You will want to remain with us for our fantastic two-day post-convention tour, complete with 5 additional CE credits.  However, you must book early, as there are only 50 total tour bus seats available! 

 

Don’t forget to bring your cameras!!

 

Our tour begins on Monday morning, October 4,^th at 7 AM sharp following a continental breakfast at The Inn on Lake Superior.  We will meet at the hotel parking lot and ride approximately two hours north through the rolling, autumn-hued forests of Minnesota’s famous Arrowhead Region toward the historic mining village of Ely—The Sled Dog Capitol of America and the gateway to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (www.ely.org).  On our way, TV screens on the bus will broadcast short introductory programs to both the International Wolf Center and the North American Bear Center—our main tour destinations—to facilitate our tours once we arrive.

 

Our first stop is the International Wolf Center (www.wolf.org) where we will enjoy a behind-the-scenes veterinary tour of the center with a focus on the medical aspects of captive wolf management—nutrition, parasites, infectious diseases, breeding, socialization—in addition to the more general subjects of wolf ecology in North America and around the World.

      

 

 

 

 

           

 

For lunch, we’ll dine at Ely’s unique Chocolate Moose restaurant.  After our meal, we’ll join the staffs of Wintergreen Northern Wear (www.wintergreennorthernwear.com) and Steger Mukluks (www.mukluks.com), both enthusiastic supporters of mushing and the ISDVMA, for open-house shopping receptions.   We’ll also visit renowned outdoor photographer Jim Brandenburg’s store/studio (www.jimbrandenburg.com) as well as shop at Ely’s other great Northwoods stores, time permitting, until we leave for our evening banquet and overnight accommodations at the Grand Ely Lodge on Shagwa Lake (www.grandelylodge.com).

The banquet fare is tailored around a Minnesota-style buffet featuring all you can eat Wild Rice-Stuffed Chicken Breast, Minnesota Home-style Beef Roast, and vegetarian Wild Mushroom Ravioli entrees, accompanied by Honey-glazed Baby Carrots, Herb-roasted Baby Red Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, and Broccoli Raisin and Garden-tossed salads.  For dessert, if you still have room, you can create your own Root Beer Float made with historic Dorothy Molter's Home-brewed Root Beer.  Then settle back and enjoy the evening presentation.

 

 

 

 

Tuesday morning, following breakfast at the Lodge, we’ll visit the North American Bear Center (www.bear.org) for another behind-the-scenes veterinary tour of the center with a focus on the medical aspects of captive bear management—nutrition, parasites, infectious diseases, breeding, socialization—in addition to the more general subjects of bear ecology in North America and around the World.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, we’ll head to the Dorothy Molter Cabin and historic site for a short tour and introduction to the life of Ely’s famous “Root Beer Lady”—the last resident of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (www.rootbeerlady.com).  Back on the bus for the ride to “Gitchi-gumi,” or Lake Superior, and the world-famous North Shore Drive, we’ll enjoy box lunches prepared for us by the Grand Ely Lodge chefs and will wash them down with bottles of Original Dorothy Molter Root Beer!  Tour guests will have their choice of box lunch sandwiches from the Grand Ely Lodge kitchens which they can enjoy on the bus ride to the North Shore of Lake Superior.  Registrants can choose either a Turkey & Cheddar Cheese Sourdough Hoagie, a Roast Beef & Hot Pepper Cheese Ciabatta, or a vegetarian Eggplant & Swiss Cheese Multi-grain Wheat Sandwich.  All box lunches are prepared with lettuce, tomato, onions, and mayonaise, and accompanied by potato chips, a "cookie of the day," bottled water, and Original Dorothy Molter Root Beer.  We will travel through the deep boreal forests, or taiga, of Northern Minnesota, where moose occasionally appear among the golden-leaved aspen and birch trees framed against a verdant backdrop of pine and balsam.  As we drive, we’ll be entertained with a short video about our next destination, historic Split Rock Lighthouse (www.mnhs.org/places/sites/srl/index.htm).

 

               

                                                                                                                                                                                               

This year marks the 100^th anniversary of Split Rock and we’ll interrupt our scenic journey down the North Shore, with rocky cliffs dotted with gold and green taiga to our right and the world’s largest fresh-water lake glistening azure to our left, to visit the Lighthouse.  There, we will be treated to a special tour of the facility by Liz Buzka, a costumed Minnesota Historical Society interpreter, familiar to many of us as the mother of Iditarod and Beargrease mushers Dr. Jennifer and Blake Freking.  In addition to the tour, we’ll have time to stroll about the grounds and hike the trails of Split Rock Lighthouse State Park (www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/split_rock_lighthouse/index.html), including incredible vistas of the Lighthouse framed against the shores of the World’s Greatest Lake.

The tour bus will return to the Inn on Lake Superior in Duluth's Canal Park around 7 pm Tuesday evening.

   

 

The price for the tour, including transportation, lunch and dinner banquet on Monday, and breakfast and lunch on Tuesdaym, and all entrance fees, is $165.   This includes 5 additional CE credits.