Volunteering at Edge of the Wilderness Discovery Center, Marcell, MN - A Rambling RV Rat 5-cheese Experience!

Finally, Big Boomer, our medium duty truck, was fully recovered, and we were on the road again!  We began our trek to MN for our volunteer gig at Edge of the Wilderness Discovery Center (EOWDC) in Marcell, MN.   We left the mountains of CO and entered the plains of NE, overnighting in North Platte at Golden Spike Tower, a Harvest Host (HH) site.  When we stayed here in 2020, we took the wonderful tour.  So, I wasn't too disappointed when we arrived after the Tower had closed for the evening. 

 

Golden Spike Tower is within the Bailey Rail Yard, the largest rail yard in the world.

The next morning we took US-83, a nice 2-lane highway through bucolic NE, with gently rolling hills, lots of cows in the fields, and an occasional deer.  There was little vehicular traffic until we crossed into SD, then we hit major construction on US-83 and I-90.  I waved to the exquisite Dignity statue as we passed, having stopped previously for an in-depth visit in 2018. We arrived at our next HH destination, the SD Tractor Museum in Kimball, an easy on/off of I-90.  It is a mini version of the Pioneer Auto Museum in Murdo, SD.  It was cool seeing all the farm machinery and memorabilia from days gone by.  But what I found most appealing was the fact that the Museum is operated by 3 dozen dedicated volunteers.  I gladly dipped into my cheese money to support their efforts of preserving Americana.  We took a walk around the surrounding area, admiring the 1893 architecture of the nearby Holy Trinity Church, built by Czech pioneers.  Then we said a prayer for those interred at the local cemetery before walking over to the Love’s Travel Plaza.  We noticed it had 5 RV sites, each about 45 feet in length.  For $34/night you get an electric hookup.  There is a dump station on the premises you can use if you fork over an additional $10.  But there is no potable water available at the Plaza, even if you wanted to pay for it.  Seems a bit pricey to this stuffed rat.  Guess that is why they had 5 empty spots that evening.

                       

An assortment of tractor brands from yesteryear.

Memorabilia in the "Family Treasures" building.

The old schoolhouse on the premises.  Do you see my insignia on the blackboard?

On Day 3 we trekked along US-281, US-14, and US-81.  These are all 2-lane highways, and we encountered few other travelers as we traversed across plains, prairies, and pasturelands. We enjoyed golden sunshine and cooler temps, but these came at the price of brisk winds and gusts of 30 miles per hour.  You know it is windy when the giant turbines are cranking away and there are white caps on Lake Poinsett, the second largest natural lake in SD.  We arrived in ND at the Fargo Air Museum, our HH site for the night.  It houses a small but interesting collection of military aircraft.  We really enjoyed chatting with John the docent, too.  After touring, we took a walk through the nearby streets of Fargo.  We noticed no panhandling or homeless camps like we witnessed in Aurora, CO.   Furthermore, EVERY business in the vicinity was competing for new hires, from fast-food joints to food stores to gas stations.  It is a crazy world when Taco Bell offers a $500 signing bonus and $17/hour in a state where minimum wage is $7.25.  Despite the generous incentives, seemingly none of these businesses have been successful in acquiring employees.

I got myself my own wings!

The next day we crossed over the Red River of the North, the boundary between ND and MN.  This river had its last major flood in 2009, with water levels at 40 feet, far exceeding the 18-foot standard for flooding.  With only an 800-foot elevation above sea level, we were back down to earth and our heads out of the clouds from our days in CO.  We had our 4th incident since May of a HH not responding to our stay request in a timely fashion, leaving us in a lurch to find alternate overnight accommodations for Father’s Day.  Fortunately, Diamond Rose Ranch, another HH, graciously accepted our request.   This turned out to be a wonderful substitute, with its access to US-71 and ample parking for oversized setups.  We enjoyed meeting the gracious hosts, their goats, chickens, horses, and adorable 11-month old Pyrenees pup, Boo Bear.  Mom bought 2 dozen farm-fresh eggs and donated to the animal care fund.  Donations are much appreciated by the hosts, especially with yet another mouth to feed.  You see, their mare just gave birth to an adorable filly.

