Still in Marble

Tuesday, 31 July 2007----

This morning I went for a bike ride with lifetime friend Rod Pietila from Floodwood. We road from Grand Rapids to Gun Park and back, a distance of about 10 miles. It was nice to have a chance to ride and visit with Rod and to catch up on what has been happening in our lives.



This afternoon we drove to Deer River and visited cousin Dick Juvelin, his wife Fern and son Steve. There was a lot of campaigning by them for another Finnish Adventure similar to our Finnish Fun in 2001 adventure. It is nice to stay in touch with relatives we don't get to see often. I stopped by the Chevrolet Dealership in Grand Rapids yesterday and visited my cousin Chuck Jurvelin who I haven't seen in years.

Back In Marble

We returned to Marble to a weekend of rejoicing and celebrating the safe return home from Iraq of my brother Don's son Nathan. He was delighted to be back with family, green grass, trees and beer. Nathan's sisters Rachel and Joleen were there along with Joleen's husband Nick and their son Max were also there.

Don and I celebrated by building our first bit of log furniture, a log bench (photo to follow).

This morning I rode my bike from Keewatin to Hibbing and back a distance of about 18 miles. I had a peek at the Hull Rust Mine (the larges open pit iron mine in the world) as well as a few mine lakes.

Canada Fishing

On Friday morning my fishing crew, Neil Boyd and his son (our God son) Brent picked me up and we headed for Lac Seul in Northern Ontario. The drive was about seven hours and we arrived at 8:00 PM, too late to set up the boat but in time to have some of Neil's great country style ribs.

Saturday morning we set up our gear and headed out to the lake. What a large and interesting body of water. We confined our adventures to a small part of the northwest section of the lake and still got as far as 25 miles from the lodge. Thanks to my great map reading, aided just a bit by the gps device I borrowed from my brother Don, we avoided getting lost.


Our fishing efforts were focused on catching Walleye Pike but we also caught a fair number of small Northern Pike and a few Smallmouth Bass. My largest Walleye was 27 1/2 inches and about 4.8 pounds. Neil caught the largest of the trip at 5.0 pounds.

On Thursday morning we arose before sunrise and headed for South Bay where we were told we might see some moose just after sunrise. What a treat it was for us to see five moose The first was a very large cow moose. The second and third were a cow moose and her calf. These three didn't stick around long enough for me to get any photos but the fourth moose was feeding in the lake when we spotted here so I was able to get a couple of shots before she and here calf headed for the woods. Unfortunately my Canon 10D was giving me error signals every time I took a shot and I had to turn it off and on again after each photo.

An added bonus was that the fishing that morning was very good.

While I was away in Canada fishing, Mary traveled to Forest City, Iowa to spend a few days with Neil's wife Leah and Brent's son Michael Ryan and his mother. I think I made the better choice of where to spend my time but I am sure Mary would have a different opinion.

A Week at Marble

This week we relaxed and recovered from the activity the last week. Chores got done. Mary did the wash and I changed oil in the motorhome. I also got in a couple of good bike rides. The ride from Grand Rapids to Coleraine was beautiful. Many great views and a lot of forest.



Mary and I also were able to enjoy yet another great lunch of Finnish Pasties at Pasties Plus in Grand Rapids. They are definitely a Minnesota treat. We even had them make a few vegan pasties for Karyn and Todd when they were here.


I spent Thursday preparing for my fishing trip to Ontario, Canada.

Catfish Festival

On Sunday morning we were back at the Savanna Portage for brunch and some more visiting with classmates. Memories of our 2002 reunion when I took great measures to procure a Catfish Festival tee shirt were recalled and Pat, one of my classmates, presented me with an antique $250 Catfish Festival tee shirt. You will have to ask me about the rest of the details of this story if you are interested.

After brunch we cruised the antique car show at the Savana Portage and then headed to Main Street for the parade. One of the fund raising features of the day was buying a ticket for a spefic square on chalked on main street on which a heifer would hopefully deficate (only in Floodwood would you find a contest of such sophistication). The heifer took her time but finally did the trick at about 5:00 PM, but not on my square.

