Easter Weekend

My nephew Lavian (left) and Marcus worked together to get into the locked ammo can at our second find of the day on Saturday, April 15, near Warroad. The two boys and I spent the majority of the day driving around finding geocaches.

By Allan Olson

If all my weekends were as fun and busy as this last one, I would be exhausted.

This past weekend was quite possibly the most fun one I’ve had all year; it was very well rounded. 

We left for the weekend, heading to my parents’ on Friday afternoon, just before 4 p.m. My plans for Saturday were confirmed – a full day of geocaching. And as much as Marcus annoyed me the day before, I was taking him with me. The girls were going with mom to see their great-grandpa, and Nik was staying with my parents to help Grandpa. He had plans on riding around on Grandpa’s side-by-side ATV, but it was at a neighbor’s shop, so we thought he was out of luck.

On Friday night I agreed to pick up my nephew the next morning and take him geocaching with us, since his place was on our way. Marcus and I left my parents’ house about 8 a.m. on Saturday and set our course for 25 miles west, heading for the big city of Warroad, and stopped and grabbed my nephew about halfway. We found two geocaches near his home, then headed to a geocaching breakfast event at the casino. We enjoyed a hearty breakfast, and I visited with some other crazy like-minded individuals I knew along with some others I didn’t. A group of us then set off on a course a half-mile round trip walk to one particularly difficult geocache. It took a 10 minute search and a little hint from a previous finder before Marcus made the discovery.

The two boys and I then split off from the group and headed out on our own search, working to find the remaining 12 we had not yet found in town. Over the course of the next four hours we worked on cleaning up those caches, and even replaced one container that had gone missing; that involved a trip to the hardware store to find something that would work.

We finished up the town and headed north to the big lake, with our destination being Rocky Point, where we searched for a two stage cache named Rocky. Others were talking about this location at breakfast; we were told that now is the time to go after this because the area is quiet, before the summer tourists and cabin owners come back. With that knowledge in hand, I couldn’t resist – even if it was 20 miles north of town. 

We arrived at our destination and after a brief search, I came up with the coordinates for the next stage – about 1,700 feet away. I decided instead of walking the beach, I would drive to the set parking coordinates and then we would make the walk. The boys had fun collecting shells and throwing rocks into the still partially frozen lake and after about a five minute walk we arrived at our destination, and Marcus once again was quick to make the find. 

We walked back to the vehicle and headed back to my folks’ place. There were other geocaches that I could have gone after, but the boys were still talking to me, so I figured since it would be 4 p.m. before we got back, we should probably just leave.

When we got there, I learned that my dad’s side by side was ready. Nikolai was at the right place at the right time, and so was able to drive it back. Back at the home place, he did some cleaning of the deer bones from last fall, then hauled materials for his fort. The girls were back from their visit, too, and Alivia was helping grandpa sanding some boards for his latest building projects.

That evening, Alivia beat her older cousins and brothers in a game of Risk, and then everyone except Marcus (who was already out for the night) played a game outside in the dark before we finally called them in after 11:15 p.m.

On Easter Sunday, we enjoyed a big breakfast and then attended church with my parents. After church, it was time for a big dinner. The boys handled the clean-up, and then the kids went outside to play ball. I ended up out there, too, but way too late, as we only got to play a short while before it was time for the kids to search the farm for their Easter baskets.

Then it was time for dessert, after which my brothers brought their pistols out for some target practice. When I got outside, Nikolai and Alivia were already asking for their turns at the firing range. I told them both that they had to be instructed by their uncles, and then they had permission with their help and assistance, as I’m not nearly as familiar with pistols. In the end, Nikolai shot the 9 mm, and Alivia shot the .22. (I had shot both the .22 and the 9 mm the day prior.) Alivia proved she just might be a natural marksman, hitting the target on her second attempt and then a couple more times. For me, it was pretty neat seeing my kids shoot those weapons and gain the understanding that they are not toys, and that they are dangerous if mishandled.

That afternoon we made a trip over to visit the in-laws, arriving there just before 5 p.m. and then finally made it home at about 8 p.m. It was a fun and exhausting weekend. This weekend’s plans aren’t nearly as set in stone. In fact, I have nothing planned. Hopefully, the Northern Lights will be out and active, and the cloud cover will be minimal.

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.