September Sunday Fun!



September Sunday Fun!


Here’s a super Panther fan! While Abigail didn’t pay close attention to the game, she sure had fun!
By Allan Olson
If the weather for rest of this month could be as nice as it was this past weekend, we would really be in great shape when October rolls around – it was nearly perfect.
We spent Friday night watching the Cass Lake-Bena Panthers in their first home football game. The outcome wasn’t favorable for the home team but it was a fun night for fans to visit and watch the game. Abigail and Nikolai both had fun, and now (as long as the weather stays decent) I don’t think Abigail will let me go to a game without taking her.
Our Saturday was quite unadventurous; while I should’ve been out mowing one last time for the season, I didn’t. Instead, I brought Marcus to a birthday party and visited friends in town. It was a quiet evening, too, as the kids enjoyed their weekend screen time.
I made breakfast on Sunday morning, and then right before it was ready, I informed everyone that I wanted to hit the geocaching trail this morning! I was unanimously voted down right away, but soon managed to get mom on my side. We were out of the house and on the road by 10:30 a.m.
The night before I had scoped out several different scenarios, including our favorite M.O. of hitting rural caches all over the country, but that option would mean we would only be able to get around 20 while spending several hours away from the house, and probably getting home late on a school night. I looked at the Paul Bunyan Trail from Guthrie south, but to finish that segment appeared to be just one long stretch with no areas where we could park the vehicle and split into two groups going in opposite directions.
I looked at the map again on Sunday morning and noticed that the Heartland Trail segment between Akeley and Nevis would be perfect. We could split into two teams with each working the trail in opposite directions. It would be time-efficient, and we could find more caches in a shorter period of time. We made a pit stop in Akeley and finalized our plan of attack – we needed to be done no later than 4 p.m. in order to make it home by 5 p.m. to allow time for supper and to get the kids in bed on time.
We also decided to make it a race. The girls had eight caches on their stretch of the trail, while we (da boys) opted for the stretch with 12. The first to find all would win the bragging rights. I dropped the girls off and headed to our stop, and away we went! The boys team managed to find all 12 caches along the trail, while the girls found 7 of 8 – yeah, boys! Before we finished our 12, the girls were already waiting in the van, enjoying the AC and waiting to advance to our next location.
After some discussion, it was decided that one more spot would be it; if we found most of them there it would get us close to my goal of 1,000 caches by September 20. This time it wasn’t a competition, but the boys went 12/12 again, and the girls were 7/8. In the end, everyone had a good time – even Bob, the dog, behaved on the trail as he walked with the girls on the first segment and the boys on the second. We finished by 3 p.m., a full hour ahead of schedule.
As the boys and I were nearing the end, I noticed that the girls were waiting for us in the van again, so I decided we should top off our day of fun by going swimming. If I had thought of that earlier in the day, of course, we would’ve packed our swimming stuff and headed for the nearest beach. Instead, we headed straight home, where the kids and I grabbed our swimming gear, loaded Bob back into the van again and headed for our own beach – a private little swimming hole that Nikolai and I discovered last year while geocaching – off a narrow forest road on North Twin Lake. All of us (including Bob) enjoyed cooling off in the lake for nearly an hour before heading back home for supper. I grilled some superb steaks, and my wife did the hard work of making sure we had all the trimmings to go with the steaks on the table.
Everyone agreed that the day had been a lot of fun, even though none of them were very excited about going geocaching again this weekend. Next Saturday, our plans are firm; at least some of us will be heading north to check on deer stand repair needs Sunday will probably be spent – not geocaching, well I might go out hide a few more. We shall see.
Please be safe while enjoying your favorite outdoor recreational activity and on the lakes, and remember to take pictures to preserve a lifetime of memories. Remember to drive safely, and watch out for those buses carrying 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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