A Fall Weekend

A Fall Weekend
By Allan Olson
Well, it was most definitely a dreary and largely unadventurous weekend. With no geocaching, we barely left home at all. On Saturday it rained, and it rained, and then it rained some more. Now, I’m not complaining about the rain, because we really needed it, but let me say that the timing (as usual) could have been better. It rained all day long, making conditions unfavorable for outdoor recreation.
We went to town in the afternoon and got a few staples for the coming week’s meals, and then returned to the solitude of our remote location as soon as we could. It was a very boring but relaxing day. That evening some of us dined on some very fresh pumpkin pie to close the day.
On Sunday, I started the day off by putting off feeding the kids, and then when they got busy, I fed myself and quickly went back to finish my book. I know – mean – but it was nice and relaxing. Soon the kids started bugging me, and I had to feed them or face the consequences. Once fed, they went off somewhere(?) and I got back to my book and finished it. Then I started working on some stories for this week’s paper. With the weather much nicer on Sunday, we decided it was time for some family photo’s, so we dressed up and headed out to a spot we discovered on Lake Winnie last year while geocaching.
With the rocks and the sticks and the allure of the water along the shoreline, it was hard to get the kids to focus on posing for pictures, and because the brush had grown up along the shoreline since we were there last, we weren’t able to find the exact spot we wanted, but we made do with what we found. All in all, the kids weren’t terrible,  but I have found as a photographer it sure is more difficult to take pictures of one’s own children – they just won’t cooperate or listen to instructions. Nonetheless, we usually get a couple of photo’s that we like by the time we’re done.
While geocaching wasn’t in the cards last weekend, we still ended up finding two with the kids this week. On Monday night a new cache was published in Cass Lake, and I asked the kids if they wanted to go with me in the morning to find it. They said yes, and were willing to leave early Tuesday. We arrived at the location early, and it didn’t take too long to spot the cleverly created cache, and even better, we were the first to find. I signed the log sheet for us, and then, as promised, we headed to Teal’s for donuts. Even after geocaching and donuts, I still got them to school in plenty of time for classes.
Our last geocache of the week was on Friday. It was archived due to the storm damage along the trail last year, and I looked up the coordinates and decided that we should see if it was still there. After school, the kids and I took to the trail. It wasn’t long before we had found the cache, right where it was supposed to be. However, it was not in very good shape – it was a cardboard container of some sort and it had been chewed through; even the logbook inside it was in tatters – but we still got to claim the find, bringing our total of geocaches to 578.
On another Friday note: I enjoyed watching the festivities of the CL-B Homecoming during the day; however, with the clock nearing 3 p.m. and the festivities still going strong, I had three kids to get out of school. I consulted with the high school principal and found out the schedule went until nearly 3:30 p.m. Thankfully, I now have a middle school student who was able to watch the festivities, so I cleared it with his teacher and then told him he was promoted to junior reporter and gave him my camera so I could go get the other three kids. I made it back just in time for the crowning moment, but Nikolai had things under control.
The girls and I attended the Homecoming football game that evening. It was a great night for football, even if the results weren’t favorable for the home team. The boys opted to stay home to watch a movie – “The Sacketts” by Louis L’amour.  I’m raising them right.
Please be safe on the lakes – wear your life jacket, keep the kids safe, and remember to take a picture to preserve a lifetime of memories. Also please watch out for the buses that are transporting our children. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! For more of my columns visit: http://allan-crazykids.blogspot.com.


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