tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71292361168692412482024-03-05T00:10:35.332-08:00The Cache CheckersA mom and son geocaching team!Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-1832529968967204512010-08-18T13:55:00.000-07:002010-08-18T13:55:18.627-07:00Get out and enjoy! Go Geocaching!! A tutorial.<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">When explaining geocaching to a “muggle”, someone who doesn’t know about geocaching., a term taken from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books that means a person who doesn’t know magic, a cacher often describes it as a high tech treasure hunt. The high tech part is correct, but the treasure part, not so much. I’m not looking for buried treasure, I’m not looking for anything buried in the dirt at all. If I were to expect treasure while I’m geocaching, then I’m participating in the wrong hobby! What you’ll find is mostly McDonald’s Happy Meal toys, often dirty or broken, garbage and loose odds and ends. Now and then, if you’re the First to Find, or FTF, you might find a worthy prize like a CD, camera or money, but often just an empty log book page where you scrawl your geocaching username and the knowledge that you were the one that found it first. So, if you’re thinking you’re going to find all this cool stuff, you’re wrong. Geocaching is about getting off of your butt, getting outside and going places you didn’t know existed, sometimes even just a few miles from your house!</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The first thing you need to get started is have access to a computer with an Internet connection. Using one at the library is fine, just make sure you log out when you’re done. The second is a GPS receiver. Now, it's shocking, I know, but you don’t have to actually own a GPS to geocache. I have chatted with some people who use just a compass and map. I love technology too much and although I have a compass in my geogear bag and a map under the seat in my van, I've never used them. Huge kudos to those of you who can find a box hidden in the woods with just a map and a compass, but I love living in the 21st century!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWnlMTUWn-_DhsXO2Isvnw9Mq12mSzOmmzXYeWwMOIbgbPoWpXzpx0uiVAjP8Xfk0feEKDmjDZZ85EUnODwe4Df6SZmNUw7ck3uqqFQ8NNDs51yyySciD-8ZaLCAVYJBay3GHtYpwtnF4f/s1600/geocaching.com.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWnlMTUWn-_DhsXO2Isvnw9Mq12mSzOmmzXYeWwMOIbgbPoWpXzpx0uiVAjP8Xfk0feEKDmjDZZ85EUnODwe4Df6SZmNUw7ck3uqqFQ8NNDs51yyySciD-8ZaLCAVYJBay3GHtYpwtnF4f/s320/geocaching.com.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Once you’re sitting at a computer, go to <a href="http://www.geocaching.com/">http://www.geocaching.com/</a> and create a FREE account. You have access to a lot of info at no cost to you. After you participate for a bit, you can decide if you want to become a Premium Member (PM). Being a PM is $30 a year and not only supports the geocaching.com website, but it gives you access to special features like searching for caches along a route or finding hides with certain attributes like, are they kid friendly, allow dogs or have Travel Bugs (TB’s). I’ll talk more of that later. I use the pocket query feature often as I travel up to Michigan, on vacation or just doing a marathon day trip with a couple geogal pals I’ve become friends with through geocaching. The picture above is what you'll see when you visit the link above. I've actually logged in under my user name, The Cache Checkers (look me up and send me a friend request! ) so you can see what I see as a member. The creators of geocaching.com have created a cute and quick video that introduces you to geocaching. The top right you see my username and the picture I've chosen as my avatar. I've been a member since 10/05/2008 and joined as a Premium Member 10/05/2009 with a renewal date of 10/05/2010. So, I was a basic member for a year before I decided to sign up as a PM. I currently have 309 finds and have hidden 3 of my own. For more info about the sport, click on the Getting Started link on the left side of the page. I'm going to take you to the Hide & Seek a Cache link first. I didn't take a picture of that page, but what you would see is a variety of options to look for a cache in your area. The first option is by entering your address, so, I typed in my address and this is what came up: </div> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwmGrRTpMMK9Uaz8q_FLWO955wqQl9QtGaATvsKtAJJ0Snu2InmTmrLraszmrh5I86eCIAL1cJVIrju8yw9odHWl3oEKsK3-OT_H0UaNe9Ikf8YPIEpkYDidBKIpZMJ9Ylfpsl7lbGh1Sf/s1600/Caches+nearby.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwmGrRTpMMK9Uaz8q_FLWO955wqQl9QtGaATvsKtAJJ0Snu2InmTmrLraszmrh5I86eCIAL1cJVIrju8yw9odHWl3oEKsK3-OT_H0UaNe9Ikf8YPIEpkYDidBKIpZMJ9Ylfpsl7lbGh1Sf/s320/Caches+nearby.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you remember what my geocaching handle is, you'll see that the first geocache listed is mine. You can tell because my username is posted after the name of the cache, which is "My Neck of the Woods", or maybe it's that nifty red arrow with the word "mine" underneath that give it away! LOL The ones with the red check marks are caches I've already found. As a PM there are options to keep your own and the ones you found, as well as others, out of your search results so you can just get right to ones that you want to look for. Starting all the way to the left, you can see the direction and distance that cache is from your search criteria, which was my physical address. If you have a GPS, you can get your home coordinates from it and enter the numbers under your profile, that way every cache you look at will be calculated automatically and let you know how far it is from your home coords. Remember, the distances here are by satellite, not by road, so unless you have wings or know it's a straight shot via a known road, add a few miles. The next column is Icons and this tells you what kind of cache hide it is. The green one is a traditional cache. On this page you don't know what size it is yet, but a traditional hide is either a nano, think thumbnail, micro, usually a film canister or a pill bottle, small, sandwich size, regular, usually an ammo box or coffee can and large a bucket. The next column, the (D/T), are for numbers 1-5 for the Difficulty of the cache and the Terrain rating. Pay attention to those, especially when you first start out. You're first attempts should not be micro's with a D/T rating higher than 2. I don't want you frustrated or injured before you have a chance to give geocaching a good try.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next column is the date the geocache was published into the system. New geocache hides are reviewed, NOT VISITED, by volunteer fellow geocachers. There is a criteria you have to follow to get one put on the website. Sometimes it take a few days and sometimes it's the same day, it all depends on the reviewer. Also, you might find a log with a lot of names in the cache, but back on the site, not so much. This annoys me greatly. If you find it or don't find it, please log it online. People learn about the hide not only from the cache information page, but also from the logs of other geocachers. If you get stumped, reading past entries might help and as a cache owner myself, I love to hear how my hide went for another geocacher. A cache owner (CO) won't know it needs maintenance or that the D/T rating should be changed unless you post a log, so do it! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next column is the Description. It holds the name of the hide, which is what you click on to get more information, the person who hid the cache, the code it is saved under on the website and the state the hide is in. These are all important for their own reasons. The name is often times a hint to how to find the cache. My second hide on the screen shot I took is called "A Nelson Red Spot". Nelson is part of the name of the park it's hidden in, a Red Spot refers to the trail mark on the tree, which is right above the hiding spot. As you geocache, you'll recognize other usernames in the game. You might attend events and be able to put names to faces, but, in an example for me, there is a fellow cacher near me who hides nothing but micro's in the woods. For that reason, I often just skip over his hides and go on to others. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Whether you participate in paperless caching or not, it's important to include the GC (geocache) code with the information on the cache. Let's say you come back from a hunt and want to log your find and comments on the website. All you remember is the name; Bob's Fishing Hole. You type that in the Keyword text box on the Hide & Seek a Cache page. Nothing comes up. Why? You know that's what it was called! You end up going a round about way to find it and when you finally do, you see it's called Bob's Fishin' Hole. The apostrophe instead of a "g" is all it takes to get zero results! Jot down the numbers after the GC to make finding that cache on the website easier. You must include the GC in the search box.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The last worded column is called Last Found. Those are the dates the most recent cacher found that hide. If there are two dates, it's the date it was last found and the date YOU found it. The last two are for GPS units. If a cache on this page is one you want to find, you check that box and it will be downloaded to your GPSr (receiver). Right now I believe that option is only available if you have a Garmin GPSr. I have a Magellan and have to take an extra step to get the info from the website to my handheld, but I'm OK with that. I've used both types of units and prefer the Magellan. I'll get into that later.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also in that screen shot above there are a couple other icons you might be curious about. The one with two yellow cache icons is the symbol for a multi-cache hide. The coordinates you get on the cache info page are for the first hidden box and inside that one are the next coordinates or a clue to get to the next one in the series. I've done a two part multi-cache and I've done a five step one. Some geocachers don't like multi's because you only get one smiley face, which is the symbol used when you log a find, when you actually made more than one find because it was a multi. Most multi's have a goal in mind. For example, I did one that was called 70's One Hit Wonders. I found micro's in about eight cemeteries and inside these micro's was a lyric of a song that was a single hit for a band in the 1970's. I had to find what year in the 70's and that number I put into a mystery coordinate. Once I had all the finds I was led to the final, which was an ammo box cache. Multi caches are their own category, so if people were to look at your stats, they don't just see how many finds you have, but how many of what kind. There are also mystery caches identified with a question mark that are usually puzzles that involve some brain power with the cache coords in the solution.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Virtual caches, known for their ghost icon, aren't published anymore. I don't remember the reason why, but the ones that are out there have been grandfathered in, but no more can be created. These caches were created by users who had found something man made that they found interesting and wanted to share. I've only been to a few vitual's. One was an old stone foundation with an Indian head embossed in it. I had to send an email to the cache owner of what I saw for credit for the find. Another was a time capsule in a flower garden at a place of business. I sent the two dates to the CO and one other was a bench placed in remembrance of someone. That virtual required the name of that person. The other cache type, which you can see the icon for in the picture I shared, is for earth caches. These are always interesting. My fave earth cache is in the same park I hid A Nelson Red Spot in. It's called the Devil's Ice Box and to get my smiley face I had to take the temperature in the parking lot, find this Ice Box place with my GPS (it was a cave below cliffs) and then take the temperature in there. I was to send that info in an email. It was over a ten degree difference! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeW_gbfO4xvQ7JESENOS9ZGxTHmf7lvol1ktfxQrVT6kHQqzK3DBF9pxX_M5VKCLgtGKEAVrGhabvpbc9PVw-m117yypNKo6yEhyphenhyphen-m-h8NWoaS2lRMfoeaaG70OUH65dzYylNzl24KRmn/s1600/Cache+Info.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeW_gbfO4xvQ7JESENOS9ZGxTHmf7lvol1ktfxQrVT6kHQqzK3DBF9pxX_M5VKCLgtGKEAVrGhabvpbc9PVw-m117yypNKo6yEhyphenhyphen-m-h8NWoaS2lRMfoeaaG70OUH65dzYylNzl24KRmn/s320/Cache+Info.JPG" width="320" /></a>One more thing about that picture is in the Placed column there is the word New!. That means that particular cache was recently published. As a PM, I get email notifications of when a cache within a certain distance, I chose 20 miles, is published so I can get first dibs. The next picture I want to show you is a cache information page and I chose the one published for this brand new geocache hide. It's obvious from the title that this hide is in a cemetery, so right there you know some things you should and shouldn't do when going for it. You can also see what size this is, a micro, and that might turn you of, but it might not. Also on this page are the oh so important GPS coordinates. I've made the mistake a few times of forgetting to put those numbers in! You can also print from this page, send it to your GPS or phone, but only if they are compatible with geocaching.com. This info page is short and to the point. Some cache pages will tell a fictional story. I've look for a cache based on a pirate song or a hidden troll colony. Some are factual and talk about the specific area and some are memorable and talk about loved ones lost. This one talks about where to park for safety reasons, tells you to bring your own pen (BYOP) and says there's a small prize for the FTF. You can see at the bottom of the picture is Additional Hints. Sometimes there are helpful hints (and not so helpful) and sometimes that area is blank. They are encrypted in an easy to solve code, think a=z, b=y, so the hunt isn't spoiled by those who don't want hints, but are easy to figure out when you're out in the woods and stumped (some form of stumped is almost always a hint!). Below the hints are the found and did not find (DNF) logs of past hunters. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">On the top right is the geocaching.com code. Write it down! Below that is what you click on to log your visit. You can choose that you found it, didn't find it, that it needs maintenance or just write a note. Below that is the date in case you're logging your visit a few days after the fact. Under that is where you put any comments you have. Even if you just talk about how hot the day was, share your experience at the cache. If you want to say something about the hide but don't want to ruin it for those who don't like to read spoilers, there's an option of putting your text into the same code the hints are in.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">If you really like the cache and want to watch it, there is an option to do that and any changes to the cache info page are sent to you. I don't know why you'd want to ignore the cache page, but you can and you can bookmark it as well. I have quite a few bookmarked that I want to do in the future. The map below the links brings up the immediate area of the cache so you can get a birds eye view of the hide area before putting it into your GPSr. Those small black squares underneath the map are the attributes the CO chose to give as much info to potential seekers as possible. This is a cemetery cache, so you should already know without being told that you can't do it at night without risking a ride in the back of a police car. The CO also says this hide isn't wheelchair friendly, has poisonous plants, can be found in the snow, there's gas station near by, is less than a 1km hike and takes less than an hour. Some people are very helpful and post as many attributes as they can, some people don't share anything at all. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiody51fx_YfzVNEi4xoiE7Ut6R4QXwVcqeJkmrod6RFnsP_lmOBKNAHm9snG5A56X18wN7H8WdVwrQ8ogtZ9oQjKxoSYbcxCjDoTzFflzrpKPpE9cxw0ERqL3Q22WV5Ifxd9N0czjjSx1i/s1600/Pink+TB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiody51fx_YfzVNEi4xoiE7Ut6R4QXwVcqeJkmrod6RFnsP_lmOBKNAHm9snG5A56X18wN7H8WdVwrQ8ogtZ9oQjKxoSYbcxCjDoTzFflzrpKPpE9cxw0ERqL3Q22WV5Ifxd9N0czjjSx1i/s320/Pink+TB.jpg" width="320" /></a>Just below that is the Inventory. This doesn't mean that every toy, souvenir or knick knack currently in the cache is listed. This is for trackable items. These items are TB's, or trackable bugs which are like dog tags attached to an item of some kind. One of my TB's is dedicated to my mom. Breast cancer took her back in April of 2003, so I attached a pink ribbon keychain to a TB I purchased at the geocaching.com store. These are the most common of trackable items. DO NOT KEEP THESE. No matter how cute the item is attached to it, if you can't move the item into another cache, then leave it there for someone else who can! These are meant to travel, so please keep them going! Most TB's have a goal. My goal ias to have this TB travel around to places my mom never had a chance to see. I included a list of destination cities and asked for pictures to be posted. Not everyone follows along, but some do and those are the ones that count. There are also trackable coins and these can be just about anything. The one below I got for Devin and it's goal is to be placed in caches that are near water and of course pictures are wanted (there's a place on the TB info page to upload pictures). There are commemorative coins and coins that are designed by geocachers and printed at their own expense.... So many to choose from but you can't become too attached to them because they unfortunately tend to disappear.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFBb_zLIYVLqX14TXHX2CxkxtjdHfh3fpFyUn9t77BvDJ3V4kg4jdoyrcF_tISO1_BiYhPpRRi0kH49lQZDfGKmO2i7nnWzYZ2XUIf5zQvdvFHIiVTZbDSyZoyO-poF1BOpVJfXx93wyBy/s1600/Dev+coin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFBb_zLIYVLqX14TXHX2CxkxtjdHfh3fpFyUn9t77BvDJ3V4kg4jdoyrcF_tISO1_BiYhPpRRi0kH49lQZDfGKmO2i7nnWzYZ2XUIf5zQvdvFHIiVTZbDSyZoyO-poF1BOpVJfXx93wyBy/s320/Dev+coin.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">One last thing to mention regarding the cache info page is that there's another map below the Attributes and the Inventory. It looks just like the map above it of the cache area, but when you click on this one, it's an entirely new tool! Let's say you hear about a cache you want to try out. You don't know anything about other caches in that area and instead of going to the Hide & Seek a cache page, just click on that second map on that cache's info page and what you get is all the caches in the area of that one cache! If you scroll out you get more coverage area, scroll in you get less. The names will appear when you mouse over them and are listed on the right. Click on them for more info and you can plan a day of geocaching around one cache! </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAFiLaSvSoTFe7Mov51hD-MOOE2PJT3pzMcpCQmPAO8splOvnV_UaMe8o5hT3EwbT-UPZptZ5FF5rgqDA2MS2xyyua9YdGXt-Y9zaoknVg63tJsHUpcUbU8ZdyMhktTweN6oQZoO9020J1/s1600/Google+Earth.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAFiLaSvSoTFe7Mov51hD-MOOE2PJT3pzMcpCQmPAO8splOvnV_UaMe8o5hT3EwbT-UPZptZ5FF5rgqDA2MS2xyyua9YdGXt-Y9zaoknVg63tJsHUpcUbU8ZdyMhktTweN6oQZoO9020J1/s320/Google+Earth.JPG" width="320" /></a>Now before you get off your butt and dust off that GPSr that's been shoved in some corner or has become an expensive paper weight, I'd like to suggest you do one more thing. Doing this doesn't cost a dime and it's actually very cool. If you don't have it already, download the free version of Google Earth. Copy and paste the coordinates from the cache info page into the text box under the words "Fly to", and, literally, you're flying to the cache sight. From this angle you can not only see the general hiding spot of the cache, but you can see where the road is compared to the spot, where you might park, how long the walk might be. It can answer a lot of questions for you that you don't have to wonder about as you're driving around the area. Google Earth also comes with a cool feature called Street View. If there is a camera icon near the cache site, click on it. You'll get a 360 degree view of that area and it might come in handy, or, when you're addiced to the sport as I am, you spend your free time doing cache reconnaissance!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Everyone does geocaching differently. I have met people who have thousands of finds and have been doing this since the sport was created ten years ago. We all approach it differently in preparation, equipment and attitude. The following is what I did on a recent cache hunt.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihaZA6NXFT6WrGqzZrIpNerMdk6_WV35P551Wr1FwMWIxOQRCbve7-dbD30RzcY8sIVZ-33vuTYooB8D2yBPfbB-vlbUT7tD1Pmks0xvWDEZfCX-hmBUL22qDbrw5RJ20c-FZ9Wk6ZoDJa/s1600/TomTom+One.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihaZA6NXFT6WrGqzZrIpNerMdk6_WV35P551Wr1FwMWIxOQRCbve7-dbD30RzcY8sIVZ-33vuTYooB8D2yBPfbB-vlbUT7tD1Pmks0xvWDEZfCX-hmBUL22qDbrw5RJ20c-FZ9Wk6ZoDJa/s320/TomTom+One.JPG" width="320" /></a>I use a Magellan Triton handheld GPSr. I can't download the cache info straight from the website, which is called paperless caching. What I do is copy the info I want in a separate program on my laptop called VantagePoint that came with my GPSr. From there I sync it with my handheld and I'm ready to go! I have quite a few cache coords in my unit already. If I have time to kill when I'm out and about, I turn on my handheld which I call Ferdie because the unit is named after Ferdinand Megellan. Once I have the coords, I enter them into Richard, my TomTom One which is pictured to the right, and I'm on my way! Tim surprised me with my car GPS about two years ago, right before the boys and I headed off to Southern Ohio to meet my family for a long weekend. It was while researching my TomTom online that I came across geocaching. This is the view of Richard, who gets his name from the factory installed voice I prefer to use, inside my van while still in my driveway. The arrow is the direction he wants me to go and the .50 is the distance. He's a little confused as I'm in my driveway and not on a road. The 4:02 is my estimated arrival time at my destination, the 4.3 is the miles to my destination. Hobart Rd. is the name of the road I'm on. The varying sized squares is the satellite signal strength and the 3:42 is the current time. The name at the top of the screen is the next road I'll turn on, oh, and the little blue spot above the directional arrow on the left is a compass.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Based on the cache information page and it being only a few miles away from my house, I know the general area so I don't bother looking at the location via Google Earth. I follow Richard's directions and park. From past experience, I don't leave the house without doing the following:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><ul><li><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">wear long pants and tennis shoes</div></li>
<li><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">if I'm unfamiliar with the area, am by myself or plan on being gone for some time, I turn the GPS locator on in my phone and give Tim either a list of coords that I'll be at or the GC numbers </div></li>
<li><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">water to drink because a short hike often turns into a very long one!</div></li>
<li><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">don't forget the GPS. It's easy to do! LOL</div></li>
<li><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">a trash bag Be a sweetie and pick up garbage you see near the cache site. It also keeps curious eyes off you</div></li>
<li><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">my dog. Kit is my geodog. She goes with me almost every time. Walking her and letting her investigate bushes, trees and under boardwalks with me while I'm holding a garbage bag...how can I be suspicious? </div></li>
<li><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">a pen</div></li>
<li><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">tweezers for those tight logs</div></li>
<li><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">something to trade if you plan on taking anything out</div></li>
<li><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">don't lock your keys in the car and don't drop them in the woods, either</div></li>
<li><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">create a Waypoint in your GPS of where you parked your car</div></li>
</ul><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">If the cache info page has parking coordinates, park there. If not, make sure you park using common sense. Once out of your vehicle, before you even look at your GPS, look around. See how many muggles are nearby, especially teenagers. If there are too many, especially in the area of the hide, don't risk it. You were once a teenager. You remember how curious, and admit it, how disrespectful you were at some point. If you can't find the cache without somebody wondering what you're up to, then come back another time. Don't try to be sneaky because that will attract attention. Use some stealth, some confidence and if you are approached by someone, gage them before admitting what you're doing. Some people are honestly curious, some aren't. You can usually tell by talking to them. If you're ever approached by a police officer, be honest. If you're not, you could be getting yourself and the sport of geocaching in trouble.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjLloc28VgYZWWL4oqX-H-Qi605wM8HsUn_VoyVby33V8z3hoI_Cw1QHAWbNiMzddHXKkAihiIhNmvmq1_IuZW1AfdjE_B3vKdZBMBXSWyTd4kFtuZdn6hGneEef4ddjK0_RsZLHE6k7Vd/s1600/Magellan+Handheld.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjLloc28VgYZWWL4oqX-H-Qi605wM8HsUn_VoyVby33V8z3hoI_Cw1QHAWbNiMzddHXKkAihiIhNmvmq1_IuZW1AfdjE_B3vKdZBMBXSWyTd4kFtuZdn6hGneEef4ddjK0_RsZLHE6k7Vd/s320/Magellan+Handheld.JPG" width="216" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div>Once I determine the general area of the cache and if it's a go or not, it's off the the hide I go! Ferdie pictured to the left is much more user friendly, in my opinion, than the Garmin. I used a friend's Garmin while my Magellan was sent in for some work and although Magellan customer service was next to non existent, their handheld are easier to follow on this screen than watching an arrow spin on the Garmin unit. The arrow is me and all you need to do is get the point of that arrow heading toward the flag icon, which represents the cache. I am zoomed out to 300 feet, so the cache is about 250 feet from where I parked my van. As I get closer I zoom in more and when I have my arrow on top of the icon, I put it in my pocket and use my eyeballs and my geosense. As you find some and miss some, you'll fine tune your own geosense. This particular hide was about 100 feet off a trail. If there is a trail, use it! Don't go bushwacking to get to the cache. Stay on the trail, even if it goes around and all over, until you're close to the cache, then step off the trail. The cache info pages are usually pretty good about saying if there's a trail or not.<br />
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Always when in the woods, look out for little critters scurrying around, spider webs you might walk into, and those poisonous plants! "Leaves of three? Let them be!" I don't know all the plants related to poison ivy, so I don't go into the woods anymore without pants and closed toe shoes on. Glance at your GPSr now and then, but don't stare at it. I don't want you walking into a tree or falling off a cliff. Always keep an eye out for muggles and when you make the find, no whooping or hollering. If there are muggles around, take the container away from it's hiding spot so if you are seen and someone is curious, they won't know exactly where to look. If it's raining, try your best to keep the contents dry and if you take something out, put something back in! It's no fun at all to go to a cache with kids who have things to trade and find an empty cache or it's full of movie ticket stubs, rusty screws or a comb. This is a family friendly game, so please no matches, lighters, knives or anything of that nature. Also, don't leave behind any food, candy or gum. Raccoons have good noses and even better hands and they don't put the cache back together after they get the goodies out.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PpkYx6fZiEj0V7DMSdLey3atUIfkeKWK_nALX90k36uzEUcGZ9yPyDgNH-5ZC5dtNoMtvNeGVvqyasazZaVRnpm3Af578VeTtHB8WqyjYz6w1L2XQIc3DwVxqrJG5vZ2ogejfISU7BwB/s1600/Log+find.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PpkYx6fZiEj0V7DMSdLey3atUIfkeKWK_nALX90k36uzEUcGZ9yPyDgNH-5ZC5dtNoMtvNeGVvqyasazZaVRnpm3Af578VeTtHB8WqyjYz6w1L2XQIc3DwVxqrJG5vZ2ogejfISU7BwB/s320/Log+find.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>There are some interesting caches out there. This is the one I found the day I took the picture of Ferdie above. Geocaching rules say you can't bury a cache, but this one is acceptable and people bend the rules anyway. The CO partially buried a PVC pipe in the ground and hollowed out a log and made that the top of his geocache. What you see in the lid there is a notice saying that this is a geocache and inside the tube is a plastic bag that holds the log book, a pen and some tradeable items. This isn't your typical cache find. Most hides are just Tupperware or Lock n Lock containers covered in camo paint or spray painted and hidden under downed trees or in stumps. Not too many are as creative as this and some are just annoying. One I did while in N.C. on vacation last week was just a red Folger's coffee can. It's location in a bush at the end of a dead end trail was the only way it wasn't being being mistaken for a piece of garbage. Some hides are memorable, some not so much, but no matter what the container or the junk you find inside is, always the drive there, the walk to it and often times the location of the cache itself makes it all worth while. <br />
