It was a gorgeous, warm sunny day today. I didn't ride.

[Serk]

It was a gorgeous, upper 60's/low 70's and sunny day today (Well, most of the day) here in The Republic... and I didn't ride.

Instead, I loaded the triplets up in the cage, picked up my dad and my mom and headed out to my 18 acres south of town for a day in the woods...

First off let the triplets shoot their guns. They need a lot of work on form and technique, I'm mainly working on basic safety and making sure they don't develop a case of hoplophobia...

Blake loves his Ruger! (The triplets have been color coded since birth, I managed to find Ruger 22/45 Lites that match each of their designated colors)



Brian Jr. shooting his:



Kaelynn loves that hers is red (Although she prefers pink, red will suffice):



The cage doesn't look QUITE so bad when it's deep in the woods (And come on, at least the 4x4 on our Acura actually gets used!)



Hanging out in the hammock before hot dogs get roasted:



Kiddos proudly conquered a log that had partially fallen:



Team work! The three of them worked together to drag a fallen tree back to camp for the campfire:



Mommy helped roast some hot dogs. They NEVER taste as good as they do when roasted over a camp fire out in the woods!



We went exploring after lunch, there's an old early 20th century house on the property that collapsed in the last few years, we took a short cut and just walked across it with grandma:



And there were frogs at the pond/swamp! (Turn on sound to hear 'em)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gm7ml2yjRo

So yeah... It was a gorgeous day today here in The Republic. And the Valk stayed in the garage.

But  for what I got today, I'm okay with that.

Hope everyone else had a rewarding, awesome day as well!

[Firefighter]

I rode 130 miles for you. Rode to the bay (Laguna Vista) ate a taco while watching the fishing boats on the water, couldn't see Padre Island because of a fog over the water, then rode home. Home was 35 miles away but for some reason I covered 90 miles to get there. Today was a beautiful day for a ride.

[Beardo]

That's as good as any ride report. Thanks for sharing. 

[Jess from VA]

Thanks for sharing that.  

Just a thought (uh-oh).  

Since you already have a (sort of a) permanent fire pit set up, why not drag some of the best long, wide boards from the fall-down house over to the pit, and set them up on two cement blocks on each side.  A little bit of work centering, digging and leveling, and you'd have some really nice benches in place each time you went over there.  Not just for sitting, they allow everything to be set up off the ground and are counter space for work/food/coolers (board crowns down, so water runs off and doesn't stand) (assuming everything isn't pure termite bait over there)

Last summer, my bro and mom had a family reunion (of sorts) out on his 17 wooded acres, with grass FAA runway across (about 12 adults and 15 kids).  He keeps a permanent fire pit over along the runway and we drug out four long 3" barn timbers and 16 cement blocks (with his truck, and our backs) and squared the big pit, well back.  I thought it was a bunch of work for little likely use, and boy was I wrong.  Every night the entire crowd spent most of the evening on those benches, even my 87yo mom (course he had big bonfires going).  They got used all day too as work counters and seating to watch the 6-18yos fly around on ATVs and a mini motorcycle.

On the kids learning to shoot, some sort of almost armpit-high (standing) bench or counter might also be made up to support two arms and help them steady the pistols on target (and keep them pointed downrange)(and to lay all the shooting guns/gear).  Something that I discovered at an early age, I always liked doing things I was good at, and at that age, they'll do a lot better off a bench than standing.   It might be early yet, but at some point I think that would be a good idea.

Clearly my ideas, but your work.  

Speaking of frogs, and a swamp, it would seem possible there could be some big rattlesnakes around there (esp under the fall down house).  Is that something you have to keep an eye on out there?  

 

[Robert]

Glad you had a great time, thanks for posting 

[Hooter]

That's good stuff! A day in the woods with the kids / mom and dad is good any day. Savor that time! As time goes on that private time can deminish. More people need to take the time to do this!  Looks like a great area. Deer?

There is no snow in SW Michigan right now. The roads have been rain washed but still some crap on the roads. I RODE ANYWAY. Was almost 60 here so why not?

[Serk]

Thanks for the ideas Jess (Seriously). I've considered a more permanent seating arrangement around the firepit, but the way the trees and the cabin are laid out, that would block me from being able to drive past the firepit deeper into the land, so I've stuck with keeping a bunch of foldable camp chairs in the cabin. There's a cabin right behind the firepit that I can store stuff in.

Older pic of the cabin showing the layout a little better:



When I'm driving deeper into the land (I.E. to the shooting area) I need to thread the needle between those trees the car's parked in in that pic, the firepit, and more dense trees on the other side of the cabin clearing.

(Yeah, I COULD clear out some trees, but I do that reluctantly, I LIKE the dense forestation, that I can be just a few hundred yards into the property and not be able to see or hear anything from the outside world.)

My carpenter father-in-law is moving to town from out of state in the next few months. One of his assigned projects is to build a proper shooting bench/table at the shooting spot on the land. He's actually looking forward to it.

His stated goals are a bit ambitious, but if he actually builds out a concrete slab with bench, 3 walls and gets electric ran to it for an air conditioner, well... I won't stop him...

And yes, snakes are a concern, although we get more big harmless Texas Rat Snakes instead of rattlers around here, but a rattler is a possibility. I carry a NAA 22 5-shot revolver in my pocket filled with rat-shot while out there, and keep a close eye on the kids whenever they're in a likely snake spot.

It's still cold enough at night the snakes aren't out and about yet, but they soon will be.

Deer?