We passed the time waiting for the heifer by listening to one of brother Dave's classmates and his band at the Mainline Tavern on main street Floodwood. The classmate, Gary Powell did a fine job of crooning Johnny Cash and other country songs. This was also the place to meet many people from the past. We finally wore out and headed back to the motorhome for pizza and yet another sauna.

50th Class Reunion

On Saturday, 14 July we checked out of our cabin and went our seperate ways. Jon and family back to Minneapolis and a flight home after a quick visit to my home town of Floodwood. Mary and I back to Marble to pick up the motorhome and head for Floodwood and my 50th high school class reunion.

After parking the motorhome at brother Dave's country place we headed into town for a tour of the Floodwood School. All of the buildings that were there when I graduated are gone, replaced by a beautiful new facility.

After a sauna at Dave's we dressed for dinner (very casual) and went to the Savanna Portage Restaurant for the reunion. I was surprised to see so many old people there. Oh well, after 50 years we have all aged a bit. It was nice to see so many of my classmates again, some who I haven't seen for fifty years. As has been the tradition for all previous class reunions I have attended I was asked to be the MC. We really had a great time sharing stories from our memories of school together.

After dinner we reconvened to listen to "Almost Willie" a Willie Nelson impersonator. He did a pretty good job and did look a lot like Willie.

Forest History in Minneosta

On Wedneday we all piled into the cars and went to visit the Forest History Center in Grand Rapids. What a great way to learn about the logging history of Northern Minnesota. They have people in costume acting as if we were in a logging camp on 15 December 1900. They do a fabulous job of conveying the history of logging. We even climbed a fire tower.



On Friday after Todd, Karyn and family headed down to Minneapolis to visit Todd's relatives the rest of us went to visit the Lost Forty. This is a small area that because of a surveying error never got logged. There are a number of virgin white and red pine trees so large the girls couldn't get their arms around them. More Minnesota forest history.

Minnesota Experience

The weather gave us a true Minnesota experience on Tuesday, 10 July when the straight line winds knocked out our power and downed 22 trees across our one mile of driveway making us hostages in our cabin. Thankfully my brother Don came to our rescue with his chainsaw, a camp stove, drinking water and, along with my brother Carl, his wife Rose, Don's wife Bobbi, their daughters Rachel and Jolene and Jolene's son Max, brought us dinner and drinks for the evening. Don had to remove one more tree on the way home. On Wednesday after our visit to the Forest History Center in Grand Rapids we came home to find two more trees across the road. Jon and I made a quick trip to Marble to borrow Don's chainsaw once again and we soon had the cars back to the cabin. Power was restored at about noon on Thursday. What fun!

Gunn Lake Fun

On Monday morning at 6:30 AM I was awakened by an eager fisherman, Katie. We gathered our gear and took the boat out a ways in the lake. Katie quickly caught five fish, one of which we enjoyed for breakfast.


Then it was Mary's turn on Tuesday evening when she caught a couple of bass.

On Monday morning we took a boat ride adventure and saw some of the wonderful scenery and animals along the chain of eight lakes we are on. This deer was feeding on lily pads on the lake shore when we came by.

We also saw a number of Loons on the journey. These two were very protective of a baby that was with them but allowed me a few good shots.

Family Reunion

On Sunday, 8 July we drove back to Don's for our family reunion. About 35 Kantola family members gathered for the event. All of my bothers and sister and mates were there along with dear friends (Ken is like a brother) Ken and Kay Heiskari and numerous kids and grand kids.

It was a great day of eating, drinking, playing and fellowship. We started at 11:00 AM and didn't leave until after 8:00 PM.

What a great day.

On to Gunn Lake

On Saturday, 7 July 2005 we prepared for our week with the kids and grand kids on Gunn Lake. The kids arrived a Don's place at 2:00 PM after overnight flights from California. At 2:30 PM Mary Francis and I headed for Gunn Lake to check in at our cabin.

