You Can See Russia, Or At Least Canada

Our next stop after leaving Jon and Ruthie's was International Falls to visit our friends Bruce and Donna.  They actually live outside of International Falls on Dove Island.  Between International Falls and Dove Island is Ranier.  Lot's of political action around Ranier which recently incorporated a bunch of unincorporated whatever they ares and have thereby more than doubled their population.  International Falls is bent out of shape because, apparently, they wanted to incorporate these same whatevers.  Dove Island remains whatever it is.  And who knows what this all means for anybody.  International Falls has a population of a bit over 2000 people and it is dropping while Ranier had a population of a bit over 200 before the incorporation of the whatevers.  We are not talking huge populations here, by any means.

Normally I wouldn't know about this stuff, but you can't get a major newspaper up here.  They don't even deliver the Minneapolis paper this far north.  So you can either read about Mildred's aunt coming for a visit, the local highschool that had to play eight-man football for their homecoming because so many of the players on the opposing team went moose hunting that they couldn't field a full team, or local politics.  Believe me, I read everything.

Oh, and you don't even want to hear about the proposed sewer line out to Dove Island.  People actually want to be billed based upon the amount of waste they produce.  I want to see how this works out.

To escape the insanity we all headed over to Fort Frances across the Pigeon River and in Canada to take in some curling.

Senior Curling League In Action


I kind of think of curling as Canadian bowling.  The one big difference is that you can't actually have beer down where you curl.  Oh, okay, there are some other big differences, I will grant you that.  Kind of fun to watch, though.  And they had a nice little viewing area upstairs where you could buy food and beer.

Beer And Curling, Does It Get Any Better?


They didn't have a real extensive menu and it was kind of like snack food.  But it was much better than snack food and the portions were quite large.  Sadly, I cannot remember what we ate.

One other place that we went was Thunderbird Lodge.  We go there at least once whenever we visit Bruce and Donna.  It is very close and has excellent food.

Thunderbird Lodge


And the views are magnificent.  You would almost think this is a painted background, but it isn't.

Donna And Mysterious Chinese Woman, With A View


Bruce had a most excellent rib-eye steak while the rest of us had walleye.  My walleye was deep-fried with just the lightest of a crust and delicious flaky meat inside.  You can't go wrong with walleye.

Now, being a city boy, living on Dove Island isn't my cup of tea.  I expect to be able to walk to fifty differnent bars and restaurants, but I do like to visit.  And in Brooklyn you will never wake up to views like these, right from Bruce and Donna's deck.





And you can shoot a deer with a bow right from that same deck, not something you could do in Brooklyn, even if you had a deck.  Bruce shot one from this deck last year.  Yes, country living does have its benefits.  I would just have to figure out how to minimize my waste production.

And, in the Did You Know portion of this post, did you know that the hockey mask used in the first Halloween movie was a modified Halloween mask of Captain Kirk?  That's right kids, you are actually being frightened by William Shatner.

Turkey Gizzards, Beavers, And More

Before leaving Virginia, Minnesota and heading to Ely we made a couple of stops.  The first one was at a butcher shop where we picked up some brats and saurkraut for dinner.  I also picked up a couple of jars of pickled turkey gizzards, one for my friend Bruce and one to take home.

Pickled gizzards are, in my opinion, vastly underrated as a culinary delight.  Kind of like a meat pickle.  You don't see them in many stores here in New York City, though.

Pickled Eggs, Gizzards, And Pork Hocks


My friend Tom, who was at Sawmill, is a Vietnam veteran and is very active in raising money to erect a Vietnam Veteran's memorial in Virginia.  In fact he is the Chairman of the committee to raise the necessary funds.  Unlike in large cities like New York, Los Angeles, etc., the spirit of patriotism still runs very high in smaller towns throughout the United States.  You really do have to step away from your cynicism when you visit places like this.

On one of the buildings in Virginia is covered with portraits of residents who have served in the various wars the United States has fought in.

My Friend Tom Is On The Left


From Virginia we headed to Ely where Jon showed me his problem with beavers first hand.  Last year he was complaining that they were taking down trees on his property.  This year he showed me where his dock was underwater because the beavers had damned up the outlet of his lake.