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I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! I enjoyed writing it and am already looking forward to my next search for Tupperware in the woods!Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-32045777078455482082010-03-14T12:11:00.001-07:002010-03-14T13:15:00.687-07:00It's raining, but I had to go!It's been a very long time since I shared a caching adventure with you all. I have found quite a few since my last post back in June, but I didn't take the time to write them up. Spring is almost here and this weekend, although it poured all day yesterday and is still raining today, I decided to go for a newly published cache in the town I visit most often. Kit is my geodog, so she came along and Hunter, who is supposed to be the Son part of this Mom and Son Geocaching Team, has no interest in the drive, walk or search for the treasure. He just wants the treasure.<br /><br />Usually, when I tell Kit to got outside and it's rainy, she absolutely refuses until I force her stubby tailed tush out the door. But when she saw me pull out her coat and her walking harness, she couldn't get out the door fast enough. First we traveled to our local Wal-Mart to get new batteries as I hadn't used my handheld Magellan Triton since November. With new batteries inserted and the waterproof back screwed on nice and snug, I entered the parking coordinates that would bring me close to the cache into Richard (my TomTom in case you've forgotten) and off we went.<br /><br />Just a few short days ago it was sunny and a wonderful 63 degrees, but no more! The temperature was just above 40 as I clipped Kit's leash on her and grabbed my umbrella. Since this cache was listed as a micro and I didn't have a long walk, I left my geogear bag behind. With me I carried my GPS on a lanyard under the front my jacket, my phone in an outside pocket, a pen, a doggie poop bag and Kit's leash. My 11 pound dog didn't care one bit that it was raining. She led the way, pausing for a few sniffs here and there, as we casually walked along the sidewalk.<br /><br />I hadn't been down that road in some time. The only thing along it is a subdivision of cookie cutter houses with no apparent privacy in between. Before reaching the first drive that lead between the rows of houses, I came to a pavilion at the front of a wide open field. Having scouted out this cache using Google Earth already, I knew the hide would be found inside the treeline at the other end of the field, almost directly across from the pavilion. I released Kit from her lead, but she didn't wander too far ahead and seemed to be thinking that this wet and muddy ground wasn't going to be all that fun. I squished along behind the muddy water she was kicking up, angling myself in line with the arrow on my GPS. Once in the trees Kit forgot about the mud and became all nose and speed, covering one side and then the other by the time I spotted the tree I would have chosen had I been the one to hide this cache.<br /><br />There were only a few older trees in this strip of woods, all dark and somewhat diseased looking in the rain. The one I had focused on actually split into two trunks about four feet off the ground. My plan was to make my way around the tree where there was less undergrowth and look in the split for a micro sized cache, but as I came around the side of the tree, I spotted a hole in one of the separate trunks and just outside that hole was a grey and black string looped over a piece of bark. I knew I had found it even before I pulled out the camouflaged taped capsule. This one was on the larger size for a micro, about as wide around as the body of a water bottle, but only half as tall. It is considered a micro, however, for the lack of space inside for tradeable items. I screwed off the top, I pulled out the rolled log book in its small plastic bag and signed my find with my geocaching.com username, The Cache Checkers. Then I sealed the bag and screwed the top back on nice and snug. I slid the tube back into the hole and made sure the string was still secured in place. All the while, Kit was running all over, racing to see how many wonderful smells she could find before I called her back over. I had left my umbrella back behind a tree when I first came to the search area. Even though there were no leaves on the branches, I wasn't getting too wet from the rain. I pulled my hood up over my head and walked along a path deeper into the trees while Kit took the lead. She's no scout! If she saw something ahead, she'd start barking like crazy at the same time as she ran back to me!<br /><br />I noticed when I first started walking across the open field some interesting metal contraptions with bright yellow tops in the distance. Now I was in an area free of trees with Kit and spotted some more. I thought maybe they were the skeletons for seasonal trash containers, but without the bags hanging down. As I got closer though, there were loose, small linked, thin metal chains inside the yellow loop at the top that ran to the bottom where there was a hard, wide spaced matching basket and each had a number. I didn't realize what these were all about until Kit and I made it back across the field and saw a sign outside the pavilion that told us how to play Frisbee Golf.<br /><br />Once back on the leash and heading toward the van, Kit felt every drop of rain. Of course she was shivering, she's always shivering, but her ears were flat and her head hung low. Every time I stopped or slowed down, she looked back and me, squinting against the drops, with a look that told me she was thinking of her padded bed back on a seat in my van. This spoiled dog also has a blanket there, waiting for her to bury herself underneath. <br /><br />I thought about going for another cache, but as my partner was looking pretty sad and my fingers were cold, we headed home and I'm already looking forward to getting out again. No more snow!<br /><br />I didn't take any pictures of this adventure. I'd like to say it was because of the rain, but it's actually because I forgot my camera.Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-45335603400553253442009-05-31T11:32:00.000-07:002009-06-05T12:54:42.676-07:00Disappointed.I did something this morning I only get every few weekends - I went out on my own! My husband thought he was sooo funny by telling me I could start at 6:00 AM and be back before our boys woke up. I was out the door by 9:00 and the first place I went to was Home Depot to get salt for our water softner. Then I did Dunkin' Doughnuts drive thru for some much needed wake you up caffeine and a muffin. I parked in a vacant spot and while I inhaled the delicious fresh air that came in one van window and out the other, I looked up the nearest cache in my handheld and turned on Richard.<br /><br /><div align="left">Just .04 of a mile down the road is a dead end street I pass by every time I come to this particular city. The mall we frequent with the soft indoor park, McDonald's and the big play land and the movie theatre we attend is here. Each of those destinations is past this no thru way, but this morning I waited for the traffic to pass and coasted down the quiet, shady street to the very end.</div><div align="left"><br />The cache information page said there was a two track at the end of this street and that I would take it for about a ten minute walk before I went off the trail about twenty feet. I was warned about getting muddy and being attacked by mosquito's and that some bushwacking might be necessary. I had brought Kit with me because you look less suspicious walking a dog and she eagerly took off and followed my gesture to the two track. </div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">It was obvious the two track hadn't been used yet this season. I could see the brown dirt and stones among the weeds. As I followed my eager canine off the road, the trail was gone in just a few feet. From right to left I looked for the trail and saw nothing but weeds and trees. The arrow pointed the same way Kit was investigating, like both she and my GPS knew where to go and I was blind. But look at these pictures. Can YOU see a trail??<br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342064553841042626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 142px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhz0BC3yCOToaolLeW1CISBQ_L_5z0M4WXtV-mJtuqUA5Rq34aCwabCB6bThTL8vN6is97oGjc09VZ-LuWChzGJ6fUvmmj6SFj5jhD3vSX0Y_oGhv0c4brVfl685V-V4f2X3MJtqPkdNsV/s320/Didn't+attempt+cache+1.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="left">(Sorry, made the image smaller than planned and deleted the originals.) </p><p align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3w1FhWt5vhAjDOoZLuPuX2jhGJfJNiRhjI5POTyrB9sZj5btSNdHeKTS2oCk1YF_u82N9FqrIstPCaMkfeDnPzspjJq-oos1YBWzNpz1CXT6YGmNIRPj0eABCFvPV9dpQ4R_FW_r1Wym/s1600-h/Didn't+attempt+cache+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342180926441837458" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3w1FhWt5vhAjDOoZLuPuX2jhGJfJNiRhjI5POTyrB9sZj5btSNdHeKTS2oCk1YF_u82N9FqrIstPCaMkfeDnPzspjJq-oos1YBWzNpz1CXT6YGmNIRPj0eABCFvPV9dpQ4R_FW_r1Wym/s320/Didn't+attempt+cache+2.jpg" border="0" /></a>Before I took those pictures, I actually attempted to follow that little arrow into tick city, but it was a steep slope one way and thick with brush another. I was very confused and wondered if I had saved the wrong coordinates. I let Kit run around for a few minutes longer, but I wasn't going another step further without knowing for sure this was where I needed to be. I used Google Earth and saved a screen shot of the area and thought I knew where I was going. It didn't look like there was another road into those woods, but I was looking at it from an astronaut's view!</p><p align="left">Kit was the only one that had any real fun, but it was short lived. She showed her unhappiness with our early departure by walking through a mud puddle, which wasn't in her direct path back to the van, and then jumping onto my seat. I'm convinced I even saw her little paw do a slight twist to really grind that mud into my seat!</p><p align="left"></p><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXyRODjF8-T-VO4E1L1iL2hwpHIKErdDqG8OrdBVU0f7JOKE9YoFSNnuZaDtsyPSXNxTYgVrvekQhtgL0iU97BYz72z2JSVB9hqqFjCA6ZFFqbt7fiY-uABMwzkcZeNtKUS-W7_biZSASq/s1600-h/Cemetary+cache+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343917797489033442" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXyRODjF8-T-VO4E1L1iL2hwpHIKErdDqG8OrdBVU0f7JOKE9YoFSNnuZaDtsyPSXNxTYgVrvekQhtgL0iU97BYz72z2JSVB9hqqFjCA6ZFFqbt7fiY-uABMwzkcZeNtKUS-W7_biZSASq/s320/Cemetary+cache+1.jpg" border="0" /></a>The other cache I was going to attempt was at a beautiful cemetery. I admit I was a bit concerned about the neighborhood I was driving in. Six miles from where I usually go, this was a part of the city that I try not to venture in. But with two miles left before Richard told me I had reached my destination, the road became less pot-holed and faded and represented a neighborhood I felt more comfortable in. No offense to anyone, just my thoughts. I should have taken more pictures instead of just this one, a distance shot of the tree line of where I was headed. I'm guessing there must be a rule at these grounds that no artificial flowers be used. As I parked my van on the side of the circular drive, I saw blooms of all types of flowers by many of the gravestones. One grave marker was being replaced by the biggest hosta I had ever seen! When I stepped out of the van and turned into the wind, the aroma of all those flowers made me go, Hmmmm. </p><p></p><p>I still had Kit with me but kept her inside the van. Many people go back and forth with cemetery caches. Some absolutely refuse to do them, saying these places are not for any kind of game. Reading through the Internet log about this cache, there were many log entries about being approached by the police. Apparently, the cache owner made a big mistake when he published his hide. Instead of saying this cache was available dawn to dusk, he typed it as dusk to dawn. That mistake was the cause of people getting in trouble by being in a cemetery after the sun set.<br /><br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJPTcBB1yWtRFFq3Mgm1dwuRZqercfL4NRIXgGlaQhjMnwXXK7uIFpPVWYgEBUhygtErOIWpIykHVfkPf20uKh2-Pwc1DDn6Q5Mynt1fWbNct0F3mQ9qZL3-GS2-TxcYGj-5L8kfNSdP_A/s1600-h/Cemetary+cache+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343918844168559474" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJPTcBB1yWtRFFq3Mgm1dwuRZqercfL4NRIXgGlaQhjMnwXXK7uIFpPVWYgEBUhygtErOIWpIykHVfkPf20uKh2-Pwc1DDn6Q5Mynt1fWbNct0F3mQ9qZL3-GS2-TxcYGj-5L8kfNSdP_A/s320/Cemetary+cache+2.jpg" border="0" /></a>I think I can say I have the caching eye now. My cache count is at 39 since I began in November. I'm proud of that number, although I knew there are many more die hards out there than me. I started to get Hunter out there enjoying Mother Nature and often have my 3 1/2 year old and two year old with me!</p><p>So, I'm confident I can spot the hiding place without having to search too long. Before I even approached the tree line, I pocketed my GPS and zeroed in on this tree to the right. Stated in the information for this cache was, Children friendly. As I reviewed this line in my GPS before arriving, I felt bad that I didn't have any of my boys with me. I decided to leave two things in there and take two out and give them to Hunter and Devin later. But then I was standing in front of this tree and saw it surrounded in prickers and, was that poison ivy? Inside the area where the three trunks meet is a hole and down in the hole was the cache container. There was no way a child's arm could reach in there and I got myself a pretty good scratch for my effort. Then, after I avoided possible poison ivy, left traces of my blood on an enemy thorn, the darn thing was empty!</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOeAE2z__RXKCvRQ-J_5KBz-C0NdWLyO0F4v-gQa7_3r-7suBoc-zz9EpvhfL1bzy3rCQTWWJWVZJzOrdOxFo5TJKSN9ImP5rzmgKPHTOznPRdZ3OB3k0u2yg97WdOeK8GfS34-uV-OyGq/s1600-h/Cemetary+cache+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343923865817039074" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOeAE2z__RXKCvRQ-J_5KBz-C0NdWLyO0F4v-gQa7_3r-7suBoc-zz9EpvhfL1bzy3rCQTWWJWVZJzOrdOxFo5TJKSN9ImP5rzmgKPHTOznPRdZ3OB3k0u2yg97WdOeK8GfS34-uV-OyGq/s320/Cemetary+cache+3.jpg" border="0" /></a>When I got back home and logged my find I was surprised to see that this cache had only been posted in late April. It had only been out there in the word of Geocaching for a month and it was empty. Most likely someone saw it was full of good toys and took everything without leaving anything for the next kid to come along. I posted my experience in my log entry and received an email back from the cache owner a couple hours later. She apologized that there was nothing in there to trade and promised to have it re-stocked within the week. She didn't say anything about the prickers, possible poison ivy and the long reaching retrieval. Since I already claimed the find, I won't be returning. </p><p>The next day all of us went to Nelson Ledge's to score an Earth Cache. We found ourselves; Tim, Hunter, Devin, Bryce on his dad's back and I above where we needed to go and were pointed in the right direction to find how to get there, but take a look at this picture.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343929644524597442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJFpJcv5h-2OyNi61F3Nw46c1SHfaajLgVBY-3DOHdt47TNV4abXx7GB8AE-rwAn5_dFEkic85aV2T_FBfS-V5j61BxTvK1e4GrdibHNEw1IZmjxN0DLxocDbxNbper16Ux7WvrEqTZpsG/s320/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+8.jpg" border="0" /> If you can't tell, waaaay down there, I'm guessing 50 feet at least, is where we needed to be. There are actually people in this picture, walking in a small amount of water, on their way to the Ice Box, as this earth cache is called. <p>The next time I attempt this find, I won't be bringing children with me! Here are pictures of my husband and the boys there. I'll save the rest to share when I actually find the cache.</p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ2gZlXpNtSZYeyZkouoKwZtfaK_FeOJlYvPtSfI6l0xOO9KLzT5AKm1PO0d3WY39uZ5WikecNjzSH4rO6LELo6PYlUpUztNo9cTeSszNHEojyheZ5VaAa4Wjt-KBtD_1OfkThMVljupau/s1600-h/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343931010512245042" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ2gZlXpNtSZYeyZkouoKwZtfaK_FeOJlYvPtSfI6l0xOO9KLzT5AKm1PO0d3WY39uZ5WikecNjzSH4rO6LELo6PYlUpUztNo9cTeSszNHEojyheZ5VaAa4Wjt-KBtD_1OfkThMVljupau/s320/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+1.jpg" border="0" /></a> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4SNMOvi7fQZAFtrQv4to034g2ob96wu7D7D-l58yuETgfYqb5Ti3ZO7Q54cIXZi0aqz6o89dgGPH6gs6yPSPyNicTKXnIP80Rfre1uwzg8Re5NEqzNpFgDnIjLgrb3fMOsM6NZJKvkeqF/s1600-h/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343931230060258306" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4SNMOvi7fQZAFtrQv4to034g2ob96wu7D7D-l58yuETgfYqb5Ti3ZO7Q54cIXZi0aqz6o89dgGPH6gs6yPSPyNicTKXnIP80Rfre1uwzg8Re5NEqzNpFgDnIjLgrb3fMOsM6NZJKvkeqF/s320/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+2.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><p></p><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_aWrCdeLJMDpoceVkiS92zOeyERz9mn3JLpLXbcccwuLh78iio4w-cuJf9dhNC6FdKnDiy0UFI4Pw_ndM8yrGrlR7Qx1dTNmQ3MhPXhEsog-zef-hE7SGh_qYsIYi7kRnt28DMIbDBP7U/s1600-h/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343931426031256930" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_aWrCdeLJMDpoceVkiS92zOeyERz9mn3JLpLXbcccwuLh78iio4w-cuJf9dhNC6FdKnDiy0UFI4Pw_ndM8yrGrlR7Qx1dTNmQ3MhPXhEsog-zef-hE7SGh_qYsIYi7kRnt28DMIbDBP7U/s320/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+3.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvMad7oLL5CbEx9cCkSB09ldBFa3q6NdRDzxdljnbjiG_9jiaZ_R54q69HEXA1xJHRfrj9pWJsKmtKMfGArnJFhKjsXiNzA6q1Rpm0OfodolOrRYVwq0ziAf7yyBtENRKyosxZiDqtyYp0/s1600-h/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343931576228489746" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvMad7oLL5CbEx9cCkSB09ldBFa3q6NdRDzxdljnbjiG_9jiaZ_R54q69HEXA1xJHRfrj9pWJsKmtKMfGArnJFhKjsXiNzA6q1Rpm0OfodolOrRYVwq0ziAf7yyBtENRKyosxZiDqtyYp0/s320/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+4.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicqExOwAN9N8zQZ9MWRUJnSqA1Gc3iehUoDU-ZJhxgtXMJH4gs1eUhD1qVhLGUMA1ArUgFExnGY03EH8UCPuNqtqSZhI9w12XEu3vb7UVvyHSal2Um53geLbNypuPpoZTNTOMoPW6xHXsA/s1600-h/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343931791300206178" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicqExOwAN9N8zQZ9MWRUJnSqA1Gc3iehUoDU-ZJhxgtXMJH4gs1eUhD1qVhLGUMA1ArUgFExnGY03EH8UCPuNqtqSZhI9w12XEu3vb7UVvyHSal2Um53geLbNypuPpoZTNTOMoPW6xHXsA/s320/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+5.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvCtZ3j1DKzHf8U3WhytwnnpOwXlQti4fP2wyukm3RgFPMwV-3468ptCU-SsGZG00Dxd1Fh2JThhr-zRUq_yfU8toLIlGMGDjIdrNvfXqPnlHKedTEdmHoMIrVkA0-soDAXKh3-TbTGfwJ/s1600-h/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+6.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343931971261588226" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvCtZ3j1DKzHf8U3WhytwnnpOwXlQti4fP2wyukm3RgFPMwV-3468ptCU-SsGZG00Dxd1Fh2JThhr-zRUq_yfU8toLIlGMGDjIdrNvfXqPnlHKedTEdmHoMIrVkA0-soDAXKh3-TbTGfwJ/s320/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+6.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9lkec-f0wq7cbj0nf1rw7QEhm8OoCuLwrUqEKx2R5mhsNgYVMTaBBayM01XanEJquC0gkBG_ODJMff8tlOo19ER0fJRxh5CnBOA07nGOhQEieMDyHhk08RIWDtlm9UbZ_x3mRxoS-B2fD/s1600-h/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+7.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343932112715679186" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9lkec-f0wq7cbj0nf1rw7QEhm8OoCuLwrUqEKx2R5mhsNgYVMTaBBayM01XanEJquC0gkBG_ODJMff8tlOo19ER0fJRxh5CnBOA07nGOhQEieMDyHhk08RIWDtlm9UbZ_x3mRxoS-B2fD/s320/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+7.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3XAQK6d_6hVyS91WsMC-yN6s03fWaMde-yHaoWIlkSJXBE0WWkhyEAnKyWxmqrnbiGvSutHqRJlDVl5ghaGBjRGHORc0kUcYoc0Ol6icmKOHBdUAWnNQqi1tVkm9vbqFvzhkqIzQ_QNKR/s1600-h/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+9.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343932287760008082" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3XAQK6d_6hVyS91WsMC-yN6s03fWaMde-yHaoWIlkSJXBE0WWkhyEAnKyWxmqrnbiGvSutHqRJlDVl5ghaGBjRGHORc0kUcYoc0Ol6icmKOHBdUAWnNQqi1tVkm9vbqFvzhkqIzQ_QNKR/s320/NL+Earth+Cache+with+dad+9.jpg" border="0" /></a></p>Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-63851825491254879702009-05-08T04:03:00.000-07:002009-05-11T19:48:29.275-07:00Spring Break 2009 in Michigan!!Although the snow had gone and the water it left behind has been soaked up and returned to the clouds here in NE Ohio, as my boys and I headed north to my hometown for Hunter's Spring Break Friday, April 10, we knew that the cold white stuff, which Hunter calls the S word, was still clinging to the ground in many places. I hoped Hunter and I would be able to get away and do some geocaching and I was very happy in the end with how many times we were able to do so, with more people than just us and our dog.<br /><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>The first time we got out was Saturday morning with my mother in law. Linda wrote an article in my hometown's local paper about this high-tech hobby and was looking forward to going with Hunter and I. My sister Tiffany joined us as well. She surprised me with her arrival not long after I stretched my legs from the long drive. To read more about that, please see <a href="http://ontopofmtlaundry.blogspot.com/">On Top of Mt. Laundry. </a></div><div> </div><div></div><div>The first one I entered into Richard was at a local park and down a wooded path I didn't even knew existed there. Even though I grew up in this town, participated in 4-H events and played school softball in that same park, I never noticed the unmarked path behind the rectangular building at the back of the parking lot. After having been on this path now, I'm not sure I want it marked! It was an enjoyable walk with beautiful scenery...I don't think I want to share it with the tourists that travel here like lost bears to sweet honey.</div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIw4TKAjBc8Q7IOSi_zG_8kKWO9c2YDuUyXBesFKTDnrufFMHqMfatADhSowathpIWjFzrt55ibOhJJWaw0NnzWi2l0yEMcPKQiwwBszzb5tBRiSQw1n3ZqCAMNY-QOyGcBRRNGm-dXK7R/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333410531640990370" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIw4TKAjBc8Q7IOSi_zG_8kKWO9c2YDuUyXBesFKTDnrufFMHqMfatADhSowathpIWjFzrt55ibOhJJWaw0NnzWi2l0yEMcPKQiwwBszzb5tBRiSQw1n3ZqCAMNY-QOyGcBRRNGm-dXK7R/s320/Spring+Break+2009+1.jpg" border="0" /></a>Here are three members of the family I love. Tiffany is on the left, Hunter happy in the middle, and Linda on the right. We also brought our dog Kit and Linda's English Setter, Cody. </div><div><br /></div><div>Behind us is the fenced area for the live stock and horse shows held during the annual Antrim County Fair held in August every year. I haven't attended that in such a long time.... </div><div></div><div></div><div>To the left of that fence is the building I mentioned and behind that, the beginning of the walking path that just melts into the woods, barely noticable. </div><div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAwT5eCvFOoTknQXEtyvjX380JaOgyTKoH2W404Gndj3AT9fkXTsC0yM85gEOjicIyuNPYD6QGKi4nQnUg86N-bA3Kvix9Y3U6zbQa6sdnLEJvhfHxWomVIXu8lGb6-CK_u-PXru0paqrF/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+7.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333412337852080642" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAwT5eCvFOoTknQXEtyvjX380JaOgyTKoH2W404Gndj3AT9fkXTsC0yM85gEOjicIyuNPYD6QGKi4nQnUg86N-bA3Kvix9Y3U6zbQa6sdnLEJvhfHxWomVIXu8lGb6-CK_u-PXru0paqrF/s320/Spring+Break+2009+7.jpg" border="0" /></a>I remember the day was a bit chilly, but the sun warm on our faces. We started down the path with Hunter in charge of the GPS, but he soon handed it off to me, saying he wanted to enjoy the walk (really, he wanted to stim with his comfort toy). That was OK with me, at least he was outside getting some fresh air and vitamin D. I offered my handheld to my MIL, holding it with care like it was a slippery bar of soap even though it was hanging around my neck on a secure lanyard (it it breaks, I'll go nuts!). She turned me down because she wouldn't be able to see the small symbols and icons. My sister had her own handheld, so together we led our small party while the dogs zoomed ahead, behind and all around. </div><div><br /> </div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDVd13OSaA-B7TeakFKejK-w7RDx2DVh0AIdqUL2T10cqeDDo-mkElUdpUQwT1l6waMNY5-_WcYs-SOtABPWmTUzTH1mQUlTlDK7c1x2IU2ruddiOeNbv7Tee7p6rus8LjljFqKP7QpQG/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333413750380883090" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDVd13OSaA-B7TeakFKejK-w7RDx2DVh0AIdqUL2T10cqeDDo-mkElUdpUQwT1l6waMNY5-_WcYs-SOtABPWmTUzTH1mQUlTlDK7c1x2IU2ruddiOeNbv7Tee7p6rus8LjljFqKP7QpQG/s320/Spring+Break+2009+5.jpg" border="0" /></a>The woods we walked through weren't really all that thick. The sun was often seen above us, but it was still shaded enough along our way to allow the snow to hang on here a little bit longer. I did take pictures of the informational signs that were placed at the edges of the path, but I always take way too many pictures and I don't have enough room to include them here. I suppose I could write more.... </div><div><br /></div><div>I remember one spoke of the different kinds of trees in these woods and another told us of the deer and their struggles to find food in the winter. Hunter read them all out loud to us as we paused for each one. </div><div><br /> </div><div></div><div>I don't remember how long it took us to meander our way across the snow. I do remember Hunter was in the lead, way ahead at one point, and walked onto another path that we had to call him back on because the GPS was telling us to go another way. </div><div><br /> </div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiEFJqnhTXYhSNthdCWDt_V2JB9KT3dJAQ83XEYMwKF2TB0MF-7bO2j1BQ6bFTMz61NUae4Eswe1rBxafd040VqfaB0_Q8odP4lhikdgMGL_1BGS8s3oEzjXqmTj0FvJt8k93OBAzrz4Fe/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+12.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333416379369557922" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiEFJqnhTXYhSNthdCWDt_V2JB9KT3dJAQ83XEYMwKF2TB0MF-7bO2j1BQ6bFTMz61NUae4Eswe1rBxafd040VqfaB0_Q8odP4lhikdgMGL_1BGS8s3oEzjXqmTj0FvJt8k93OBAzrz4Fe/s320/Spring+Break+2009+12.jpg" border="0" /></a>The walk was a peacful one with the occasional hollar of my MIL to bring her dog around. Kit rarely strays far away from us. The small tinkling of the tags hanging on her collar told us she was close even when we couldn't see her 10 pound mostly white body only inches above the ground. With her short hair and much lighter weight, she seemed fresh from the groomers compared to Cody, who's beautiful long coat was hightlighed in mud and his back was even wet from his rolling fun in the snow. </div><div><br /></div><div>We eventually arrived at a little creek that curved away from the path with a relaxing splashing and bubbling sound. Positioned perfectly was a weathered bench where Hunter rested his legs and Kit joined him after dipping her tongue in the cold creek. </div><div><br /> </div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrBhavpiKy0va7_tSnwwhYNr0MEva18uny8hXRh0brXhe2gbYmgvBYDWZdqKQYN913ljloZ8bDTKwuWdDDQICSCDKeWJxMccb7vPerkO0Z39jCy-eQ1rlxQbI8f63KUtWgc-0mUt_TvJQT/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+13.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333422280406973906" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrBhavpiKy0va7_tSnwwhYNr0MEva18uny8hXRh0brXhe2gbYmgvBYDWZdqKQYN913ljloZ8bDTKwuWdDDQICSCDKeWJxMccb7vPerkO0Z39jCy-eQ1rlxQbI8f63KUtWgc-0mUt_TvJQT/s320/Spring+Break+2009+13.jpg" border="0" /></a>We knew the cache was here somewhere. Our GPS's were telling us we were very close, but as we looked and wandered, we weren't finding it. I looked up the hint in my unit and, altough I don't recall it completely now, I remember it was about a stump. We looked around and saw many stumps, but the fun thing about geocaching is, that if you do it right, something that is unnatural will stick out like a black sheep among all the white if you know what you're looking for. Sometimes it's a small pile of rocks. Mother Nature doesn't often put a rock directly on top of another. She doesn't usually make a small teepee shape out of broken branches, and she definatley doesn't stick a pine bough into the top of a tree stump! </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pQPVJQ0EZLKmMyg2qOajS2Mxc9f_w8v4ApWlapaBtjhWaeEsDxgfnjfH-8cfa1th1hSRcjeto6itbv_5xXYN-CciYi8yClyMzX_zQSXAAk_V2e1NVtgPCHzUqG5yAsACU4MOPlapefDg/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+9.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333423812125805314" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pQPVJQ0EZLKmMyg2qOajS2Mxc9f_w8v4ApWlapaBtjhWaeEsDxgfnjfH-8cfa1th1hSRcjeto6itbv_5xXYN-CciYi8yClyMzX_zQSXAAk_V2e1NVtgPCHzUqG5yAsACU4MOPlapefDg/s320/Spring+Break+2009+9.jpg" border="0" /></a>Hunter has a serious case of tunnel vision. He was right on top of it many times without seeing what was unnatural in the environment. His aunt and I had to play the hot and cold game to get him close. Then he saw it and was all smiles when he pulled from the shallow depths a camoflauged box.</div><div><br /></div><div>We had missed it the first time because there were a lot of stumps to hide that size of a container. The stump it was in was right on the water line. We walked by it many times and Tiffany said this hide was the first one that her GPS didn't lead her exactly to. My GPS was off by about five feet or so. The margin of error can be up to 30 feet, depending on the weather and tree coverage. </div><div><br /></div><div>As usual, there wasn't anything inside to get too excited about, except in Hunter's opinion. Any small item he can grab is great for him. Whatever amount we took out, we put back in from our purple velvet bag of geogoodies (we recycled the bag from my hubby's Crown whiskey)! Hunter closed the container and locked it back up. I double checked it to make sure it was water tight and watched Hunter as he tucked it back into the stump. