Day 8

Whoa. Kekabeka Falls was not to be missed. Olive declared Kekabeka the best falls we’ve seen. And we’ve seen a few. We lingered at the falls in the morning and headed into Thunder Bay for Finnish Pancakes at Hoito Restaurant. I was the only one to have the pancakes (yum, yum, gotta get the recipe), Roger tried poutine for the second time. Apparently the occasional cheese curd is intentional. Other than that there doesn’t seem to be much to Thunder Bay.
Fort William Park is Fort Snelling on steroids (Roger’s description). Did you know the entire fur trade, beaver primarily, was based on men’s fashion in the late 18th century? Men needed beaver felt hats and they had trapped the European beavers to near extinction. Did you know the partners of the North West Trading Company were Scottish and the French were the voyageurs and trappers? The Scots were disgruntled Hudson Bay Company workers that broke away and started NWTC. Interesting factoids aside, it’s a great fort replication complete with costumed time-period characters. We participated in a fire brigade, threw hatchets, and saw some 1815 drama acted out (I’m almost ready for Ren Fest).
Re-entry into the US was very uneventful. We hit the store at Grand Portage for dinner fixings, the beer store in Hovland for a better selection, and rolled into C. R. Magney State Park for the night. Back home in Minnesota feels good.