Caching and Hockey Weekend

Caching and Hockey Weekend

By Allan Olson

Last weekend was a busy one. The most unusual thing about it was that a large portion of it was spent watching hockey. I think I watched more hockey last weekend than I have in the last several years combined.

The hockey started on Saturday, but the fun started on Friday. I took a day off – aside from checking the mail (and the email occasionally) – I was not working. I put the kids on the bus in the morning, returned home for a nap and then had breakfast. After the wife and I did some work around the house, we decided to do some geocaching on our own.

We headed into Cass Lake just before noon and hit the Pike Bay Loop trail. It was just mom and me and Bob (the dog) who couldn’t stand to be left at home alone and jumped in the van without hesitation. A bunch of new caches on the Heartland Bike trail were posted that morning, but the wife said we weren’t going to do that trail. I said, “Okay.” I really was okay with it, because I wanted to go after some caches that hadn’t been found in some time.

We hooked Bob to a leash and took to the woods just off a trail. It took a while, but we found it right when we were about to give up. One thing we discovered is that Bob is a bigger pain than the kids, and a whole lot harder to hang on to! there were times when he wanted to go under a tree branch instead of over, and we wanted to go over instead of under, so we had to pull him back and get him to do things our way.

Back in the van, we headed to another cache. At that stop there were two caches. I calculated the location of the first one; I was temporarily puzzled by where it was, but mom figured it out and we were soon on our way back to the van and headed to the cache we had bypassed. Again mom figured it out while I was still reading the log description. At the next stop, I got out and tromped around the woods but couldn’t get a fix on the cache. There were still trees down so it was possible it was under a tree, or perhaps even nonexistent anymore. Or maybe I just plain missed it.

Together mom and I found six caches and missed one. As much as we were enjoying the fresh (read: chilly) air, it was different without the kids along – almost boring – peaceful, but perhaps too quiet.

 While we were out, several new caches were posted. I really wanted to get a couple of them, even if they were on the trail – just to be the first to find. I must be a junkie. My wife said,”After we get the kids.”

We picked them up from school and headed back down the highway, hoping to find a couple caches before getting home. Since they had only been published in the last hour, there was a good chance we would get their first. On the trail all the kids except Marcus started running toward the bridge, where we just knew the cache would be – except the kids didn’t know that another one had also been published on the same path. They took off before we could tell them! I spotted it right away and told Marcus where to look, so he was able to claim the first find on it. Then we headed on toward the bridge, where the other kids had stopped until we could catch up. We did, and let them loose, but mom was still the one to find it.

We headed back to the van. Abigail complained that she hadn’t get to walk Bob on the leash yet. “If you let go of him, you will be in trouble,” mom said, handing over the leash. She made it about about two steps before Bob took off running and Abigail went to the ground, but hung on to the leash. Mom quickly came to her aid, and Abigail was ready to return control of the leash to mom. Everyone laughed – even Abigail.

The next cache had us confused for a little while. Mom directed us to a spot to check. I headed over there, but Abigail beat me to it and started laughing – she found it! We headed back to the van; it was time to go home.

On Saturday morning we headed to our first hockey game of the year. We were watching the game and our nephews were playing. Alivia asked, “What does that guy do?” as she pointed toward the goalie. I explained, and then asked my wife, “Has she never been to a hockey game?” Apparently, in her five years, she has never been to a hockey game. After the game we went to back to the hotel where the family was staying. We ate some food, the kids and I went swimming, and then we left the kids to watch another hockey game with grandma while the wife and I went to a Christmas party.

On Sunday morning we headed back to watch another hockey game. After that one, the gap until the next game was too long for everyone. The kids’ mood started to change; we could see that they were done with town and hockey, but we wanted to watch some more. During the first period of the last game, Abigail decided she was not going to listen anymore, and because of that she was in a timeout. When she finally changed her mood, we went to find mom. She ran for the door and instead ran smack into a window and fell down. I started laughing; her uncle showed more sympathy and picked her up. That was the end of the hockey weekend for us. The kids were tired and getting crabby, and the hour was getting late. We headed home for supper, showers and bed.

Overall, it was a fun weekend. Mom and I watched parts of four different games and the kids watched five. I think they have had enough hockey for now.

Not much is planned for this weekend, aside from some Christmas baking.

Remember to watch out for school buses on the roads; they are carrying a precious cargo – our children. Also please exercise caution when venturing out on the lakes. Thanks for reading, and have a great and safe weekend. For more of my columns visit: http://allan-crazykids.blogspot.com/.