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Rx4ma4FvpjieAMaSkBAJdlIum1jfFkVPmfowwmwulqomM2Csd1D2Avmf1fvAiPee3w_eIy6ZATA381Zhk_8JMd6tsG6rNSnjXO4XSmGf4cUHC8ihwII6lAf3a-JMB5h5R3HXMxi7eej4/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+6.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333425368957918994" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Rx4ma4FvpjieAMaSkBAJdlIum1jfFkVPmfowwmwulqomM2Csd1D2Avmf1fvAiPee3w_eIy6ZATA381Zhk_8JMd6tsG6rNSnjXO4XSmGf4cUHC8ihwII6lAf3a-JMB5h5R3HXMxi7eej4/s320/Spring+Break+2009+6.jpg" border="0" /></a>The return walk was just as enjoyable as the one there. We took our time with even Hunter leading in a more leisurly way. I could hear him laughing at the antics of Kit and Cody as they disappeared and returned in a large circle around us. Eventually though we had to reel them in as we got closer to the parking lot. If there had been other people on the path, our canine friends would have been on a leash. When no one is around though, let them run free. Both dogs know commands and even if my Miss Priss doesn't want to, she will obey. Once back to the vehicle, we entered into Richard the next coordinates, and we were off for one hunt more with Grandma and Aunt Tiffany! </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9dPt68PFkGK5BCzguE2Knz7KoKIEQnFLms6iUnk0-yZwYUwKquPhKIIqTSUlRXZwcFH6Z-QoJSkkH_ubOGiFdtvLltlvTAoLISsXnJu9Fuwrt-ol5IQVDOpBFg1HnkqWfBcSFA_kRsBSL/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+17.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333430491718511602" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9dPt68PFkGK5BCzguE2Knz7KoKIEQnFLms6iUnk0-yZwYUwKquPhKIIqTSUlRXZwcFH6Z-QoJSkkH_ubOGiFdtvLltlvTAoLISsXnJu9Fuwrt-ol5IQVDOpBFg1HnkqWfBcSFA_kRsBSL/s320/Spring+Break+2009+17.jpg" border="0" /></a>The path we took this time was very well known to me. Pronounced differently by locals and strangers alike, Richardi Park was my hang out of choice while growing up. I would often ride my bike there in a swimming suit to jump into the dirty colored water. (When you're a kid, you don't question why it looks the way it does!) I should have taken a picture of the swimming hole with the old railroad bridge, converted into a paved walking path. in the distance. Even up against the naked trees and dead land between winter and spring, it's a pretty sight. That's not where the cache was, so I didn't take the shot. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6e38ZfroZfJAeejGUPIJREbvE4xhkYZhdlpkIm2a4UpG_jq8sCv0SdLZGcacIb1zQAAyBSE2lQXmwLpRKWR8VEahWvS7KWiKnPpigajZ2HQKTMvPdnhEPwHeRXEVEDSW5d_xqYtO89Ppd/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+16.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333432285309790946" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6e38ZfroZfJAeejGUPIJREbvE4xhkYZhdlpkIm2a4UpG_jq8sCv0SdLZGcacIb1zQAAyBSE2lQXmwLpRKWR8VEahWvS7KWiKnPpigajZ2HQKTMvPdnhEPwHeRXEVEDSW5d_xqYtO89Ppd/s320/Spring+Break+2009+16.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div>The water of the swimming hole runs over to the side and down into the spillway. I fondly remember launching my inner tube among friends from the bank in the picture above. I'm not talking white water rapids here, but it was still a fun ride for laughing and shrieking girls. The river takes a bend and under the downtown bridge before another turn takes you under another bridge and past the marina my parents once owned. We never went that far because it was too long of a way to walk back! </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWmOCA8OlSo7kpg0rG9U0466d1X3ILOk9sjrhUXe4GoLQBji2zCvky5eLEBta0uoCHfbJrAGUcn9CI7mz84Ykm2d39OwO0YTf7TQp79JC7X6Qr4MKNtOWrPyY50cPEH2UJP8QBVxp2fJTm/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+20.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333434841724034674" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWmOCA8OlSo7kpg0rG9U0466d1X3ILOk9sjrhUXe4GoLQBji2zCvky5eLEBta0uoCHfbJrAGUcn9CI7mz84Ykm2d39OwO0YTf7TQp79JC7X6Qr4MKNtOWrPyY50cPEH2UJP8QBVxp2fJTm/s320/Spring+Break+2009+20.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div></div><div></div><div>My MIL and sister were talking together when I pause to take this picture. Hunter carried on in his own way. The path is open like this only near the spillway. Just beyond where Hunter walks is the woods, a smaller and not nearly as big area as where we had just come from that is only a good stones throw away from main street. From a bird's eye view, this patch of trees is just a small cirlce outlined by the river, the road and the park. </div><div><br /></div><div>This path wasn't nearly as long as the other and there was much more zig zagging and bridge crossing going on. I remember crossing over one of these bridges with a girlfriend of mine when I was barely a teen and a boy had hidden underneath to scare us. I remember he was more annoying than scarey. </div><div><br /> </div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNsatss-N3kmyLaEJNCbO6NboKcZrOaBWcvO8OL9I85g1-n9MiLSnIs8n_q8YYe6wlLio-_nYK50kcpX6f20pzBJhJ-FhL_4ychjhrW8Qwy0V7R5yOHnaPyc0j-rVbPSwpppeOr8kjEOtP/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+19.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333436324405816322" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNsatss-N3kmyLaEJNCbO6NboKcZrOaBWcvO8OL9I85g1-n9MiLSnIs8n_q8YYe6wlLio-_nYK50kcpX6f20pzBJhJ-FhL_4ychjhrW8Qwy0V7R5yOHnaPyc0j-rVbPSwpppeOr8kjEOtP/s320/Spring+Break+2009+19.jpg" border="0" /></a>This cache was named after the small inn that backs up against the river in our small town. I remember Stone Waters Inn used to be a big house where a classmate lived, but many years ago it was remodeled to care for some of the many visitors our area gets in the warmer months. They also probably see their fair share of snowmobilers when it's cold.</div><div><br /></div><div>Tiffany had actually found this cache during the Christmas holiday with her hubby. The terrain appeared different then and she was walking in front of me when I called a halt and said the cache was to the right. Just a few steps off the path we found a tree with a split down the middle; the perfect spot for a geocache! </div><div><br /> </div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi78pD4AKNYJN5AG4SCgr6EJ0zTDOr9GzXPaP2BKRANUtxhPmRimAcvukEfuY4waYDYn8y3spLDQLv7URYEca7s8PMMOxsQcdFelt-k-pL5ddvGRmYn_NNvhChwwh8HtuWn0vQtxxizSf7b/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+18.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333438147743147938" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi78pD4AKNYJN5AG4SCgr6EJ0zTDOr9GzXPaP2BKRANUtxhPmRimAcvukEfuY4waYDYn8y3spLDQLv7URYEca7s8PMMOxsQcdFelt-k-pL5ddvGRmYn_NNvhChwwh8HtuWn0vQtxxizSf7b/s320/Spring+Break+2009+18.jpg" border="0" /></a>Once again, Hunter wasn't paying attention to anything but his toys and whatever game or adventure was currently playing in his head. I called out to him to come check out this tree and he found the cache without delay. </div><div><br /></div><div>I remember there weren't any TB's or coins in there and whatever else there was wasn't memorable. Hunter handed me the log and I signed our name, not surprised to see the name penned in before mine was tifranta, my sister! Many geocachers don't go out looking for a plastic box in snow that, in some parts, can be as deep as you are tall! </div><div><br /></div><div>I know Hunter and I had a good time and I think the feeling was the same all around. My MIL was already looking forward to our return and doing this again, hoping that some of the finds we make are ones she puts out for her grandkids herself. </div><div><br /> </div><div>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </div><div></div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnRIySJfnpQcQSczES_4MToIFKQY19EImG5WYyTAfSUg4OFtDV2yfOCurEFUFox72vvA2j1V1SGNvT-rRDdrh8izgSEUfZ7Kt9KplGiZSVAB3UC5Evu1orcW7QWbn0oFN_m5fGQkFe47uw/s1600-h/Spring+Break+TC+4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334655539762838306" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnRIySJfnpQcQSczES_4MToIFKQY19EImG5WYyTAfSUg4OFtDV2yfOCurEFUFox72vvA2j1V1SGNvT-rRDdrh8izgSEUfZ7Kt9KplGiZSVAB3UC5Evu1orcW7QWbn0oFN_m5fGQkFe47uw/s320/Spring+Break+TC+4.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div>During a shopping trip to Travese City, my boys and I were joined by their Grandma M. If I'm remebering right, this hunt was her first of actually participating. We had tried another during the winter, but she stayed with the sleds and the smaller kids on the path while we had gone into the woods. Maybe if she had come with us, our luck would have been better that day! We'll be trying for that one again this summer. That's next month! Oh, my gosh!!<br /></div><div></div><div>So, after we got done shopping, we headed to Kids Creek Preserve, which is hidden behind a Kohl's department store. Out of sight behind the store and in-between a service road and a parking lot is a nicely maintained stone path. After seeing this rocky way I decided not to pull out the stroller for Bryce. I no longer use my sling because he's gotten so big and wiggly. :( </div><div><br /> </div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9aFginNeh4qQtHc6rWqE4PSSr4GUGFn0H5PKAO97qSGBxOA23geYoXyAfBiQXyksW4Z3Yhr9klh2aiKzsopSB7nPHADQcUJcQy_RK7Mth693R5sR9i4W9yk7h4o8zHjnGSRJfBdDOjV4N/s1600-h/Spring+Break+TC+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333444918447625058" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9aFginNeh4qQtHc6rWqE4PSSr4GUGFn0H5PKAO97qSGBxOA23geYoXyAfBiQXyksW4Z3Yhr9klh2aiKzsopSB7nPHADQcUJcQy_RK7Mth693R5sR9i4W9yk7h4o8zHjnGSRJfBdDOjV4N/s320/Spring+Break+TC+3.jpg" border="0" /></a>The path soon turned from stones to a board walk with one bridge at each end taking us across a small trickling stream, Kids Creek. I wondered how many people even knew this was here? I only know now because I let my GPS lead me to places unknown, another great thing about geocaching! :) No one else was around so I let Kit and Bryce run free, keeping more of an eye on B than the dog! I really liked how the wood path had raised edges. It acted like a short containment wall that kept Bryce within its border, even when the boardwalk was level with the ground. </div><div><br /></div><div>Devin also ran free, listening to the hollow thumping of his shoes on the wood. He saw me carrying Kit's leash and asked if he could walk her. I let Kit run free a little bit longer and then brought her in and clicked on the leash. Before starting off on the path we could see where the end came back around, so we were guessing it wasn't that long of a walk. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1tzc-PsHWlPfITa7b0VFKvUPbEm5dPBpoBez16za0hjraGW2kjEDMqBmSc3__bgxjw6Ka3IVLLi5JVRbwh0UBpZjhkU20LHQMgjwwjEZZjFLh6nFkETdbvq2x7kRARSmE5ZKdOOy-Vxnr/s1600-h/Spring+Break+TC+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333447606678960962" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1tzc-PsHWlPfITa7b0VFKvUPbEm5dPBpoBez16za0hjraGW2kjEDMqBmSc3__bgxjw6Ka3IVLLi5JVRbwh0UBpZjhkU20LHQMgjwwjEZZjFLh6nFkETdbvq2x7kRARSmE5ZKdOOy-Vxnr/s320/Spring+Break+TC+2.jpg" border="0" /></a>How many of you walk a toddler's pace? Try it some time. It made what would have been a ten minute walk for me one that was three times more enjoyable. Especially since I had my boys with me and got Kathy out there with us, too! </div><div><br /></div><div>I remember the day being a beautiful one and am remembering now that I'm telling you of this hunt that I'm putting the two I did with Kathy and all three boys before the other ones we did. We traveled to T.C. the day before my boys and I headed back to Ohio. The end of our week long stay was much nicer than the beginning. </div><div></div><div></div><div>I had the GPS around my neck and watched that little arrow head point us along the path. The stone path at the beginning or our walk was the only part that would have been a struggle with the stroller. But Bryce did a great job keeping on the path and he probably would have been demanding to be let out of the stroller the first time we stopped anyway. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuqE2DsHmIzgY9tgBKhvh2PpVrRd3Xfm1RVAbkSoD1kCN5WG3mHZFWhc-LJcy4MdY0uOWYECYMFCe2dCEAyGVolTuDiLRMNFzc-c8z8IA92D8H8ixkkMLpWCsYqZTQBpefON4Fs8stiM3/s1600-h/Spring+Break+TC+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333452391841949634" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuqE2DsHmIzgY9tgBKhvh2PpVrRd3Xfm1RVAbkSoD1kCN5WG3mHZFWhc-LJcy4MdY0uOWYECYMFCe2dCEAyGVolTuDiLRMNFzc-c8z8IA92D8H8ixkkMLpWCsYqZTQBpefON4Fs8stiM3/s320/Spring+Break+TC+1.jpg" border="0" /></a>As we stepped closer and closer we all seemed to draw together...well, except Bryce! I said that the cache was around this area and Kathy started looking in the obvious place, under the boardwalk. She moved a little bit further down and announced the good news of another find for us, but her first! The boys ran to her and together they opened an ammo box. This box was the first container of its kind that I have found. </div><div><br /></div><div>After signing the log and making the exchanges, Kath attempted to put it back where she found it, but I stopped her by emphatically whispering, Muggle! Those of us who could, assumed positions we thought looked normal for people just standing still in the middle of a walking path, until the woman on the cell phone passed by. Great work, guys! </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW2dUzqFDOigCV5ruxFI61mFGpvocgX0HmGTSoKroJ6QU6iuvLGr6zVFIvYkcgeQbDg0-VARwJ9uN95giCtdJ5tmTFy6llRIR4t8aNFrdzSwd1_7T55-bGVkiOxE9IQbfB4m6keSHsgmqV/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+26.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333473951937032258" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW2dUzqFDOigCV5ruxFI61mFGpvocgX0HmGTSoKroJ6QU6iuvLGr6zVFIvYkcgeQbDg0-VARwJ9uN95giCtdJ5tmTFy6llRIR4t8aNFrdzSwd1_7T55-bGVkiOxE9IQbfB4m6keSHsgmqV/s320/Spring+Break+2009+26.jpg" border="0" /></a>On another hunt, here's Kathy, ready with the handheld to attempt one more find! The Grass River Natural Area has this sentence on its' homepage, <em>Take it all in. Take a break, a class, a walk, a moment and visit</em>.... That sums it up perfectly. I was going to go on a whole speel about rivers, streams and creeks, the trails, boardwalks and elavated observation platforms, the wildlife above, below and in front of you, the endangered and beautiful plant life, all together in a five and a half mile stretch of gorgeous earth, most of which is easily accessible for strollers and wheelchairs. Phew! Wonderful place.</div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjILLxOkR-ijfukKwZefKrY4Ruqvsx8BDGJVSoH4LzcqC7HKbWs7f4pCFNE7EGnmA6TfBi-aa3PQc9PKiiu_kzJJswaBwym35mXyC3qoC3W0_w8iRadBjebubxgm6d_w68a_sGLzc9w8E4R/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+27.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333536864595357554" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjILLxOkR-ijfukKwZefKrY4Ruqvsx8BDGJVSoH4LzcqC7HKbWs7f4pCFNE7EGnmA6TfBi-aa3PQc9PKiiu_kzJJswaBwym35mXyC3qoC3W0_w8iRadBjebubxgm6d_w68a_sGLzc9w8E4R/s320/Spring+Break+2009+27.jpg" border="0" /></a>Joining us on this jaunt were two of my three boys and Aunt Jennifer. Jennifer went with my sister, my dad and I on a previous hunt I've written about, back when I was up there over the Christmas holiday. She brought her little dog Romeo that day. Neither her dog or mine came along on this trip though. I couldn't remember if dogs were allowed, so we left them back at the house. </div><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>This day was also later in the week, so the sun was warm and the sky clear, just a perfect oppurtunity to spend it outdoors! Another reason to start geocaching! :p </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkcKj3GJmgjhMZOsCk_flWSWk6I6LG4n0DR0fKEMedGb-9D30oEkxd6VcXGPDij5X3PxO0fi7IjVyvO_blELRWKnm14nZliAzrvvGr1YcAH2ruup0kEZShjJvQs-CBLv-raD8l7noBGgmU/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+24.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333578312357003394" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkcKj3GJmgjhMZOsCk_flWSWk6I6LG4n0DR0fKEMedGb-9D30oEkxd6VcXGPDij5X3PxO0fi7IjVyvO_blELRWKnm14nZliAzrvvGr1YcAH2ruup0kEZShjJvQs-CBLv-raD8l7noBGgmU/s320/Spring+Break+2009+24.jpg" border="0" /></a>The Grass River Natural Area is mostly under trees. It's a great place to be during the summer heat because there are more shaded areas then out in the sun. On the other hand, in the early spring, it's still mostly covered in snow! The parking lot and the beginning boardwalks were snow free, like in this picture, but as we walked deeper into the area, we felt like mountain goats, walking across a ledge on a mountain high above. Some piles of snow were at least as tall as Devn. Jennifer's left leg was gulped up once when she stepped off the path! </div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVkRyVKheoOHrKA_eQv1iujqCTa4EkBqUNxPv9Nepo9bzu7Y4RmrXQx4uSpGsD8R8nZgky2IVC7JENI0SEVCsph6RfSro7BNhJ6Oa0RdnstKBOxAAmmad8zw8ytqFi0XlL58FwmSqx8Uc4/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+21.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333586421199780642" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVkRyVKheoOHrKA_eQv1iujqCTa4EkBqUNxPv9Nepo9bzu7Y4RmrXQx4uSpGsD8R8nZgky2IVC7JENI0SEVCsph6RfSro7BNhJ6Oa0RdnstKBOxAAmmad8zw8ytqFi0XlL58FwmSqx8Uc4/s320/Spring+Break+2009+21.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div></div><div>I think Grandma was really getting into this geocaching thing. She took charge of that GPS like an old pro! Walking the wooded boardwalk and finding exactly where to be was a bit hard. With the tree cover and the interacting paths, it took awhile for us to decide which path to choose and then where to start looking. We knew it would be under a boardwalk; we didn't want to take any steps off the path, possibly destroying plant life or loosing a shoe in the muck we could see among the trees. Can you see the cache in the picture above? That one was well camoflauged and in a nice container, but tucked underneath a bench in the shade made it hard to see. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnp4mswynpKbz5ng7KzBejdgHLt0tuEP8EgSnICRyaIFhxE5xsrnp7pxFQtq426NWG5ehIc_6q47V2F1-jiyxAFJmG827sEWq_jJgRjMia09Pr1RZCYwrd1iUZTqTfQxFtY7GoF5ToHf5o/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+29.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334639669733588562" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnp4mswynpKbz5ng7KzBejdgHLt0tuEP8EgSnICRyaIFhxE5xsrnp7pxFQtq426NWG5ehIc_6q47V2F1-jiyxAFJmG827sEWq_jJgRjMia09Pr1RZCYwrd1iUZTqTfQxFtY7GoF5ToHf5o/s320/Spring+Break+2009+29.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div>The cache Dev is holding with his brother being his wonderful self behind him was one in the best shape I've seen. The box was a nice one that locked on all four sides and the camo tape was applied well. I don't know, but maybe the cache owner visits often to maintain it, but it was in great shape. I do remember this had a nature theme, or was supposed to anyway. There was nothing natural about the contents, but we left a couple of lizards behind. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZpJ5DL3KBfYgRrUUXc2J-19Q1YrNyGB90u5KmMdnp_-km-K_ZX2QWHl27onvPp-lL5tWWDWSw1pAyHdoceErPGe-3VimJPqEpjY2UQHE5bjARBPwQfjJCbeVkQVG0fJdkb5JmN7dcUMYu/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+23.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334640609117981794" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZpJ5DL3KBfYgRrUUXc2J-19Q1YrNyGB90u5KmMdnp_-km-K_ZX2QWHl27onvPp-lL5tWWDWSw1pAyHdoceErPGe-3VimJPqEpjY2UQHE5bjARBPwQfjJCbeVkQVG0fJdkb5JmN7dcUMYu/s320/Spring+Break+2009+23.jpg" border="0" /></a>This one on the left is typical of most caches, just a Tupperware container. Hidden under the boardwalk like the one we found in Kid's Creek, I don't recall anything I'd consider worthy inside, but when you're a kid and you see toys inside, it just makes your day! With their Grandma M. behind them, Hunter and Dev pose with their last find that day. </div><div></div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7abmtamifKMa-fwqrGP81cKeXQns_oIf2gX9wp2RjIToSSNGMLJOfbzXxQGtIhy-ujEAhwcHhypEhArIbmBmVL4Z7XGNjMrAQaL17N_vfvn32QLferiNsWQ63yxCAP8uHdbQyhdiGa3T0/s1600-h/Spring+Break+2009+25.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334641318712403554" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7abmtamifKMa-fwqrGP81cKeXQns_oIf2gX9wp2RjIToSSNGMLJOfbzXxQGtIhy-ujEAhwcHhypEhArIbmBmVL4Z7XGNjMrAQaL17N_vfvn32QLferiNsWQ63yxCAP8uHdbQyhdiGa3T0/s320/Spring+Break+2009+25.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>One last picture of Devin in front of the many creeks we crossed over in search for the elusive geocache. Clutched in his small hand is one of the treasures he traded for, in a box hidden in a nature center, only found thanks to a Global Positioning System!<br /></div></div><div></div><div><br /> </div><div><br /> </div><div>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div></div><div></div><div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_K-BUwZILFZyUmUjXYZFwc6zqyzXwcgwrwj5bqlLqq0iPS8aif9W1l-6w_4_oJjMeUuaJWUI6AmD6zgW_3Bk05Xf6jSWutf8HDvMbiO3bsMGr9qwlZC_6t6DlzWjQS-RtL-QaLdXMoYv/s1600-h/Nieces+2009+11.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334643364894043042" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_K-BUwZILFZyUmUjXYZFwc6zqyzXwcgwrwj5bqlLqq0iPS8aif9W1l-6w_4_oJjMeUuaJWUI6AmD6zgW_3Bk05Xf6jSWutf8HDvMbiO3bsMGr9qwlZC_6t6DlzWjQS-RtL-QaLdXMoYv/s320/Nieces+2009+11.jpg" border="0" /></a>A visit to my hometown wouldn't be complete without a stop at my sister Amanda's. She might disown me if I didn't bring myself and my boys her way. She stayed at the house with the smaller ones while I took Hunter, Rayne and Randi out. It was a beautiful day for it and I'm glad they were eager to go with us, even though they insisted on my GPS speaking in the Darth Vadar and C3PO voices.</div><div></div><div><br />Even though this isn't the first cache we did that day, it's the best picture of the three of them together. At first when we pulled into the roadside park on Lake Michigan, there was a car parked right where my handheld said we needed to be. Not just walking toward that area, but searching in that area. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbp3_oB6m6FjQjeuXR58ac92bQzev8TY9RGhu0Hj8vx5fZ1EeVtGLqhPrBV4lpwzZS4UUeQNVnlW4oSMHWm0IZufT1GkfV6CRvdRzuxe6ACX8FhHNZY0H6btdFyl4VcD__k-ScAkHx5aI/s1600-h/Nieces+2009+14.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334645091375326498" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 318px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbp3_oB6m6FjQjeuXR58ac92bQzev8TY9RGhu0Hj8vx5fZ1EeVtGLqhPrBV4lpwzZS4UUeQNVnlW4oSMHWm0IZufT1GkfV6CRvdRzuxe6ACX8FhHNZY0H6btdFyl4VcD__k-ScAkHx5aI/s320/Nieces+2009+14.jpg" border="0" /></a>So instead we put Kit on her leash and walked the other direction. It's not a very big park, a parking lot is more like it. It's not a state roadside park. Those in Northern Michigan are still closed. We had a cache in our sights in one of those parks, but the gates were locked. We walked on to the beach where I took the first picture and then slowly headed in the direction we needed to go. I was happy to see that by the time we came around to where the person or people in the car would see us, it was gone. </div><div></div><div><br />The GPS directed us to the shoreline where there was a long outcropping of rocks just off the water. While they searched among the rocks for a crevice to peer into, they played on the rocks and Rayne posed comically for my camera. </div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOgGxSZ-tgNIRLF_RG-HRVKMCF2cgT8HlpmQCAlXBrctYoko8qQCahScCPY6KXKTnTb1rJ57hmEDnd-Fyy1oa1EIXZIBXg2riaMNpsKPVKeoJeCtKw8vLCZQXo62TKOdYfrEhI3NCRTCtG/s1600-h/Nieces+2009+13.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334646382791925490" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOgGxSZ-tgNIRLF_RG-HRVKMCF2cgT8HlpmQCAlXBrctYoko8qQCahScCPY6KXKTnTb1rJ57hmEDnd-Fyy1oa1EIXZIBXg2riaMNpsKPVKeoJeCtKw8vLCZQXo62TKOdYfrEhI3NCRTCtG/s320/Nieces+2009+13.jpg" border="0" /></a>Randi was the one to call out the find and both Hunter and Rayne swarmed all over her. We took it away from the hiding place in case anyone saw us from the road. I signed the log and they sorted through the contents and eventually made a trade. Even though I said they didn't have to do it on each find, they insisted on taking something. This was the first cache I've seen hidden inside a tin of some kind. It wasn't rusty yet, but eventually it would become something ugly and hard to open. Keeping a cache maintained is why you should only hide them in your home area. I would love to hide one in my hometown, but I would have to depend on someone else to keep an eye on it for me. Not only do you need to keep it clean and dry, but hidden safely from Muggles who would steal or destroy it. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLbOYC2x4RDsB8ExOb7c91XIbGBIyZvm-UAFcBsDY4f2g3b5lt1q_8q_3S2pgeNX1ifMAUd9bPVpx1Xr4FVg9WnrS7HoZ9lrtTV7qKwcAU9NVnCjN-ucol6q7wDd_6TXCYwm8ZruNa3TNS/s1600-h/Nieces+2009+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334648644480113746" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLbOYC2x4RDsB8ExOb7c91XIbGBIyZvm-UAFcBsDY4f2g3b5lt1q_8q_3S2pgeNX1ifMAUd9bPVpx1Xr4FVg9WnrS7HoZ9lrtTV7qKwcAU9NVnCjN-ucol6q7wDd_6TXCYwm8ZruNa3TNS/s320/Nieces+2009+3.jpg" border="0" /></a>This next one was a huge disappointment. There were two no no's in this one. The biggest was that when we opened it, there were fruit snacks in there. Animals have great noses and a raccoon is stronger than you might think. I didn't trust those fruit snacks anyway, so they went directly into the trash bag I carry with me (Cache In, Trash Out, but also keeps suspicions off you!) The other no, no was it's location. It was a super easy find. The name of the cache was the name of the lake access point. If this hadn't been early April but in the heat of the summer, there was no way we could have tried for this one because it was five feet off the road, underneath the name of the sign for the public access point.</div><div></div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334649957328343154" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4YOQgfU0t3y2wjfHIIZthZ0la3aI8d8DodmlqT0o1U_ORVGMxLJCO4OTCHp3ktK6_sy7Aa1uAiN7bM5_nKzdtuJYgqdV8sWig0CPMp1ZzibT7bt4PC3l9HRWQG593PnXRXSYJip8FifH/s320/Nieces+2009+4.jpg" border="0" />You can see the cache no problem. Not only because of the bright blue top, but because of the pile of wood that screams artificial. When a hiding spot is out in the open like that, you have to do a better job of camoflauging it. </div><div></div><div></div><br /><div>Hunter did find a $5.00 Little Ceasars gift card inside. I'm not sure what became of it after that day though, so can't tell you if it was valid or not.</div><div></div><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN2ShkZnE4_kQVuaFI4VnBpgXTNx9HngM2XSZox7H71oby3Asz4aTSznIp6nRr36oquKTzOcxjXaRNWazttwYImKwKq-goY-bVcBl6B6qnWiQ_S1K2xr3-V3Prnzaz5STolkptTKgdTRKz/s1600-h/Nieces+2009+8.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334651411143942738" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN2ShkZnE4_kQVuaFI4VnBpgXTNx9HngM2XSZox7H71oby3Asz4aTSznIp6nRr36oquKTzOcxjXaRNWazttwYImKwKq-goY-bVcBl6B6qnWiQ_S1K2xr3-V3Prnzaz5STolkptTKgdTRKz/s320/Nieces+2009+8.jpg" border="0" /></a>The one that gave us the most difficulty was a cache hidden far down a path off the same road as the roadside park we visited. Randi happily took Kit by her leash and Rayne set us on our course. She soon passed the GPS to me, however, as it jumped around a lot in those woods. The girls took my words about picking up garbage we found seriously. We hadn't been searching for ten minutes when my thin white plastic bag was bulging and heavy from many discarded and dirty cans and glass bottles they brought to me.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNYfVlMGisjUPT2RkiFO_OHOI1YYVHi74GPpfiKtDxOvm_4PQLEeW2FmB9Nzjc6bZofpAnL9_zwvUDOP5FKiVuaCWOTo5zklIGj9P4OenxtL8GioEcDXGDBeiOyvqvjC4fs_175K5ITtDm/s1600-h/Nieces+2009+12.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334657166020642754" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNYfVlMGisjUPT2RkiFO_OHOI1YYVHi74GPpfiKtDxOvm_4PQLEeW2FmB9Nzjc6bZofpAnL9_zwvUDOP5FKiVuaCWOTo5zklIGj9P4OenxtL8GioEcDXGDBeiOyvqvjC4fs_175K5ITtDm/s320/Nieces+2009+12.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div>As I slowed down our pace and let Kit run free, we came to a wood plank set over just a small, short ravine. I thought this was it, but as we searched and searched, we didn't find anything. I switched screens on my GPS and watched the actual coordinates instead of the arrow icon. I was about to call it quites when I saw a pile of dead wood that caught my eye. GPS's aren't always exact, especially in the woods, and where we found the cache was probably 30 feet from where my GPS said it should be. Can you see the white lidded container among the wood in the picture on the left? </div><div></div><div></div><br /><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhttjjBlcNEuyBtXn9eMGhWjqdYPZ60KliS3zViOoB39lzfJYZYUgScCzhOO8CZG6WazEGWDBIZvlSLsuwSjl43LbK0i5PqEfVDwJVpmaFnVTk3P8jJdkj7bEdUX2i6qJ5k5kQm8JhvXrgd/s1600-h/Nieces+2009+7.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334734356922476770" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhttjjBlcNEuyBtXn9eMGhWjqdYPZ60KliS3zViOoB39lzfJYZYUgScCzhOO8CZG6WazEGWDBIZvlSLsuwSjl43LbK0i5PqEfVDwJVpmaFnVTk3P8jJdkj7bEdUX2i6qJ5k5kQm8JhvXrgd/s320/Nieces+2009+7.