Chapter 1
1. Sorry it has been so long since I last posted, I lost the "P" key on my computer and couldn't type "paper mill"
2. Sorry if you were present when I gave the trip report for the paper mill tour and are now reading this. This will not stack up. I would like to take this time to remind everyone that my trip report was the highlight of two camper's summer at the final campfire (yes counselors keep track of these things).
3. Sorry this will be so long.
For everyone who has packed up in a camp van and headed north to Canada, you have certainly passed the Boise Cascade paper mill in International Falls, MN. For those of you who have been, you know what I am talking about. For those of you who have yet to make the trip north, close you eyes and picture the biggest building you have ever seen. With your eyes still closed, take a deep breath and imagine the most rank smell ever (something like Athabasca cabin's laundry bags after a trip to the bay). So you get the idea, big building, bad smell, I've always wanted to go. Let's do it.
A few summers back, Charlie Kornman and I, were taking a group of campers (they will remain nameless to protect identities) to Hook Island, when we decided to fulfill our life long dreams of stopping at the paper mill. We pulled up just in time to catch a free tour, so we donned our hard hats, safety goggles, and those big ear cover things you see on the guys who guide planes to the terminal, and headed inside. As soon as you walk into the door you are struck by the strangest of sensations, it DOES NOT smell inside. Yes, you read that correctly, NO STANK on the inside. After getting over the shock of a clean smelling factory we proceeded to...
Color paper. Not much really happened here. Some big vats that you could look down in and see dyed pulp being stirred and prepped for the crazy process that turns a mushy mess into paper. Basically it was like looking into a washing machine. Next time your folks do the laundry, look into the machine and imagine it much larger, or you much much smaller, and you will get the idea.
Stay tuned...
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6 comments:
The two ways to sneak into Canada:
1. Voyageurs Nat'l Park
2. Go in the front door of the paper mill and walk out the back
Margee I never guessed entry, especially of the not so legal kind, into foriegn countries was a requirement of the kitchen staff. Maybe we should offer you over to the authorities so that we can all make it into Canada a lot easier this summer!?! Make me some cookies and I won't put the Feds on to you!!! Huggy, are you reading this?
In the olden days at camp, sometimes we used to stop at Bridgeman's Dairy on the way back from Hook Island. I'm sad to say that it sounds like your paper mill trip blows the dairy out of the water.
I have often imagined myself much much smaller as I stare into a washing machine but never imagined the sudsy water as dyed paper pulp. This is uncharted territory for me and I would like to thank Grant for what promises to be great times. The anticipation of what happens next is beyond what one should be made to bear. Please don't keep us waiting.
Why couldn't we visit THE paper mill? Also, what's with the no stink inside? There must be a mistake, this isn't the paper mill I know and have smelled. Impossible.
-Gyde-
I can't wait for the next installment of the papermill tour. Grant, you should host a show on the Discovery Channel. I call first dibs on being your agent.
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