Explore Minnesota

Explore Minnesota
This was the first geocache that we found after we abandoned the trail on Sunday afternoon. We had a lot of fun driving around unfamiliar country and finding some geocaches.

By Allan Olson
It was a long weekend – and a fun weekend. It involved work and play, a good combination of both, probably because if I had too much fun, I wouldn’t want to go to work anymore and then I wouldn’t have any funds for fun. What a conundrum.
After school on Friday we set forth delivering some of those awesome summer guides to the area resorts. We started right around Cass Lake and then gradually made our way toward home, hitting many resorts along the way.
Earlier that day I received several notifications about new geocaches in our area, and determined that most of them would be best done as a series. So at about 6:30 p.m. I called it quits on the summer guide distribution – I wanted to get those geocaches! We started off on that series of caches and made the first one of six at about 6:45 p.m. Because of the order of the caches and the way it was designed, we did some backtracking and made a quick stop at home before finally hitting the last of the caches at just after 8 p.m. In all, it was a fun – but tiring – day.
Saturday morning Abigail and I went back into distribution mode and visited some of the resorts closer to home that we didn’t get to on Friday. Then we checked in back at home, but nobody wanted to go along to deliver more guidebooks, so off we went toward town – but first we had to stop for some photos at the Pow Wow before heading toward Bena. It was a fun day for Abigail and I, just cruising around in the van, enjoying the AC. I drove to the places and she went in to deliver the books, full of confidence. All I had to do was point her in the right direction, and she went about her duties. We had our treat for the day earlier at the pow-wow – shaved ice – mmmm! that really hit the spot, and after I drained it, I wished I had gotten a large. That evening we enjoyed a fire at home, but to the kids’ disappointment, we didn’t break out the marshmallows and chocolate.
I was thinking of geocaching on Sunday, but didn’t think that my wife would want to hit the trail since it was so hot, but then she asked me if I wanted to – well, of course! We left home at about 1:15 p.m. and after a couple of stops in Cass Lake, headed toward Walker around 2:00. The girls got off at one end of a section of the trail, and the boys and I went ahead to the other end of it. Between us, there were nine caches to find. Well, we didn’t have much luck. The girls only found two, and we only found two, and due to the warm summer air we decided to try something different.
I really didn’t want to go home since we had driven over 40 miles just to make four finds, so after some discussion we decided to head south of Walker and try a few here and there. I told my wife, “You navigate, I’ll drive, and when you say we are done, we’ll head home.” So that’s how the rest of the day went. We made a circle around Leech Lake, took a hike in the woods over 1.5 miles (round trip) to find one geocache, and made our last stop in the evening. That one cache took over an hour to hike in and back and make the find, but the view of the nearby lake was pretty neat, and since we found it, the hike was worth it. The trip also took us to Longville for the first time, and we made our last stop at the Leech Lake Recreation Area Campground. We made it home after 8 p.m., and sent the kids to the showers with instructions to check closely for those pesky wood ticks.  
In the time we were gone (over seven hours) we drove about 140 miles round trip, saw many lakes and other scenery that we had never seen before, and I started thinking about the next trip we could take like that.
Memorial Day Monday was a laid back day. Nikolai and I finished mowing the lawn, the younger three played with the sprinkler that I finally took out of hibernation, and they all played with the neighbor kids. I chose not to go anywhere. I needed to spend at least one day at home. In all, it was a fun weekend. We got outside and did something we will always remember.

Please be safe while enjoying some outdoor recreation and on the lakes, and remember to take pictures to preserve a lifetime of memories. Also, please watch out for the buses that are transporting our children, and remember to drive safely. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! For more of my columns visit: http://allan-crazykids.blogspot.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Hunting Season to Remember

Image
A Hunting Season to Remember By Allan Olson The orange clad army headed into the woods this past weekend in search of the mighty white tail to attempt to fill the freezer with some tasty venison and I was no exception to this party. I too was clad in orange and out on the mighty hunt. Every year there are new stories to tell, old ones to bring up and memories made, some deer seasons for me, after over 20 years of hunting have faded into the background, one year blurring with another, not remembering which year I shot what deer or if I shot a deer. Of course there are a few years  stand out more than others and some are just a blur altogether. However, I find it hard to believe that anything will top this year’s remarkable deer season. This year, I had the honor of bringing Nikolai with me. Not just to sit in the stand, but to actually hunt, he was going to have the ability of harvesting a deer also. Recently he completed his gun safety certification and he wa...
Read more
Image
Thank you for being our friend Frey Olson May 19, 2018 - April 26, 2024 By Allan Olson 4.26.24 Thank you for being our friend, thank you for making us your forever home, if we could’ve saved you, we would’ve. Losing our four legged friends is never easy, in our house they aren’t “just a pet” they are our family. Frey, our nearly six year old English Mastiff came into our lives in August of 2018 and crossed over the rainbow bridge to be with others before him on April 26, 2024. Frey was our gentle giant, he was our protector, our laughter and most importantly I think it’s more than safe to say, he was Alivia’s best friend. Have you ever seen a teenager and a Mastiff sharing a twin size bed - or perhaps more aptly put the teenager getting what’s left of the bed when he’s in it. Or perhaps a giant of a dog, staring at her from the doorway of the bedroom saying, “it’s bedtime,” while she’s playing a game or watching something.  He was taught to react to “who’s here” or the alert of the...
Read more

Thankful for Family

Thankful For Family By Allan Olson published 11-24-10 Cass Lake Times Eat until I can’t eat anymore is the plan for me this Thursday. This is likely the case for many others as well. The food that will be prepared is just one of many things to be thankful for this week. I can honestly say I’m thankful for a lot of things in my life. I’m especially thankful for my beautiful little family. Do I always feel overwhelmed with joy while dealing with the everyday tasks of working and raising four children? I would be lying if I said yes. My children are great kids. They are great at making me smile with their questions and antics. However, they are also great at driving me up a wall. Asking them to help clean a room sometimes and it’s like you put them in a torture chamber by daring to ask for a little help cleaning up the mess they made. Other times they are willing, eager partners ready to help with whatever task you need them to. Of course, there are also those times when ...
Read more