The last time we were in Ely, RJ saw this place called the “International Wolf Center.” McKenna has had a fascination with wolves for some time so RJ booked a cabin in Babbitt at the beginning of the year. We had a great time! We had hotdogs and roasted marshmallows to make smores the first night. On Friday, the only nice day of the three, we headed up to Ely to the wolf center. We sat in on some informational presentations on wolves. The kids got to play in an interactive kids center and make actual size paw prints with plaster. We grabbed some lunch and drove to a park to play and eat. When we got back, the kids and RJ braved the cold lake and water trampoline. Then we went on a family canoe ride. RJ made yummy dutch oven cowboy stew and peach cobbler. I made some homemade ice cream.
They had 4 wolves in a fenced in 1.25 acre area. They also had two wolves in retirement (10 and 14 years old). We learned that there are only two species of wolves but 5 sub-species of the gray wolf. They only live 3-5 years in the wild. Something that makes them unique from coyotes is that they prey on animals up to 10 times their size. They can run up to 35 mph. They usually only eat once a week a meal that is 1/5 their body weight (McKenna would eat a 13 lb. meal in one sitting).
I felt bad for being the party pooper but when the wind blew, I was cold just sitting there. The lakes haven’t had adequate time to warm up yet. RJ was a trooper.
Poor Reagan had problems sitting in the camping chairs. She fell backwards and bonked her head. Later, when we finished cooking the stew, she fell forward, into the fire pit giving us a BIG scare.
We played several rounds of “Blink” a card game of speed, color, number and shape recognition.
We got a road marker to put up near our cabin that we got to decorate. RJ drew these wolves and recorded the distance we had traveled with our families name on it. Good memories!
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