Rainy River for the Voyageur Hudson Bay Expedition Crew

     The Voyageur Hudson Bay Expedition Crew had a beautiful day for paddling part of the Rainy River. The sun was shining the temperature was hot with not much wind at all. I've never paddled the Rainy River and I don't know too much about the area.
     One thing I had no clue existed in Minnesota was Smokey Bear Park. It's located along the route near International Falls but I doubt the guys stopped to pose with the 26 foot statue of Smokey Bear that resides there.
     The Rainy River winds along the border of Canada and Minnesota for 85 miles. It passes farms and small towns as it flows from International Falls to Lake of the Woods. One of the farms along the river is talked about in "This Water Goes North." Again, I wouldn't know about this if it weren't for Adam's Dad who happened to see on the SPOT Locator track a place where the guys spent a couple of hours. When I looked at the satellite image I agreed the image looked very much like a farm. Here's an excerpt from page 56 of Dennis Weidemann's book,

"Opening the barn door, I froze mouth agape. This wasn't like any barn I had ever been in. In the middle of the huge pole building stood a mammoth combine, freshley washed, drying on the immaculately clean cement floor. One wall housed a complete metal workshop, hand tools so neatly organized that my father would have cried with joy to see them. In a room near the front of the building was a spotless full bathroom. Finishing my turn in the shower, I headed outside, feeling a little guilty for staying in the hot water for so long. Approaching the tents, I suddenly stopped, something did not look right. "What;s this?" I pointed. "A cassarole." I shook the water out of me ears. "What?" "I don't know. A guy just brought it out and asked if we were hungry. After devouring every scrap of food, we found ourselves inside the house, drinking............

I have no idea if the guys enjoyed a shower or a casserole or if it was indeed the same farm. Today they will be paddling more of the Rainy River with another great day of weather including blue skies, little wind and temperatures up into the 80's.