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div>The last one I'm going to talk about was actually the first one we tried on that day, but our second attempt overall on this particular cache. We tried finding it back during Christmas break. I tend to repeat myself and I'll say it again, everything looks different buried under snow and this was the girls' first attempt at geocaching. It was also cold and windy off the lake like we were. </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div>What we did find the first time however, was that large pile of bread. Do you remember? I looked in that spot when we first entered the woods this go around, but there wasn't any bread to be seen. We knew in what area to look and spread out. About ten minutes later, I heard Randi call out the find on my left. This cache was a memorial to a young girl who was murdered in the area back in the early 90's. The coordinates were way off, but we still should have found it the first try. This cache wasn't hidden at all, it was an actual memorial to this lost young girl, created with love and care. The plastic tub for the cache was placed behind the wooden cross. The kids turned somber as I read the dedication on the homemade stone; In God's Hands Heather E. Kleiber 12-10-1976 - 8/17/1990. There were handpainted wild flowers as well. When we opened up the cache, I was happy to find a dog themed geocoin. When I logged that I had picked it up, I included a picture of the coin with Kit. By doing so I fullfilled the goal the owner of the coin had stated; to collect pictures of canine geocachers.</div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>Well, that was our Spring Break in Northern Michigan geocaching adventures. No, I'd rather not go to Florida. :P</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-17042049931855701882009-03-28T11:26:00.000-07:002009-03-30T07:24:16.335-07:00Just two out of four...or so I thought.I had promised Hunter we'd go find him his own treasure boxes the day before. With rain predicted to start falling by 4:00, I headed outside earlier that morning to work on my new landscaping and do some spring cleaning. After that my hubby grilled up some hot dogs for the first time this season and then Hunter and I were on our way.<br /><br />While scrolling through the caches I had saved, Hunter paused at one called<em> </em>Fifteen Goats on a Dead Goat's Chest. I was all for finding Dread Goat Pirate's treasure until Hunter read to me what was saved in the part for a cache description; See printout. Apparently the story behind this cache was too long for the space designated in my handheld, so I printed it out...but forgot to put that paper along with other longer details in our geogear bag.<br />We'd have to attempt Dread Goat Pirate's hunt another day. Instead, Hunter chose one called Send More Cacher's because inside the description Hunter read that the mosquitoes in the area needed more cachers to come and give them their blood.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqvYDOzH1plHca-BGpiUcziOOmrGZ2AzLSzn0OBcnvF7DeuwHdjylV5S1c3HLGRJG-G3NTO0YkR6WRtIsbpgtudInRu9n6eLecn6NDIu-9ycQT-pf_FvK6ykPakyROI_l4d4iux1YnBFQl/s1600-h/Burton_Park_1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318597540568471922" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqvYDOzH1plHca-BGpiUcziOOmrGZ2AzLSzn0OBcnvF7DeuwHdjylV5S1c3HLGRJG-G3NTO0YkR6WRtIsbpgtudInRu9n6eLecn6NDIu-9ycQT-pf_FvK6ykPakyROI_l4d4iux1YnBFQl/s320/Burton_Park_1.jpg" border="0" /></a>We pulled into Burton Memorial Park, but I wasn't sure where to leave my van. There was a bulldozer and back hoe in a small area that was made even smaller by their presence. I parked as far away from the machinery as I could, put my geocacher placard on the dash and grabbed our gear bag. When we looked at the handheld we were surprised to see there were actually two caches in these woods. One called Mosquito Haven was actually closer than the one that brought us here, so we focused on that one and off we went.<br /><br />Yeah, that's my fingertip in the picture of the trail head. I couldn't find my digital camera so the pics in this story were taken with my camera phone.<br /><br />We followed a trail made up of crushed asphalt and then a more natural dirt and leaves until we reached the namesake for the two caches these woods hide; a muddy, leave crusted, murky pond. The perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. We had yet to see any of those blood suckers, but we had only just begun....<br /><br />As we continued on we could see where trees had been cut down, wood stacked and other trees targeted with orange X's. There isn't much to this park and why it's even called a park I don't know. It's just a walking path that bends back and forth like a snake trail in sand. Maybe the heavy equipment and clearing away of trees means good things are in the future for this place.<br /><br />We weren't that far past the mosquito breeding ground when my handheld told us to hang a right. If leaf free trees make my GPS bounce around so much, then what's the signal going to be like in the heat of summer when I'm out there in the woods under heavy canopy cover, like a giant storm cloud had suddenly blew in to rain on my day? I stood at a tree marked with one of those orange X's long enough for my GPS to tell me I was probably within 20 feet or so of the cache. I told Hunter we were going to have to rely on our eyeballs and brain muscle to find this one.<br /><br />He did start to look around, but when it comes to looking for something, be it in the van, in the house or there in the woods, Hunter doesn't put much effort into it. Even when I tell him to bring me something that is right there on the dining room table, but because I tell him I think it might by on the kitchen counter, the kitchen counter is where he'll look and no where else.<br /><br />So we're in the woods looking for a box that, by the rules, can't be buried in the ground. It might as well be to Hunter, though, because I saw him staring at the ground like he could see through all the way to the worms borrowing below. As I look in stumps and under logs on one side, I cue Hunter to look at the next possible place to his right or whatever.<br /><br />I've been giving us 20 minutes for a find and when that time runs out and we're still searching, we sigh and accept the fact that we have to log a DNF. We left that part of the woods and head over to another area where the first cache, Send More Cachers, is supposed to be. Will we find it?<br /><br />Nope. I had the same trouble with my GPS but I thought I knew the general area. We even found a toy Dalmation dog that I had read about in one of the Internet logs, but no cache in any stumps or under any logs we looked at. Neither of these caches offered any hints. It's my opinion, and I will keep it in mind when Hunter and I hide our first cache, that if the hiding spot is in a place where GPS signal is iffy, INCLUDE A HINT!! :P There was just way too many places someone could hide something in there.<br /><br />We left with nothing new in our possession and returned to my van. We drove to the nearest gas station for a potty and snack break and then drove to Punderson state park. Besides some geocaching fun, this park offers boating and fishing on its natural lake, a lodge, family cottages, a golf course and scenic campgrounds. There are many trails but it seems it's at its best during the colder months as it's considered a premier Ohio winter sports park for sledding, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikDWV_M8U4NWmjrXxqEdmVqhq5h7IVHtc7ZrwTbX38Gy01XLw9Op8HPnVA-4w3GHhPhHeG50SiCkg6345-8Xfa5TkSq-z_UV2s6la471_J0Bm1NCmqKfl2ZVo03CpWRxMj-DIGG0aoMlm3/s1600-h/Punderson_1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318943282931188946" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikDWV_M8U4NWmjrXxqEdmVqhq5h7IVHtc7ZrwTbX38Gy01XLw9Op8HPnVA-4w3GHhPhHeG50SiCkg6345-8Xfa5TkSq-z_UV2s6la471_J0Bm1NCmqKfl2ZVo03CpWRxMj-DIGG0aoMlm3/s320/Punderson_1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Richard took us a mile past the front gate and to the parking lot of the main lodge. I could see a sign for the Iroquois Trail, the closest starting point mentioned on the cache information page. As you can see, the trails were what you'd expect in the spring. Hunter and I walked along the sides and tested our balancing skills by crossing over standing water on green clumps of grass. Both of us felt the touch of the water through our shoes, a cold burn spreading out across our toes before we quickened our pace to make it stop.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXFBEJAmM6MXOm_NPrr8Ado8exzkym0t0fhW2J4eQKzqCnvJuPHZ0tdMgvQ1U6wiRmiAVhNFzdL2Yg5iXz_nJMl7iyyW2wzFpm_HEKpTN-AcE2Y6VbWvdKqeXUxxow9eZw5tNvqulygiI/s1600-h/Punderson_2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318951470064461986" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXFBEJAmM6MXOm_NPrr8Ado8exzkym0t0fhW2J4eQKzqCnvJuPHZ0tdMgvQ1U6wiRmiAVhNFzdL2Yg5iXz_nJMl7iyyW2wzFpm_HEKpTN-AcE2Y6VbWvdKqeXUxxow9eZw5tNvqulygiI/s320/Punderson_2.jpg" border="0" /></a>The first cache in our sights had a seasonal theme. It was called Easter Basket and was the only cache we've found that wasn't camoflauged. Before we got there though, we learned quite a lot from the numbered posts along our route. The post in the picture with my for once wonderfully cooperating model spoke of the lake while others we paused to read told us of marsh lands, animal dens, how huge boulders got to where they were and more.<br /><br />It was a beautiful day with just a little chill in the air, so we weren't surprised that there were other people out enjoying Punderson's paths. We greeted quite a few couples and two groups of families. One family with four kids was nearby when my GPS told me the cache was directly to my left, just off the trail.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQNd3Mbh9DgbnQlYvmtcymHl3DDzUwCBz9mqyXP1RXZ9T6Sirg-JsVsTi-xcV-p7FzjxGNdDr2FH4G9OGadE4UIr08qs-wj3qjyLvsmfq7pl4KSX5f3YxOjfvJOSlWJc-usiDtIq8Gxc7L/s1600-h/Punderson_3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318954059693454418" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQNd3Mbh9DgbnQlYvmtcymHl3DDzUwCBz9mqyXP1RXZ9T6Sirg-JsVsTi-xcV-p7FzjxGNdDr2FH4G9OGadE4UIr08qs-wj3qjyLvsmfq7pl4KSX5f3YxOjfvJOSlWJc-usiDtIq8Gxc7L/s320/Punderson_3.jpg" border="0" /></a> Hunter and I sat on a log bench, one that fit perfectly into its natrual surroundings. It was a large shortened tree trunk trimmed of all branches with the top twelve inches or so of one side shaved down to allow tired visitors to rest a spell. Maybe the cache creator puposely planned it out this way, to have a bench so near to his cache. I am all for taking my find away from its hiding place so people won't wonder what I'm doing and come back to look around where I was, but as you can see in the picture below, this cache would have been seen even from a distance! First, to the right is where it was hidden. You can see how unnatural that wood looks, at least to a geocacher looking for something Mother Nature wouldn't do. If you were able to magnify that shot a few times and look to the right of the pile you'll see the crinkly, bright green cellophane shredding that is recognizable as the decorative grass used in Easter baskets. Only after I spied the grass did I see the wood in a row next to it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSwg7ay_SrsshSJ-9UfyBAVwivqXSwrilIXmX_wY-jSSlvKPYdex60oIJnlRN3pRGHL1MrReibjdOSQk4Q7b1iT9bxn98kX8b8UmsgPGgLmfrZfipsZliblR9_x_Q00aD5pU12Mv5YPKUz/s1600-h/Punderson_4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318955601248030546" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSwg7ay_SrsshSJ-9UfyBAVwivqXSwrilIXmX_wY-jSSlvKPYdex60oIJnlRN3pRGHL1MrReibjdOSQk4Q7b1iT9bxn98kX8b8UmsgPGgLmfrZfipsZliblR9_x_Q00aD5pU12Mv5YPKUz/s320/Punderson_4.jpg" border="0" /></a> With just the removal of one stick we found a cache that screamed, 'Look at me!'. As I said above, this is the first cache we've found hidden without any disguise. Clearly seen inside the plastic container was the grass and the bright plastic eggs. I understand the effect of the Easter Basket idea for a cache wouldn't be the same behind a masking cover, but there was no way I could take that thing over to the bench and go through it without someone wondering what I was doing. The cache was only maybe ten feet away from the trail itself. I told Hunter we had to be quick. I heard another group down by the dock we had taken a picture by. He took the two small items inside a purple egg, put the egg back as the cache creator requested and then added his trade, which was a glow stick. While he did that I signed the log and kept looking toward the family I could hear but couldn't yet see. We closed it up tight and put it back into the hole among the wood. We covered it so no one could see the colored plastic and then I told Hunter to head toward the trees, away from the path. We walked in a half circle and returned to the path away from cache. The family was about 20 feet from the cache when we came out of the woods ahead of them, but if they were curious what we had been doing, which I doubt they were, they wouldn't have found anything at the place they first saw us.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_EqBzN6s3NtYfvS0Hc6h9RLAQ7M43ymYBwgsvWVlVSMnmTnqyRyKATQNAZJtn53u7wyNUqwBAs_dKQ4nnuZG5OLMoxXwdytp-7AofrAYtge51V5SUVXREshJ1Um8qOInXMjgF9Exa_3cQ/s1600-h/Punderson_5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318957323858860914" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_EqBzN6s3NtYfvS0Hc6h9RLAQ7M43ymYBwgsvWVlVSMnmTnqyRyKATQNAZJtn53u7wyNUqwBAs_dKQ4nnuZG5OLMoxXwdytp-7AofrAYtge51V5SUVXREshJ1Um8qOInXMjgF9Exa_3cQ/s320/Punderson_5.jpg" border="0" /></a>After that quick find we back tracked and took another trail toward the second cache in the park. We crossed a simple bridge on our way and then over the road we came in on until we were in a drier and quieter part of the woods. The only thing we saw on this walk was the blur of a chipmunk as he raced across a downed tree and disappeared. The only thing we heard was the crunch of dried leaves and broken sticks underneath our own feet. I tried giving Hunter a lesson on how he can minimize the racket he was making, but I think my words disappitated in the wind before even reaching his ears!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR9_6V8vC6E8o7ksaFSuW98nM3-9qqFJiYQmR7EGgY_l-NsWeoFxCTivesPAV6alb9hQ5AFdyZDxZzuM3tcnWlVFhqFq-ThwF8541bC3nvcWvgtIe8imTpK9myIR5rWjkuztsej_Ss4m1P/s1600-h/Punderson_6.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318966269624123090" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR9_6V8vC6E8o7ksaFSuW98nM3-9qqFJiYQmR7EGgY_l-NsWeoFxCTivesPAV6alb9hQ5AFdyZDxZzuM3tcnWlVFhqFq-ThwF8541bC3nvcWvgtIe8imTpK9myIR5rWjkuztsej_Ss4m1P/s320/Punderson_6.jpg" border="0" /></a>We turned off the trail and Hunter was so close on my heels that he bumped into me when I stopped. He was playing with one of his small toys again and I told him to put it away because we were close and he couldn't make a trade if he didn't help me find it. Honestly, I was a bit frustrated and impatient with him because on the other caches he was so close to me and focused on his toy then, too, that it was like he were walking blind in a cave and was tethered to me by a rope for safety. I told him about my feelings and wanted to know if he really liked to go geocaching with me. I want to do this with him because it gets us both out of the house and into the fresh air for some excercise and an escape from his brothers. He said he did like to go, but the driving is long and the walking tiring, but he liked doing it. I'd rather not have him playing his Nintendo DS or reading a book on the way to the caches, but he's even quieter than me. Next time I'll let him do one of those things to the first cache, but then we'll play a word game or something to the second cache. We'll decide before we leave what caches we'll do and find out if Kit can come. Having her around might make the walk more enjoyable for him.<br /><br />Looking at the cache information page before we leave is probably a good idea. If I had done that for Mosquito Haven, then I would have realized it had been deactivated! Actually the word is called archived. When a cache has been archived, it usually means the box has been muggled; stolen or vandalized in some way and won't be found out in the field anymore but is still there to be viewed on the website. Muggled wasn't the reason listed for this cache though. The owner wrote, 'Beware the ides of March. And now for something completely different.' I have heard that phrase before, but to understand it completely I Googled it, don't ya love Google?, and found this definition, courtesy of The Phrase Finder - <em>From Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, 1599. 'Beware the Ides of March' is the soothsayer's message to Julius Caesar, warning of his death. The Ides of March didn't signify anything special in itself - this was just the usual way of saying "March 15th." Each month has an Ides (usually the 15th) and this date wasn't significant in being associated with death.</em><br /><br />The cache owner archived his cache on March 15th and sounds like he'll put it back in a different spot, maybe with a different theme at a later time. I hope it's in the same park because that was a nice, quiet place to walk and we can bring Kit along.<br /><br />We can also return to Punderson with Kit because there is an Earth cache there. I saw the icon on my handheld and it was back up by the Lodge. As Hunter and I walked back from our successful hunts I read through the Earth cache information I had saved and almost cuffed myself on the back of the head (sorry, early childhood memories :P). This visual cache wasn't by the lodge, but it started on the same trail we began on. I had forgotten that, like with the Virtual cache I did a few weeks back, Earth caches also have tasks set by the cache creator for the finders to do. Remember the informational posts I told you about, the picture of Hunter by the number 6 post in front of the lake? Well, on some of those posts was information we needed to collect. We'll save that for another time. We were tired and ready to head home after about four hours of being out. Despite what I mentioned about Hunter, I enjoy doing this with him, but if he tells me he doesn't want to do it anymore, I will push for it because he needs to get out of the house, but if he insists, then it'll be OK. (Devin will take his place!)Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-24064562044846344672009-03-27T18:23:00.000-07:002009-03-29T05:26:51.479-07:00Mama Treasure Boxes and CITO<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZczrnF_tAaFS6WPvoOCWfn7sjQ5lRuYVk5SfIWI_qtRZj8Ao5bvVqLvzz_M11_-EtDwZxWtTyx5QM90ajD_WK1GDzZsZpdAiPaEAd2C4EpVF5Uvqvx-845SQ_tWKQV2LnLU6etxWNsMw/s1600-h/Overlook+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318558939122249474" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZczrnF_tAaFS6WPvoOCWfn7sjQ5lRuYVk5SfIWI_qtRZj8Ao5bvVqLvzz_M11_-EtDwZxWtTyx5QM90ajD_WK1GDzZsZpdAiPaEAd2C4EpVF5Uvqvx-845SQ_tWKQV2LnLU6etxWNsMw/s320/Overlook+1.jpg" border="0" /></a>On Friday the weather was just too beautiful to be inside. I decided to get an early start and take the boys to a park we don't usually visit. I admit I had an ulterior motive for going there. I knew there were two geocaches hidden nearby. As you can see in the picture to the left, there isn't much to this playground at all. The equipment is outdated and in need of a new wood stain. The black topped basketball and tennis courts are cracked and overgrown with weeds. The only thing good in my opinion is the condition of the baseball field, which will soon be used regularly. Our town recently had a rundraiser that was matched by the government to update the park. Hopefully the ground will be broken on this project soon.<br /><br />I explained to Devin we were going to go to a park where there would be 'mama treasure boxes'. I told him the difference between my kind of box and his, was that my kind were smaller and didn't have any toys. I told him that while I was looking for my treasure box, he and Bryce would be running around and having fun. He was all for that and in this setting it worked out.<br /><br />When we first pulled in about 10:00 A.M., there was a car parked in front of the pavillion. I was hoping to avoid any muggles, but it looked like there would be some. My plan was to let the boys play and wait for the person or people to leave.<br /><br />As I got the boys out of the van and then unfolded the stroller (still looking for that all terrain wagon!) there wasn't anyone in sight. Devin went around, over and under the playland for a bit while Bryce played in the sand. Eventually I coaxed them toward the back of the park where a rusty chicken wire type fence seperated public land from a private farm. Come summer there would be sweet corn a fingers length away from the fence. There were three pine trees close enough together that their boughs overlapped. They were the only grouping of trees in the entire park. I saw a single one here and one over there, but trees were far and in-between in that place.<br /><br />The coordinates put me at the tree farthest back. Even though I had saved the hint in my handheld, I didn't look it up. I knew the cache was a micro, but I felt pretty confident I was standing right on top of it. There isn't anywhere else really to hide a cache here. I scanned the thin branches, avoiding an eye poke here and there, but saw nothing. I looked for holes in the trunk and the base of the tree, but still nothing. Then I saw something among the dried needles blanketing the ground. On the ground is where I found the pill bottle shaped, camo taped cache. It had a green wire hooked on the top of it's lid and I assumed it had fallen from one of the branches above. I brought it back out from under the tree toward my boys who were running around the tennis court.<br /><br />It's very important to take your find away from its hiding spot. It takes a bit of time to sign the log and sort through any tradeable items, especially with kids. Hunter likes to look at each and ever item before he makes up his mind. Therefore it's better to do all that a few feet away, somewhere not so conspicious looking like being a single adult under low hanging trees while young children run amok further away. I wold have preferred a bench, but none were nearby, so I had to make do in front of a toddler I rounded up and strapped back in his stroller so I could sit in front of him and appear to be interacting while looking through the log.<br /><br />Bryce was conveying to me quite loudly how he felt about my chasing him down and making him immobile, so I pulled out my extra pen and let him play with that while I signed the paper log and wrote down the clue. This micro cache was actually one of seven in a series. There are six micro caches in my county called 70's One Hit Wonders. Each of the six has an additional name that goes with each individual cache. This particular one was Overlook, for the name of the park in which it was hidden. Once found, you copy down the verse contained inside of a Top Ten song made famous by a One Hit Wonder in the 1970's. My task was to identify the song and discover what year in the '70's it became a hit. Armed with that information, I can replace a letter substituded in the final cache cordiatnes with a number. For this cache, the formula was, C = 197_. The verse I wrote down that day goes as follows:<br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><br /><div></div><div><em>Well, Andy got scared and left the bar. Walkin’ on home ‘cause he didn’t live far. See Andy didn’t have many friends and he just lost him one. Brother thought his wife musta left town, so he went home and finally found the only thing Papa had left him and that was a gun.</em></div><br /><div><em></em></div><div>If you know the '70's song from that verse than you know your Oldie's better than me! I Googled the first line and learned that this phrase was from <em>The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia. </em>The top link said it was sung by Vicki Lawrence but it didn't say when. So I googled the two names together and the year 1973 jumped out at me. So, the missing number that is being held by the letter C in the final cach coordinates I know is now a 3! I also know that this son was first offered to Cher, but she turned it down.<br /></div><br /><div>This series isn't a multi-cache, where there is more than one box to find but you only get credit for a single find. When I discover all in the series of these caches, each one is another number added to my total summed up at geocaching.com. When I find all the missing numbers to create the final coordinates, I'll find a bigger cache container with tradeable items. I'm sure the first person to find that final cache got something pretty cool, but this series has been around for a couple years now so there probably isn't anything all that great in it. I'm interested and having fun doing series and I can't lie and say I'm not curious to see what's in the final cache. In any cache.<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6rVhoZ_1npY0zU0yNh8ZDTrIWZnuC7l5WvX9TCkQh_h2h_SfQuij2gHPQo3gEYk31Dwsw3kUBYH3dHvx1TQIRnpi7WfrGA8coWc2hUR9rV75c4W40epCHHq0mchGKQ3Kk_mxxTak8QbBA/s1600-h/Overlook+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318567599695379138" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6rVhoZ_1npY0zU0yNh8ZDTrIWZnuC7l5WvX9TCkQh_h2h_SfQuij2gHPQo3gEYk31Dwsw3kUBYH3dHvx1TQIRnpi7WfrGA8coWc2hUR9rV75c4W40epCHHq0mchGKQ3Kk_mxxTak8QbBA/s320/Overlook+2.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div>After I rolled the log up and tucked it back into the container I released B from the stroller and he followed me under the trees and began picking up pine cones. I hung the cache a few branches above where I found it on the ground. I then slowly coaxed B to follow Dev and I around the park, picking up trash along the way. It's a great cover and Devin does all the bending! It wasn't until I was back at home and about to log my find when I read the hint for this cache as 'Hollow fence post'. I realized that where I put the cache, hanging inside a pine tree, didn't mesh with the hint. I logged my find and added that I had found the cache uncovered on the ground. Without giving anything away, I said I placed it back where I thought it should be, but didn't realize that the spot wasn't the same as the cache creators hint, but that the coordinates were still right on. I didn't want to say that I hung it or else they'd know right away to look in a tree.</div><br /><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivSZOrr0D4sMbHvqXY_YcsJV3fJOlvSc5xafHj-u9gxk9LNxnKJvgRWf4ya_gLtUAThJYjYTI_TxJsof4fIk8YWnb-j2LBUhTjDW1DlDrGghPWGArAET76V7IYP6nJpPKkFKtkj1u4T577/s1600-h/Parkman_Cemetery+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318569122607950674" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivSZOrr0D4sMbHvqXY_YcsJV3fJOlvSc5xafHj-u9gxk9LNxnKJvgRWf4ya_gLtUAThJYjYTI_TxJsof4fIk8YWnb-j2LBUhTjDW1DlDrGghPWGArAET76V7IYP6nJpPKkFKtkj1u4T577/s320/Parkman_Cemetery+1.jpg" border="0" /></a>Except for the drive entrance, Overlook Park is surronded by a chain link fence. Half way around and in line with the pavillion is an opening to a cemetery. I don't recall the name, but knew the cache hidden somewhere there, also a Mama Treasure Box, was dedicated to the memory of a man who pioneered the NE Ohio Geocachers and was an advocate for geocaching to park districts, lawmakers and even people on the street. His first name was Eric, but he was known on the website and in cache logs as Sherwood Forest. His passing was unexpected and he has been honored many times in Geauga County with caches that have 'Spirit Trail' in the name.<br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0D0nPoWVJ20922L-3dwj8YTbH1WJw-BplyaSOsRE9O6W34Ttm-Yjfd556Ss1h3YdfY3cwrASJS60Z08tuJrj9Wr19Grpp-y9CRVLQyCsHaz8Co5P15vWuApRWYu2Ts9oG29NJh-czzdgv/s1600-h/Parkman_Cemetery+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318569303618260418" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0D0nPoWVJ20922L-3dwj8YTbH1WJw-BplyaSOsRE9O6W34Ttm-Yjfd556Ss1h3YdfY3cwrASJS60Z08tuJrj9Wr19Grpp-y9CRVLQyCsHaz8Co5P15vWuApRWYu2Ts9oG29NJh-czzdgv/s320/Parkman_Cemetery+2.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div>I pushed Bryce in the stroller with Devin and Buzz Lightyear following behind onto a stone and dirt two track that disappeared deeper into the cemetery in a long U shape. I still had my garbage bag tied to the stroller and Devin and I continued to find and clear away trash from the grounds. While doing so, a car started in the distance and I saw the place it left and we waved to each other as the woman driver passed by. It could have been another cacher, but as we approached the spot where she had parked, my GPS told me my spot was a bit farther up.<br /></div><br /><div>We continued on our leisurely way, both enjoying the toddler pace, even though the toddler was strapped into a stroller seat and writing on his shoes with my pen. We had entered the U drive about a quarter of the way from the exit. We had now gone up and around to the entrance and were approaching what I assumed was a crypt, but I don't have any experience with such buildings.<br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisNiQJfbLYeFFvCMIQ2qfaUDCkKVjp5M1mdJL4iMWAn_xWBCsvmAuOjKAynnSJ85HmkzVN2ex1wLEbHBS34JoofdprqzIpk3SZrOVPwGGF3OsQ3tC66OHOGKMioUIDYg0Pkjb0cyrr6V1Y/s1600-h/Parkman_Cemetery+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318571477705401954" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisNiQJfbLYeFFvCMIQ2qfaUDCkKVjp5M1mdJL4iMWAn_xWBCsvmAuOjKAynnSJ85HmkzVN2ex1wLEbHBS34JoofdprqzIpk3SZrOVPwGGF3OsQ3tC66OHOGKMioUIDYg0Pkjb0cyrr6V1Y/s320/Parkman_Cemetery+3.jpg" border="0" /></a>We walked behind and past this building and toward two fairly good sized trees. The first one had a wider trunk, bigger overall and had caught my eye for the possible hide location as we walked toward it on the road. The second one though had two trunks from a single base as wide as the trunk of the other. The opening in-between was about the size of the plastic purple bucket Devin has been using the past couple years for Halloween candy. The hole wasn't as deep as it was wide and I could see another pill bottle sized cache. This one was also camoflauged in the special tape hunters use to cover shiny and reflective parts of their guns. Now geocachers also have a need for it to keep unknowing muggles away from their hide and with <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRToHg-Hy3YdxTi4k84fPv9_I2fXX5EOatz7waReEnHGNQZFOeiwX1d8W4McKhb4k5dkfssH7zUzV3F8JdfdP_XcepScgMGJHT6kRdL2_jSKpRo30B1c-bLpKIQ3XF12KQ0EWcQIjxJpMH/s1600-h/Parkman_Cemetery+4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318572078110911778" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRToHg-Hy3YdxTi4k84fPv9_I2fXX5EOatz7waReEnHGNQZFOeiwX1d8W4McKhb4k5dkfssH7zUzV3F8JdfdP_XcepScgMGJHT6kRdL2_jSKpRo30B1c-bLpKIQ3XF12KQ0EWcQIjxJpMH/s320/Parkman_Cemetery+4.jpg" border="0" /></a>practice you grow an eye for spotting it. Devin was very excited for me, that I had found my Mama Treasure Box. I wasn't sure when I started out how he would do with not finding his own treasure to sort through, but he didn't behave like the selfish little boy I often see at home! I signed the log inside, closed it up tight and tucked it back into the crevice at the bottom of the tree. I've always been able to see that tree from the road, but now it holds a few different meanings for me.