No deer, although I've seen sign of some wild hogs, armadillos, maybe some badgers, a family of red tailed hawks and other stuff... But not a good setup for deer, other than my 18 acres of woods, it's miles and miles of open cleared farm land in all directions...

My land is the dark green spot diamond inside the red circle to get an idea what I mean:

[signart]

Congratulations on a great investment

[msb]

You shouldn't be posting stuff like this  ...remember there's some of us on here who spent many years with their kids first and foremost in their daily lives but are now in that unenviable position of having their kids grown into a full life on their own with husbands, etc.... but not quite yet blessing us with grandkids to ease that feeling of  missing the joys that only small children can bring .   Nice family you have there , you've got your priorities straight

[Jess from VA]

Ahhh, the rest of the story.  That cabin is identical to my two sheds in design, though mine are only 10 X 12s, shorter, and sunk down to be nearly flush with concrete drive and sidewalk.  So I can ride my bikes right in. 

My dream is to have a shooting bench in my backyard.  If I did that now, my new address would be the local VA Coffeewood Correctional Facility.  Nice place out in the country, but they probably wouldn't let me build a shooting bench out there either.

[Serk]

You shouldn't be posting stuff like this  ...remember there's some of us on here who spent many years with their kids first and foremost in their daily lives but are now in that unenviable position of having their kids grown into a full life on their own with husbands, etc.... but not quite yet blessing us with grandkids to ease that feeling of  missing the joys that only small children can bring .   Nice family you have there , you've got your priorities straight

Thank you kindly! Between the kids, and still having my parents around to share them with, I have a small inkling of just how blessed I truly am.
If you ever get the hankering, come on down to The Republic, we've got spare kids, and don't mind renting them out a few at a time on an hourly, daily, weekly, or an "Until they turn 18" basis...

Kind of funny though, I was unmarried and getting into my late 20's, the oldest of my siblings (Who also were unmarried) when my sweet, VERY traditional, VERY religious Catholic mother pulled me aside and told me she was ready to be a grandma now... Marriage is preferable, but totally optional at this point.

Ahhh, the rest of the story.  That cabin is identical to my two sheds in design, though mine are only 10 X 12s, shorter, and sunk down to be nearly flush with concrete drive and sidewalk.  So I can ride my bikes right in. 

My dream is to have a shooting bench in my backyard.

Yup, the long term plan is to build a retirement house on the land. The land itself is about 30 miles south of Dallas, about 50 miles from our current suburban house. I basically stole it. (Long story, short version - Good friend of mine and her husband had bought it to drop off the grid, live off the land, dance naked under the moon and be happy hippies. Making payments on it, building the cabin (To live in), dancing naked under the moonlight, etc until one day they woke up and realized they hated each other's guts. Divorce proceedings. Payments not being made, the land was about to go into foreclosure. I asked her what they owed - $12,000. I offered $15k cash, that way they wouldn't have their credit trashed, would have $3k in their pockets, and could still go dance in the moonlight if they wanted to, and they accepted.) Anyway, point being the land wasn't exactly what I would have bought if I had been actively looking for a place, but under the circumstances, I'd have been a fool to not leap at it when the opportunity presented itself.

But one day I'll hopefully live out there and be able to shoot off my back porch...

[cookiedough]

shoot off your back porch and set up little runs in that thick brush nearby to pluck some wild hogs..   Am guessing the hog meat down in TX taste better than the deer since not corn fed like in the midwest?

As far as warm and SUNNY, congrats on that as well.  I have not seen the SUN peek out for over 1 week now, pretty gloomy and extremely foggy it seems like forever, sort of getting depressed not seeing the sun for so long...

congrats on the land purchase, even if not ideal area, it is YOURS to do with it what you want, besides paying property taxes on it yearly.

Land price here in my area in the country is 3-5K per acre, not in my price range for sure.  I told my mother in law in 1993 when I bought my lot in my town for 5K to buy up the remaining 2 lots down the street for 5K each as well.  I was 23 at the time and she had money to burn.  I knew they would triple easily in 10 years and they sold some 10+ years later for about 20K each,  now almost 25K per city lot.

[Rams]

Serk,
Thanks for posting this, cute kids, hot mama, a place to play, a Valkyrie in the garage waiting and Obama out of office.   You are truly blessed, what more could one ask for.  

[rocketray]

lucky you!! Congrats!!..I am big on eye protection when shooting..as I have had about a million one in a millions...

[DirtyDan]

lucky you!! Congrats!!..I am big on eye protection when shooting..as I have had about a million one in a millions...

+1 kids look great Serk you did good

A million one in a millions...... yeah last valk..... falling rock....... IN MID AIR !!!!!!

Dan

[Serk]

lucky you!! Congrats!!..I am big on eye protection when shooting..as I have had about a million one in a millions...

Seeing as I've had to have a sliver of brass from a 9MM cartridge that KB'ed on me extracted from my eyeball by a doctor you'd think I'd know better... Yeah, will hafta find some kid sized safety glasses that they like.

I want 'em comfortable shooting, I want them to enjoy it and look forward to it, but I want them to stay safe doing it as well...

[henry 008]

That's as good as any ride report. Thanks for sharing. 

ditto  looks like everyone had a good time. 

[msb]

If you ever get the hankering, come on down to The Republic, we've got spare kids, and don't mind renting them out a few at a time on an hourly, daily, weekly, or an "Until they turn 18" basis...

Lol...I'll let the wife know and we'll keep that in mind    Enjoy...