Bemidji, MN is in the northern part of the state and in the heart of many of Minnesota's lakes. We stayed in a lovely campground on one of those lakes, Fox Lake about 8 miles north of the city. One of our first outings was to meet Paul Bunyan and Babe, in a place of honor beside the lake near downtown.
Inside the visitor's center, we were introduced to more of Paul Bunyan's belongings, such as; the giant fishing pole, pocket watch, stocking cap, walking stick, moccasins, etc. 
We also learned more about the area from the helpful staff. The US Olympic curling team has been from Bemidji for the past two Winter Olympics. The winter ice fishing (with at least 30 inches of solid ice) attracts many winter sportsmen to catch fish attracted to the nearby Mississippi River feeding the lake. We'll have to take their word for it as we are not going to be in the area when the ice fishing season begins! We asked about the filming of 'Grumpy Old Men' and the guide said it was filmed a few hundred miles south - where it was much warmer...yikes!Since we were at a lake and we had been hauling two tackle boxes around with no fishing poles for 7 months, we decided to buy a couple of poles to try our luck. We're working on tying a snap and swivel on to each line before we can get started. 
Cory fished for three days, off and on, and got lots of bites, but no fish. The water was clear enough to see some of the fish. The big ones were not interested in our offerings and the perch were too small to get a good bite on the hook. The weather and lake were beautiful enough to make the fishing fun - even with no catch!
We took a drive up to International Falls and into Canada a few miles - just to get our passports stamped and take a look. International Falls didn't have a lot of restaurant choices on Sunday afternoon, but we found Barney's to be open. The picture with the logo looked like a Viking - would never have guessed Barney to be a Viking name, but we enjoyed our plentiful lunch anyway. 
We took a drive up to International Falls and into Canada a few miles - just to get our passports stamped and take a look. International Falls didn't have a lot of restaurant choices on Sunday afternoon, but we found Barney's to be open. The picture with the logo looked like a Viking - would never have guessed Barney to be a Viking name, but we enjoyed our plentiful lunch anyway. We also stopped at Border Bob's to look over the souvenirs, but found none to take along. Having only 400 sq. ft. really helps with paring down shopping choices!
We crossed the border into Canada after a prolonged stop at the checkpoint. Our youngest son's Guatemalan passport was apparently not a normal occurrence, so Craig had to go inside the office to show additional paperwork and answer questions. I suppose it's an effort to control human trafficking and/or kidnapping.
Smokey the Bear offered a great photo stop and was wearing a special 65th anniversary medal for his birthday this year.
We crossed the border into Canada after a prolonged stop at the checkpoint. Our youngest son's Guatemalan passport was apparently not a normal occurrence, so Craig had to go inside the office to show additional paperwork and answer questions. I suppose it's an effort to control human trafficking and/or kidnapping. As we continued on, water was everywhere and we enjoyed seeing the pontoon planes that advertised access to more remote areas.
The water was a deep blue and calm - very peaceful setting.
We stopped for a few minutes at a roadside park alongside the lake.
The water was a deep blue and calm - very peaceful setting.
We stopped for a few minutes at a roadside park alongside the lake.
Our very friendly Minnesota neighbors provided extra firewood, so we had a blazing fire outside almost every night. With the low temperatures in the 40's, we also enjoyed the warmth!
The sunset views of the lake were stunning.
The campground provided kayaks, canoes and water bikes for the guests and a pontoon boat was available for rent. Since we could see all the shoreline from land, we didn't see much reason for the boat, but we enjoyed the kayaks. We paddled across the lake and alongside reeds in the lake.
We made another outing to see the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera - so no photos. There were several places along the road where we could see the tiny Mississippi - sometimes with the banks only a yard or two apart. At Lake Itasca, the state park has several displays explaining the Mississippi and the journeys to find the headwaters. The actual headwaters must be even upstream of Lake Itasca, because there are two other lakes that provide tributaries to the upstream end of Lake Itasca. We're more than willing to settle for the designated headwaters however, with the nicely maintained paths. Those that originally charted out the waters mucked their way through knee deep mud and fought mosquitoes in their quest. We're happy that they've made the way easier for the rest of us.
The sunset views of the lake were stunning.
The campground provided kayaks, canoes and water bikes for the guests and a pontoon boat was available for rent. Since we could see all the shoreline from land, we didn't see much reason for the boat, but we enjoyed the kayaks. We paddled across the lake and alongside reeds in the lake.
We made another outing to see the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera - so no photos. There were several places along the road where we could see the tiny Mississippi - sometimes with the banks only a yard or two apart. At Lake Itasca, the state park has several displays explaining the Mississippi and the journeys to find the headwaters. The actual headwaters must be even upstream of Lake Itasca, because there are two other lakes that provide tributaries to the upstream end of Lake Itasca. We're more than willing to settle for the designated headwaters however, with the nicely maintained paths. Those that originally charted out the waters mucked their way through knee deep mud and fought mosquitoes in their quest. We're happy that they've made the way easier for the rest of us.
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