Events of Wednesday, August 11, 2010

          Today was part two and three of Voyageurs National Park in northern MinnesOOOta. After being kept up half the night by a very hard rainstorm which only seemed to intensify the oppressive humidity inside the RV, we awoke early, breakfasted, broke camp and were on our way. We had reservations at 10am at the Ash River Visitor Center on the far east side of Voyageurs National Park. We had reserved spots on a Voyageurs North Canoe trip. When we arrived, we had time to peruse the visitor center, a historical landmark log cabin/lodge that had housed hunting guests in the early 1800s. We checked out the exhibits and watched a brief movie on the history of the Voyageurs.

          Soon we were invited into the main cabin area by our interpretive rangers, today playing the part of Louis and Francois, French-Canadian Voyageurs. After sharing with us the attributes necessary for a good voyageur (handsome, strong, young, male) they made Abby their flag bearer and dressed Ben to play the part of a real voyageur. He was given a wool red striped beanie to keep his head warm and ward off the insects, a loose fitting shirt to keep him cool and protect him from bugs, a sash for his waist to protect his “innards from becoming torn from the hard work of paddling”, leg sashes to tie just below his knees to keep the leeches from crawling up his pants, moccasins to protect his feet while portaging heavy 90+ pound packs and a 450 pound canoe around falls and rapids, necklaces of glass beads to complete his dashing outfit and to have to trade with the Indians, and a leather pouch to keep his tobacco, pipe, and flint for his pipe breaks. We learned there were two types of voyageurs – pork eaters, those that only worked in the summer months and winterers, those who worked year round. Basically, voyageurs were the truckers of their time, their canoes being their 18 wheelers, and beaver pelts their precious cargo. After learning more about the clerks or bourgeoisies, who accompanied them to execute the trading since they were the only ones who could read and write, and the different supplies this class of men carried, we were on our way to a trial run to become voyageurs ourselves.

          We headed out to the docks. Abby had to go first as flag bearer and we had to wait to make sure she wasn’t shot by a rival trading group before following her down to the shore. There we donned lifejackets and were given paddles and brief instruction about how to enter/exit the canoe and how to paddle. A true voyageur paddled one stroke per second, 50 minutes of every hour, for up to 15 hour per day. The mathematicians in our group, Ben and Abby, quickly calculated that this meant roughly 45,000 strokes per day. Once out on Kabetogama Lake, we were challenged to maintain a true voyageurs pace for 20 seconds. It wasn’t easy, especially since our paddles kept getting tangled with the others in our canoe. Then Voyageur Francois shared that to keep up their spirits and set their pacing and coordinate their timing, the voyageurs often sang as they paddled. Then he led us in a rousing chorus of “Alouette”. What he shared next was most abhorrent to me. I have sung this little French ditty to my children when they were young and taught it to them when they were preschoolers.  I thought it innocuous. But then Voyageur Francois translated what it was that I have been singing all these years. Alouette is about plucking a dove to prepare it for consumption‼ And the parts where different words are sung and repeated? Those sections sing of different parts of the dove being identified before being plucked apart. YUCK‼

Alouette, gentille Alouette        Little dove, lovely little dove

Alouette, je te plumerai            Little dove, I will pluck your feathers off

Je te plumerai la tête                I’ll pluck the feathers off your head

 (Je te plumerai la tête)             (I’ll pluck the feathers off your head)

Et la tête                                     Off your head

 (Et la tête)                                  (Off your head)

Alouette                                      Little dove

(Alouette)                                    (Little dove)

O-o-o-oh                                       O-o-o-oh

And adding:

Et le bec         Off your beak

Et le cou         Off your neck

Et le dos         Off your back

Et les ailes      Off your wings

Et les pattes    Off your legs

Et la queue     Off your tail

And ending with:

O-o-o-o-oh

Alouette, gentille Alouette        Dove, lovely little  dove

Alouette, je te plumerai            Dove, I shall pluck you

 

Needless to say, we didn’t sing much on our return voyage. After our return to shore, we were all declared worthy of becoming voyageurs and signed our contracts which outlined how many pounds of cargo we were to transport, how many hours of rowing per day was expected, how many pipe breaks we were to be afforded and how much tobacco we’d be given at the start of the journey.

          After a brief hike to an overlook of a beaver pond, we headed on to part three of our visit – the Kabetogama Lake Visitor Center. Before heading in we enjoyed a nice lunch overlooking the lake. Then we checked out the displays in that center which were very well done and headed on our way. Luckily for Jim, we were followed out to the RV by a ranger who had found his newly purchased camera in the men’s room! Then it was off to our next stop – Isle Royale National Park.

          Isle Royale National Park is located in the waters of Lake Superior, officially in the state of Michigan. However, it is only a 2 hour boat ride from Grand Portage, MN versus a 4 hour boat ride from Wisconsin and a 6 hour boat ride from Michigan. So we opted for the departure location that would maximize our time on the island. Yet, Grand Portage is still a 4-5 hour drive from Voyageurs National Park, so off we went. When we reached Highway 61, a scenic byway which hugs the shore of Lake Superior, the command went out: “Everything away (books, computer, games, sleeping, etc). It’s time to look out and enjoy the scenery. After all we are on a SCENIC drive!” This command is often met with good natured groans and some smart aleck comments about generic road signs. But today the request was even more ludicrous as we were soon engulfed in a thick bank of fog that kept us from even seeing the lake we were driving beside. So I softened a little, and said that anyone who could give me a good, scientific answer as to WHY we were driving through fog could go back to doing what they were doing. It took a few tries, with Abby being successful first, and the kids went back to their activities and Jim went back to sleep only to be awakened by Caitlin yelling “We are going through Finland‼”.

          Jim had found a RV campground in Grand Portage that purported to be on the marina. When we arrived, we found that it is on a marina, but not the one we will be leaving tomorrow morning, but it is close enough.

          Working together we were soon set up, making dinner and preparing for our day tomorrow. The kids were a little disappointed that due to our late arrival and late dinner, there wasn’t time to finish watching My Fair Lady, but tomorrow is another day and perhaps after our trip to Isle Royale National Park, and a swim and shower at the casino/lodge connected to our campsite, we’ll have time to finish the movie. For now, I am just enjoying a nice breeze off the lake, a little cooling fog to counter the humidity and the promise of a good night’s sleep.