A Family Weekend


A Family Weekend
By Allan Olson
It was most certainly another busy weekend for our crazy family as we took to the fresh snow covered roads early Saturday morning. Our ultimate destination was heading north for Easter weekend and fun with the family. We started Saturday morning off with a geocaching event in Bemidji and since we were going to be in town we decided that we might as well head north right after – well right after ended up being closer to 11:30 before finally making the departure but we still left in the morning.
The miles flew by and a couple hours later we were pulling into the town of our youth and judging by the time on the clock I knew that if I forced my family to head out on what I envisioned a two hour hike with no food for energy prior to the hike I was likely to be abandoned by everyone – including my wife. So my wife called her mom to confirm she was home and once that was affirmed I headed to the grocery store for some highly nutritious frozen pizza. We spent a little more than an hour at her place before we were once again on the road – all six of us and the dog with the destination of Zippel Bay State Park. Since I had promised my niece we would take her with we ventured out to her house and grabbed her en-route and less than 10 minutes later we were at the park.
Now I had my plans to get the caches at this state park since Christmas – when Marcus and his broken thumb cancelled my plans and we headed home instead. So this time I was determined to get them and I even had help. We pull up to the park and found the office abandoned (closed for the season) and road closures on all the roads. I was not aware that the park closed for the season and I was not happy. Additionally I was not ready for a mile walk (as the crow flies) for the first cache considering it would likely be more than that and then there was the other one – even further and in a different direction. Even still I contemplated pulling my winter boots out but again – I’m pretty sure I would’ve been left behind. So I studied my map and found a couple alternatives – because I promised my niece we would find one. My wife – always the navigator took over and suggested another one, I didn’t care – and it was en-route so it didn’t matter to me. We pulled over on the road and discovered the path before us was likely one of snow and mud for again a considerable distance, so we went back to the other one I had suggested. Finally after some extensive searching – we had the coordinates that moved us to the next stage a couple miles away. We all climbed in the vehicle again and moved forward to the final destination, which turned out to be right across from the beach my wife and I and many friends spent hours swimming at during our dating years nearly 20 years ago. With some minor searching my niece found the geocache and we headed to take her home.
The rest of the evening was spent visiting and laughing with my three brothers, my parents and nearly all of my nieces and nephews. The next morning – the day of the big feast, we enjoyed a great breakfast of caramel rolls, cinnamon bread and deviled eggs - made by my father as is tradition and according to Abigail he prepares them much better than I because “he is more experienced.” We attended the church of my youth with many of my family members and then headed back to the family home for the much anticipated Easter dinner which we all enjoyed. I also spent some time on the 3-wheeler with a few kids cruising up and down the country roads. After dinner, a few of us hid the Easter-baskets my parents had for the kids, we scattered them across the farm hidden in trees, wood piles, snow piles, saw dust piles and more. The kids had fun searching for them, even the oldest of the grandkids who is 16. Of course I made his especially hard covering his basket in a plastic bag and buried it in my dad’s sawdust pile.
We finally departed for home before four and spent the rest of the evening at home relaxing after a busy weekend. I hope everyone took some time this weekend to enjoy food, family and the outdoors or any of those. This week promises to be another busy week so I’m hoping we can find some opportunity for some fun on the weekend.
Please remember to watch out for the buses that are carrying our most precious cargo. Also snap a photo or two to preserve a lifetime of memories. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! Feel free to drop me a line at cltimes1@arvig.net or stop by the office for a visit.


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