<br /><br /><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu40Z0Cxg9SjiQF5mW9Dcxh9zgJaj2HVllrpQC7gjyu6qhnA9qaFIF0FqsSqYrVjGgxp2Lpe7KOyP4Bpy_SEQKhteofSW3V1F3LnK_8Co55tXZh_A5Nvir0FOhwjfTqOe1MTIe2WqfE0dY/s1600-h/Minerlal_Lake_6.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318573290326850674" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu40Z0Cxg9SjiQF5mW9Dcxh9zgJaj2HVllrpQC7gjyu6qhnA9qaFIF0FqsSqYrVjGgxp2Lpe7KOyP4Bpy_SEQKhteofSW3V1F3LnK_8Co55tXZh_A5Nvir0FOhwjfTqOe1MTIe2WqfE0dY/s320/Minerlal_Lake_6.jpg" border="0" /></a>That Friday was a half day for Hunter. The teachers needed the extra time to get their grades done, so the kids at his school would be released at 12:30. The boys and I had about 45 minutes to kill before picking Hunter up, so I called my hubby and asked if he wanted to meet us for lunch. Afterward we swung by the school and then went to the newer and more popular playground at Mineral Lake Park. The lake part of this park isn't very big. It's more like a large pond in the shape of a circle that has been pinched a bit. There are two parking lots so I parked at the one I usually do instead of the other that was suggested by the cache creator. The parking lots are only a stones throw away from each other. Dev and B used up some energy on the playground and Hunter and sat on the swings. I took a video of Bryce going down the biggest slide. That clip will be on my website if I ever get it up and running again.</div><br /><div></div><div>While going back and forth between helping Dev cross the monkey bars and running back over to catch Bryce on the slide, I told Hunter that I had found two micro caches this morning and there was a two find micro multi-cache right here in this park. I said we'd walk around for a bit and find these small ones and pick up garbage along the way. I teased him and said, 'Doesn't that sound like fun?!'. He didn't think so.<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghYv1o0-LhtQCIEA6YYqN4AAI1gadKT3hzZHuL-vkI4rVsJN-eLO691hhoZUbxm65fZdFOIr9y02krIdpoZVdlhWkXGKwJLHGcluRkzfxCfYKCTg8mrqYjDNcSpW4MSQsr1XhffZfQK5sE/s1600-h/Minerlal_Lake_4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318573866959156354" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghYv1o0-LhtQCIEA6YYqN4AAI1gadKT3hzZHuL-vkI4rVsJN-eLO691hhoZUbxm65fZdFOIr9y02krIdpoZVdlhWkXGKwJLHGcluRkzfxCfYKCTg8mrqYjDNcSpW4MSQsr1XhffZfQK5sE/s320/Minerlal_Lake_4.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>So I set my GPS on this two parter and off we went. Hunter dragged along behind, but Dev was right there either helping me push the stroller or picking up garbage I pointed out. We went past the empty, fenced in skateboard park with its 'Keep it clean Or it will close' sign. We crossed some exposed tree roots going down toward the lake and finally reached the paved walking path around the water. Devin was very <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjgek7LUeWDplswXdKkH5RGk6hE39ddtleJ4pOUIAKvno3CQnQqTm9S9CD9RwlMXCSUo30Lc4_G2M_s72YQIAyt1rihGiDEQ1UdPnf-IHWYtk3C_3Q6axdXkwf7GTu83HXfIYVhckBXKo3/s1600-h/Minerlal_Lake_1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318574258456509346" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjgek7LUeWDplswXdKkH5RGk6hE39ddtleJ4pOUIAKvno3CQnQqTm9S9CD9RwlMXCSUo30Lc4_G2M_s72YQIAyt1rihGiDEQ1UdPnf-IHWYtk3C_3Q6axdXkwf7GTu83HXfIYVhckBXKo3/s320/Minerlal_Lake_1.jpg" border="0" /></a>excited to see the ducks and geese on the bank. When a man and his dog approached the waterfowl from the other direction, it sent the ducks quacking and splash landing into the water. Devin was nothing but smiles as he watched the ducks tuck their wings back under and make their way to the other side. He wanted to get a plastic bag out of the water not far from the edge, but I told him we'd have to get it next time.<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwOOqkw-S84JBLlNBTxvgSAFyatsRwBlM7xF3LUcCFbEfjDg3tPsLKjn96PeLX1KhP8ze-3rfMchFVkhueU04RhIWuA4YmkSrkZ5Vkp7Wx26Kv9aVJPZgMYrSnLL2iDqU5ZAc-Tu7GRPNb/s1600-h/Minerlal_Lake_2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318575060346700498" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwOOqkw-S84JBLlNBTxvgSAFyatsRwBlM7xF3LUcCFbEfjDg3tPsLKjn96PeLX1KhP8ze-3rfMchFVkhueU04RhIWuA4YmkSrkZ5Vkp7Wx26Kv9aVJPZgMYrSnLL2iDqU5ZAc-Tu7GRPNb/s320/Minerlal_Lake_2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>While Hunter and Dev sat down on the bench play punching each other (most of the time), Bryce and I turned back toward the bare trees on the other side of the walking path. I so can't wait for spring to add some color! Left center in this picture is a tree that's not quite as thin as it's neighbors. On the back side is a small nail and looped over this nail is twelve inches of what looks like an old sweatshirt drawstring. At the end of this string was the micro cache. I took it off the loop and pushed Bryce over to his brothers. On the bench I pulled out the log, signed it and entered the final cache coordinates into my GPS. When we left a few minutes later, I looked around for muggles and when the coast was clear, I hooked it back on the loop and placed it behind the tree so it couldn't be seen hanging on either side.<br /></div><br /><div>The coordinates took us back the way we came. Instead of going up the bumpy dirt trail we had come by and pushing B through the grass, we followed the walking path the other way band back up to the sidewalk, continuing to pick up garbage. Our bag was getting full and the stroller would probably tip like a see saw the moment I took Bryce from the seat. It was during this stretch that a large bug landed for just one second on Devin's nose. He freaked out for a couple minutes and then continued walking with one hand on his nose for some time after!<br /></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi59fxkJIIwlS-_Y7qejBmpdGB9tIPrNk18euh18HY-Lv6ZOZZpLX255ubOFRBa-fOy-MqKClCNW8_juF03upQJSDfITs2AkZbHOOnIQYVKgrgkJrXOc-pzBc-d3UK9osLHOM7VbOxMmM2T/s1600-h/Minerlal_Lake_5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318576640172129778" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi59fxkJIIwlS-_Y7qejBmpdGB9tIPrNk18euh18HY-Lv6ZOZZpLX255ubOFRBa-fOy-MqKClCNW8_juF03upQJSDfITs2AkZbHOOnIQYVKgrgkJrXOc-pzBc-d3UK9osLHOM7VbOxMmM2T/s320/Minerlal_Lake_5.jpg" border="0" /></a>We found ourselves back at the parking lot where we left our van. Instead of heading toward it or the playland or the pavillion a little further out, we turned left and followed the tree line back toward a dumpster. Before we got there, though, I looked into the trees and a trail jumped out at me in the brown and wilted tall grass like it had been made in snow. I recognized it as made by other geocachers, because who would go into that area? Obviously not to pick up the garbage that was all over the place. I followed it in and soon came to a tree with holes along the base. I knew right away that the stone sitting there against the tree was placed like that on purpose. I found the second micro cache, the second for me in the 70's One Hit Wonders series, but had to sign it and scribble down the verse in a hurry and left without a picture because Devin was screaming and crying. Apparently a stick became Dev's new toy and Hunter broke off a piece. I don't think anyone saw me, but if I were a parent in the park, my head would have turned if I heard such a sound!</div><div></div><div>We were all tired by then and I was joining the grouchiness in the ranks. I told Hunter we'd got out again tomorrow and find him a cache he can trade something out of. That seemed to have put him in a better mood and we headed home. </div><div><br />Back at home I had to decypher the song verse I had rushed to write down. I think chicken scratch would have been easier to read! I wrote down only the first line and it goes... </div><div><br /><em>Now first it wasn't easy...of how I learned a lesson....that day.</em> (That was how I rushed it down.)</div><div><br />Hmmm...let's see if Google can tell me anything. Umm, no. I'm not going to find the answer in an interview about how someone learned to stop hating their mother. </div><div><br />I added the word 'lyrics' to my search and the song <em>Play That Funky Music</em> came up. I wasn't seeing a year so I asked Google, 'What year did <em>Play That Funky Music</em> top the charts?' The first result was 1988 by Roxanne...no.... Ah-hah! 1976 by the band Wild Cherry. Now I know that the letter P in the fake coordinates is actually a 6! </div><div><br />I'm enjoying the micro caches, but there are many people who avoid them because their size ups the difficulty rating.</div><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-11225996234143739432009-03-23T13:59:00.000-07:002009-03-23T19:35:57.153-07:00A FTF and Other Geocachers!<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIV_VHBxpRuqmoIFfVb7tQ7TPu9yy1EGtCyYoRNOIbLj6Y6HASP6ZgDAysRkn9RbN4g5PsoyDttwBqRyVQ1HGLJDUkYHLZzhkXc8J33Vis5Kt3sh4DDam4W_0euyi5nNNngG4MvDnqM8Fl/s1600-h/The+Wood+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316570557683296258" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIV_VHBxpRuqmoIFfVb7tQ7TPu9yy1EGtCyYoRNOIbLj6Y6HASP6ZgDAysRkn9RbN4g5PsoyDttwBqRyVQ1HGLJDUkYHLZzhkXc8J33Vis5Kt3sh4DDam4W_0euyi5nNNngG4MvDnqM8Fl/s320/The+Wood+1.jpg" border="0" /></a>I didn't plan on going out today. With the temperature predicted in the low 40's and bringing Bryce along...it could be hard. Then I saw there was a new cache posted in the same park Hunter and I had gone to on Saturday and when I looked this AM, no one had yet posted a FTF (First to Find)! I wanted to try and find the DNF Hunter and I missed (see previous entry) and there were two others there as well...four caches at a park with a playground...there was no need to think about it anymore, we had to go for it!<br /><br /><div><div></div><div>After breakfast I put Dev and B into their heavier coats and loaded them in the van with my bag of geogear. I returned to the park 22 miles away and entered from a different direction and parked in a seperate lot on the other side of the baseball fields than we did on Saturday. There were no other cars, not another soul in sight. I was going to get that FTF!</div><br /><div></div><div>The DNF was in the middle of the other caches and the closest one to me, but we walked on by and headed for that newly published cache with Bryce in his stroller and Dev helping me push. Obviously we weren't walking very fast and when we came to a point where we needed to roll off the pavement, I glanced around me and...oh, no! There were two people coming up behind us! I thought I'd play it cool and let Bryce out of the stroller to run around with Dev right there. I hoped this older couple would follow the path past me and around the corner, although I knew from parking there on Saturday there was only an empty parking lot and less maintained baseball field. Maybe they were heading for a house on the other side...?</div><br /><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEialub-zRv7iH1BCI4vSV9tiw9MQ2jyG08ib03ehKx1TgCH3y42qI97LauDdyoTsWewL8NzWcZgDJ560wR9vE1ZT0IvZd8bFxwkrj2VKq1XXAznSXaAnv7lljsy1YPhRY0COOPcu6FBBApT/s1600-h/Bleached+Pirate+Bones+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316570832854010850" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEialub-zRv7iH1BCI4vSV9tiw9MQ2jyG08ib03ehKx1TgCH3y42qI97LauDdyoTsWewL8NzWcZgDJ560wR9vE1ZT0IvZd8bFxwkrj2VKq1XXAznSXaAnv7lljsy1YPhRY0COOPcu6FBBApT/s320/Bleached+Pirate+Bones+1.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div>No, they weren't. They tried to be non-chalant, but they stepped onto the damp ground toward the trees and the woman gave me a little side glance. She was probably thinking the same thing I was, that I would continue on my way so they could go on the hunt.... I decided to call them on it. I laughed, shook my head at the timing and said, "I know what you're up to." They both stopped and smiled back at me and without even explaining themsevles nor denying it they said, "You want to share it?" </div><br /><div></div><div>What they meant was share the FTF honor. You bet I did! Had I not had a 3 1/2 year old and a 22 month old with me, I'd already be disappearing behind those trees! I played a quick game of Who can catch B first with Devin, then we made it back to our new caching friends (at one point, Dev called her Grandma on accident! :D) and I pushed the stroller up to the tree line and then we headed in from there. I can see an all terrain wagon in our future.</div><br /><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoB2tVmwAbCeSKVzMowAzVIoHDeRqUx7Wg3lboKEvTdloJl9zXfASJlVXNfDUQ6THygwOfufqFf6ct9ggjJp4CUc8ZoZvsy7sQBotYyv2gvwwDTlKuxnWn4_6REvfII4__McpNQfuB0PH5/s1600-h/Wooly+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316571390782884402" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoB2tVmwAbCeSKVzMowAzVIoHDeRqUx7Wg3lboKEvTdloJl9zXfASJlVXNfDUQ6THygwOfufqFf6ct9ggjJp4CUc8ZoZvsy7sQBotYyv2gvwwDTlKuxnWn4_6REvfII4__McpNQfuB0PH5/s320/Wooly+1.jpg" border="0" /></a>Once inside the first grouping of trees a path appeared and we followed it up to a small river, surprisingly low for this time of year. Up to this point I was sort of guiding B in the right direction, but then I picked him up because in front of us wasn't a river bank, it was a drop off. The male of team StPats2 (they were married on a St. Patrick's Day) positioned himself in-between Dev and the fall. We turned away from the river and back into the woods and then our GPS's agreed to turn left into the trees. The name of the cache had old stump in it, so we focused on this huge hunk of wood closest to us with the old rotten tree on the ground behind it. I should have stepped back for an overall picture, but between making sure B didn't step onto the sandy bank <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidsknFFhZyeZUhfJcJNbAfVFmi7k9Nvh8eB9xmWZRckklzwuo3r7fC2NlOB8YHQPjzULxC7a8KGx135e6WF7aT3p5KPVLREHLRTiTwnZn0ED1KgXbB-oJbc3Ft4LBlgq5-YLhRq3gm-vz1/s1600-h/Wooly+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316571600927810690" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidsknFFhZyeZUhfJcJNbAfVFmi7k9Nvh8eB9xmWZRckklzwuo3r7fC2NlOB8YHQPjzULxC7a8KGx135e6WF7aT3p5KPVLREHLRTiTwnZn0ED1KgXbB-oJbc3Ft4LBlgq5-YLhRq3gm-vz1/s320/Wooly+3.jpg" border="0" /></a>of the shallow water, Dev didn't get himself caught on prickers and finding that cache, I didn't think of it. The man (I'm bad with names) volunteered to keep Bryce back on the trail while his lady went in with me. We found the cache hidden inside the other side of the stump and covered by extra branches lined up on their ends. Definately not Mother Nature's style. Behind there was a plastic container that probably held pretezels in its previous life, but now had the honor of being recycled into a container that would be a small part of a large collection of lives! Had this couple not been there it would have taken me longer to manuever with two little ones and I'd be drop dead tired from carrying Bryce. It would have been harder but definately doable. </div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizWhBmhyphenhyphenkdxk8CWLH7eu_34vjW2Lr_7Zhk79eFuijzzXXYvWVH1kXwEXNE-OrydLQ21kKi_wNXLbMypzjOkuEFag6gNGuQ_217vLCqIZveqrbPhkOk25pj9lpq1laCpYktkOTuGoaceooj/s1600-h/Wooly+4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316571821015618946" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizWhBmhyphenhyphenkdxk8CWLH7eu_34vjW2Lr_7Zhk79eFuijzzXXYvWVH1kXwEXNE-OrydLQ21kKi_wNXLbMypzjOkuEFag6gNGuQ_217vLCqIZveqrbPhkOk25pj9lpq1laCpYktkOTuGoaceooj/s320/Wooly+4.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div>We each signed our geocaching names in the log as co-FTF's and were thrilled to discover there were two geocoins. I took the one that was shaped as the state of Michigan for obvious reasons, she took the star.</div><br /><div></div><div>On the way back I asked if they had found the Bleached Bones one Hunter and I tried on Saturday. They said they hadn't, so we walked back to the bleachers and were happy to find we were still alone. We each took a side and searched with our eyes and felt along edges and underneath with our fingers. We still couldn't find it! I had to chase Bryce around the small block of a restroom, and when I came back I saw an older man in a leather coat also on his hands and knees. Another Geocacher! He said he had been here this weekend too and was coming back for another chance. On the very bottom support, pushed as far foward as it could go and covered with sand and dead leaves we finally fount it. It was a small old mint tin painted an Earth tan color. Inside was only a log and a flat eraser in the shape of a football. Devin took the football and I put one of the caching buttons I got for Christmas from my sister Karyn in its place. While the man in leather s<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfvOttmTmLYtIxVK2K4809wCQDwa3hdegCn38fIy9gFEKzqiViBodfF-hb-7L7QdvxRKh5cLI0z8NP-BkmnAZ-QK48Z7QRixsUWeio2ZE6VDurofnKqBnCv5aWk5OuJ1ELirHnpIfeSnF/s1600-h/Bleached+Pirate+Bones.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316572059537564898" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfvOttmTmLYtIxVK2K4809wCQDwa3hdegCn38fIy9gFEKzqiViBodfF-hb-7L7QdvxRKh5cLI0z8NP-BkmnAZ-QK48Z7QRixsUWeio2ZE6VDurofnKqBnCv5aWk5OuJ1ELirHnpIfeSnF/s320/Bleached+Pirate+Bones.jpg" border="0" /></a>igned his name, a tall stranger approached us from the direction of the first cache we found together. Team StPats2 and I with Bryce in the stroller huddeled around him so he could finish what he was doing without the muggle realizing. To our surprise, the man stopped two steps past us and said, "You gotta tell me where you found that thing. I've tried twice!" We all started laughing and showed him the simple but sneaky hide and then handed him the log. I've been out caching quite a few times and haven't once had the occasion to meet another cacher, but on this day, I met four other seekers! Both the man in leather and the tall stranger were on their lunch break. The StPats2 couple are retired.</div><br /><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg5u7yB-wcYdVXzKZUTqF4j66aHylG2NWgPLauLnyX8zN6GFT5uRe8RVs-sth3x2ksSPTFVCQGpYhbg_Q4UOxYdQ64S5CnWA0w-peh0bsI3oYO-f-c4jvnmsqYamoLw6rIiohMwjbdHpa9/s1600-h/The+Wood+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316575474994168066" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg5u7yB-wcYdVXzKZUTqF4j66aHylG2NWgPLauLnyX8zN6GFT5uRe8RVs-sth3x2ksSPTFVCQGpYhbg_Q4UOxYdQ64S5CnWA0w-peh0bsI3oYO-f-c4jvnmsqYamoLw6rIiohMwjbdHpa9/s320/The+Wood+2.jpg" border="0" /></a>StPats2, or our friends as Dev called them, headed over to another cache in the woods on the other side of the baseball fields. Oh, I need an all terrain wagon! The stroller couldn't get through the soft ground so I let Bryce out of the stroller and of course he ran the other way! I chased him down to both his and Devin's <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5v76b-2dtbXVHF94dkSoj4LLsQDtDTnNXfhfFq3qATltT11ASGddFAFuriEyZB9p3DY-LVbvLSQr19lNSMwjWdy4S4_3Qre0agSW6aYspp7LXCQT7-YJicPraqho6wMuG7ErkqNocxLap/s1600-h/The+Wood+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316575623481418082" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5v76b-2dtbXVHF94dkSoj4LLsQDtDTnNXfhfFq3qATltT11ASGddFAFuriEyZB9p3DY-LVbvLSQr19lNSMwjWdy4S4_3Qre0agSW6aYspp7LXCQT7-YJicPraqho6wMuG7ErkqNocxLap/s320/The+Wood+3.jpg" border="0" /></a>delight and we re-joined our new friends inside the woods. This was an easy find. I saw a tree two people could hug in front of us, but looked at the GPS to make sure. My position was confirmed thanks to such cool technology, so we looked around at the base and eventually found a hole well hidden behind bark almost the same color as the tree we were kneeling in front of. Inside was a small Lock and Lock container that was well covered in camoflauge tape. We didn't find any Geocoins this time, but Dev found another suction cup ball like the one he found in a cache last week and had to have it. The other adults didn't trade anything. They do it for the find and the chance to help send a strangers Tracking Bug on it's journey across the world (progress is tracked on the geocaching.com website). </div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316575870067754530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuFbDtz02yGGzxDx10kMmCaezYFSxzcgadGlpfjJTuLhRYbIRBunRcKAPDuYz9p03nyKwUThXVUrYqb9eTbHMgccshP_SUHWwcz5Ure33TKvRJ07qZ0gVPdJMkBEv6XMrFH4lhcd3D6efJ/s320/The+Wood+4.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVT1haxRdfIN5BuqXeSocKtvgkzQ6-XEU-52Ag2hMssNKZ0mTBCryQVt8II6Y56hk_c14s9lyR7ExH6_lCOLmet6uTpnyv53GOha0lrYoWlsxhU4F9-HyJeBz2J3DLtZ4pUlPok4yezhY/s1600-h/Dev+found+buckeye.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316576141886644498" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVT1haxRdfIN5BuqXeSocKtvgkzQ6-XEU-52Ag2hMssNKZ0mTBCryQVt8II6Y56hk_c14s9lyR7ExH6_lCOLmet6uTpnyv53GOha0lrYoWlsxhU4F9-HyJeBz2J3DLtZ4pUlPok4yezhY/s320/Dev+found+buckeye.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Alhtough the boys were starting to get restless, there was one more find in this park I wanted to claim. We had been there finding hidden treasure boxes and running around for almost two hours. The next one was a micro, harder to find for sure, but from the cache information page and the direction the man in leather pointed, we knew where to start looking. It was an easy walk with B back in the stroller. Devin walked next to his new friend and was thrilled when the man bent down and found a Buckeye, an inedible, nutlike seed, for him to keep. It's from Ohio's state stree and the mascot for Ohio State University....blah, blah, blah. (I'm not really an Ohio fan! :D)</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMcqLmB7oCUeDUhY6uh_ESGmHZ_sQAUZODQevxswAEvzOS2kRf2DiVfIvqLkT4B7DRDOWYVQo79xKaWXKFcyN2pLZ8xZqqW6GfLakuPNIzIQMzSfR7i9i0eal7mW0H0jPGYZZO3uc6ATTR/s1600-h/Spruce.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316576413304703906" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMcqLmB7oCUeDUhY6uh_ESGmHZ_sQAUZODQevxswAEvzOS2kRf2DiVfIvqLkT4B7DRDOWYVQo79xKaWXKFcyN2pLZ8xZqqW6GfLakuPNIzIQMzSfR7i9i0eal7mW0H0jPGYZZO3uc6ATTR/s320/Spruce.jpg" border="0" /></a>We were about half way down a walkway outlined in spruce trees when the GPS's digital screen reached those magic numbers. I stopped, looked to the tree in front of me and right there was the cache! I had stopped in a place where two of the tree branches were higher than the others next to it and there tucked between two closely growing branches but just open enough for me to see the black lid of a cache. It was the same width of a film canister typically used for Micros, but it was longer, about the length of a science classroom test tube. Micros rarely have anything in them, although I've read of some having gift certificates of some kind or an unregistered TB for the lucky FTF. I dropped a quarter in with a klunk thinking I couldn't leave it empty. </div><div></div><br /><div>As we walked back to the parking lot I realized I had a TB in my geobag that I forgot to put in one of the bigger caches. Both the Regular sized caches were further away in the woods and the Micro too little. It was suggested I go back to the Small in the bleachers and see if it would fit in there. I did and found it would fit, although the lid wouldn't close completely. I felt it closed enough that the upcoming rainy weather wouldn't get in. </div><br /><div></div><div>Back at my van I was buckling in the boys when the female member of StPats2 (I am so bad with names!) came up behind me and said she wanted to give us one of their signature coins. It was a wooden quarter sized creation made to their specifications with their name on it and Luck of the Irish on the back. She told me again how much she enjoyed caching with us and how well behaved my boys were. She hoped to see us again on the trail and as she turned away, I was pretty certain she had tears in her eyes. I'm not selfish enough to think she actually cared for us, I think she was emotional because her only son and his kids, the first Geocachers in the family who showed them the ropes, live in Arizona and don't visit as much as she would like. I understand their bout of melanchony and hope their next family geocaching adventure happens soon. </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-13347892155563245032009-03-21T21:16:00.000-07:002009-03-23T13:57:02.484-07:00Only one out of three?? Darn it!Hunter and I were able to get away this past Saturday for some geocaching fun. I had done a search at geocaching.com and discovered a cache hidden about 30 miles away with a cute little story about trolls, prisoners and a hideout in the woods. I let Hunter read it and he laughed and agreed he'd love to help what we both assumed would be toys or other tradeable items escape.<br /><div align="left"></div><div align="left">I'm not real keen on city caches. I don't like to drive around, looking for someplace to park that gets me close to the cache, but not close to trouble because I'm parked in a place of business with no intention of doing any kind of business buy geocaching. Thanks to Google Earth I knew what parking lot I should park in, but had a feeling Richard wouldn't take me to that parking lot.<br /></div><div align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-RzTOk9fCa1nzJhDifuUMSLHWEETIVn3cQTvkK_VOQ8ReHopqDQnSsKaO-63ID6RNgl8ysPE4WHKgjsJJf9nSayJVO9D9lthNSwrTQBP9UEheoguVIVqFjB0d_fYMWE5vw4UDq7WCFjxR/s1600-h/Screenshot_Trolls.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316480756839088786" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 239px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-RzTOk9fCa1nzJhDifuUMSLHWEETIVn3cQTvkK_VOQ8ReHopqDQnSsKaO-63ID6RNgl8ysPE4WHKgjsJJf9nSayJVO9D9lthNSwrTQBP9UEheoguVIVqFjB0d_fYMWE5vw4UDq7WCFjxR/s320/Screenshot_Trolls.jpg" border="0" /></a>I was right. Richard took me to a side street that dead ended in a turn around in front of an office building. In his computer generated, sometimes annoying voice, he told us we had reached our destination (if we were to leave him there and walk between the buildings, sure). Hunter wondered aloud why I talk to Richard when he can't reply. I smiled and said he talks to me so I talk to him as I turned us around and headed for the next street over. This cache is best found on a weekend I think, when the parking lots are empty and no one can see what you're doing from the many windows that can see us walking below.</div><div align="left"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVOWlXV3Zd5Qa_XerUZSBlsiTWLv8dAFjx6kFOHq3ptFk6HJIaGIvRgv8KrD9JsVKq_qNZDqmQ8B3BF3SwndQjGxmnyja3429M3Diu4b4X4N94Sy0iVu-nIhoud_kKbhQL0UL66bgL6DQ4/s1600-h/Trolls+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316481385929921586" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVOWlXV3Zd5Qa_XerUZSBlsiTWLv8dAFjx6kFOHq3ptFk6HJIaGIvRgv8KrD9JsVKq_qNZDqmQ8B3BF3SwndQjGxmnyja3429M3Diu4b4X4N94Sy0iVu-nIhoud_kKbhQL0UL66bgL6DQ4/s320/Trolls+2.jpg" border="0" /></a>In the middle of the picture above, you can see a white line that goes up at the end. (The square with numbers and letters is the cache site.) That line is actually a thin cement wall that leads to the top of a large drainage pipe. We walked down and along the right side of it, among the bare trees and the trash covered ground. That was the most trash I have seen around a cache and could not believe the cache owner or previous finders didn't pick anything up! When we left and my kitchen sized garbage was pretty full, I thought maybe they did but couldn't pick it all up. There was still a lot of trash. </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCgMH8b7VBd4Fa3KBiqL3ZlalK0AVij9sFmF13m9lARF9Mcf04HT-SQd-PwfAxklZ-U2QBKMie1l5Ag9M7zwanAIitFTcPgpKpkxhrh6omMBLAwWxXcJSJ9jb1NnZ5K-mXzXfKA2j3_ewz/s1600-h/Trolls+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316481697667598066" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCgMH8b7VBd4Fa3KBiqL3ZlalK0AVij9sFmF13m9lARF9Mcf04HT-SQd-PwfAxklZ-U2QBKMie1l5Ag9M7zwanAIitFTcPgpKpkxhrh6omMBLAwWxXcJSJ9jb1NnZ5K-mXzXfKA2j3_ewz/s320/Trolls+3.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">Now that I have a lanyard for my handheld GPS, I've been letting Hunter lead the way. All he really needs to do is keep the arrow head on line with the cache, paying attention to which way the tip of it points. It was slow going, but we made it to the area and then started looking around for the hiding spot. This is where he needs more practice. He always starts out looking in the trees. Maybe some day we'll find a regular or small one in a tree, but usually those hides are saved for the micros and (crazy, crazy!) nanos. I told him to start with the ground and look for something unnatural. Behind a fallen tree I spotted some branches and some once severely bug infested logs piled next to and leaning against this log. I told Hunter to come around to where I was and help me look.<br /></div><div align="left"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Pn1QpDE5GdBb9_tLgd89nFvtEZ7du49LzZ-yWqmx2DALbFk0Zt7ImTqssGgr6OhSavZiqRMOA86S8EixRisSJa_6qL-XbWq3hcTsNjHOI3ik8uW4x4gaK2_F9xv8UM_BLFSiXKXKkw7m/s1600-h/Trolls+4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316481959614020898" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Pn1QpDE5GdBb9_tLgd89nFvtEZ7du49LzZ-yWqmx2DALbFk0Zt7ImTqssGgr6OhSavZiqRMOA86S8EixRisSJa_6qL-XbWq3hcTsNjHOI3ik8uW4x4gaK2_F9xv8UM_BLFSiXKXKkw7m/s320/Trolls+4.jpg" border="0" /></a>I tried to let him find it himself, but as he seemed to look everywhere but by his feet, I started playing the Hot and Cold game. He finally moved some of the wood, and there it was! He complains about the drive, drags his feet along the walk, but boy, oh boy does his face light up with the find!