A weekend of fun and work

A weekend of fun and work

My dad and Alivia excitedly peeked out of the deer stand
after we finally got it in its place and stabilized. Alivia
was also excited to “help drive” the tractor back to where
Grandpa had it parked in the woods.

By Allan Olson
Another weekend has flown by, and all I have to show for it is some deer stand repairs and a clean garage. I guess it was productive, if nothing else.
After getting home late from the football game on Friday night, I started getting things ready for a one day road trip up to Lake of the Woods to work on deer stands in preparation for our annual hunt in just a couple short months.
I woke up at my normal time – 6 a.m. sharp – and promptly woke up Nikolai, Marcus and Alivia to head north. Abigail decided after the football game on Friday night that she didn’t want to go, and so stayed home with mom.
I informed the kids that if they were going with me, they would be spending the day outside and not in front of the television at the grandparents. Otherwise, they might as well plan on staying home. We arrived at our destination at about 8:30 a.m., after a quick stop for gas and test of the facilities in Kelliher. Perfect timing – that was my goal when we left the house. Since my older brother had another errand to run, I decided to use that little time to go hide a geocache near my folks’ place, and the kids started playing with their cousins.
Finally at about 10 a.m., we were packing up to head to our happy hunting grounds. I commandeered one of the Rangers; my brothers had the other Ranger and a three-wheeler. We started in one field and worked our way completely around. We had to skip one stand because of high water – that one will have to wait for my uncle who always visits that stand at least once per season (he can get his feet wet!).
My two brothers that were helping out headed down a trail in the woods that joins two of my dad’s properties together; they discovered that they needed to remove a very large tree that had fallen during the summer and was completely blocking the way. Meanwhile, the five kids and I went and checked out another stand and my grandparent’s dilapidated old house, which is succumbing to the elements and will soon be completely fallen to the ground.
One of my brothers informed me that they were checking out some of the other stands in the area and decided they were going to relocate one back to my current position. I was needed to go back to the vehicles, get his truck, hitch up the trailer and bring it over to them so we could transport the stand. When we got to the vehicles, I found that the trailer was a little too heavy for just me, but the awesome kids all helped lift and push, and we got it done and were soon ready to roll. 
I came to the rock crossing over the culvert and was going to wait and make my brother take his truck across, but got tired of waiting, so I shifted into 4-low and made it across. Then I set about trying to find my siblings in the field. I crossed one low area into another field, drove around the entire field, then crossed back into the first field. It was fun cruising around the field in his truck. The kids enjoyed the rocky road for the most part (except when they hit their heads). We finally met up with them and got the stand loaded, while my older brother went back through the woods to get his van to pick us up again for lunch. After lunch, the kids protested that I was making them go back out again, but I didn’t give in, and we headed back to the woods again. My dad was able to join us this time, and after we transported the stand a couple of miles and then a ways along a field, the four of us were able to lift the stand into position – fun times!
After we worked on that stand, we headed back to my parents’ to fire a couple rounds from the rifles before supper. Nikolai shot the 30-30 he got this summer (it belonged to his mom’s father). Two rounds was all it took – both shots were good, and with more practice, hopefully, the kick won’t bother as much. I did explain to him that the rifle never kicks when you are shooting at a deer – only when you’re target shooting.
I shot my rifle twice, too. Both shots were good, so I figured, “Why mess it up with a third?” I guess we shall see what my excuse is this year if I miss again – if I even get an opportunity. We left my folks’ place almost exactly 12 hours after our arrival, and got home just after 10:30 p.m. Sleep was no problem on Saturday night – the kids and I were all exhausted.
I had let the kids take over the garage all summer, and on Sunday it was time to reclaim it. We cleaned, put things away, and tossed some things that I was tired of just hanging on to. The garage looks much better, and now it’s time to remember to park the vehicles in there at night again.
This weekend, I have five geocaches left to find to reach 1,000. To celebrate our anticipated 1,000th geocache, we will be hosting a small party on Saturday night with our geocaching friends. We are looking forward to a good time.

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