Memorial Weekend Camping

Our traditional photo by the sign of the campground we stayed at. This park was once the land of homes and businesses until the flood of 1997 wiped them out. For as busy and open as the park was, it was remarkably quiet.

We never know what we might stumble across while geocaching across this great country of ours.

By Allan Olson

Oh, what a fun weekend to be away from home (and work)! The last two weeks have been crazy, and this week will also be extremely busy. Knowing that, I really wanted to get away. I briefly contemplated participating in a fishing tournament, but in the end I knew that would be more work-related than fun-related for me. I also knew that if I stayed home I would end up working, and I really wanted to escape. 

For the last two years or so I’ve really wanted to visit Gilby, ND with the family. Now you might ask what’s in Gilby? Absolutely nothing – not even a gas station. Of course, there is a bar; it is North Dakota, after all.

However, there was a good reason for us to visit Gilby. A fellow geocacher that we’ve met several times has found over 100 geocaches in that area, and the majority of them are of the gadget variety; i.e., those where there’s a process to getting the log to sign. I’ve heard nothing but good things about them, and judging by the favorite points many of them had, I knew it was true. 

After a conversation with my wife, I was thinking about a one day road trip, knowing that would be a very, very long day. After further discussion, we decided that if all our camping equipment was still in good shape and not in need of replacement, then we could spend one night. We almost booked our reservations on Wednesday night, but held off until the equipment could be inspected.

Finally, the big day arrived. Friday, the day I didn’t have to work to 10 p.m. We were home by 5 p.m. and the kids and I started gathering gear. Marcus and Alivia set up the tents for inspection and I had someone check to see if the air mattress still held air. Everything appeared to be in pretty good shape, so we started gathering the rest of the gear. My wife came home from work, made our reservations and started pitching in. Eventually the vehicle was loaded and ready for morning. I set the alarm for 5 a.m., and at 6 a.m. Saturday, we were all in the vehicle and rolling out of the yard.

Unfortunately, we had noticed the night before that the AC fix in the car was apparently a temporary one, as it had once again quit working. I didn’t want to unload and transfer everything to my vehicle, so we dealt with it. The morning ride was fine, and when we could, we put the windows down to help move some air around. Ultimately, it wasn’t terrible, but just a little uncomfortable as the day progressed.

We reached East Grand Forks by 8:30 a.m., grabbed a few food items from the grocery store and hit the road again. By 9:30 we found our first of 27 geocaches of the day. At our third geocache of the morning, which was a stone’s throw from the builder’s property, we met him, and Marcus and I got a tour of his workshop. We visited for a while and then moved on – after all, we had geocaches to find. 

We ventured up and down the back roads of Gilby, ate lunch in the park, which offered nothing but tables, a shelter and a small playground – perfect for what we needed. After lunch we moved on to find more geocaches, a majority of which were very creative. The kids had just as much fun trying to solve them as the adults did. 

The search led us to a local farmer/artist who has created multiple animals and other things – including a Viking’s ship and airplanes on poles – from scrap iron found scattered around his farm. The work was amazing, and without geocaching we would have never had the opportunity to see it. Marcus felt that his big “welcome” sign made of iron was an invitation to go to his yard and look around. As parents, we felt a little differently about it and so didn’t go on quite that personal of a tour (although I suspect that we would have been welcomed).

We finally had to call an end to it and headed back to the big city of Grand Forks in search of some A/C and some food. The girls needed swimsuits, and I needed to replace my shoes (actually the store had to warranty them out because of a defect). We grabbed a few more geocaches around town after our errands were done, and then we headed back to camp. 

The youngest two and I completed the State Park Wildflower cache in the park, and then headed to our campsite, looking forward to the fire. However, the wind was still quite strong and the campers were tired, so we headed to bed instead. I crawled out of the tent at 5 a.m., and told myself I should’ve brought my blankets – I was cold! I got in the vehicle and started it to warm up. Everyone in the camp was awake by 7 a.m., so I started a fire, I found the S’mores stuff and let them have them. I tried cooking again over an open flame and failed. I burned the outside of the sausages and overcooked the maple bacon – some were okay until Abigail knocked the plate over on the ground. In the end, we just ate cold cereal, which is what we had planned anyway.

After a quick stop at the grocery store for donuts and more water, we were on the road back to Gilby. We found 21 more geocaches on Sunday, and we took photos of the large cathedral in Warsaw, ND. That’s another town with nothing in it but the church, which was built in 1900, and another place we would not have visited if it wasn’t for geocaching. A few miles down the road we found a much smaller chapel that was built in 1907 – one that would only hold about six people at best. We ventured on our way throughout the day and finally made it home at about 9 p.m. All of us were exhausted, but we all had fun.

On Monday, Marcus, Alivia and I attended the Memorial Day services at the Wayside Rest in Cass Lake and in Bena, and we delivered summer guides to some resorts. 

It was a great weekend, and I’m looking forward to some more summer fun. This weekend will be much lower key. Nikolai will be getting his wisdom teeth removed on the last day of school, and I have plans for Saturday afternoon. So weather depending, maybe we will get the boat out, but the lawn needs work too, so we shall see.

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.