Dam Beavers


Luckily someone has raked a clearing to one side of the dam to allow some of the water to escape.

A Bypass


I won't say who created the bypass because, I believe, it is against the law to mess with a beaver dam.

A Possible Suspect


It is probably also against the law to shoot a wolf who is eating your child.

For lunch we headed to a restaurant that was formerly an Arby's, or something like that.
 
An Improvement, Although I Like Arby's

 
The food was decent and plentiful and there was beer.  They also did a nice job remodeling the place and added some Minnesota memorabilia.
 
This Is An Old, Original Painting Or Something

 
The Obligatory Wooden Fish

 
From there we headed to an old bar that has been in the same family for at least two generations.  This is the type of bar that was common back in the days before Ely became somewhat of a touristy town.  And only the tourists would consider walking in the front door.
 
The Back Entrance To Zaverl's Bar

 
This is a great bar, just the kind that Bar Man likes.  Great Saturday afternoon crowd nursing their beers, draft Schmidt's, and shooting the breeze with each other and with Gary Zaverl who was tending bar.  And Schmidt's is the only beer they have on draft here.
 
All Decked Out For Halloween, Too

 
And Gary Joined In

 
After shooting the breeze for a bit we headed back to Jon and Ruthie's where we grilled our brats, heated up some saurkraut and beans, and had a mighty fine supper.  And the next morning the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I headed up to International Falls to visit my friends Bruce and Donna.

A Visit To The Sawmill

Some of you may remember that I posted about Sawmill some time ago at the behest of my friend Tom.  He wanted me to tout the many, ahem, assets that the place offered.

No, really, if you click the assets, er, girls you will be miraculously directed to Sawmill's website.  And there you will see the assets offered.

Well, anyway, I made it here to visit my friend Tom and his wife Lori as well as my friend's Jon and Ruthie.

A Sign In The Distance


And Here It Is


And These Are My Friends


The guy on the left with a big smile is Jon.  He has been having beaver problems so he is a bit glum.  And get your minds out of the gutter, these beavers are the kind that build dams and flood lakes.  Next to him is Tommy and then his wife Loris.  Then it is Jon's wife Ruthie and, last but certainly not least, the Mysterious Chinese Woman.

Now, I didn't write down the name's of these lovely young ladies but I might add their names later if Tom sends them to me.  He probably won't send the ladies, though, just the names.  Tom knows them all.

Flash - Tom sent me their names:

Michelle

Alissa

The lady in the above picture is the owner of Sawmill, brains and beauty.

Jessica


Theresa



Jennifer


They were already getting into the mood for Halloween, and nothing says Halloween like a decorated moose.

They Say Moo Instead Of Boo


Tom and Lori live  near Sawmill and the rest of us toddled off to the nearby AmericInn where we were spending the night before heading up to Wolf Lake, just outside Ely, the next morning.  That is where Jon and Ruthie live and the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I are going to spend some time with them.  But a bit more on that in my next post.

Lack Of Postings

A few people have sent me emails wondering if my liver has given out and that is why I haven't posted lately.  Have no fear, all is well.  It is just that I am in Minnesota visiting friends in Minneapolis, Virgina, Ely and International Falls.  I won't be returning home until the middle of next week and will certainly resume posting then.

Thank you for thinking of me, though.  I do suspect that some of the concerns for my liver may have been a bit less than completely sincere, however.

I am posting this from Ely in Northern Minnesota and there was frost on the pumpkin, as well as on the windshields, this morning.  The Mysterious Chinese Woman has bundled herself up and can't understand why I think it is just a nice crisp fall day.

Later this morning I will be driving to International Falls, right on the Canadian border.  International Falls was the inspiration for Frostbite Falls in the Rocky and Bulwinkle cartoons.  They proudly proclaim their city as the Icebox Of The Nation, a "hotly" contested title that they officially won many years back.

Until I post again, stay warm.

Return To Pig Island

Okay, that is a metaphorical return, as in I am returning to the subject of Pig Island in this post.