 

The newest resident at Diamond Rose Ranch

We left the next morning for the final leg of our journey.  Minnesota is known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”, and they ain’t kidding.  All I see on our Garmin 770 is bodies of water of varying sizes.  Actually, MN has many more than 10,000 lakes, but they only quantify those that expand 10 acres or more.

 

We arrived at the Edge of the Wilderness Discovery Center (EOWDC) in Marcell, MN, our “home” for the next 8 weeks.  We knew the minute we pulled in we were going to enjoy this volunteer gig. 

 

A Monarch butterfly enjoying the gardens outside the EOWDC

Surrounded by Chippewa National Forest lands and overlooking Ranier Lake, the EOWDC grounds provide a lovely park-like setting.  There are gorgeous wildflowers that adorn the banks of the lake, and a lovely butterfly garden is planted near the Center’s parking lot.  The property contains 5 buildings built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936, giving them recognition on the National Register of Historic Places.  In fact, what was once a residence for Forest Rangers is now Marcell Lodge, a gorgeous cabin available to rent.  It has all modern amenities but maintains its original character. 

 

The wildflowers along the banks of Ranier Lake

Built in 1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Marcell Lodge is a wonderful venue for a family vacation.  

The fishing pier

View of Lake Ranier

Moon over Lake Ranier as viewed from MN-38, the Edge of the Wilderness Scenic Byway

Our RV site was substantial enough in size to park our Suite Retreat 5^th wheel, Big Boomer medium duty truck, Maximus trike, Rat Patrol II off-road buggy, and 'Lectric bicycles.  In exchange for a collective 32 hours of volunteerism per week, we received a 50-amp electric hookup, water and sewer connections, free WI-FI connectivity, and access to the fishing pier (with a valid MN fishing license). 

 

More importantly, we were granted the privilege to be surrounded by nature's unadulterated beauty and an array of wildlife like loons, robins, eagles, painted box turtles, and the tiniest frogs I had ever encountered.  By providing an all-you-can-eat buffet at our bird feeders, we were entertained daily by chipmunks, red-tailed squirrels, hummingbirds, nut hatches, goldfinches, red-winged crows, and even a few field mice, much to Mom’s dismay. 

Those black dots on the water were a family of loons that resided on the lake.  We heard their distinct calls more than we saw them.

Spring sprung very late this year in Marcell.  These baby robins didn't hatch until the end of June.

But they grow up so fast!  The last fledgling was ready to fly into the open sky.

This painted box turtle is busy digging a hole to lay her eggs.

We had an abundance of tiny frogs in the area.

A red-tailed squirrel partakes of some snacks while sitting on top of the ceramic rabbit.

In exchange for the free buffet, Chip agreed to let me snap his photo on a regular basis.  I must have taken 50 pics of Chip.

Do you spot Dale the chipmunk on top of the ceramic dog?  He tried to blend in with the other "animals"

A hummingbird (background) and a nuthatch (foreground) dining together.

                              

A pair of American goldfinches

A red-winged blackbird

                                                                                                                                                                       

Tim Johnson is the Executive Director of EOWDC.  He is kind, caring, personable, easy going, and generous.   It was such a pleasure to be part of his team.  He was understanding and patient about Big Boomer’s breakdown that resulted in our late arrival.  So, as a token of our appreciation, we pushed out our departure by 3 weeks to fulfill our original commitment of 2 months. This worked out well for Tim since he had no other volunteers recruited for the balance of the season.  In addition to having an amicable working relationship, we forged a friendship that will continue long after we leave.

 

Brock, who works at EOWDC year-round and lives on site with his lovable 12-year old labrador, Sadie, is a wealth of knowledge about the area.

 

As a nonprofit organization, EOWDC acts as an information post for Chippewa National Forest and attractions between Grand Rapids and Effie along MN-38, known as the Edge of the Wilderness Scenic Byway.  Guests can peruse the interpretive displays within the Center and attend weekly educational programs presented by professional educators/naturalists.  The Center also has a small gift shop that contains a terrific assortment of souvenirs at very reasonable prices.

