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My family and I decided to take a vacation last week. So after finally deciding on Walker Minnesota as our destination, we found a cabin that was available. It made me a little skeptical that there was a cabin available with only a couple of weeks notice, we decided to take a chance.

Our last vacation I found a cabin on Lake Vermillion that sounded wonderful with views of the lake and a big sandy beach. When we got there we looked out of our cabin's living room window into the kitchen window of the cabin owner's home. To top that, I immediately starting having issues with all of the mold in the cabin. So you can see why we are a little gun shy trying new places to stay.

So after four hours of wondering what we were getting into, we arrived. Finally, it looked like we had picked the right place. No giant houses in front of ours, no stench of mold inside and no pond scum on the swimming pool.

Anyway, to make a long story short, we had an amazing time. With gas prices being so high, I expected these local resort towns to be crammed with vacationers, but that was not the case. Everywhere we went there were hardly any people. I guess the gas prices are keeping people at home (literally).

If you have never been to Leech Lake, you must put it on your to visit list. It is one of the most beautiful lakes in Minnesota and the landscape around it is equally as beautiful. Just remember not to take a pontoon boat out in the middle of the lake. Leech Lake is huge and so are the waves, but that's a story for another time.

I am sure by now you have heard that Camp Ojiketa has been vandalized. It happened right before there was a planned open house to celebrate the hopes of making Ojiketa into a public park. The vandals ransacked the main building and broke windows with fire extinguishers that were on the property.

I have sat and tried to figure out what pleasure someone might get out of destroying other people's or in this case public's property. I just can't seem to come up with an answer. I was young and dumb and got into my fair share of trouble, but I could never ever envision myself destroying someone's property.

I am not saying that the person or persons who inflicted the damage to Ojiketa are young, but it usually ends up that they are. If it turns out that they are young, I really feel like it is time to hold the parents responsible. It's the parents who obviously haven't done their job in raising their children correctly. I know that each child has a different set of circumstances that affect how they are raised, but someone whose children cause reckless damage for no reason whatsoever have obviously failed along the way. This era of "It's not my problem" has got to change, and if it doesn't, well we are on a long dismal road.

I am told that the authorities are close to figuring out who the vandals are, and personally I hope they set an example and throw the book at them.

Thanks to all the great individuals who donated their time and manpower volunteering at the Chisago Lakes Triathlon. Speaking with some participants who run other triathlons, they all said that this is one of the best run triathlons with the most volunteers. Once again, it amazes me how much people around here give of their time and services. Last week, Minneapolis was rated as the best city for volunteers, they must have been taking the Chisago Lakes area into account.

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