Into the Wild Blue Yonder

Sunday was the last day of our stay in Ely, MN, and we'll be sorry to go. The weather was great, the locals were very friendly, the shopping was fabulous, and the scenery couldn't be better.

We have now fully experienced the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area. First we paddled it. . .


then we hiked (well, that wasn't technically in the Boundary Waters). . .


and this evening, some of us flew over it. Here we are excited for our adventure. We went up in a six-seater float plane!


Since Ron has a problem with motion sickness, he decided not to risk it. But he was very helpful giving us a push off.


After a really long take off (we were glad it was a really big lake), our pilot Bud took us up to 4000 feet to fly over the wilderness area. All you can see for miles are lakes and trees. It's an amazing sight.


When we crossed into Ontario, he dropped down to about 2000 feet so we could get a closer look. Some of the group saw a moose, but it was on the wrong side of the plane and I missed it.


We were up for over an hour and the sun was setting when we landing. I snapped this out the rear window.


Bud was a terrific guide, answering all our questions and making sure our trip was memorable.


After dropping us off, he flew off into the sunset, like the Lone Ranger.