 

Yours truly, Rambling RV Rat, holding down the fort for my parents at the EOWDC.

It was our responsibility as EOWDC volunteers to engage with guests, impart information/respond to inquiries, and perform sales associate duties, similar to tasks completed when we worked at the Grand Canyon Conservancy in 2017 but on a significantly smaller scale.  Some days at EOWDC we would have a mere 3 guests.  Conversely, Smokey the Bear’s Birthday Celebration at the Center attracted 75 visitors.  Mom performed light housekeeping and Dad would occasionally assist with carpentry/minor repairs.   Our 32 hours of volunteerism per week were generally over a 4-day period, which gave us plenty of time to explore Northern Minnesota in depth. 

 

Me with Smokey the Bear

Smokey's 78th Birthday Cake.

While most (60%) of our guests were international travelers at Grand Canyon Conservancy, nearly 80% of our guests at EOWDC were right from MN, with the majority hailing from the Twin Cities and their suburbs.  Minnesotans have a great love and appreciation for their home state, reminiscent of native Texans.    They keep their tourism dollars in MN.  Many had some personal connection to the Edge of the Wilderness area:  who was raised here, whose parents brought them here on vacation, who visited their grandparents’ cabin each summer as a child.  There are loads of legacy lake properties up here, and many visitors were multi-generational relatives spending vacation time together at “the family cabin.”  It warmed my heart to see that COVID is no longer keeping families separated.

 

Our Verizon cell phone service worked well on site, though we found as we traversed MN-38 and other areas of Northern MN, service was intermittent.  We were permitted to have our USPS mail and Amazon packages sent to the Discovery Center.

 

We encountered several bad thunderstorms and heavy winds in June/early July, resulting in lots of fallen trees for many towns along the Scenic Byway.   One night we were under “tornado watch” for about 3 hours, experiencing some wicked lightening and resulting in a power outage that continued for 16 hours for all of Marcell and some surrounding areas.    We had 1 other power outage, but that lasted only 4 hours.  We were told these were highly unusual occurrences for the area.  Thankfully, we have enough solar/battery storage to keep us up and running (with generators as a backup for those rare cases with multiple days without any sun).

 

If you enjoy the great outdoors, the towns along the Scenic Byway provide ample opportunities for fishing, boating, hiking, biking, motorcycling, off-roading, wildlife viewing, and even pickleball.

 

The town of Big Fork is 11 miles north of Marcell on MN-38.  It has everything you need in one stop:  fuel (though there is a station just a mile from EOWDC going South on MN-38), an independent grocery store, a few small restaurants and pubs, even a laundromat.  I must admit, though, that we did not utilize these facilities with any regularity.    We usually opted to do our grocery shopping, laundry, and dining in Grand Rapids (35 minutes away) or Hibbing (55 minutes away), combining our errands with a day of touring, biking, and/or hiking.  Both Grand Rapids and Hibbing have multiple laundromats.  They also each have a Walmart and Super-1 Food Store, where we could get many of the specialty products Dad needed for his plant-based diet.  Furthermore, both towns offer lots of fun things to do.   

 

Marcell is within 2 hours of Voyageurs National Park, Duluth, Lake Superior’s North Shore, and the Boundary Waters—all side trips we enjoyed on our days off.

 

We had a wet summer compared to the drought they suffered in the area last year, which triggered the one drawback of the area:  mosquitoes!  And they were big ones, reminiscent of those we encountered in Alaska, where the mosquito is jokingly classified as the State's Bird!  We bought non-chemical mosquito repellent in a 5-gallon drum.

The mosquitoes were massive!

But the mosquitoes were a small price to pay for the fantastic experience.  We thouroughly enjoyed every minute in MN.   Volunteering at Edge of the Wilderness Discovery Center earns one of my Rambling RV Rat coveted 5-cheese ratings!

 

Sunset on Lake Ranier

I’ll tell ya in my next post about all the fun stuff we did and cool places we visited on our days off.  Talk to you again soon!