Taconite

Today, on my one day of rest, I loaded 5 of my staff into the van and drove an hour and half away to one of the nearby bigger cities, to go on a wild goose chase. I had ZERO desire to spend my day in this way, however, I did not have a choice...

My dad built a new, very cool, slingshot range for camp this year. The two other camps in this area have them and I am excited to add it into our programming for the summer. Last year, my dad and I toured the other two camps and both Directors explained that the kids use taconite pellets to shoot and they get this ammunition by going to aforementioned Big City and collecting them near the railroad tracks. They couldn't tell me a specific location, but encouraged me it is very easy to find. (Uh huh. Good bye day off...). Last night, I considered getting some black clothing and ski masks and sneaking into the other camps to steal their taconite, because that seemed easier, but eventually decided I should just go try to find my own.

We've been meaning to do this for a month, but haven't gotten around to it and campers come tomorrow, so I knew I had to go today. I offered up free ice cream to anyone who wanted to help and thankfully, 5 wonderful people joined me on this adventure.

The city we went to is big and I had no idea where to begin. I was very concerned we would never find the right railroad tracks, but, guided by A (a girl who is from out of state and has never before been to this big city, but had a lot of navigational confidence), it took us less than 30 minutes to find some tracks, follow them along, get out a few times, and eventually come across a hill that was covered in taconite. We used our hands to scoop big piles into several 5 gallon buckets, and then headed to the nearest restaurant for lunch (which had become my new offering when I realized I only had 5 helpers and it was around lunchtime).

Sometimes my job is ridiculous and I shake my head, wondering how I end up on crazy adventures, but that's why I love it. And, now our camp has slingshot ammo, so all in all, it was a successful day!