After a scintillating discussion with the Mysterious Chinese Woman on the liklihood of contracting a disease by using a kleenex that you carried in the same pocket as your loose change (we tend to have scintillating discussions) I thought it best to retreat to my technology center and work on my blog.  After I harvested my wheat and fed my chickens on my Frontierville Homestead, of course.

There were certainly a lot of people showing off their wares, and most of it was pretty darn good.

Joe Doe had jars of pickled stuff that reminded me of the bars up in Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Pickled eggs, turkey gizzards and hotdogs are big in those necks of the woods.  I talked to the head Joe Doe and he said he thought the turkey gizzards were a great idea and that he would put up a batch of them so they would be ready for Thanksgiving.

Joe Doe's Mysterious Jars


The Head Joe Doe


As I was standing in the line waiting for the gates to open I spotted this wooden device for roasting a pig.  I seem to recall that these are popular in Cuba or somewhere like that and have often thought it would be neat to buy one and do a whole pig.


You stick the pig in the box and then you put the coals on a grid on top.

No Muss, No Fuss


Sadly, by the time I got back to this place the little piggy had already left so I never got a picture of him nestled snugly and cooked up nice and crispy.

The Pig Has Left The Box


If I got this straight, I think the pig in the box was used to make an Asian pork soup of some kind.

Soap Box To Soup Bowl


One Pig Goes In, Many Bowls Of Soup Come Out


There was pig prepared in just about any way you could think and this stand advertised that their sausage was made with every part of the pig.

Not Sure If That Is Good Or Not


Actually, the sausage was very good indeed and I made a bit of a pig of myself.  Heh Heh, get it, made a pig of myself on Pig Island?  Kind of like making a donkey of yourself on Pleasure Isand.  That was for you Pinocchio fans.  Although to keep the metaphor in synch it should have been something along the lines of pleasuring myself on Pleasure Island.

Eventually the Mysterious Chinese Woman had to take a break from all the pork and beer so she headed to something healthy.

Have You No Shame?


But soon it was time to say good-bye to Pig Island so I stopped by to say "So long" to Sam.  He must have had a busy day because pig heads were accumulating.

Good For Business, Bad For Pigs


Ah, it was a lovely afternoon as we got off the boat and headed home.

Walking Through The Park


Of course, there was one more stop that we had to make before heading home and, as I suggested, many of you probably already guessed where that might be.

You Can Only Hope To Contain Her


And, eventually, we did make it home.  And agreed that it was a mighty fine day well spent.  And we were kind of spent as well.

Being Piggy On Pig Island

Well, when you pay $75 for your ticket and it is all you can eat and drink you probably don't want to be thinking about starting a diet.

My first stop, was, a beer tent.

This One Was Open


And then it was on to my friend Sam's spot.

FUHGEDDABOUTIT


And there was Sam, happily pulling his pork.

Squeal Like A Pig


But the horror, the horror. We must kill them. We must incinerate them.

Pig After Pig...


Two pints, er, I mean points, for those of you who can identify the movie reference.

That's right, Apigalypse Now.

There were a bunch of picnic tables scattered about so we settled into one with our beers and the pulled pork sandwich and headcheese from  FUHGEDDABOUTIT.

Ready To Tuck In


And Tucking In


But, of course, Sam's was only the start of things.  There was plenty more to sample.

How Can This Not Make You Drool?


Now I don't know what I would do with that meat, but it wouldn't have been what they were doing, making some kind of it takes forever to assemble sandwich.

No Sandwich Is Served Before Its Time


It kind of reminded me of Mayslack's in Minneapolis where you waited forever while your roast beef sandwiches were built one at a time by Mayslack himself, a retired professional wrestler.  And his mother would take your money and make change out of a cigar box.

The Lines Were As Long Too


I didn't actually get to try whatever they were assembling because Bar Man doesn't really like to stand in long lines waiting for his food.  I think it was the monkey bars in basic trainning that did it.

Then the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I got into our dueling cameras competition.

Click, You Mangy Dog


Prepare To Eat Pixels


Tomorrow I shall finish my story of Pig Island.

And There Will Be More Dead Pigs


You won't want to miss the stunning climax to our day's adventure.  But I bet some of you can already kind of guess.