Station/Boat Location~
Loran Station Baudette, MN
Date there~
2006 - Present
Weather~
Winters - COLD!!! Unbelievable cold. For example, the winter of 2008: if it is -10 of colder w/ wind chill, the kids do not go outside at school. From Dec. 1, 2008 - Jan. 31, 2009, kids only went outside 5 times in those 2 months. The snow is typically here until mid to late April. Again, the winters are COLD! We are an hour west of International Falls, MN (the ice box of the nation) if that tells you anything.
July and August are typically in the 70's. It always seems to be windy here. So it always feels colder then what it is. We look forward to the summers after long winters.
Military facilities~
None. Duluth is 4 hours. Grand Forks (Air Force Base) is 4 hours.
Medical~
Local Catholic Hospital. They have 3 doctors on staff and one PA. No urgent care, just an ER. Things move slowly up here, so if you go to the ER it can take some time until the doctor gets there. After Sept. 2009, they will no longer be delivering babies. The closest place to delivery from here is over 1 hour. However, most people drive the 2 hours to Bemidji for OB/GYN's.
If you have health issues, the closest "city" that has a pediatrician, dermatologist, allergist, ophthalmologist, etc... is about 2 hours away - Bemidji. Side note, the doctors here do not like to give referrals.
Housing~
4 units. They are currently remoldeling them as I type (by remodeling I mean new carpet, painting the walls, and I think they are going to install new windows and paint the outside of them). There are NO rentals here, so we are lucky to have housing available. When they advertise this area, they say move to a county with no stop lights. That's right, no stop lights in the ENTIRE county. And it's a BIG county. The government houses were built in the 1960's and are equal to or better then many of the local houses. HUGE fenced backyards (only one house has a small backyard). The houses are in town, the station is a 10 minute drive from town. They do not deliver mail to the houses here, you must get a P.O. Box. All the houses have garages and the houses are very spacious. A long time ago there was an Army base here and the 4 houses that are still part of CG housing (all the other houses that were part of the base are now low income houses) were the officers houses, so they are bigger! All the houses have central air. We have been very happy in housing and are very lucky to have housing.
Shopping~
What's that? 4 hours to Duluth. 4 hours to Grand Forks. 6 hours to Minneapolis. 2 hours to Bemidji. Bemidji is where there is a Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, JC Penny and a small mall. International Falls is 70 miles, but they only have a K-Mart.
There is one grocery store, and the prices are HIGH. Most people drive the 2 hours to Bemidji to shop.
The internet will be one of your good friends for shopping. Esp. in the winters.
Child Care/Schools~
Available, if you aren't picky. I take the kids to a center in Canada. They love it there. It is expensive, but I am picky.
GREAT. It's a K - 12 school system. Small classes, safe, friendly. LOVE the schools. The school has a pool which is open to the public. In 2008 they were ranked one of America's best schools by U.S. News & World Report. For preschool, it's called ECFE or they have Headstart. ECFE is only 1 or 2 days a week, depending on age.
Fun Activities~
Community Ed at the school does a number of activities. Check out the school's website at www.lakeofthewoodsschool.org and look under the Community Ed link.
ECFE does a number of community activities, if you have young children.
Fishing, fishing, and more fishing. Baudette is the Walleye Capital of the World. Hunting, camping, fishing, 4 wheeling, boating, anything outdoors. The school pool.
You have to drive to Duluth or Bemidji for skiing. They is one hill in the town, it's a small hill on the bay that the kids can sled down.
HOCKEY is BIG here.
For moral, they have a small boat, snow mobile, and an ice fishing house.
Additional Info~
The economy here is not very good. The main employer was a pharmaceutical company and at its peak it had over 200 employees, now they have just over 40 people working there. Next largest employer is the hospital and school.
They recently got a movie theater here. So that is a BIG deal. They also have a McDonalds and a Subway.
The first 2 years we were here we put over 45,000 miles on ONE vehicle. You do a lot of driving up here.
Great town to live in if you don't mind driving a lot and want a small, safe community. We have been very happy here. I just make sure we go on vacation for 2 weeks during the winter.
The people in the town are super friendly. Great area to live if you like the outdoors.
