet eating large fish. We hoped it would be big enough to fly south before the lakes froze over.

A tasty treat!

We ate the pizza and drank margaritas. We stayed up as long as we could and went to bed at 8:30. It’s a long drive.