</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIRcWIb3-Mvf61RxfgAAKrgA89Kvfh7JdpQ3A8SCINoQIcTzS0QeYcEFLXNYk6PC_I-2IR53geCRvQxTuUCNeJOsWx2BlCSnGL5eGdmsXEiO_0plDrApVwk9jYdg9xPr0AE2lEscFO6YY5/s1600-h/Trolls+5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316482123741609554" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIRcWIb3-Mvf61RxfgAAKrgA89Kvfh7JdpQ3A8SCINoQIcTzS0QeYcEFLXNYk6PC_I-2IR53geCRvQxTuUCNeJOsWx2BlCSnGL5eGdmsXEiO_0plDrApVwk9jYdg9xPr0AE2lEscFO6YY5/s320/Trolls+5.jpg" border="0" /></a>His smile was short lived though. The prisoners we escaped weren't toys he could exchange. What we found was a lot of black 35 mm film canisters. As soon as I saw them, I understood the mystery. The cache creator is giving the finders of his cache their own micro cache to hide, equipped with a small log inside, safely sealed in a small plastic bag. He wanted us to rescue these so called prisoners, meaning take them out of the cache and not put anything in return and find them a new home, which meant nestling them in a cozy tree some where or find a little hidey hole some place and adding it to the geocaching.com family as a hide for others to find. Even explaining all that to Hunter, he thought I should write to the owner and complain there were no toys to trade!</div><div align="left"></div><div align="center"><br />You can see, he's not all that thrilled!<br /><br /></div><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316482516557647362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOXKIup1JGT9gxXn-GJvtP7K2EZZCwegQour5sm0BGoFDyMHdhIBuWEIWEqxvEkgY6gdbKd-HmIaNQ3mi6UIkmw3DVnKjzQ8y5FjEm_nIgwOv0EKLWmhhtMBBcU4F8qabISbqw5Vgb0dNw/s320/Trolls+6.jpg" border="0" /><br />The second one we attempted we thought from the description would be a quick find. We found ourselves in a good sized park with a playground, basketball and tennis courts and two baseball fields. My handheld GPS brought me to the right side bleachers between these fields. What? Bleachers?? There was no hint, just the title of Bleached Pirate Bones. Bleached meaning bleachers and the pirate theme is because the team who hid this cache has a thing for pirates. All their caches have something to do with buccaneers. I could believe a hide on these small, aluminum bleachers if it was a micro, but not so much a small, which is about sandwich size. We felt along all the grooves of the bleacher seats, hoping for a small something stuck underneath with a magnet before I realized a magnet won't stick to alluminum. Our time was soon up as a father and son appeared out of the parking lot to play catch on one of the fields. We had to leave with a DNF (Did Not Find). </p><p>The last one was a wonderful walk along a trail that used to be a railway. The owner of this cache wrote up a great poem that talked about the cache and also told us how we might find it.<br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJAqR3g4JOqZJEy0juDOxvkZzFf1Wi0v7e6lVRVw8QyBnLZmtfc1zjK-6lXau_4TsuCpbtVzes9rfon6EbFYbJgyCoJKue-oclpeo3MOqbhc3AZXHenwdgy_3A5AHmXhBbRFIdhWl7czOW/s1600-h/Interurban+Trail+6.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316483560607540130" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJAqR3g4JOqZJEy0juDOxvkZzFf1Wi0v7e6lVRVw8QyBnLZmtfc1zjK-6lXau_4TsuCpbtVzes9rfon6EbFYbJgyCoJKue-oclpeo3MOqbhc3AZXHenwdgy_3A5AHmXhBbRFIdhWl7czOW/s320/Interurban+Trail+6.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div></div><div><em>A boarding pass for the Interurban trail, </em></div><div><em>leads geocachers where others once traveled by rail.</em></div><div><em>Instead of a trolley, you’ll take the boardwalk,</em></div><div><em>past a silo and wetlands and maybe a duck.</em></div><div><em>As you enter the woods you’ll lose some of your light,</em></div><div><em>Stop where a small trail comes in from the right.</em></div><div><em>Into the woods on the left you must go,</em></div><div><em>Bearing west 200 feet or so.</em></div><div><em>Keep the wet ground just to your right,</em></div><div><em>If you get muddy, it’ll be quite a site.</em></div><div><em>Over several downed logs you must traverse.</em></div><div><em>Then into a ***** ***** your hand you’ll immerse.</em><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcPPH-rUSPOv8Pok5b2kdQQl2mDF6-_rXu5h4ZjDFeM7pDtOqeVIGEeOmBHNCeVg02HUvBtKMOlT2oWVXcvoMosZEKxEf6od8ZpAaLDjvVl81UBDUjJORftajTTs7LbivhJ24bkr2a22CY/s1600-h/Interurban+Trail+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316483851445723138" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcPPH-rUSPOv8Pok5b2kdQQl2mDF6-_rXu5h4ZjDFeM7pDtOqeVIGEeOmBHNCeVg02HUvBtKMOlT2oWVXcvoMosZEKxEf6od8ZpAaLDjvVl81UBDUjJORftajTTs7LbivhJ24bkr2a22CY/s320/Interurban+Trail+1.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>When we pulled into the park we saw a sign for the Interurban Trail not far into it. I looked at Richard and his finish line flag was still farther ahead, so we continued in the van. We came to a parking lot and as I turned back around toward where we came in, I saw a white silo above the trees and into the overcast sky. I told Hunter that was it and we parked in the spot closest. I put my green geocacher parking placard on the dashboard, grabbed our geogear and away we went.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgP_ucY03Nje5O6pg3t-4uZS_Rh7O2h1umVUGVGLDg4hA8veI06T28hyphenhyphennt_UIBc-ITvXyqQlP7gOlo6Y29hUFKpfRaJdNzgdVLn5-ePemPoLPX3HdFirZbho9l1RkG7hACcqQV6XnbOX7N/s1600-h/Interurban+Trail+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316484154552784546" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgP_ucY03Nje5O6pg3t-4uZS_Rh7O2h1umVUGVGLDg4hA8veI06T28hyphenhyphennt_UIBc-ITvXyqQlP7gOlo6Y29hUFKpfRaJdNzgdVLn5-ePemPoLPX3HdFirZbho9l1RkG7hACcqQV6XnbOX7N/s320/Interurban+Trail+2.jpg" border="0" /></a>Not far past the silo we went over a boardwalk and soon came to the sign post pictured above. If you can't read it, it says, "From 1899 - 1925, the Cleveland & Eastern Traction Company operated an electric-powered interurban railway which carried passengers, freight and farm goods between Cleveland and the Geauga County countryside. This trail leads to the site of the C&E junction where the track split into two branches; eastbound passengers could continue onto Chardon or baord a connecting trolley to Burton and Middlefield."<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirpNslkELRPEdxAfaPFfsq4bRUWqkZFpmJCa5lfKgnjz086zFV9Y9SZ-K0CO3pNa3ULD7AHKsWJ7rb1dV5XeNg-8eGcP8qe7QYs4s7M4G8W4VdVgO5qKylrq-sNgOBLzGLXjhLuPkQQVKt/s1600-h/Interurban+Trail+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316485013343711138" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirpNslkELRPEdxAfaPFfsq4bRUWqkZFpmJCa5lfKgnjz086zFV9Y9SZ-K0CO3pNa3ULD7AHKsWJ7rb1dV5XeNg-8eGcP8qe7QYs4s7M4G8W4VdVgO5qKylrq-sNgOBLzGLXjhLuPkQQVKt/s320/Interurban+Trail+3.jpg" border="0" /></a> This is the part where I messed up. I was enjoying the view of duck houses, goose and two minks that were two fast for my photo lense, Hunter was busy stimming with the toys always in his hand, that I forgot the line, "Stop where a small trail comes in from the right...". I didn't look for a trail from the right. I followed my GPS into thick trees and ended up walking too fast for it to catch up. We ended up entering the woods in the wrong area and didn't realize my GPS was having a hard time until I had made a half circle around. I slowed down but still couldn't get a good reading. While waiting for my GPS to tell me where I was, Hunter and I looked under fallen logs and in some stumps. While searching we came <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik5kvhf_LiK-46-ldxLtLDgxx0s6YTxxn1w5CKKoCz3Sm8rG8a2-APOOqtwLLcNzFUpju7iMhVMkqhObrHvRkHSwItBi9T9YYA3zBFxrvPHTGPviSOD7vuM0Kz4h1vBFJhmpeB-Z1BPWNg/s1600-h/Interurban+Trail+5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316485314207400610" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik5kvhf_LiK-46-ldxLtLDgxx0s6YTxxn1w5CKKoCz3Sm8rG8a2-APOOqtwLLcNzFUpju7iMhVMkqhObrHvRkHSwItBi9T9YYA3zBFxrvPHTGPviSOD7vuM0Kz4h1vBFJhmpeB-Z1BPWNg/s320/Interurban+Trail+5.jpg" border="0" /></a>upon an interesting tree Hunter wanted me to take a picture of. But then I goofed again! I forgot the hint, Birch Stump. If I had focused on those two words we may have found it, but instead we used up more than the time we planned and had to run back to the van and pick up a pizza and get back home. We were 45 minutes later than the time I told Tim, but my gosh, guess what happened? He, Dev and B survived! (Sorry for the sarcasm, my love! :P)<br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316485726524049970" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8UY366_vF8-4O46Tx94g0CarNFhFimXVoezW2r53GQizqo7eOl8ATEHzG9Y6lTbqj4Ysj8hnQ_hJJ_y33-Saq6fxLv63KmJobRFjX0_pUWNkzlEC8rCiHxvNZ_QbCjRzI_M1IGM6cr5W-/s320/Interurban+Trail+7.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />So, Hunter was bummed about all three of our caches; two DNF's and one disappointing find. After I signed the Internet logs I sent a message to my sister Karyn and said that she and the kids must stop by here on their way to Michigan in June so she can help me find this cache!</div>Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-26842501678761984552009-03-17T14:05:00.001-07:002009-03-17T16:05:29.601-07:00Geocachers in training!<div align="left">It was a beautiful day here in NE Ohio. Mid 60's, warm sunshine, clear sky...my youngest boys, Devin is 3 1/2 and Bryce is 21 months, and I went into town to the park to play. As I was finally allowed to sit down and watch them run over and under the playground equipment, I remembered one cache I had saved in my handheld, which is always in my purse. It was described as a walk down a trail in the woods, no bushwhacking needed. Hmmm. </div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div></div><br /><div>I couldn't take it anymore. Yes, my cache buddy was at school, but Colorado had given me a caching bug. I was dreaming about caches! I had everything I needed to find a cache and make a trade. I knew Devin would love a walk in the woods, it was Bryce that was holding me back. Like for 10 seconds! The stroller was in the van and if the path was like the ones I walked out in Colorado, it was be easy rolling.</div><br /><div></div><div>So we climbed into the van and I turned Richard on. Devin thought my handheld, Ferdie, was a phone, but I told him it was like Richard, only, unlike Richard who stays in the van, Ferdie would be coming with us and telling us where to find the treasure chest. Devin was all for finding a treasure. Every time I looked back at him buckled in his car seat, he was staring at Richard's screen. </div><br /><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJxXbpKI91QfF5zyaNa0HDqKYZVxxkYGIS4Z2bbcwXoorfiIugNkxBrRw64xZ4qpPbnxIJOUTv8Fn3zor6iX4aA_AXhphVXJAZRkdF_4-EiHA2PFXx3osvFWd0TCJdYdXy1ZVQ1VQ5mLJ/s1600-h/Hippie+Van+TB.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314282369105530994" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJxXbpKI91QfF5zyaNa0HDqKYZVxxkYGIS4Z2bbcwXoorfiIugNkxBrRw64xZ4qpPbnxIJOUTv8Fn3zor6iX4aA_AXhphVXJAZRkdF_4-EiHA2PFXx3osvFWd0TCJdYdXy1ZVQ1VQ5mLJ/s320/Hippie+Van+TB.jpg" border="0" /></a>Unfortunately, Richard started blinking red at me. He was low on power and I hadn't put his power cord back in the van after my trip to CO. I talked nice to him and Dev kept telling me to get him some new batteries. To hush Devin up I dug out the tracking bug, or TB, I had found in a Colorado cache. He had seen it before and quickly took it. I explained to him how we were going to send him on an adventure by putting him inside a treasure chest we find and someone else would find him and put him in another box. Dev began making a shhhh sound while playing with the van and when I asked him what he was doing, he told me he was filling the van up with gas for his adventure. (Aww)</div><br /><div></div><div>Richard didn't shut down as we turned onto the road he directed us to, but, as before, he was brining me to the closest known road on his internal maps and this road was another cul de sac we couldn't begin our search from. I knew I was looking for a path between two baseball fields, so I left that dead end and continued on and around and found a park with tennis courts and at the back, baseball fields! We parked near the first one and headed past a sign that said this was a Health Path.</div><br /><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj301bFMc_j6Jr6PJGHTl2qEJBsX2AyZQLq6MXJH-98iGhumph5sL31xsB0AynaMbZ87jopORclXavBlwH2wIPSnhvw3c7BDSKqEbHQ6nKJnJzccmd7184Pf3ltLkZitPQclNww1PeT43LL/s1600-h/Keep+Munson+Clean+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314283080083388242" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj301bFMc_j6Jr6PJGHTl2qEJBsX2AyZQLq6MXJH-98iGhumph5sL31xsB0AynaMbZ87jopORclXavBlwH2wIPSnhvw3c7BDSKqEbHQ6nKJnJzccmd7184Pf3ltLkZitPQclNww1PeT43LL/s320/Keep+Munson+Clean+1.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div>I glanced down at Ferdie for the first time since getting out of the van and to my surprise I saw another traditional cache icon that wasn't in my set line of travel. I looked this one up, and indeed there were two in this park! At the time I saved the caches to my hand held I knew that, but when looking for one that I could take a stroller to, I had skipped over it when I saw the other was off a path.<br /></div><br /><div>We were practically on top of this one. When I told Devin we were really close to a treasure chest, he said, Where? Where? and ran around looking for it, back and forth like a bee choosing which flower to pollinate first. I pushed B up to the border of grass next to a wooded area with rocks and logs and brought up the coordinates screen on Ferdie. A little back and forth walking and we found it underneath a piece of driftwood and between two good sized rocks. When I pulled it out, Devin looked at me and said, It's not a treasure chest. It's a treasure box! Yes, it indeed was a treasure box. We opened it and while he sorted through the contents and eventually decided on a Spongebob, I signed the log book.<br /><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314283428026722050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUnl09bzRCd-bw0m4sp_B-QJGakk8LVZMdUGISfbqFSn0MvvvtnU6q3rxOM-aw14zVgU8T1Whs_93ehi02WidFZQ2YY2S20JBr-dtroQwSRd_fwakIstmYSt2JTJTOADjlr1MkiTnBayyQ/s320/Keep+Munson+Clean+2.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBuEX6YrrvikTuNcjUhP3nzs1NdograssMgBuxMgYRMOhs9c9v5p4oygECW_9B7xF_EZcDfNjgtFi_NsNBSLLuEbW-VDyIFHomZOZAdRVF0pItSxMrqhWYXk35s2-hWq3jRg752ckYOOmI/s1600-h/Toadally+Cache+5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314283751840916770" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBuEX6YrrvikTuNcjUhP3nzs1NdograssMgBuxMgYRMOhs9c9v5p4oygECW_9B7xF_EZcDfNjgtFi_NsNBSLLuEbW-VDyIFHomZOZAdRVF0pItSxMrqhWYXk35s2-hWq3jRg752ckYOOmI/s320/Toadally+Cache+5.jpg" border="0" /></a>Back at the stroller, I had no problem pushing it over the grass, but as the path turned into the woods it got a bit harder to manuever and then the path just kind of melted into the forest. I expected an outline of some sort, but there was none. I marked where I was as a waypoint so the boys and I could make it back out again, picked up Bryce and with Dev in tow, headed into the trees. We crossed a trickle of a stream and into an area that was being worked on by a heavy machine. There was a wide, deep track in the mud and many trees in front of us were cut down. There were also new flat marking sticks with pink plastic ties fluttering in the breeze. I couldn't remember what was said in the online log of this cache and hoped I'd find the hiding spot in this mess. </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2NmA8YAZWRsE-2BVhp5vss6SGssrC5kEaQyPwefTkbldRhjukYmZTXTxCsAsm474EVMB1j4yNyyIFeZd9Z5hSToPRqE3ywjcLnW_2D4b0xxkS8pif5GVYxpiOzRcoZHDUV8rSXaTcmSTg/s1600-h/Toadally+Cache+4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314283935047737746" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2NmA8YAZWRsE-2BVhp5vss6SGssrC5kEaQyPwefTkbldRhjukYmZTXTxCsAsm474EVMB1j4yNyyIFeZd9Z5hSToPRqE3ywjcLnW_2D4b0xxkS8pif5GVYxpiOzRcoZHDUV8rSXaTcmSTg/s320/Toadally+Cache+4.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div>Bryce didn't follow along all that well. He wanted to sit down and play with the leaves and sticks. I carried him until I was close to the coordinates and then put him down where he plopped on his padded bum to pick at some leaves. I was nearby what looked to me like a great hiding spot, but the coordinates didn't go that far. When Dev and I found the cache it was a bit off, buried under a piece of torn bark between two downed trees. Later when I logged my find the previous discoverer had said he found the cache out in the open, possibly pulled from it's hiding spot by the big machine. He hid it somewhere else nearby, so that explained why the coordinates were a bit off. </div><br /><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDLDPEcRY8AYlpOxHMhBeAHE-x77fiajZU9pomWyW7SwTRT2ZvutYOCG2y4GG8smHyXBDIbMQRjM5vY-_L6oiAiO6SsMuL_rzQiG7pApENLNU_OdK8x4ZTef3qVmb3FfS00MBJzxdVp8Rg/s1600-h/Toadally+Cache+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314284194481159314" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDLDPEcRY8AYlpOxHMhBeAHE-x77fiajZU9pomWyW7SwTRT2ZvutYOCG2y4GG8smHyXBDIbMQRjM5vY-_L6oiAiO6SsMuL_rzQiG7pApENLNU_OdK8x4ZTef3qVmb3FfS00MBJzxdVp8Rg/s320/Toadally+Cache+3.jpg" border="0" /></a>Like the box we found not too long before, Dev helped me pull it out and was eager to see what was inside. I was thrilled to discover a tracking bug and my first geocoin, which is another trackable item without a tag. From this cache Dev claimed a suction cup ball. </div><div></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nNrRy7Nc0MgLWlcy8wVCIhcig6qpoUj32SdqvKuj-t8ctjX2boAgTu6NEMKXA6mUI3eNjP814Hj_WppMQ49aQXVO7UkxcVv7Dvs03j4179Xkt98v0Keq7kEp0I83N_hPX8lWkcuALM90/s1600-h/Toadally+Cache+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314284333235610738" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nNrRy7Nc0MgLWlcy8wVCIhcig6qpoUj32SdqvKuj-t8ctjX2boAgTu6NEMKXA6mUI3eNjP814Hj_WppMQ49aQXVO7UkxcVv7Dvs03j4179Xkt98v0Keq7kEp0I83N_hPX8lWkcuALM90/s320/Toadally+Cache+2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div>Even though it seemed a long walk carrying one child and helping another, we hadn't really gone that far into the woods. We made it back to the stroller in just a few minutes and back inside the van. Bryce got mad when took him from the stroller and strapped him into the van. Not long after we left the dirt drive of the park, he was sound asleep.</div><br /><div></div><div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwOK1IYo5qvE8BZUFki-RcRHIRo16jQs7Qw7CRM6KlS4a1WDKXyJKByWpt3MLmGcUEsmuHTvMYCz6u2uHMiKA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-48092120051756959902009-03-15T16:30:00.000-07:002009-03-16T18:28:00.380-07:00My first Virtual Cache!I wanted to find a virtual cache when I realized there was one about 10 miles away. Then when I went to the page at geocaching.com for the complete definition of a virtual cache, I was bummed to learn that these types of finds have been grandfathered. That means that the virtual caches already out there can be found, but there will be no more made on that website. To find more I'll have to look at waymarking.com under Waymarks. For right now, I'll stick with the virtual caches at geocaching.com, as well as earth caches, which I have yet to find out what that is all about. There is one not too far away from here tucked between two traditional caches I want to find. I think Hunter will enjoy the one I have in mind.<br /><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div></div><div>I had planned on going out with Hunter after his dad got back from a few hours of work Sunday morning, but he got himself in trouble and I said we wouldn't be going. But after I put B down for his nap and headed into town to get some groceries, the virtual cache I had been looking at the day before kept floating around in my mind. </div><br /><div></div><div>Geocaching.com defines a virtual cache as "...a cache that exists in a form of a location. Depending on the cache "hider," a virtual cache could be to answer a question about a location, an interesting spot, a task, etc. The reward for these caches is the location itself and sharing information about your visit. Because of the nature of these geocaches, you must actually visit the location and acquire the coordinates there before you can post. In addition, although many locations are interesting, a virtual cache should be out of the ordinary enough to warrant logging a visit."</div><br /><div></div><div>So there is no cache box to find and no small treasures to swap. Even though I had no idea what to expect, I'm sure Hunter would have been interested in going. The task was to go to the coordinates, take a short walk in the woods and look for a depression in the land by huge birch trees and outcroppings of rock and email the cache owner what image I see and what two words are above this image. </div><br /><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqa_c72uILHPM4AwdRfqc9LtvKdWbZgzdjkOcLbKpFtBbXTtETZFl-doUdTN0pd9xU6NgLP8haWfeWVKMnZr4HImdc6EFbCQWH7QhkPQxASh8ivTq0fMKGImP2otqybJ0e51o_YqBSD766/s1600-h/Aquilla+Art+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313956273927801858" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqa_c72uILHPM4AwdRfqc9LtvKdWbZgzdjkOcLbKpFtBbXTtETZFl-doUdTN0pd9xU6NgLP8haWfeWVKMnZr4HImdc6EFbCQWH7QhkPQxASh8ivTq0fMKGImP2otqybJ0e51o_YqBSD766/s320/Aquilla+Art+1.jpg" border="0" /></a>I left the grocery store behind and headed toward Chardon and this virtual cache. I knew where I was going as I've taken that road to town often enough. Richard told me to hang a right before the road I thought I'd be going to and told me, like he has before, that the cache I wanted was behind some houses. Now that I think about it, I don't remember if the unit could even see the road I eventually parked on, or else I'm sure he would have told me to drive down it because the cache was maybe 50 feet off this lake access road and since Richard is road locked, it must be that this dead end street isn't in his maps. Bummer. </div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG7WrNeulpYTp42oP93LiTuDeCMvi5HQZYeqc12gHJ-PqBnRiAh1f4YrcUsbiYWDCbaF4qripl3qdDLbxHWvPZDB_eAEh8yegirA1hklzJyRFiqLuJWXEI-WbTqtx8QminiOcW7QEcJRjk/s1600-h/Aquilla+Art+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313956585766752738" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG7WrNeulpYTp42oP93LiTuDeCMvi5HQZYeqc12gHJ-PqBnRiAh1f4YrcUsbiYWDCbaF4qripl3qdDLbxHWvPZDB_eAEh8yegirA1hklzJyRFiqLuJWXEI-WbTqtx8QminiOcW7QEcJRjk/s320/Aquilla+Art+2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div>I do remember driving down the access road and seeing Richard's red arrow pointing to the checkered flag which is the icon for the coordinates I had entered. I almost decided not to look because there were teenagers riding their skateboards down the slightly inclined road, but I wasn't looking for a cache box but some work of art in the woods so I parked, locked my van and left with Ferdie, my digital camera and a small notebook to write down what image I'd find and the words above it. Without that, I can't claim to have found this cache!</div><div></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvMkK1zjIDIBsjQo2M-HlKzxOjOVoOfH_hxs8WlyPsYoxKouvFh-B4V9bskH7YcU6kEu_YHo5sV7cimlu34idHgT_jod8dF5OsSM5OO4cgP3ScqS0qbOrFQdiet72h-OU0fXpLjoxRvW6/s1600-h/Aquilla+Art+3.jpg"></a>It was a beautiful day, but the trees and the grass around me hadn't yet recovered from winters blanket. I'll have to bring Hunter back here during the summer, even better the fall. I have often driven down this road when the leaves have changed just to see their canopies come together above you. That day the sun was warm and wonderful, but the scene was pretty grey and dreary, and seeing the skid marks on the road from sqealing cars gone by, one which revved out while I was walking back to my van, scars the place even more.</div><div></div><br /><div>I walked up the road, already in line with my west coordinates, and then turned into the woods for the north. I had to make a mental note to self that if I even think about finding a cache during a wet spring to not wear white sneakers!</div><br /><div></div><div>The ground was muddy as I stepped over a small run of water heading down hill to a large area of rocks protruding out of the ground. I remember what the cache owner said about rock outcroppings and was glad the coordinates weren't over there because it looked a little steep!</div><br /><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizhA6oqeGg1evTFpqytkrjVnSsnoGYhqTG2RJiP8sDu34I-F1JscC5vBDCHOxzdJgm10JkNQ6O9RsEUfiWa747Sxo766PSMsdyGqbCsLAJCFuhx4OwiPa4nkPd0lR-0KpUoPkPd4liGJOV/s1600-h/Aquilla+Art+8.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313961809063209682" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizhA6oqeGg1evTFpqytkrjVnSsnoGYhqTG2RJiP8sDu34I-F1JscC5vBDCHOxzdJgm10JkNQ6O9RsEUfiWa747Sxo766PSMsdyGqbCsLAJCFuhx4OwiPa4nkPd0lR-0KpUoPkPd4liGJOV/s320/Aquilla+Art+8.jpg" border="0" /></a>I continued on my course and in the distance saw some grey stones in the earth, most covered in fuzzy green moss. I paused to let Ferdie reoriantate himself and found I was there. In front of me the stones were in a slight depression, as I was looking for. I have no idea what a beech tree looks like (my MIL is probably shaking her head :) ), but there were two huge tree trunks to the left of the stones and sunken ground.<br /><br /></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kWhnI8t_WuO8vgd5qbTHgw8eLC59psIKFpYSaASmeuj3TOwvNWMuHGGXfpWa9CULuFZ1Wmva_JXsPpcWQEeyRLnH096-jbbJ9NGWP_jaCkUflFd5f9rndJB90QpsU3l3wOraQv-1qvaz/s1600-h/Aquilla+Art+5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313957492649650770" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kWhnI8t_WuO8vgd5qbTHgw8eLC59psIKFpYSaASmeuj3TOwvNWMuHGGXfpWa9CULuFZ1Wmva_JXsPpcWQEeyRLnH096-jbbJ9NGWP_jaCkUflFd5f9rndJB90QpsU3l3wOraQv-1qvaz/s320/Aquilla+Art+5.jpg" border="0" /></a> I made the switch between GPS and camera and tried my best not to let the ground suck my shoes off my feet as I walked closer. I immediately saw writing on one of the stones. It looked like numbers, but there was no image and no words. I looked at the trees close by and then started to circle around the rocks. They didn't seem to be actualy rocks, but more of shaped pieces of stone, like large retaining wall blocks. I couldn't help but wonder what this place used to be. Did they once contain something, the first layer of a stone house? The cache creater noted about six months after he created this for his geocache community that he was told that local lore credits H.R. Wagner as the artist. That this man camped here in the early 1900's when this was a popular vacation community. </div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMEXFkcrQnst0XTPspH4Vg1IvL-mD8o-UieZTCag4ZNkmpP_IeWCNtn8dqSzonZWOhMkXPmLUChtlLpimHBXoowI-1GTJdGJiD0ST1Xf8u04UQ9lweyWuq3IzmqkAlyDG3Ax31_NQ2Nr7/s1600-h/Aquilla+Art+7.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313958821257326066" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMEXFkcrQnst0XTPspH4Vg1IvL-mD8o-UieZTCag4ZNkmpP_IeWCNtn8dqSzonZWOhMkXPmLUChtlLpimHBXoowI-1GTJdGJiD0ST1Xf8u04UQ9lweyWuq3IzmqkAlyDG3Ax31_NQ2Nr7/s320/Aquilla+Art+7.jpg" border="0" /></a>Then I found what I had come here to find, what this man had carved and etched in the stone above it so long ago. Embossed in the dirty stone was the left profile of an indian complete with feather. Above the image were the words Chief Aquilla. Aquilla is the name of the lake that is just a stones throw away from this memorial. There were words on the other stones next to this one, but I couldn't make much of it out. The words Chief Aquilla however were deeper and more purposefully etched in the stone and will probably still be visible when the rest fades with the passing of time.</div><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313959026655933282" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdL4CS8m2m74FomB2vYN0Tde5gPy_AeNypu_syHKLR3ZDPBq10hIteDELjJT-mYt6C_RZ3N08gpQJiX84fKgMawn20GlSI0WwV7lnb90qywKB3BrqZHpOtFYyZm3sfu5O6kILWC4BzqDg0/s320/Aquilla+Art+6.jpg" border="0" /> <div>When I got back out to the road and set off downhill, the skateboarders were gone, but the air was not as still and quiet as it had been when that carving was still warm for the artists chisel. A souped up blue Neon tore out of the parking lot ahead of me and added new burn marks to the road. I could also hear my first lawnmower of the year. Our yard won't be seeing that for another month at least, when our foot steps no longer squish when we walk from the garage to shed. </div><br />When I got home my husband knew I hadn't just been grocery shopping. I had been gone about two hours, but the amount of groceries in my possession did not warrent such a long trip to town! I'm glad I took the time to take even that short walk in the woods. There are a couple caches off some nature trails I can probably take Dev and B too.<br /><div></div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313959194846894434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8k4kBb3Am8Vh23uCWpHXJc5TQQ66PHz13kKbMTH5bl2hXscnJW2g9Xt8ENk03hq8SRuGfFj1OYiZC6C32U1-IBL3NZy5xumsEzgJY-CprOf4poPYOBBCcaPEB2vZj1ToJYwLNNlRlLKa/s320/Aquilla+Art+4.jpg" border="0" /> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-68544682893171617352009-03-12T10:09:00.001-07:002009-03-15T18:39:10.875-07:00Geocaching in Colorado!<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>After taking a two month hiatus, I'm back at it out west!<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I tagged along with my hubby to Colorado Springs, Colorado from March 9th-13th, for a get away and a trip down Memory Lane. If you read my other blog, you know that I love to do that!