The Lake is Chilly!- Sioux Narrows, Ontario, Canada

We arrived in Canada on July 2nd and Caleb helped catch this 21 inch Walleye the very next day! Duke the Golden Retriever is impressed and thinks he could help out with the fish cleaning. Caleb ventured out with Grandma and Grampa for a fishing & shore lunch outing. He got to have all the fun while Chris and I drove back to Baudette, MN. Our RV part, shipped USPS Priority mail, was not at the post office when it was supposed to be... so a day late and another day driving. But all was not lost, as we decided it was a wilderness drive. We saw deer contemplating crossing the road, momma marmot with her young-uns scurrying off the road, a red fox giving us the cold shoulder, and a bald eagle sitting atop its nest surveying the roadway. Chris got the new converter installed and it works great!
Duke decided if Caleb caught such a big fish then he could too. He circled for hours upon hours not tiring to catch the elusive bass. Even though he has mastered the dog snorkel technique (which is blowing air out his nose so he can stick his whole face underwater), he hasn't come up with a fish yet.
The shepherds think fetching a water toy is more fun than fishing for bass. Caleb tends to agree that jumping in is just more fun! It did take a bit to get used to the water, though... it is only 65 degrees on the surface! We got the two thumbs up from Caleb that the water was A-OK for swimming!

There is something about the clear Canadian lake water that lures one in... even when it is a bit chilly.

Red River State Park- East Grand Forks, Minnesota

OK- so here's a few more pictures of the Wylie Park Campground...
We biked around the park searching for geocaches. We searched for 3 and found 3! The first one was fooling us with some GPS bounce, and then the mosquito armies tried to attack Caleb and I ... so we had to run back to the safety of the bike path. Chris fought off the swarms and found the first one for us! The next two caches were micros, which are always a bit tricky. The last one we found Caleb is holding between his fingers. That's how small this magnetic micro cache is!
Here is a picture of Wylie Lake... how nice of them to give us our own lake! We saw a few pike being pulled out of the water, but we didn't have time to get out our poles.
With this gigantic American flag in the center, each state's flag lines the sidewalk. What a great country we live in, and an early Happy 4th of July to all of our friends and family!
Tuesday and Wednesday night brought us to Red River State Park in East Grand Forks, Minnesota. Cost per night: $24 +$5 daily vehicle fee. We can see North Dakota over the river from our campsite. This is a hidden gem of a park just a short 2 miles from I-29. According to the information, this campground is located where many of the 560 homes that were destroyed in East Grand Forks in the 1997 flood were once located. The property was redesigned as a state park and recreation area. They are currently adding more sites to the property. The Red River is very high and many of the trees are in the water. According to the weather station, we are still under a flood watch until the river crests. This is a great stop to take advantage of the many services in the greater Grand Forks area.... we got the oil changed in the truck along with the fuel filter and made a Super Target stop to reload our grocery supply. Caleb is having a great time at this park playing with some of the other children camped here.

Thursday we will head into Canada... stopping first in Baudette to pick up our new converter. Hopefully it will be at the post office waiting for us. Then we will cross the border and make our way into our campsite in Sioux Narrows. We will get be able to get out the loungers and relax... we plan on staying for two weeks!

Good News!- I paid for a day's worth of wi-fi at the Wylie Park Campground and was determined to get my new EnV3 phone tethered for internet. I searched and found a driver for my phone online. This may sound like an easy thing, but it is not "officially" known to be a driver that works... so even the technicians from Verizon weren't able to help me out. That's why the internet is so great! People who are tech wizards can tell the rest of us what to do! .... So I'm posting via my EnV3! However, I did find out in speaking with a Verizon representative, that I can't use this feature while in Canada even though I have the nationwide + Canada plan. Some of our friends do have the luxury of internet at their cabins, so I will try to make a blogpost.

We wish everyone a safe and Happy 4th of July!

Wylie Park- Aberdeen, South Dakota

Our journey on the red roads (color in the atlas) brought us to Aberdeen, South Dakota! The photo above is our site at Wylie Park Campground. With the spelling the same, I was sure the place was built just for us and we just didn't know it! But, they charged us just the same. $27 dollars a night basically gets you a theme park! They have paddleboats & canoes, Wizard's balloon ride, miniature train ride, Storybook Land, The Land of Oz, Lake and Beach, Carousel Rides, Miniature Golf, Bumper Boats, Zoo, Go Karts, and Bike Rentals. The facilities are excellent in the campground. This park is run by the city of Aberdeen... impressive.
Grammy- this picture is for you! Caleb is stalking the turkey and chicken that are wandering the cornfield behind him. They have lots of climbable structures at Storybook Land. There are paved bike paths that take you all around- even around the zoo. There are buffalo, elk, reindeer, prairie dogs, oh my! They also have a petting zoo. There are structures from lots of nursery rhymes all around the park.
This climbing wall was also there. The majority of the park is free entrance, but there are some activities that have an extra fee. Caleb was able to climb the wall twice for 2 bucks.
Monday was deemed water day! The Aberdeen Aquatic Center has an awesome pool equipped with water slides (raft slide, body flume slide, and enclosed body flume slide), leisure pool with kids play structure and splash zone, lazy river and large lap pool with 1 and 3 meter diving boards... $16.50 bought us a great day on the water!
The weather was ideal at 80 degrees. The water was refreshing. Caleb ventured to the high diving board. The first time, he got to the edge, looked down and backed down the ladder. But by the end of the afternoon, he was pleading to go "just one more time." I preferred the raft slide onto the lazy river myself.

5er news: Our WFCO converter is ready to give up the ghost. I'm pleased to pass along what a great company Best Converter RV Electrical Supplies is to work with! Randy was able to answer our questions and steer us the right direction. They will ship general delivery for us to pick up along our route. After checking with the local RV service companies, it was worth it to order.

Tomorrow we will head towards East Grand Forks, Minnesota. They were flooded earlier in the year, but are "open for business". So we will see how Red River State Park compares to the last time we were there. Then, on to Baudette to pick up our converter before crossing the border into Canada. We're sending good thoughts for warmer weather up on Lake of the Woods before we arrive! Caleb is in gear for swimming!