Homeport MN
Loran Station Baudette, MN
Date there~
2006 - Present
Weather~
Winters - COLD!!! Unbelievable cold. For example, the winter of 2008: if it is -10 of colder w/ wind chill, the kids do not go outside at school. From Dec. 1, 2008 - Jan. 31, 2009, kids only went outside 5 times in those 2 months. The snow is typically here until mid to late April. Again, the winters are COLD! We are an hour west of International Falls, MN (the ice box of the nation) if that tells you anything.
July and August are typically in the 70's. It always seems to be windy here. So it always feels colder then what it is. We look forward to the summers after long winters.
Military facilities~
None. Duluth is 4 hours. Grand Forks (Air Force Base) is 4 hours.
Medical~
Local Catholic Hospital. They have 3 doctors on staff and one PA. No urgent care, just an ER. Things move slowly up here, so if you go to the ER it can take some time until the doctor gets there. After Sept. 2009, they will no longer be delivering babies. The closest place to delivery from here is over 1 hour. However, most people drive the 2 hours to Bemidji for OB/GYN's.
If you have health issues, the closest "city" that has a pediatrician, dermatologist, allergist, ophthalmologist, etc... is about 2 hours away - Bemidji. Side note, the doctors here do not like to give referrals.
Housing~
4 units. They are currently remoldeling them as I type (by remodeling I mean new carpet, painting the walls, and I think they are going to install new windows and paint the outside of them). There are NO rentals here, so we are lucky to have housing available. When they advertise this area, they say move to a county with no stop lights. That's right, no stop lights in the ENTIRE county. And it's a BIG county. The government houses were built in the 1960's and are equal to or better then many of the local houses. HUGE fenced backyards (only one house has a small backyard). The houses are in town, the station is a 10 minute drive from town. They do not deliver mail to the houses here, you must get a P.O. Box. All the houses have garages and the houses are very spacious. A long time ago there was an Army base here and the 4 houses that are still part of CG housing (all the other houses that were part of the base are now low income houses) were the officers houses, so they are bigger! All the houses have central air. We have been very happy in housing and are very lucky to have housing.
Shopping~
What's that? 4 hours to Duluth. 4 hours to Grand Forks. 6 hours to Minneapolis. 2 hours to Bemidji. Bemidji is where there is a Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, JC Penny and a small mall. International Falls is 70 miles, but they only have a K-Mart.
There is one grocery store, and the prices are HIGH. Most people drive the 2 hours to Bemidji to shop.
The internet will be one of your good friends for shopping. Esp. in the winters.
Child Care/Schools~
Available, if you aren't picky. I take the kids to a center in Canada. They love it there. It is expensive, but I am picky.
GREAT. It's a K - 12 school system. Small classes, safe, friendly. LOVE the schools. The school has a pool which is open to the public. In 2008 they were ranked one of America's best schools by U.S. News & World Report. For preschool, it's called ECFE or they have Headstart. ECFE is only 1 or 2 days a week, depending on age.
Fun Activities~
Community Ed at the school does a number of activities. Check out the school's website at www.lakeofthewoodsschool.org and look under the Community Ed link.
ECFE does a number of community activities, if you have young children.
Fishing, fishing, and more fishing. Baudette is the Walleye Capital of the World. Hunting, camping, fishing, 4 wheeling, boating, anything outdoors. The school pool.
You have to drive to Duluth or Bemidji for skiing. They is one hill in the town, it's a small hill on the bay that the kids can sled down.
HOCKEY is BIG here.
For moral, they have a small boat, snow mobile, and an ice fishing house.
Additional Info~
The economy here is not very good. The main employer was a pharmaceutical company and at its peak it had over 200 employees, now they have just over 40 people working there. Next largest employer is the hospital and school.
They recently got a movie theater here. So that is a BIG deal. They also have a McDonalds and a Subway.
The first 2 years we were here we put over 45,000 miles on ONE vehicle. You do a lot of driving up here.
Great town to live in if you don't mind driving a lot and want a small, safe community. We have been very happy here. I just make sure we go on vacation for 2 weeks during the winter.
The people in the town are super friendly. Great area to live if you like the outdoors.
Homeport MN
