Last year, we had a trip of some sort scheduled every month from March through November.

Every one of these events were cancelled due to COVID concerns.

We were lucky enough to attend three metal detector events, which were not originally on our list.

One was in Pennsylvania, one in Kentucky, and the last in Mississippi. A lot of driving to get there, but I enjoy the trips.

We already have a lot of dates filled in on the 2021 calendar. How many of those will be allowed to proceed, I don’t know at this time.

Our first on the new calendar was a Texas Civil War relic hunt, which we enjoyed several years ago. It is slated for late February. We were free that date but opted out this year. It is a nine-hour drive.

Mid-March is the annual date for the Memphis, Tennessee, detector hunt. We had never been to this one, but I talked to several of the club members who organize this event, and we put it on the list to attend this year.

The last I heard, Tennessee is still having COVID restrictions and the hunt may occur in April, or maybe this fall.

April last year, we were scheduled to go to Florida to visit her relatives and do some fresh and saltwater fishing.

As always, our metal detectors would be with us and would give us a reason to hit the beach. This year, my Hoosier Outdoor Writers annual conference will take place in April at Turkey Run State Park.

Over a three-day weekend, the first day is a competition shoot on the gun range, with a barbecue dinner in the evening.

Day 2 is the business part of the conference with seminars, great speakers, and the outstanding HOW raffle with tables of donated items up for grabs.

The final day is usually fishing in some local water.

Mid-May last year, there was a metal detector hunt in Michigan sponsored by Minelab. We were signed up to go, but the governor canceled almost everything in the state. Once again, the hunt is scheduled for May this year. We are planning on attending, and we hope the governor doesn’t change our minds.

Memorial Day weekend is the time of the Lake Ontario beach hunt in Ontario, about 40 miles north of Niagara Falls.

After going seven or eight years, we have missed the last two. This year, who knows with the Canadian border still closed?

There are a lot of options for travel in June; Lake Erie walleye and small mouth bass fishing, Chautauqua Lake musky, or Lake Michigan salmon could be in the cards.

A Southern Indiana metal detector hunt at Wray’s Treasure Shop is definitely on the calendar in June. Although this event went off as scheduled, we missed it last year, the first time in decades.

July is always reserved for metal detecting.

Pennsylvania has a week-long hunt in early July. We went for years, then quit going, then took Benjamin for two days last year.

Mid-or late July, Starve Hollow State Recreation Area will be the site of Treasure Fest, a week-long hunt. That was canceled last year. Hopefully, it will happen, and we will be attending this year.

August is our Minnesota/Canada fishing trip to Lake of the Woods, and across the border (if it is open) to drive to Kenora to see my brother.

This was a long-awaited trip last year, which like many others was canceled because of the virus.

With my brother and I both getting older, I don’t know how many more visits we will have together. It’s more than 1,100 miles.

Susie and I will be celebrating our 50th anniversary while fishing these waters. If we can’t go north, we will head to Florida and be deep-sea fishing on our 50th.

September is the Moonshine Open Treasure Hunt in Kentucky. We went there for the first time last fall and really enjoyed it. It is on our calendar in ink and hopefully doesn’t get marked off for some reason.

September is also my Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers annual conference. It was supposed to be held in Gaylord, Michigan, last year, and will be at the same place this year, governor permitting.

October is the month for my Southeastern Outdoor Press Association in West Virginia. It also was canceled last year. If we decide to return, this is the month for the Mississippi Civil War relic hunt. We enjoyed it last year, but it is a long drive, about nine hours. Eighteen hours used to be a long drive for me.

As I am nearing three-quarters of a century old, I can’t do a lot of the things I used to do, but I still try. Usually, I am just slower.

Looking at my shelf full of medications, and the list of numerous medical specialists I have to visit, you would think I should just sit in my chair all day, get up for meals, then go to bed for the night.

Maybe in another 20 years.

Rich Creason is an award-winning outdoors and travel writer whose work has appeared in local, regional, national and international publications for 40 years. Born in Anderson, he is a graduate of Markleville High School. He lives in South Madison County with his wife, Susie. He may be contacted at [email protected].