After installing the newly overhauled prop on the pointy end of Skyscraper we loaded up the plane to head to Minnesota to pickup London from camp. This was Violets first trip out of a car seat and in a booster seat. This was also Karrie and Violets first time with the new Crow seatbelts. As is typical, anything that is not a tailwind is a headwind. We got beat up by 30-35 knot headwinds the whole way from Orlando to I-Falls. Of note we flew close enough to an airshow TFR in Iowa to see some smoke…..pretty cool. We also dodged some thunderstorms along the route.
Once we landed and tied the plane up at Einarson we pulled the Avis rental on the ramp and loaded our gear. Sadly the Canadian company that produced the jam Einarson previously sold had gone out of business so they only had apricot this year. Once off the airport property we headed to the Thunderbird Lodge to check in. As we arrived late in the day the front desk was closed so we had to go to the restaurant/bar to pickup our key. While there we enjoyed dinner and inquired about getting our hands on a boat and some fishing poles the following morning. As luck would have it, some folks at the bar made a phone call and got us lined up with a fishing guide the following morning at 8:00. After waking up the three of us walked over to Rainy Lake Houseboats to get our single day, non resident fishing licenses before the short walk back to the dock to find Jeff and his boat already sitting there at 7:40. We loaded on the boat and departed the dock. Jeff had been fishing on Rainy Lake for decades and certainly knew where to find fish. This particular morning the fish were in deep water somewhere deeper than 20′. We fed three times as many fish as we reeled in and enjoyed the adventure all the more. After our half day was over and on the way back way in, off in the distance I noticed a woman wearing a high viz sweatshirt waiving her arms. I let Jeff, our Coast Guard certified captain, know what I saw. He turned the boat back and headed 90 degrees off course to see if they needed help. The gentleman on the boat had a bit of an ego about him and wanted us to assist him in jump starting his boat. I noticed he had a loose, spare battery onboard and had killed his primary battery as well. After Karrie and I held the boats apart while he fruitlessly cranked his boat he accepted defeat and asked if we could tow him in. His wife was hopeful for this outcome from the moment we pulled up. After Jeff tied a line to a cleat on his boat’s transom we pulled the distressed boat at a slow pace back to their secluded island camp site about 5 miles from the marina we came from earlier in the day. While I did not understand the gentleman’s logic I was not inclined to debate it with him as it cost us an hour to assist them. All the same we arrived back at the dock and Jeff effortlessly filleted our fish for us. Violet for the first time got to see where meat comes from. I’m not sure she appreciated this education. After returning to the dock I got in touch with JR and he picked us up in a boat for an island tour of my old camp. He spent quite a while showing us what has taken place on the island since my last visit 25 years prior. As circumstance would have it the Pop Shack was open while we visited, lucky Violet!
After our island camp tour was over we loaded back in the rental to go see London’s friendship ceremony. It was heart warming to see her basking in the confidence she had as we walked onsite and she saw us for the first time in almost two weeks. After watching the ceremony headed back to the Thunderbird to eat our freshly caught fish. A short while later we fell asleep before our morning pickup London and departing for Chattanooga.
Violet and Karrie ready to depart for International Falls, MN.
Airshow TFR at Davenport, IA.
Somebody getting after it with their smoke on.
Our favorite International Falls FBO (the only one there).
The iconic Thunderbird Lodge on Rainy Lake.
Massive pileated woodpecker we saw on property at the Thunderbird.
Violet excited to leave the dock on our fishing expedition.
A snipped of our approximate 16 mile boat ride to our fishing spot.
One of the many rental houseboats pulled up to a secluded parking spot on the lake.
Violet with her first walleye. As it was less than 19-1/2″ we kept it for dinner!
Karrie holding a 23-1/2″ walleye she reeled in.
Violet doing a good job delegating pole holders and hook setters.
The 25″ walleye I hooked.
Some of the leeches that Violet had interest in watching swim around in the bait bucket.
The distressed boat that we spent an additional hour towing to their secluded camp site on an island.
Said secluded camp site on deserted island.
The only two walleye we caught that we could keep. ( < 19-1/2″)
Said fish that the Thunderbird staff cooked for us.
Jeff’s advertising poster in the Thunderbird.
Karrie and Violet on a tour that JR lead around my ole stomping grounds. Sadly I was too cool to learn Indian dancing while I attended.
The replacement cabin 13 that stands where my old bunk lived.
London at her Friendship Ceremony.
London in her bottom bunk before we departed.
View from the front of London’s cabin.
Rainy lake from above (camp dock is just above the marina docks).