<br /><br />My travels took me to where I sit at this moment, in my room on the 7th floor of the West Tower inside the beautiful Broadmoor Hotel. I've spent the last two days visiting with Katie, my friend first and cousin second, who lives outside of Denver, about an hour north of here. Also in the area is another old class mate, Tom, and tonight I'll be meeting a grade school friend, Erika. (All rediscovered thanks to Facebook!) I am so thankful to my husband for letting me come and abandoning him on his birthday (March 11). I couldn't pass up the chance to get some geocaching done this far west! </div><div><br /> </div><div>I know I won't finish this blog until I return to Ohio tomorrow. I am waiting for Katie's arrival for lunch with Tim and I and then the two of us are going out to find some more cache's. She and her kids went with me yesterday, but before I talk about that, I'll begin with the high altitude hunting I did alone this past Tuesday. </div><div><br /> </div></div><div><div>I actually planned on heading out earlier that morning, but I, um, had a bit too much wine at dinner the night before and woke with a pounding head and could not face the sunshine outside my thankfully thick curtained window. Finally I was able to climb into the shower and set out. </div><div><br /> </div><div>Before leaving my house back in Ohio, I researched some cache sites on the geocaching.com website. I saved ten locations to my handheld GPS that are within two miles of the hotel. Once here my Magellan unit, which I call Ferdie for Ferdinand Magellan the explorer, listed the caches I had saved by which ones were nearest to my current location. Once inside my rental car, which a curteous valet attendant brought to me warm and ready (it was only in the high 30's the entire week we were here), I hooked up Richard and entered into him the lattitude and longitude coordinates I had saved in Ferdie. </div><div><br /> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-banWNjITco43LRSSBpJx55gcFo5FR_mER7ETMUsA-5WOEcpModjj6EjJH5eyfE3Wf6LQt11QAGbRgOyFkltB_OR5KLcA_dXWay9r7IeQ9sqaiSt0gJFD3wEjkyl-GNWzO-hfBgS0yQwA/s1600-h/GC+one+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313569896174438994" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-banWNjITco43LRSSBpJx55gcFo5FR_mER7ETMUsA-5WOEcpModjj6EjJH5eyfE3Wf6LQt11QAGbRgOyFkltB_OR5KLcA_dXWay9r7IeQ9sqaiSt0gJFD3wEjkyl-GNWzO-hfBgS0yQwA/s320/GC+one+2.jpg" border="0" /></a>The cache nearest to me was dedicated to the memory of two family dogs. It was off a walking path that started along the fence line behind an elementary school. I parked the car and on the dashboard I put the laminated geocaching information card my sister Tiffany created for her cache adventuring sisters. It lets people know that this unfamilar car, possibly parked in an odd place or way, belongs to someone who is geocaching and will be back soon.</div><div> </div><div><br />I headed off excited to find my first cache in another state besides Michigan, a place that, except for the current temperature, by sight you'd think I was in the desert. The ground was a red, crushed dirt, dry and crunchy beneath my sneakers. What trees I saw looked sickly or dead and shrubs were short, scraggily looking things. I didn't research what type of warm or cold blooded creatures I would find here, but the caches I had researched weren't far off well used trails and I didn't plan on reaching my hand into any holes! </div><div><br /> </div><div>It was a bit windy but the sun kept me comfortable until the walking made me take off my coat as I followed the trail along the fence line and then turned left when the trail split, as the cache creator had said. From what I could see in front of me, I'd probably be looking among the dried up trees ahead to my left. On the right were mostly those bushes I mentioned, out in the open and going up hill. Not some where I'd hide a cache.... </div><div><br /> </div><div>As I got closer to the first grouping of trees the trail went up a slight hill and then curved to the left. I hadn't been walking very long and the incline wasn't even as steep as a setting on my treadmill back home, but I had to stop at the top and take a breather. I was gasping and panting and thinking I was WAY more out of shape then I thought, even though I've been excercising at<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS6GQDJdky8xQWO1Dcew9bbgj_nOg1fEgDUlYDqT2IV2GOlQI_dZ0y9pykU7tXnZ5Vn28T5tacycXaGh330kThGc8N1LtzuLh1avff30hRpcutdFVJfXVEC52uWWistCbpdOk6wAen0aIh/s1600-h/GC+one+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313570921533795058" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS6GQDJdky8xQWO1Dcew9bbgj_nOg1fEgDUlYDqT2IV2GOlQI_dZ0y9pykU7tXnZ5Vn28T5tacycXaGh330kThGc8N1LtzuLh1avff30hRpcutdFVJfXVEC52uWWistCbpdOk6wAen0aIh/s320/GC+one+1.jpg" border="0" /></a> least three times a week! Then I remembered the elevation of the Colorado city I was exploring is just over 6,000 feet! Ugh. I continued on, glancing at my handheld until I just about reached my cache marker. Then I switched Ferdie to the coordinates screen and lined myself up to whatever line I was closest to, and then found the other line. As I walked that course I kept my eyes out for Muggles, none, and spotted ahead of me two clumps of trees, both with dead leaves and tree limbs scattered and caught at the bases. The closest one to me was the largest and Ferdie was telling me that this was the place! I exchanged it for my digital camera and bent down closer. I know what to look for now and believed that behind a pile of dried up sticks would be my first Colorado cache. And it was! The treasures inside weren't all that impressive, although there was an audio CD of an unfamiliar children's book. I was just thrilled that I found a cache in another state and would be able to log it at geocaching.com! </div><div><br /> </div><div>The way back always goes faster than when you take that first step on your path. Before I knew it, I was back at my rental car and had sent text messages to my caching sisters and actually spoke with one of them. Then I was toucing Richard's screen and entering the coordinates to my next Colorado cache! </div><div><br /> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXJFgvPkTX7Cycu7j9VBZcRNI3WwwOb5pT7XPnaimXtH7mhTeDEh74CKlnhZezwMnEQ9Luh7WPMYytOLwf541iWtro28Mef4egzqIH5IO3SUg-oOIGDZyCRUojRJfiiZRP7n83bkXBYLB/s1600-h/GC+two+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313572062402992802" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXJFgvPkTX7Cycu7j9VBZcRNI3WwwOb5pT7XPnaimXtH7mhTeDEh74CKlnhZezwMnEQ9Luh7WPMYytOLwf541iWtro28Mef4egzqIH5IO3SUg-oOIGDZyCRUojRJfiiZRP7n83bkXBYLB/s320/GC+two+2.jpg" border="0" /></a>Thanks to my completely avoidable but wanted to do it anyway delay that morning, I only had about another hour for this next cache before heading to Denver and meeting up with a friend I hadn't seen in 10 years. Richard led me to a parking lot at a trail head that was a little confusing. There was a sign that said this was such and such trail, before it was a pasture for horses, etc., etc., but then a sign right behind it said, <em>No Entrance</em>. I looked around but found no other recognizable path into the trees, so I did enter and found that just to the right was a garage and to the left was the trail.</div><div> </div><div><br />Finally on my way, I picked up the pace and huffed and puffed along to another sign at a perimeter fence with the words, <em>Do Not Enter. This is your water supply. Report any suspicious behavior.</em> The trail I was following was above and up against the sides of the fence and probably continued all the way around it, but I knew I would be stopping about half a mile on the trail. I didn't have time to go all the way around, and since I didn't know how long it was or where it ended, I didn't want to! </div><div><br /> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBFA7WaPiVUI-rI-rgnhqW9cFM9gLkResCIw_Xu9A5B4-72VtjF6k4HcLPV_KOhZO4-CLKxy0n-RdvCPqW9BVssgtRWHhyYz2Zhl_lgv3aYEoAeXs7COHG9CLv4mbM5oNybObHf3jq8n52/s1600-h/GC+two+5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313572271300088898" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBFA7WaPiVUI-rI-rgnhqW9cFM9gLkResCIw_Xu9A5B4-72VtjF6k4HcLPV_KOhZO4-CLKxy0n-RdvCPqW9BVssgtRWHhyYz2Zhl_lgv3aYEoAeXs7COHG9CLv4mbM5oNybObHf3jq8n52/s320/GC+two+5.jpg" border="0" /></a>I saw a few other people on foot and on moutain bike. As Ferdie got me closer and closer to the coordinates, I looked around and saw no one in sight. According to Ferdie I had to go off the trail and climb up into the trees. I could see rocks up there and the hint for this cache was, Under the big white rock. I have learned that cache hiders don't usually go too far off the trail, that I doubt when this cache was hidden, the person climbed this rocky hill to hide it. Maybe, but doubtful, and when I arrived at the top of where Ferdie said I should be going, yup, there was another path!</div><div> </div><div><br /> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXburLBZDcfLjCjhDzk8-egBratWIVHHHj78MuEjQJw20NEYjPwVehyYQ3ZXnsALpywyKFOMajZ5jSRSCdm5CASZxu50tjAz7vku2bqEwTDp_UiX2nvx8YMPJln-2v21Vfl01aL7FJPzCO/s1600-h/GC+two+1.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizD-rQlOfFNX-mCKA8CmEIFW9htsABnz8hE_gE2EKD7r6cyFEctRZNOfdeOMPeC9QB-X8R__HNsb8DeCs4gz1o8ox4ccCmhV17M-V-TEszATG_VyByzZfQlm1pppiCrDrfEbEY9MEwVwDr/s1600-h/GC+two+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313581218345023314" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizD-rQlOfFNX-mCKA8CmEIFW9htsABnz8hE_gE2EKD7r6cyFEctRZNOfdeOMPeC9QB-X8R__HNsb8DeCs4gz1o8ox4ccCmhV17M-V-TEszATG_VyByzZfQlm1pppiCrDrfEbEY9MEwVwDr/s320/GC+two+1.jpg" border="0" /></a>I knew I was close and pocketed Ferdie and pulled out my digital camera as I focused on the biggest white rock in the area. I didn't look at the lake in the distance, nor at the tree line behind me. I wanted that cache and prepared to step down a bit closer to the rock. My excitement grew even more when I saw a pen! There was a pen down by the rock, a pen probably used to sign the log book!!</div><div> </div><div><br />I placed my feet carefully; I didn't need to be calling Tim out of what he came to Colorado Springs for to come get me off a mountain because I broke my leg! My sister, Karyn, was concerned when I called her after finding my first western cache. She didn't think I should be caching alone there...hindsight and all that, she was probably right! My hubby doesn't much care for it, Hunter wasn't here, and I wanted some CO caches!</div><div> </div><div><br /> </div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQOtBKdYLM8HYtSxQ7FvgU8TLScNX_zDeqzBMgkTyJGY0RC7AaMCFX-N1fuxj8tNDA_WCaM82TILe9JHuQzfotbC0XlIfeM5amf_bXd63hTtSto08HOKxyGwORPwaR7AV2ThdbHgnT5cL/s1600-h/GC+two+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313581539705790546" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQOtBKdYLM8HYtSxQ7FvgU8TLScNX_zDeqzBMgkTyJGY0RC7AaMCFX-N1fuxj8tNDA_WCaM82TILe9JHuQzfotbC0XlIfeM5amf_bXd63hTtSto08HOKxyGwORPwaR7AV2ThdbHgnT5cL/s320/GC+two+3.jpg" border="0" /></a>Anyway - I made it down to that rock and I looked around and under it, but there was no sign of a hidden box. All I could see was mice droppings and there was no way I was reaching my hand under a rock! I looked around myself, but saw no other potential locations. I pulled out Ferdie and looked at him. Darn! I was way off! This rock, although white and the biggest, wasn't the one I sought. Shoot! I climbed back up and got myself stabbed by a stick in the wrist for my effort. I let Ferdi reorintate himself and after a little back and forth action, I discovered I had passed the point I needed to be and there was indeed another big white rock. And gosh darn it all, I didn't have to climb among small trees and sharp branches to reach it!</div><div> </div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk1kPuqZb0mziWQwHPI0n_lVI6y8qjwK1qsAt9LKGK1B44VnZdq_zO367pV5t5tdeH2QetoSxJej-xuSxpvG__SdMmamQej1bR0D69ZhqrNzKcN-mUbX4NQfP_aJRjPp_1FvqZp9ZRgBYX/s1600-h/GC+two+4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313582007717655010" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk1kPuqZb0mziWQwHPI0n_lVI6y8qjwK1qsAt9LKGK1B44VnZdq_zO367pV5t5tdeH2QetoSxJej-xuSxpvG__SdMmamQej1bR0D69ZhqrNzKcN-mUbX4NQfP_aJRjPp_1FvqZp9ZRgBYX/s320/GC+two+4.jpg" border="0" /></a>As I approached it, I could see what could be the hiding spot, a wall of smaller rocks piled along the bottom half of the larger stone. I squatted down and took away one rock...and heard a cell phone ring below me!</div><div> </div><div><br />A hiker on the path I had climbed away from had stopped and was talking just below me. I was at the point of my discovery where you don't want to be discovered yourself! I hunkered down and waited him out. Why can't he walk and talk at the same time?? Finally he said his goodbyes and carried on. I also continued what I was doing, which was take a picture of the cache behind it's rock wall before pulling it all the way out. Once again the find was more exciting than the swag inside, so I just signed the name Hunter and I have been using and put the plastic container back the way I found it. </div><div> </div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhohEkW-g5mZnO8gUy9Ws-7vTq5bNCerOJ7u6nhs7QKCbo9_RMe8LKUxgrid05ADima9_EC2EfVzKGnM8KnRRDgLLaVNMs8y7phqjw6wxAt2LosQzfacV4YnB9p1EHqw5-OAJHPl_pFa8fx/s1600-h/GC+two+6.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313582227543671442" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhohEkW-g5mZnO8gUy9Ws-7vTq5bNCerOJ7u6nhs7QKCbo9_RMe8LKUxgrid05ADima9_EC2EfVzKGnM8KnRRDgLLaVNMs8y7phqjw6wxAt2LosQzfacV4YnB9p1EHqw5-OAJHPl_pFa8fx/s320/GC+two+6.jpg" border="0" /></a>On my way back down Katie called me to see if I was on my way yet. My find took about 20 minutes longer than planned, but I was soon on my way to see her after too many years!</div><div> </div><div><br />On Wednesday, I returned to Katie's house. I hadn't planned on geocaching with her, but when our dinner plans were changed and we couldn't decide on what to do, Katie suggested I tell her and her three kids, Martin, Taylor and Rae what geocaching was all about. I agreed and used their lap top to bring up geocaching.com. They told me their zip code and I was soon looking at all they could find within just two miles of their house. I found two placed by the same person and in the same park we could try. </div><div><br /> </div><div>We call climbed into Katie's Jeep and I used the suction cup to secure Richard to her windshield. While still inside I had entered the coordinates manually into Ferdie (I hadn't brought my cord with me) and read out loud the cache information, including any hints. If I had my cord I could have downloaded all the information and go paperless. I also quickly read through the first page of logs to see if there was anything in there we needed to know. </div><div><br /> </div><div>When I said aloud the name of the cache, Taylor immediately knew where Richard would take us. Apparently there is a recreation park nearby that shares its name with the two caches we'd be searching for. Even though Katie knew where she was going, I still entered the coordinates into Richard and explained to the three interested kids in the back seat just what I was doing and why. Richard took us a way Katie wouldn't have chosen, but we arrived at the recreation park and left the Jeep not far away from the skate board ramps, which the cache owner had mentioned.</div><div> </div><div><br />With Ferdie now in hand I showed all four of my new cache adventurers how to read the small screen and reminded them to act like normal, crazy kids who probably didn't need a lesson from an adult on when and how to be sneaky! I also told them how if they were to carry a garbage bag in their hands, no one would ask them what the heck they were doing in places people wouldn't normally walk. I had a bag in my rental car, but forgot to grab it.</div><div> </div><div><br />We passed over a wooden pedestrian bridge and were passed ourselves by teenagers on skateboards that made loud, rackety noises as the small wheels of the skate boards ran over the grooves along the pieces of wood. Once on the other side we turned left (I really need to carry a compass) and found ourselves on a paved walk way inbetween two likely hiding locations. To the right was a small ravine with trees, broken branches and garbage and to the left, bare trees and ugly shrubs. This is the part of geocaching I need to work on, the lining up of the coordinates. Ferdie's first screen gets me, represented by an arrow, close to the flag, which is the cache icon. Once the arrow is on top of the cache, I switch it to my lattitude and longitude screen to get me to the right spot, then I pocket the GPS and use my eyes and the thing between my ears to finally find it. However, as Katie and her kids probably joked about later, :) , I had to back track and walk side to side to figure out what line was what and if I was going up and down (if I had a compass at that point, I MIGHT do a little less of that! LOL </div><div><br /> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MGngnxQlezktGgfQ70np9KZEUiibZHj4RzNYVUCAnDOWRLCR6hLm7pGhjsCh16B33JEEF0A31Is6SPlN3XHHvxC41huXazhPJEPq_IRtxURskeolYU3IxqdHVLKZvjHw6I6ZaRyRl0cd/s1600-h/GC+three+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313585466467725826" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MGngnxQlezktGgfQ70np9KZEUiibZHj4RzNYVUCAnDOWRLCR6hLm7pGhjsCh16B33JEEF0A31Is6SPlN3XHHvxC41huXazhPJEPq_IRtxURskeolYU3IxqdHVLKZvjHw6I6ZaRyRl0cd/s320/GC+three+1.jpg" border="0" /></a>I finally told them it was in the ravine and then that's when we put the clue, Second of a triple, to work. The kids knew what the clue was and before we even got to the ravine, they were running to the middle of everything in hopes of finding it! LOL When I took my first step into this ditch full of trash I'm still mad I didn't have a bag to pick up, I slid a bit and a broken tree limb went up the leg of my pants and left a good sized scrape across my shin. Katie said she got one too, but it didn't stop her from finding the cache at the base of a tree with three trunks! The kids whooped and hollared before I hushed them and said, Stealth!! </div><div><br /> </div><div>The second cache I didn't want to believe was further along the paved walkway. It headed to the road and then along side it and I couldn't understand why anyone would hide a cache that close to such a busy and loud road. We went back over the pedestrian bridge and around the other side and probably could have eventually came to the cache if there wasn't a sm<img class="gl_photo" alt="Add Image" src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" border="0" />all river to cross. I gave in and said the paved trail must come back around, and it did, but we had to walk too close for comfort to a four lane highway before our route turned back toward the trees.</div><div> </div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFjveDHfWjY0dMK5VVFowjNDAih2Vo1RhwOdK56uY6GTZNGegigyQfmqicfrbh7iPlvNjrrSVD2oluyQPEMvvShWBwXRwVZ29OtUXdgvGt2cCUiOHkie0nQxZT17_qiKmtfWSXjmBsESh/s1600-h/GC+four+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313586547518913842" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFjveDHfWjY0dMK5VVFowjNDAih2Vo1RhwOdK56uY6GTZNGegigyQfmqicfrbh7iPlvNjrrSVD2oluyQPEMvvShWBwXRwVZ29OtUXdgvGt2cCUiOHkie0nQxZT17_qiKmtfWSXjmBsESh/s320/GC+four+3.jpg" border="0" /></a>The hint for this one was, Pile of rocks. There were plenty of those along the walk way for drainage and the kids were so excited to they pounced on each pile of rocks in hopes of finding the next cache that they laughed at me when I said every time that we weren't there yet! It was great to see them having a good time. Finally Ferdie said we were almost there and not far from us was a pile of rocks bigger than the ones we'd passed so far. All three kids went at it with renewed energy, going for the big rocks first before we got them to concentrate on moving a single, smaller rock at a time and looking under it. Taylor claimed the First To Find (FTF in <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJGSbuG8kZ4VTUEGBrWJowUp8HXUp2iiphPiWlzkEV22rCoBDUruNw9d03IlrQ1IU3zG0sSAFRmXEYt7-IAEDWmz7fP2QAbZZDOuYJNw72L7FgLnZY_-IKOq2GE6LfFvK7niBlEZCpnnIN/s1600-h/GC+four+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313586773947437890" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJGSbuG8kZ4VTUEGBrWJowUp8HXUp2iiphPiWlzkEV22rCoBDUruNw9d03IlrQ1IU3zG0sSAFRmXEYt7-IAEDWmz7fP2QAbZZDOuYJNw72L7FgLnZY_-IKOq2GE6LfFvK7niBlEZCpnnIN/s320/GC+four+2.jpg" border="0" /></a>cache talk) and we took it from the pile and back around the tree so we could see inside it without being seen from the road. In among the usual trade items was a tracking bug! This was my first find of one of those! It was the hippie van from the animated movie Cars with a hole drilled through and the TB dog tag connected by a chain through that. On the piece of paper that came with it we learned it originated in California and its goal was to travel to the east and collect as many pictures as it could. When I logged it as found later and read its web site I could see it had traveled through Mexico before coming to this cache in CO. Now it's here with me, awaiting a place in a NE Ohio cache! </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGDmM7XdL3XJ2aDo11gKIMgbaCdvxp4OJhqU2943MVOE0u091stomMzuUWuQMFHkrRExPdsme_zPdB-3k9MwyjisJN0Dx17DjOuMsZtmSnm7mTjSTt56eOcDtt2bvUCLjTCgaObVWSxg0i/s1600-h/GC+four+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313587039960785330" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGDmM7XdL3XJ2aDo11gKIMgbaCdvxp4OJhqU2943MVOE0u091stomMzuUWuQMFHkrRExPdsme_zPdB-3k9MwyjisJN0Dx17DjOuMsZtmSnm7mTjSTt56eOcDtt2bvUCLjTCgaObVWSxg0i/s320/GC+four+1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />The kids were bummed we didn't do another cache, but Katie tells me she has been researching this new hobby and has found some cache's on her own. Shhh! Don't tell the kids! :P</div><div><br /><br /> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQOb4YWl7IK2uml4iY8JsD8iQnP6iCIv2szv67M-p0GikyhJN8xvkdPZ2IvKdMHveMzxBV8GI1nJOasnEsX4V7K_EPBgGZft2OIJvDjz5BLEbg1ikam67lImqjNVz8W3KUvkC6phBTY148/s1600-h/GC+five+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313587862276692050" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQOb4YWl7IK2uml4iY8JsD8iQnP6iCIv2szv67M-p0GikyhJN8xvkdPZ2IvKdMHveMzxBV8GI1nJOasnEsX4V7K_EPBgGZft2OIJvDjz5BLEbg1ikam67lImqjNVz8W3KUvkC6phBTY148/s320/GC+five+3.jpg" border="0" /></a>On Thursday I had planned to look for a few more caches and was pleasantly surprised when Katie said she was going to play hookey from work. She was going to come to me at the hotel and have lunch with Tim. Afterward we'd do another cache. The cache we decided on had a gadgets and gizmos theme. The original cache included an iPod, skins for it and a digital camera. Even though I doubt anything that good was in there now, finders and traders are supposed to stay with this theme. Both Katie and I were interested in what we would find. I had some batteries and Katie an iPod skin for trade. </div><div><br />Richard brought us to the end of a Cul de Sac in a neighborhood of beautiful houses. He said the cache was behind those houses. My TomTom can only bring me to the road closest to the cache, but, unfortunately, we can't go walking through somebody's yard! </div><div><br /> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5zPDz9bqNjrJrN4n5ZTRRj2TRkX1qgq8JMlslx7p_snZ2zx4ZUm9akf2f54jCg8IKNf5-3XBxnSACFr29clyNFXmVnPkPaJ4GNy71XuhQ67eqYFHLIEwHmdLYftFZWWXzR5HCVKTOs4HA/s1600-h/GC+five+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313588526174061794" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5zPDz9bqNjrJrN4n5ZTRRj2TRkX1qgq8JMlslx7p_snZ2zx4ZUm9akf2f54jCg8IKNf5-3XBxnSACFr29clyNFXmVnPkPaJ4GNy71XuhQ67eqYFHLIEwHmdLYftFZWWXzR5HCVKTOs4HA/s320/GC+five+2.jpg" border="0" /></a>We back tracked and parked near a trail and started our hike. We soon found ourselves on a well groomed trail of crushed red stone that seemed to go up for the longest time! We made our turns onto different trails using Ferdie. I guess I should say I made the turns and Katie had to believe I knew what I was doing (I don't think she does now!). On one long, uphill stretch we came across a pretty big piece of poo! We passed it by and continued on a path that kept getting smaller and smaller until we stopped at a point we weren't sure if we should go on because it looked like we'd be walking in someone's yard. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>We decided to head back to the Jeep. Katie had to get going to her stepson's wrestling match and I had to head back and get ready to meet a grade school friend I hadn't seen in twenty years. I told Katie that before I headed out I'd take my rental back to the houses Richard brought us to and see if we missed a closer starting point to the cache. When I returned I did find a walking path not too far from the houses. I went back to the houses first and marked the spot in my handheld as a waypoint, thinking I'd be able to see it as I approached from the other side.<br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixXP5DHzBwWKFVHaCutI9bp-09yK5xAi6LbhFwG1ZJ02qWTg64kd7Uw8Wmp3z6EfJu9o5Tmc4K3DQHMrHy7sj6oohSjAowHqbJRK-3GaUzQZiflIOEivnUqQ-lZCVIHQSi8t2xGQ7DhfcC/s1600-h/GC+five+4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313589038341333490" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixXP5DHzBwWKFVHaCutI9bp-09yK5xAi6LbhFwG1ZJ02qWTg64kd7Uw8Wmp3z6EfJu9o5Tmc4K3DQHMrHy7sj6oohSjAowHqbJRK-3GaUzQZiflIOEivnUqQ-lZCVIHQSi8t2xGQ7DhfcC/s320/GC+five+4.jpg" border="0" /></a>I parked my car and headed out. I knew I was on a different route than what Katie and I took because it made my lungs work harder than they had before and when I came around an S in the trail, I got a good scare when I came upon a mule deer in the path. The only difference I saw between this deer and the deer I'm used to back in Ohio and Michigan is the height, but that difference is impressive when you're just a few short feet away from something that looks down on you! I told the one nearest to me and then to its buddies on the other side of the trail to just stay there and continue foraging or whatever they were doing as I make my non threatening way by. At that time my sister Karyn's voice sounded in my ear tellling me it's probably not a good idea that I'm walking alone along a Colorado trail....<br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div>I made it past the mule deer. That first look at me was all the attention they sent my way and I continued on, thinking of what I would find in this cache. The owner had mentioned that he visits it often. Could he have been there recently and put something impressive in there? Might someone have left something worthy of the pink iPod <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvMa_Hhd6kvortcJHMJgnQf09pWxRhsH1hLc9cNMlLTqUBPyGLwI52YwQlDRKB_YaEHNVVE3iRorMsClIrPJ7gUq559WrjdhAOXphzbssvJUkz9CZplAEHY8zkpFl3U1NHiErTnx1h1kmf/s1600-h/GC+five+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313589574109300194" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvMa_Hhd6kvortcJHMJgnQf09pWxRhsH1hLc9cNMlLTqUBPyGLwI52YwQlDRKB_YaEHNVVE3iRorMsClIrPJ7gUq559WrjdhAOXphzbssvJUkz9CZplAEHY8zkpFl3U1NHiErTnx1h1kmf/s320/GC+five+1.jpg" border="0" /></a>skin I had in my pocket for Katie's trade? My train of thought was speeding down those tracks when the engine almost found itself in some deep doo-doo, literally. I had almost stepped in that same piece of huge waste heaped on the trail. That meant I was taking the same steps Katie and I had taken not too long ago. I knew where this would probably take me, although I also knew there was a part of the path we had turned left on but I could go straight.... Unfortunately, I was out of time. I did want to see another old friend, and she was more important than geocaching in Colorado.... Yes, she is! LOL</div><div> </div><div></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>When I was back in my hotel room I signed into geocaching.com and logged a DNF, for Did Not Find under this Colorado cache. <sigh>On the flight back to Ohio Tim said that next years conference might be held in Colorado Springs again.... </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-8147302929844695012009-01-01T19:09:00.000-08:002009-01-02T08:46:02.700-08:00Out in the snow we go!We had a legitimate reason to go there. We weren't just driving to the top of a hill, out of our way, to spend some sisterly time together. Karyn, Tiffany and I climbed the road to Shanty Creek in Karyn's van earlier this afternoon to find the tubing hill and buy tickets for us and the kids. We thought we knew where we were going and there were no signs telling us to turn onto any roads for tubing. So we continued on the way Max, Karyn's GPS, told us to go. Yes, another geocache was in our sights. Mine and Tiffany's fourth and Karyn's third in the past week.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAzxUR8xATksKPaeytmlZqQrwrcPchveAunxXNuL4JKS1uVgR5uV9VDXb3dHss4rRUO_RN5FqUCVcRrVNb1k4j3J1JzcM_5BIp7QnRA-7I22DGncsQnYBdewUpmvT5AQkopkS9ABeLybTQ/s1600-h/Schuss+Village+1.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286733009168785730" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAzxUR8xATksKPaeytmlZqQrwrcPchveAunxXNuL4JKS1uVgR5uV9VDXb3dHss4rRUO_RN5FqUCVcRrVNb1k4j3J1JzcM_5BIp7QnRA-7I22DGncsQnYBdewUpmvT5AQkopkS9ABeLybTQ/s320/Schuss+Village+1.JPG" border="0" /></a>We told the parents, who had so kindly vowed to watch our five children, that we were just going to get tubing tickets. But my sister's and I knew there was a cache up there called Schuss Village and since we thought the tubing hill was there as well, we decided to cross two things off our mental list at one time. How time saving of us!<br /><br /><br />Where the cache owner wanted us to park was a bit far to walk in the snow to the cache, so we keyed in the actual cache coordinates and parked in the almost deserted parking lot of some condominiums. We saw a groomed cross country skiing path just before the parking lot and from what my new handheld GPS unit (given to me by my son Devin for Christmas) said, that was where we needed to start.