One of the best luxuries of glamping is having running water for cleaning, cooking, and flushing. Unlike in your sticks and bricks home, there is no permanent sewer drain. So all the water you use must be stored in tanks until you have sewer hook-ups to drain them. Done correctly, this is not too bad of a job. Done incorrectly, it can be a nasty, smelly, and dirty job.
Scott and his wife Rachel West Kramer have performed for many years. Now the group has grown to include his daughter and son-in-law. But the real star of the show is his 2-year-old granddaughter. All of the Kramers are very talented and she is going to follow in their footsteps.
After our Ely MN adventures, we stayed at The Lakeview On Rainy Lake and International Falls, MN. It is a wonderful little campground, with an emphasis on LITTLE! They have 4 cabins and about 4 spots for campers. We had no problem getting our 43′ 5th wheel and truck in. The manager of the campground was a super nice lady. She told us all about the area, where to go and what to do. When she found out I love…
Captain Kenny also gave a great history lesson of Lake Okeechobee and the area. He was also shared much knowledge about the flora and fauna of the area. We also saw dozens of species of birds identified by the captain and 25 to 30 very large alligators.
Marks boat was all set up with rod holders and a generator that ran lights all around the boat. The lights attract bugs, which attract baitfish which attract crappie.
Before we harvested sugar beets, we had no idea that 70-80% of sugar in the USA comes from sugar beets, not sugar cane. Sugar beets are grown in cooler climates with about 5 months of growing season. States that grow sugar beets are Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Washington, and Oregon.
Itasca State Park, the Headwaters of the Mississippi River. We spent a day there hiking amongst the beautiful red pine forest and WALKING ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER! They have a visitor center with all kinds of information and a scale model of the whole Mississippi River System.
Next Teresa took us to visit Carol, a homesteader. While she did have a log splitter and a generator she used occasionally, she mostly lives off the land. Carol and her husband left the hustle and bustle of Chicago many years where Carol was a nurse. Her husband passed away a few years ago, but Carol loves the homestead lifestyle so much she will never go back to city life.
When we first pulled up, Carol was pumping a couple buckets of water out of her well, so we helped her carry them into the house. We spent a couple of hours visiting with Carol and seeing her homestead.
We got behind when we started the sugar beet harvest in North Dakota. We already run 1-2 weeks behind current time when we get blogs posted. During the Sugar Beet harvest we were working 12+ hour days, so we obviously had no time to blog. Besides, the main reason for our adventure, is to have fun and to see the country. We have been doing plenty of that, so it will take a while for us to get caught up.
The International Wolf Center is run by the MN DNR. It is a great experience and you can learn a lot about the reestablishment of wolves in North America. They have four “Ambassador” wolves in their Exhibit Pack and one retired wolf at this time; Boltz, Denali, Grayson, and Axel.
The Bear Center currently has 4 bears at the center; Ted, Holly, Tasha, and Lucky. There is a large wall of windows where you can watch the bears interact in their natural environment. We got to go on a behind the scenes tour and see an ambassador bear up close and personal.
