Day 5 (6/24/2021): Voyageurs National Park

I woke up at about 7:00 a.m. at my boondocker's host in Minnesota. I got ready and left around 8:00 a.m. to arrive at the visitor center, which was an hour away, around 9:00 a.m. when it opened. I wanted to be able to ask the rangers a few questions. I wanted to know about a hike to do in the morning and then a paddle boarding route to do in the afternoon.

When I arrived, there were also a few small hikes that I did at the various overlooks on the way in. There was Beaver Pond, Voyagers Forest Overlook, and another one. These were beautiful little overlooks where you get glimpses of the National Park and Rainy Lake.

When I got to the visitor center, I asked them about a good hike to do in the morning and then a paddle for the afternoon. They recommended a hike that was a three mile loop that goes out to a small bay on Rainy Lake. Then, they also recommended a paddle that happens to go out to that same small bay. It would be a three mile hike and a four mile paddle. He looked up the weather, and it seemed like in the afternoon the wind would only pick up to about 5 mph. This should be doable I thought. 

I headed on my way towards the hike. It was a gorgeous hike through the forest and eventually came out to a huge cedar grove at the edge of this bay on the lake. It was absolutely beautiful. 

When I got back from the hike, it was just about lunch time so I brought my picnic lunch down to the edge of the lake by the visitor center. It was a great spot to eat lunch. 

Then, I got ready to go paddle boarding. Once I was ready, I brought my paddle board down to the canoe/kayak launch that they had, and set out. It was a bit windy, but it didn't seem too bad. I started out kneeling to see how the wind was. As I got out of the small cove, the wind was definitely stronger than I thought. I stuck close to shore, and kept paddling out. I was trying to make it about three peninsulas away, to what I thought was the bay that I was looking for. As I was paddling, the wind seemed to be picking up. I tried standing up, but my body acted like a sail, and the wind was pushing me backwards. Therefore, I spent the whole paddle either kneeling or sitting. Eventually, the wind seemed to be picking up even more. But I was determined to make it to that point.  I was aiming for a point that I thought was the entrance to the bay that I was looking for. I made sure to stick very close to shore just in case something happened. I thought to myself, if the bay isn't around that point, I'm just going to go back. I can't keep this up. I've never paddled so vigorously in my life. As the wind was picking up, I was paddling faster and faster. Finally, I rounded the peninsula, I could tell it was that bay. I floated into the bay, but could tell that the wind was pushing me still. I wanted to be able to hang out, paddle around, and go swimming. However, the bay wasn't as protected as I was hoping. The wind was still pushing me further and further into the bay. That meant, that any distance the wind pushed me into the bay, that I would have to paddle out going back against the wind. Therefore, I decided to just go for a quick swim and head back. 

I paddled out of the bay and around the peninsula back into the main part of the lake. There, at least the wind would be at my back and pushing me in the right direction. I stood up to paddle the whole way back and was able to steer and let the wind push me. On my way back, it seemed to be calming down. Of course, perfect timing. It seemed as though I decided to paddle during the windiest part of the day  I decided to stop at a small island to enjoy the scenery and lay out in the sun for a few minutes. Then, while laying out in the sun, I thought that a real nap sounded much better. So, I headed back. I was absolutely wiped from a three mile hike and then this four mile - intense - paddle. By 3pm, I had burned 2,300 calories according to my Fitbit. I went back to my camper, dried off my paddle board and put it away. Then, took a shower and a nap. (While parked at the national park.) I guess that's one perks of having your home where you park. It felt nice to get clean from the sunscreen and sweat. I took an hour and a half nap, which felt amazing and much needed. 

Afterwards, I headed back to International Falls. Since I had the time and I wasn't traveling anywhere that night, I decided to do laundry. While I was there waiting for my clothes, I cooked dinner. Then, I went to a gas station so that I would be fueled up and ready to leave in the morning. At the gas station, this was another interesting moment of my trip...

I went inside to try and get my rewards card to work. When I entered, a guy at the counter (customer, not clerk) acknowledged me and said that this is going to take a moment. I said that's fine. He responded with "we're having interludes." And I said that's fine, again. He looks at me and goes "oh, you know interludes means?" Even though I didn't, I took a good guess using context clues. I said "it's like exchanges, right?". He said "well, I guess it could be, I hadn't really thought of it like that. But it comes from the 18th century playwriting when there would be interlude between the characters..." and you could tell he has a very theatrical personality. So anyways, he starts asking me questions like my name, where I'm from, and where I'm going. Ironically, he's wearing a Seattle Washington shirt. Which I thought was very interesting. So I told him my name was Heather and when he asked where I'm from, I nodded at his shirt and said "I'm from Seattle." He says no way, and asks if I would have time to talk a bit. Except the way he phrased it was very weird, I could tell something was off. Anyways, he said give me a time limit though because I can chat and I said okay. I was interested in why he was in Minnesota wearing a Seattle Washington shirt, and I try to give people the time of day. He seemed nice. I needed to pump gas, so that was his time limit. He said he can work within pumping gas time.  So I'm to the counter, paid, and met him out near my truck. As we're talking there, he asks me where I'm coming from and where I'm going. Which I kept general, saying I'm going from Maine to Washington. Then, he asks, with wide eyes "can I get a ride with you to Seattle?!" I plainly said no. He asked why not, I just said I simply didn't have room. He said okay, logistics aside, what would it take for me to convince you to give me a ride to Seattle? And I said "nothing." Absolutely nothing, I thought. And he said "there's absolutely nothing I can do to convince you to let me ride with you to Seattle?" And I said no. Thankfully, he respected my answer and moved on. Then, he kept talking and asking questions, he was very interested in why I was alone, where I was going, and where I was coming from in my life. The conversation wasn't very fluid, it was quite choppy and jumped around a lot. I think he was drunk. He might have been on other drugs too, I have no idea. 

So instead of talking about myself, I decided to ask him questions about himself, so that he wouldn't know too much about me. So I asked him his name and where he's from. I'm not going to use his name here or details about him. So then I asked him about the Seattle Washington shirt. He told me he founded it a thrift store but that he's infamous in Seattle. Then he got really excited and had me look him up. I'm not going to put any details on here though.  

I don't know how the conversation transitioned, but somehow next, we're talking about how the aliens have touched him and contacted him. I was trying to keep a straight face as I wasn't quite sure how to react. But he said "I can see by your face that you're unsure." I thought, oh yes, I'm very unsure. He goes, they haven't contacted you, I can tell. But if they will, you'll know what to do. And on that note, I told him I had to go. I had no idea how to even try and hold this conversation together anymore. Plus, I wanted to have my dinner while it was still hot from cooking it at the laundry mat. He also asked if I had a place to stay, to which I responded that I did. But he offered anyways that if I needed, I can stay with him. I politely declined and changed the conversation. He also asked if I wanted to go to dinner or really just go somewhere and keep talking. To which I said no, I have somewhere to stay and I want to go have my dinner. Eventually, I told him I had to go.

Anyways, I went back to my Boondockers place actively looking at my mirrors to make sure that I saw him bike away in the opposite direction. I did. I made it back safely, made dinner, and went to bed early. That had been an exhausting day on all fronts. Tomorrow, I was headed to North Dakota.