Another Long Day

Another Long Day

By Allan Olson

In October of 2010, my first “Long Day” column was written about what was planned to be a simple trip to International Falls but ended up with a deer hitting our van, then the dryer we were hauling to get fixed tumbled off of the back of the trailer about 15 miles after the deer collision and, adding insult to injury, the washer on the load also suffered damage from the sudden stops along the way, thanks to other animals, rendering them both useless.

Well, last Saturday was an­other “Long Day.” This one involved no deer collisions – thankfully – but instead in­cluded a whole host of other problems revolving around a “simple” tire change.

On Friday night we de­cided we would participate in the Northstar Geoseekers highway cleanup in Bagley on Saturday, since we were heading there to visit a friend anyway. We were on the road by 9 a.m. on Saturday morn­ing. We made a few quick stops in town and then we were on our way. We had hoped to find some geocaches along the way, but ran out of time.

Once we got to Bagley, we went looking for a cache I wanted to find, since I saw the title “Ammo Can, Supersize It.” It certainly was a super-sized ammo can – one that all of us could fit inside. The kids dug through the swag container – a large tote – and Nikolai came home with a flashlight (one that proved very useful later in the eve­ning).

We headed over to drop the kids and mom at a friend’s house just out of town; then Nikolai and I headed back to town to join some other geocachers for the roadside cleanup event. It was an op­portunity to rub shoulders with other geocachers, some who had way more experi­ence than we did in hiding and seeking. Eleven of us showed up, and after a couple of hours of picking up after the litter bugs, we headed back to our friend’s house.

Once there, I was put to work helping with a house project, preparing to get it snug as a bug for winter. I scurried up and down lad­ders, often crossing from lad­der to ladder without reach­ing ground, while our friend’s dad instructed me on what to do, and did prep work on the tin or boards. Time was against us, and after nearly four hours, we ran out of time and energy. I don’t think I’ve ever climbed up and down a ladder or used a drill so much in one day before.

Soon it was time to hit the road for home. Everything was going smoothly (ex­cept for an irritable little girl named Abigail). We had to pull over, and her mom in­formed her that she needed to quiet down or she would soon have something else to com­plain about.

We took off for home again, but something wasn’t right, and we knew it almost immediately. The van sud­denly had a sharp pull and the road noise sounded funny. Uh-oh! My wife asked if we had a flat, and I feared she was right. I pulled over, and the saga began.

A simple tire change should really take only 15 minutes, if everything goes right; if there’s a little trouble, you can double that time; if there’s lots of trouble, it can really add up.

Using Nikolai’s flashlight, I got the necessary tools out of the back of the van: lug wrench, jack and the tool to lower the spare from the cen­ter of the van (I won’t men­tion what I think of vehicle engineers). I broke all but two lug nuts free, and my wife and I teamed up on the fourth, and were able to snap it loose. Number five was a problem.

About the time we started on that, some Good Samari­tans stopped by to see if they could be of assistance. They really turned out to be lifesav­ers! Thankfully, one had an arsenal of tools at his nearby home and made at least three trips back and forth to get the necessary tools to help us out. The frozen lug nut turned out to be stripped, and the plas­tic cap was stuck in the lug wrench. I broke the tip of my hunting knife trying to free it, and eventually did find some­thing to free it. Meanwhile, one of the two gentlemen helping us returned from his second trip home with more tools – socket wrenches, big cheater bars and a “persuad­er” (a really big hammer). With those tools, we finally “persuaded” that remaining lug nut free! Meanwhile, our friend showed up and took the rest of the family home.

Unknown to me, my wife added further misery to the night by twisting her ankle on the way to the other vehicle to load the kids. Adding further pain to her ankle, she had to limp back to our van.

The cable holding the spare tire would not release as far as it was supposed to, and we were unable to free the tire. I finally gave up and helped her back to our friend’s car, and they headed out. Niko­lai decided to stay and help, which he did by lifting on the spare tire while I tried again to release the cable. One of the kind strangers helped shine the flashlight while the other went back to his home again to find a cutting tool.

I gave up again, and we waited until our helper to arrive. Once he returned, we set to cutting the cable. I was done messing with it. Once that was free, we still couldn’t remove the piece of plastic holding it, so we used the persuader (big hammer) and smashed it. Surpris­ingly during this whole ad­venture, I was rather ho-hum about the whole ordeal. I did not even consider any expletives, but rather just felt tired and frustrated about the whole process. It shouldn’t take three hours to change a tire, but that’s what it took.

The job was nearly com­pleted when Nikolai said, “You’re going to write about this in your column, aren’t you?” I think he knows his father by now.

Finally ready to hit the road again, we expressed our thanks and gratitude to our kind helpers. Without them, it would’ve been a call for tow and an expensive bill. Thankfully, we didn’t need to dodge any of the 20+ deer we spotted along the road on the way home (although we did have to take evasive action to avoid an extremely large skunk feasting on something on the road just before we got home).

On the way back I stopped at a gas station for Nikolai – he was starving and wanted to spend the dollar he found while picking up ditches. I supplemented his dollar with another one, and he came back to the van with a king-size Kit Kat. He informed me that he told the clerk about all the problems we had tonight, and how tired he was from helping dad.

We made it home some­time after 11 p.m., nearly four hours after we left our friends only 40 mile away. And with­out the flashlight Nikolai grabbed from the geocache, it would have been a much “darker” experience.

Sunday was truly a day of rest – except for Abigail breaking a plate in the morn­ing before breakfast and a glass later. Both, of course, were “an accident.” The day was largely without adven­ture for the adults, but the kids still had plenty of fun, playing in a cold mud puddle.

During the cool days of fall, taking a walk in the woods is always a good option. Take a kid along, and if you bring a gun, please remember this simple rule: “Be sure of your target – and beyond.” Thanks for reading, and have a great week.