August 2021, Border Reopening!

Report of a rare sighting….

August 9, 2021 and my first sighting of an American traveller. These have rarely been seen in the past several years causing some concerns as to them becoming extinct. While in the past they were often spotted during seasonal migrations to NW Ontario lakes, some theories as to their dissapearence have ranged from climate change to a drop in fertility rates. The male of the species can be identified by an oversized boat and motor appendage attached to their posterior. Will their apparent comeback be sustained? Only time will tell….

Border headache?

Apparently day one was not the best time to cross the border in International Falls. The up to 8 hour reported wait times has to really put a damper on travelling north. Let’s hope the backlog of “let’s be first” people slows down for those we expect to see this coming Wednesday. Here’s a link to expected border wait times… Travel.gc.ca – U.S. to Canada border wait times … A possible plan B might be to consider Baudette, MN as an alternative crossing. Here’s the phone number for that as it doesn’t seem to be listed in the link. 218-634-2803.

Update: As of 7:00 a.m. Aug. 10 Fort Francis lists no wait time. End of shit show!

As of right now I have not heard of any difficulties that people are having, other than the wait time, to enter. I will update further if I hear of any. In the meantime give some thought to what essentials you might need if stuck in a lineup.

On a more positive note…

The goal at the end of the day is to hit the lake and round up some of those Eagle Lake fish who have had it pretty easy the last year and a half. Here’s some pictures from the Hamm family who spent last week with us. Calm waters, smokey skies, and plenty of fish…

Let’s hope…

…for a faster boder crossing in the coming days and weeks. If the volume of traffic was a surprise it shouldn’t be any longer. Perhaps more staff will be added. We will know more in the coming days.

Anyways, it will be great to see some of the regulars back here at VBL. We will be doing a rain dance to see if the lake levels can go up, but while our docking is requiring some shallow water manuevering it is still workable. Good luck to those travelling in the next few days!!!!