The cabin is beautiful and easily accomodates the 11 of us. It was built in 2001 and has all of the amenities. To reach the cabin we had to drive 25 miles north of Marble and then go on 7 miles of gravel road and then on 1.3 miles of dirt lane. We are in the boonies. But the place is beautiful. It took about three seconds for the grand kids to don bathing suits and head for the beach. This photo is Mary and Lucia at the beach.

Preping for the Party

July 5 & 6 were spent preping for the family reunion scheduled for Sunday 8 July 2007 at my brother Don's home on Twin Lakes. Preparation included restoring one and making one new picnic table.

On Friday Mary and I took a day trip to my home town of Floodwood, MN. We tried to visit an old friend Rod Pietila but he and his wife had left town on a camping trip. We did spend time with Ken and Kay Heisdari and made a brief visit into town to check our motorhome parking possibilities for the Catfish Festival weekend.

4th of July

The weather here has been really nice. Temps in the 70s and cool at night.

Early this week I was involved in projects at brother Don's. What begin as a picnic table repair project turned into a make one out of two and one new picnic table project. The job got done in time for 4th of July celebrations.

My brother Carl and his wife Rose arrived from South Dakota on Tuesday and will be spending a few days with us. Niece Joleen (Don and Bobbi's daughter) and her son Max also arrived today. Her husband Nick showed up on the 4th. The morning of the 4th found us on the streets of Naswauk viewing their annual 4th of July parade. What fun. It was nice to see the patriotism of the Midwest. When the VFW and American Legion people passed everyone stood up and all the men removed their hats an placed their hands over their hearts or saluted.

It as also neat to see the kids scramble for the candy throw to the crowd from the floats. Max got his share of the booty and I even managed to snag a few Tootsie Rolls.

This is a sunset photo from the lake shore where we have our motorhome parked. The scene changes every day and is always beautiful.

Road Trip to Bemidji

On Sunday 1 July 2007 we decided to take a road trip to Bemidji to visit the craft fair, woolen mill and watch the parade. We accomplished all three goals and even watched the parade from the patio of an Irish Pub while eating fish and chips and drinking good ale.

After lunch we decided to check out the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Itasca State Park. The river is considerably smaller than it is in Missouri where we were a week or so ago. Itasca State Park has been developed considerably since my last visit. They have several nice campgrounds, bike trails and a very good visitors center.

Our next stop was for an ice cream cone in Walker and then we headed back to Twin Lakes and a dinner of goulash.

Rain predicted to tonight and into Tuesday but not much has arrived so far.

Twin Lakes

We arrived at brother Don's home at 3:30 PM and had the motorhome in its parking place in no time. It is nice to be settled for a few weeks and how can you beat a lake view and a nice sauna just a few feet away. Oh yes, it was great to see Don and Bobbi again as well. We treated them to a dinner of barbequed salmon on Thursday night

Friday Mary and I headed for Grand Rapids so I could get my Minnesota summer haircut - short and easy to care for. Then we enjoyed the first of our Finnish Pastie lunches at Pasties Plus.

On Saturday Don and I added a few feet to his deck while Mary and Bobbi went strawberry picking. The weather has been fantastic, especially on the lake.

Maple Grove

The chores are getting done. I managed to get the car washed and waxed. It was in reall need of tender loving care after being dragged half way across the country behind our motorhome. Mary has been busy doing laundry and keeping the motorhome shipshape.

Tuesday evening we had dinner with Cathy and Bob Wellman at their home. I delivered a memory box to them for one of their granddaughters. I still have two boxes to deliver.

My bicycle rides were in the Elk Creek Park Preserve on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. What a wonderful place to be. Each ride was about 10-12 miles with enough up and down to keep me breathing hard.

Wednesday evening Roger and Audrey joined us for a nice dinner of barbequed pork chops.

Thursday we left for Northern Minnesota at 11:30 AM.

The Northwest Mpls KOA RV Park is one of the nicest ones we have stayed at. The people are very nice and the campsites are shaded and roomy.