My Trip Up North

I left last Wednesday for Northern Minnesota to visit a paper mill that makes a lot of the paper OTC buys for catalogs. We were supposed to fly commercial to Minneapolis where a charter jet would pick us up and fly us to the mill town. Our flight out of Omaha was cancelled due to fog so the charter just zipped down to pick us up. We got to avoid the whole commercial hassle (on the way there anyway). One of the guys on my team had never flown before so that was his first flight experience. I wish I could travel like that all the time! Here's a picture of me getting on the plane.

We got to tour the forest and hear about the mill's sustainability practices, which were fascinating. They employ a forest ecologist, who has a Bachelor's degree in Forestry and a Master's degree in soil sciences. She took us around to several different stands and told us all about the habitat - trees, vegetation, soil, insects and animals. As you can see, their trees are already starting to turn. It was an awesome experience. This is me, Michael and Ted - we make up the catalog purchasing department.

This is where we first got out of the car and the smell was amazing. Sort of like an air freshener only better, real.

They cut all logs into 100" sections for transport to the mill.

Notice all of the debris on the ground. In places it was more than knee deep. They leave it there to provide cushion for the processor's weight (to avoid compacting the soil) and to provide homes for insects and animals.

When we were here, I had my eyes peeled for wolves! It was really dark in places.