<br /><div></div><div>This is when I can say my sister's and I have become addicted. We weren't exactly wearing tennis shoes, but the boots we had on our feet weren't made for deep snow. One of us was pushed out the door so fast, she was still in pajama bottoms! </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>The path we walked was easy going. If the wind hadn't been blowing and freezing our lips so we slurred our speech like we had too much champagne to ring in the new year, we'd have walked a little slower. We still enjoyed the beautiful winter wonderland that is one of the attractions of our hometown.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>The GPS units wanted us to step off the groomed trail. We were OK with that because we found ourselves following a cross country skiers trail. Not flat and packed down like the previous one, but still good. Then our coordinates went off the trail and up and into the woods. Sure Bellaire had a 50 degree day and one with a down pour of rain, but it had snowed a bit more since then and one day of unseasonable weather does not spring it make! There was still a lot of snow on the ground and we soon found ourselves up to our knees. But there was a cache up there and we were so close!</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>Tiffany broke through the snow and I and then Karyn followed in her boot marks. Karyn and my GPS counted down in degrees, Tiffany's counted down in feet and as the three of us got closer, we started looking around, mumbling the hint and thinking, If I were a cache, where would I be? Almost at once we saw a very large tree with three trunks coming out of the middle of it. It fit the hint, Between the trees, perfectly, and was a spot we would have chosen to hide a cache.<br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihANSUQHKSq6OWT6df1awl8bHDM4NehZ2OEMkZ1_sWHYQXSCINjAGRpN9lAM5X18trl2kGJYhulB_DQ1CCNBg8UwM3osRjMy7kqXMgZPWzCEK_xvKQ0zppKC0ZBZVuT4zZWtr1Rexyvo7w/s1600-h/Schuss+Village+2.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286733377862532802" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihANSUQHKSq6OWT6df1awl8bHDM4NehZ2OEMkZ1_sWHYQXSCINjAGRpN9lAM5X18trl2kGJYhulB_DQ1CCNBg8UwM3osRjMy7kqXMgZPWzCEK_xvKQ0zppKC0ZBZVuT4zZWtr1Rexyvo7w/s320/Schuss+Village+2.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div>Karyn broke formation and made a dash for the tree, something that would have been funnier had I recorded a video and not just taken a picture of it. She took one side of the tree, Tiffany took the other and I took some more pictures. Then Tiffany called out the find on the backside of the tree and we gathered around to watch her use her pen to pry open the frozen side locks.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNBPrH4U6DCIHSwqJzzJAjMn68unpTJ9O9Rihp4LnJfXqsRa2b7jEE8uT5tY8QRzdebElbK6-KX_U7BMP45HNbPCDuYw_VxB7vAvqyGec9WIhe5NomOap1DT51orYbwrZAvHV6GzYXKD2/s1600-h/Schuss+Village+3.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286733808756063906" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNBPrH4U6DCIHSwqJzzJAjMn68unpTJ9O9Rihp4LnJfXqsRa2b7jEE8uT5tY8QRzdebElbK6-KX_U7BMP45HNbPCDuYw_VxB7vAvqyGec9WIhe5NomOap1DT51orYbwrZAvHV6GzYXKD2/s320/Schuss+Village+3.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div>We weren't too impressed with the tradeable contents, so we signed the log book saying we took nothing but left something. I left a mini glow stick and two quarters, but I don't recall what my sisters put in. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>We put the camoflauged lock box back in the exact position we found it and followed Karyn's boot prints back. We were so involved in watching our feet and chattering about our find that we were surprised to look up once we reached the skier's path to see a woman with snowshoes on, standing there and staring at us! </div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_Bojmy84u1iejsYzs0dUy74H1-_wx-Q9Ub6S5cLr6oBtiv4Fme1WaIqOppelUft2ZZsaEGDEb5HEVWrmlnL-A_ui8Xew9W7-B46DQ3Lnz2rmgfo7JiFfj_hndobrY0tMTEy8d-GYVm31/s1600-h/Schuss+Village+4.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286734006673518290" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_Bojmy84u1iejsYzs0dUy74H1-_wx-Q9Ub6S5cLr6oBtiv4Fme1WaIqOppelUft2ZZsaEGDEb5HEVWrmlnL-A_ui8Xew9W7-B46DQ3Lnz2rmgfo7JiFfj_hndobrY0tMTEy8d-GYVm31/s320/Schuss+Village+4.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div>She didn't ask us what we were doing, three woman coming down and covered to our knees in the deep snow of the woods with no snow shoes or warm pants on. (Tiffany was the one wearing pajama bottoms! LOL) We greeted her with a Happy New Year! and giggled like little girls, but actually adult sisters who are closer today than they ever were as younger siblings.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>We speed walked back to the van and called the house and made up a flimsy excuse about what was taking us so long, something our father saw cleanly through, I'm sure!</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><br /><div>Later that afternoon, we did it again! </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286735091031071746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 208px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGwUJTCjBKZqgxdMuiGrN4Z7UHz7_Cu1271Zpxdzfv4mFn25pBksOeE61khDMyMZVK9mT9dGBye0EJVGcs4eSd4l_mOp4HFEq1jEx11FQ9ohVKjKFr5DE2lmKKMtBTCLidtoFxS2Z4e-Bh/s320/Bellaire+2.JPG" border="0" /> <div>This time though, Karyn stayed back with grandma and the kids while Tiffany and I took our sister Jennifer, dad, and Jennifer's cocker spaniel Capulet. (They have another dog named Romeo.)</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>As we scanned thru the caches in the Bellaire area that week...ok. We'll admit it. Karyn, Tiffany and I looked at these caches in the weeks before our arrival in preperation! This one caught our eye because it was off the walking path in Bellaire, close enough that you didn't have to leave the path to get it. </div><div><br /></div><div>It was a little bit further than we wanted to walk from the house in the cold, so we parked behind the senior center and set off on the path from there. My handheld said we had about half a mile to walk and in the lead I set off on a brisk pace. Jennifer mentioned something about me setting a march a drill sargeant would be proud of. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>As a cross country skier, Tiffany said it was bad etiquette to walk in the lines of a ski path, but it was easier walking through the snow in those grooves than the uneven snow on the sides! Except for two skiers of that kind in front of us, there were no other Muggles in sight.<br /></div><div>We made it to a boardwalk over a bit of swamp I hadn't been to before. I actually tried the previous summer with my boys in the double stroller, but the mosquitoes turned me back around. Now in the heart of winter the only things we heard and saw was snow being blown off the top of trees to fall to branches below, bending many before finally landing silently on the ground. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>My GPS said to turn left and we all did our part in destroying the crisp, clean trail of the cross country skier who had gone this way as well. I stopped just short of a wooden bench piled high with snow and pocketed my GPS unit. It had brought me to the location plus/minus 30 feet. Now I had to trust in my noggin and my eyes. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>The clue for this hidden cache was, Have a seat. Front and center. In front of us was a bench. We couldn't sit down because the snow was piled just about as high as the mattresses in the classic fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea. We looked under the buried bench, but nothing there. My dad got down lower and looked under the boardwalk, but reported nothing. There was another bench down the path about 20 feet and we did the same thing there. Still nothing. The cache said we wouldn't have to go far from the path to find it, but we began spreading out farther than I thought we should have to. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qFNBQ2HWbH1U4mORWu3JUdgmjGlTKpPwEGpx3oewt0SIx2KPduJYUX0ACim_uRH17byzbxm-ehAjMxseGOsRmfBqgXD0oSULdPXqVs1gLhogcvzGYiMMyt6fR8PUMEON0PIm2d-3cDsG/s1600-h/Bellaire+1.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286734851178588946" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qFNBQ2HWbH1U4mORWu3JUdgmjGlTKpPwEGpx3oewt0SIx2KPduJYUX0ACim_uRH17byzbxm-ehAjMxseGOsRmfBqgXD0oSULdPXqVs1gLhogcvzGYiMMyt6fR8PUMEON0PIm2d-3cDsG/s320/Bellaire+1.JPG" border="0" /></a>We stopped and started again with the first bench. It was overcast, late afternoon and it was dark under the elevated, wooden path. My dad's glasses have transistion lenses, so he was looking through something tinted dark from the cold into something shaded from daylight and missed the camoflauge taped small plastic box hidden there. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>I found it this time and pulled it out for a picture taken by Tiffany. My dad had to use his knife to pry open one side though. Water had gotten inside and the box was 1/4 ice cube. We weren't too impressed with the contents of this cache either, but we had a great walk and worked together to find it. That's the fun of geocaching. I put in a sea shell from N.C. and added a key chain flashlight for Karyn. Tiffany added her item and signed the log book for all three of us. I put it back under the boardwalk, but on top of one of the wooden supports and out of the ice that would eventually become a lot of water. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>We saw one cross country skier go by fairly quickly, but no one noticed us on this other path or what we had taken some time to find. Anyone coming down that path later might be curious about how many people had actually been on that twenty foot section after seeing most of the snow packed down and pushed off! </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>Jennifer enjoyed our chilly caching adventure. She asked if we were going on anymore before we left and was disappointed when the answer was no. She was eagerly anticipating a conversation with a co-worker about what she had seen and learned. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>We'll be back in the spring, Jen!</div>Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-44952505055899244492008-12-31T06:28:00.000-08:002009-01-01T17:29:39.004-08:00We just can't stop!<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOePXNl4yC5R70CDsh6nQrLlpoICnyaBOBZBLhKJsgwMf1AEdd0weXAoLC_ZJZeETNuUTefYLB-FH4Y4Jd1HWMm-LStYrx1FyOBllKSvpeB_QqA9oH8MYljoHAqp6Ttk50y5f6POmO-J-/s1600-h/Rainbow+Bug+Motel.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286499147808246898" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 260px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOePXNl4yC5R70CDsh6nQrLlpoICnyaBOBZBLhKJsgwMf1AEdd0weXAoLC_ZJZeETNuUTefYLB-FH4Y4Jd1HWMm-LStYrx1FyOBllKSvpeB_QqA9oH8MYljoHAqp6Ttk50y5f6POmO-J-/s320/Rainbow+Bug+Motel.JPG" border="0" /></a>Welcome to the Rainbow Bug Motel! </div><div align="left"><br />We had some things to get at a bigger store than what Bellaire provided, so we, meaning me, Karyn, Tiffany, Hunter, K'ryn and Kyler, climbed back into Karyn's van (she has a better DVD player and heated seats) and headed to Gaylord. Tiffany and I were looking at the caches in this city, just in case, and found a travel bug (TB) motel! We knew it was very possible to find in the snow because it had been logged as a find the previous day!<br /><br />One thing though. This cache was not the usual cache. It wasn't created to trade the small items Hunter carries in his soft purple sack, it was for trackable items (bugs and coins) only. Well, it just so happens that Santa had given me three TB's for Christmas, and Karyn, as kcgraham fellow geocacher, had given me one more! While in Wal-Mart I picked up a couple key chains to attach to my new TB's. Hunter chose a small globe that floats around like a compass for this cache.<br /><br />It wasn't snowing, but it was COLD! The children were smart and said they would stay in the warm van, although their attitude may have changed had the cache been their kind of treasure. Karyn calls her TomTom GPS unit Max. So Max took us past I-75 and out toward K-Mart, the other side of Gaylord we rarely visit. As we came closer to the finish line on Max's screen, we realized that the cache was probably at a business. I had read back on <a href="http://www.geocaching.com/">http://www.geocaching.com/</a> that the location was someone's property, but if we had a GPS in hand, it was a free pass thru.<br /><br />We didn't see the name of the business until the end. Had we not been staring at Max's screen and been looking up and around, we would have saved some time and our cold fingers! A sign out front said Rainbow Plaques and the cache name was The Rainbow Bug Motel.<br /><br />We ended up pulling into the business next door and it took us a bit to orient ourselves with our GPS's, finally realizing where we wanted to go was behind the business next door. The cache creator had said if a flag was up, a TB was there, flag down, no TB. As we left the van Kyler changed his mind at the last second and followed us out into the packed snow. We didn't know what the cache owner might be referring to until we saw a mailbox in a place where no mail would ever be delivered, facing the back of a building. There were the abbreviations GC on it with a few numbers. We interpreted the first two as meaning geocache and the numbers after as the numbers the geocache is listed as the database.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJuXGWFIclB-aYkOw8UaTKLyF2-A4ZYLVibtOzgy5y-FjlpdEGcvA_jw24lzKRxb3phocN0OGEnE6001PaXZsap8a9afU2fapXQBgaiiy1XAb9dea2ng7l7nVRh-yIjXgfshVENJTTlBZ/s1600-h/Small+World+TB.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286498906599420034" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 251px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJuXGWFIclB-aYkOw8UaTKLyF2-A4ZYLVibtOzgy5y-FjlpdEGcvA_jw24lzKRxb3phocN0OGEnE6001PaXZsap8a9afU2fapXQBgaiiy1XAb9dea2ng7l7nVRh-yIjXgfshVENJTTlBZ/s320/Small+World+TB.JPG" border="0" /></a>Tiffany and I rushed over there. Karyn had taken Kyler back to the van after he had fallen and gotten all snowy. On the flag were the words, Flag up, TB here. Flag down, no TB. I was bummed the flag was down, but I added my first travel bug I called A Small World to the cache.<br /><br />On my TB's home page I wrote for its mission the following:<br /><br />I would like my Small World TB to travel the big world. More specifically, go somewhere out of the United States...somewhere warm...with no snow...and easy access to tropical drinks.<br /><br />Karyn came around the side of the building long enough to sign the log and snap the photograph you saw at the top. Another cache found! </div>Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-61689509264946616282008-12-30T18:21:00.000-08:002009-01-01T17:28:40.180-08:00Getting the nieces involved!Hunter (with his brothers) and I visited my sister Amanda at her home in Charlevoix. It was the third day of overcast skies but no snow and not so cold temperatures. It was coming back though, predicted to that day actually, but I invited my neices Rayne, 8, and Randi, 7, to go geocaching with Hunter, sister Tiffany, Kit and I. They had no clue what I was talking about, but after explaining it, they decided to give it a try. They ran to their rooms and choose a couple small toys they wouldn't mind passing on. Randi is going to make someone happy with the Beanie Baby she chose! We climbed into my van and entered the coordinates of a cache I had researched before heading their way into my GPS.<br /><div><div><div><br /><div><div></div><div>The first one was called Sunset Ridge and was located along the shores of Lake Michigan. We didn't have to worry about being sneaky because nobody was on the shores that windy and getting colder by the minute day! As we parked the van over a dilapidated snow bank, it began to snow. I had explained the function of a GPS and we headed down a path, looking for the answer to our hint, Watch Your Steps. </div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfGrTMisEkjhPOcxECOFlSzR6Fycs2t2MhVfv_oMVBMc5dWCGjS1gHI1SrOy0-KOU8AMQDNfxuOriXkt6xNoB4LoX8gEsbWt_75w_IQRXMWRTdIs6Uzra0xvJnNKlSpKdgHOrb4aMGIycZ/s1600-h/Sunset+in+Charlevoix.JPG"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2jepJ5pxmd9G3llbjtUmdClN89tF6ezOOrIHGii_wU1YFtcUCUpW4iiWv1iz1xm6SgocDxcuNNWglV_MADYirCt2V0ItkATdME9afyQrf-IflpbDig5skL2v60Zi3suzoVlJnWkzbFpT1/s1600-h/Sunset+in+Charlevoix.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286330465821170098" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2jepJ5pxmd9G3llbjtUmdClN89tF6ezOOrIHGii_wU1YFtcUCUpW4iiWv1iz1xm6SgocDxcuNNWglV_MADYirCt2V0ItkATdME9afyQrf-IflpbDig5skL2v60Zi3suzoVlJnWkzbFpT1/s320/Sunset+in+Charlevoix.JPG" border="0" /></a>As we followed the numbers in the display, we arrived at the top of steps going down toward the beach. A few steps later and we were just about in line. We just needed to go a bit more to the left.... </div><br /><div>I climbed to the top of a steep hill and spotted right away what I thought was the hiding place. The girls followed by Hunter climbed joined me and Rayne was the first one to spot what I thought was the hiding place; a pile of sticks underneath a tree who's roots had lifted its base at least six inches above the ground. </div><div></div><br /><div>Rayne reached under and pulled out what looked like a paint can with a plastic lid. Tiffany opened it up and passed me the log book and handed the bag of goodies to the girls. They made their switches as did Hunter, Tiffany signed the book and we placed it back just the way we found it and ran back to the van to warm ourselves up!<br /></div><div>I told the girls I had the coordinates to one more if <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdhUoCoCUFCfJ85NQhsYYEKkd6BINyQTZn9FymiUmTuUBfWwl11nHP4-2TznXYEFoZ5PUZ9lwHIts3uNL0CFjbSHgFNcTxlQs9wPk5npaUL7JcEnA-9-IO9f9mbCo6uG0qT2aulujUuH8_/s1600-h/Pile+of+bread.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286331368955056850" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdhUoCoCUFCfJ85NQhsYYEKkd6BINyQTZn9FymiUmTuUBfWwl11nHP4-2TznXYEFoZ5PUZ9lwHIts3uNL0CFjbSHgFNcTxlQs9wPk5npaUL7JcEnA-9-IO9f9mbCo6uG0qT2aulujUuH8_/s320/Pile+of+bread.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div>they were up to it. They said they were so we </div><div>entered them into Richard and repeated the process. He led us to a dead end road next to the cement plant on the lake. We followed a path along the fenced property line and after locating the right spot with the GPS, we fanned out from there and looked around. The hint was, In the Shadow of a Saint. I didn't realize the cement plant had Saint in the name, so we were looking for trees or logs/sticks in the shape of a cross, something like that, but we found nothing. The only thing unnatural we discovered was a large pile of bread.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJfle-9Z1005tl6Iy_9jYFVj7jsFD5DGHFuWz4AxGO1pnANfNgku33gGDJz4T-IJwRB0wB9rTgi8j7PD5Ffe_NOSKcBZpahxIFSe2se1F7BKa06A6Ycl9d1ds0toSJYuqGIGqfQd7gqatX/s1600-h/Pile+of+bread.JPG"></a> </div><br /><div>The girls agreed we could try again and do some others when Hunter and I return in the spring.</div></div></div></div></div>Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-64235262885893688602008-12-28T06:50:00.000-08:002008-12-31T18:21:40.315-08:00Geocaching in Northern Michigan!Here we are, home for the holiday!<br /><br />Hunter and I haven't been able to do any caching over the past couple weekends. I made a quick trip up here two weeks ago for a funeral and then we both traveled up here for the holidays and have been busy and enjoying our time with family. But yesterday we teamed up with my sisters Karyn and Tiffany(kcgraham and tifranta) and did one together!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZg08JEC3HnNQ8O6C_zgEqb5WtPfFn0L2n_nCFFmGgluKDUbI27YOA6ak9wULVIO7Q3wuyevijWb0tJVR1teBt6JvMo9lqcmvRe-jeFjqz7LDfixPL-DL06kwY0IT3gwFGiMCI-c7o8Eh/s1600-h/Shopping+and+caching+2.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286138767592723538" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZg08JEC3HnNQ8O6C_zgEqb5WtPfFn0L2n_nCFFmGgluKDUbI27YOA6ak9wULVIO7Q3wuyevijWb0tJVR1teBt6JvMo9lqcmvRe-jeFjqz7LDfixPL-DL06kwY0IT3gwFGiMCI-c7o8Eh/s320/Shopping+and+caching+2.JPG" border="0" /></a> What we chose was unique and one I think I'll create back in Ohio. It's called Shopping and Caching and inolves two steps and only a log book; no trades, so no treasures for Hunter to find. The first set of coordinates took us to a grocery store where I had split the list provided by the cache creator before hand and divided it up amongst Hunter and his two younger cousins, K'ryn and Kyler. Our dad tagged along with us, his first geocaching experience!<br /><br />Geocaching invloves a bit of stealth, which is very possible inside a grocercy store. However, not so much so when the adults bought groceries the previous day and the only thing intended to take away from the store this trip was the aisle numbers of certain products! To help us fit in a bit more with the shoppers, grandpa grabbed a cart.<br /><br /><p align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnBoqaBPiDaU531nNLFXBzA1cRrNP4oSszQCICMY_57Zq4ymjL5nWX-FBPYlPZmbFDCTHDYPB-BB3y6b-OAaJ-7ucrdAhnITyM9jNLCT60HlWUYUFJjmuClDSyRwJI3DTbdIDPPdkLCnF/s1600-h/Shopping+and+caching+3.JPG"></a></p><p align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnBoqaBPiDaU531nNLFXBzA1cRrNP4oSszQCICMY_57Zq4ymjL5nWX-FBPYlPZmbFDCTHDYPB-BB3y6b-OAaJ-7ucrdAhnITyM9jNLCT60HlWUYUFJjmuClDSyRwJI3DTbdIDPPdkLCnF/s1600-h/Shopping+and+caching+3.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286138901998414914" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnBoqaBPiDaU531nNLFXBzA1cRrNP4oSszQCICMY_57Zq4ymjL5nWX-FBPYlPZmbFDCTHDYPB-BB3y6b-OAaJ-7ucrdAhnITyM9jNLCT60HlWUYUFJjmuClDSyRwJI3DTbdIDPPdkLCnF/s320/Shopping+and+caching+3.JPG" border="0" /></a></p>On the list were items such as Wheat Thins, Lean Cuisine and Bailey's. Since the children would be doing the looking, I changed the wording around to something they were more likely to understand. Wheat Thins became crackers, Lean Cuisine turned into the kid version and Bailey's, at $21.00 a bottle in this small northern Michigan town, became cheaper botteled water.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrJBJefNF3NtC6ta5eJmMiaoPtZFPbrGatIJxM5N5msrOAa3tBWNdp3rWf71-6K4O8eYqLS-0guFTa2jdLxQBFTyNONAwCS-IH7jTlAS77v3MThRGwaHMyrW_u6g29MrKpAvmlEFVGfxW/s1600-h/Shopping+and+caching+4.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286139519108798194" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrJBJefNF3NtC6ta5eJmMiaoPtZFPbrGatIJxM5N5msrOAa3tBWNdp3rWf71-6K4O8eYqLS-0guFTa2jdLxQBFTyNONAwCS-IH7jTlAS77v3MThRGwaHMyrW_u6g29MrKpAvmlEFVGfxW/s320/Shopping+and+caching+4.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Armed with their lists, we went up and down the aisles, calling off products to help them cross of their selections, jotting down each aisle number we found them in. I snapped a few pictures along the way and I'm sure I got more odd looks in my wake!<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-lfRTkMy2qfJIgqO-ezlZMynOUgz9cf8mwFqDCK29cucQJmCQJqxQG4iaCwByH4QivqLz1pIfrqa7NrBAq5phLBqLek6Oi_q3hhoPbvKMEYTDK9vacnZF3NUO2nfEY9RIBP91F4luYUE/s1600-h/Shopping+and+caching+1.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286141938943339490" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-lfRTkMy2qfJIgqO-ezlZMynOUgz9cf8mwFqDCK29cucQJmCQJqxQG4iaCwByH4QivqLz1pIfrqa7NrBAq5phLBqLek6Oi_q3hhoPbvKMEYTDK9vacnZF3NUO2nfEY9RIBP91F4luYUE/s320/Shopping+and+caching+1.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />We left the grocery store in a bubbly rush and<br />climbed into Karyn's van. Tiffany called off the<br />items from the list and when the children read from their papers what aisle it was in, Karyn entered the number into the GPS. Then we were off to find the actual cache!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWSKJNF7HoBr1NXB5umcStjuTEuODqgxhMgjFFe1BeAXkYTXbGYBEonhIy-BHUH66h-Df-bta55XIecMf05we40-SXB2QZMGSTLH0fT3HHhEDClIX2cnBrpq4YvA_S7nmJM5HNwVATrin-/s1600-h/Shopping+and+caching+5.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286139662555317938" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWSKJNF7HoBr1NXB5umcStjuTEuODqgxhMgjFFe1BeAXkYTXbGYBEonhIy-BHUH66h-Df-bta55XIecMf05we40-SXB2QZMGSTLH0fT3HHhEDClIX2cnBrpq4YvA_S7nmJM5HNwVATrin-/s320/Shopping+and+caching+5.JPG" border="0" /></a>The GPS led us not far from the parent's house.<br />It looked like the cache was off the walking path.<br />We decided to go back to the house and get in cold weather gear and pull the younger children in a sled to the end.<br /><br />We had a couple warm days that packed down the snow and the snowmobiles on the walking trail packed it down even more, making for an easy walk and a great ride for the kids in the sled. My ten pound rat terrier, Kit, came with us as well.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5PqYYAs_cGQ6PP-6GcnVjAIt9V9_8EcJYHCNFk2Qodg90la5x5TJX0jNptRHSuaOdTz_RTdCtDTQXwvD91SmW52Jqco7NnRnp0hRa0FLYvtrBIu-LpPBhCOmeh-pouoPtolauINCxZVW-/s1600-h/Shopping+and+caching+6.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286139800693237906" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5PqYYAs_cGQ6PP-6GcnVjAIt9V9_8EcJYHCNFk2Qodg90la5x5TJX0jNptRHSuaOdTz_RTdCtDTQXwvD91SmW52Jqco7NnRnp0hRa0FLYvtrBIu-LpPBhCOmeh-pouoPtolauINCxZVW-/s320/Shopping+and+caching+6.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We got to where one half of the coordinates matched our grocery list puzzle and decided to leave grandma with baby Bryce. The rest of us entered the woods in the direction of the other coordinates with hopes of finding the hidden cache.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDjqZsVci4PtX-GttwJc9gwGXhJ1Iaiy75_by2s9tcuYmNUHmqRHCzYaq6Y_W6dTH2PUHpx_xLEpjQOVtQAr8OdbzdsrZ3KI0E2bmDpI71_QuK1lsXq6aVvgWcp3rnijEqpgxSjeOlV2Ud/s1600-h/Shopping+and+caching+7.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286139961010585922" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDjqZsVci4PtX-GttwJc9gwGXhJ1Iaiy75_by2s9tcuYmNUHmqRHCzYaq6Y_W6dTH2PUHpx_xLEpjQOVtQAr8OdbzdsrZ3KI0E2bmDpI71_QuK1lsXq6aVvgWcp3rnijEqpgxSjeOlV2Ud/s320/Shopping+and+caching+7.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The snow in the woods wasn't so easy to walk in as the path we left. Devin and Kyler, three and five, kept up with us pretty good with just a little help now and again.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX9AaIrUC8c-KrvwkDT5dVUxL26J45q7xo0Jyhg3nknHjuxvvZXgVN984uqrPPf5-8hA2_TNZUhLzJSzUA8r2jN9m0-Tzn9-IYA8G-zmouNULnKMdgJfqMFsKbFm4BrRh1dO-DuwwW3Gko/s1600-h/Shopping+and+caching+8.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286140126959302706" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX9AaIrUC8c-KrvwkDT5dVUxL26J45q7xo0Jyhg3nknHjuxvvZXgVN984uqrPPf5-8hA2_TNZUhLzJSzUA8r2jN9m0-Tzn9-IYA8G-zmouNULnKMdgJfqMFsKbFm4BrRh1dO-DuwwW3Gko/s320/Shopping+and+caching+8.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />When we got to the river, we didn't know what to do. Our GPS's were saying our destination on the other side of the waterway. Even if it were in the middle of the summer heat, I doubt the cache creator would be sending us across a river...but maybe he would!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip8uf8Mm63i12bOEsbAgFCu8BavvG2EAzbunU3_9mJj1Xs_dIdc4ti231IgumivOnOVYmJxogJ7md_dEIGJQ4WGbqIS8irsoPSCDQ_3I7wUYD6pI6byG-2m3NxmF2P3vJYWMkrUmcb7IYs/s1600-h/Shopping+and+caching+9.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286140261592849602" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip8uf8Mm63i12bOEsbAgFCu8BavvG2EAzbunU3_9mJj1Xs_dIdc4ti231IgumivOnOVYmJxogJ7md_dEIGJQ4WGbqIS8irsoPSCDQ_3I7wUYD6pI6byG-2m3NxmF2P3vJYWMkrUmcb7IYs/s320/Shopping+and+caching+9.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />We headed back to grandma and Bryce who were lounging in the sleds. We returned pulling the exhausted children back to the house. Karyn sent an inquiry to the cache owner and we're hoping to hear back from them before our return to the U.P., Georgia and Ohio.Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-84501786420483723782008-11-29T17:38:00.001-08:002008-11-29T18:02:21.364-08:00Our first multi-cache!Instead of in one looong blog, I thought I'd post our second find of the day in a seperate entry.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijMVTv8frsj6VxFnWk1wAZdtlMUs9lq1HuKmTQKOjHmS5E5bukpcf3TY2yF30VWRTOgH2fsFmJw-Uue4gTR9hirFWwHhww4hY1tCsNFoNxJYpjQ2dhtNi_GhTAM6f119enaoT58knbIYem/s1600-h/The+Pyre+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274258486535969634" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijMVTv8frsj6VxFnWk1wAZdtlMUs9lq1HuKmTQKOjHmS5E5bukpcf3TY2yF30VWRTOgH2fsFmJw-Uue4gTR9hirFWwHhww4hY1tCsNFoNxJYpjQ2dhtNi_GhTAM6f119enaoT58knbIYem/s320/The+Pyre+1.jpg" border="0" /></a>The next one was also a cemetery. I chose the cemeteries because my MIL had showed interest in the old cemetery that was our first cache hunt I told her about. Unfortunately, she was out shooting pheasants with her dog Cody. Maybe I can get her out in the AM tomorrow before her and FIL leave, but I doubt it.<br /><br />Hunter entered the coordinates into Richard and we were off on our first multi-cache!!<br /><br />I neglected to mention that during the above both Devin and Bryce were out cold.<br /><br />Richard took us to an area that is familiar to my hubby. As we approached the old cemetery we saw it was about 200 yards off the main road and on one much bumpier and horribly patched one, we passed two hunters wearing blazing orange coats and carrying rifles bent into V’s over their shoulders. We practiced some stealth by driving by our cache like this was our road and hoping the bumps and shakes wouldn’t wake my sleeping princes. After about a mile I turned around in an open space where two pick up trucks were parked, probably the property of some more hunters in orange, and headed back to the cemetery. Those men had stayed in my rear view mirror for awhile because of their colors, but we didn’t see them anywhere at all as we approached and parked in the grass just before the open gateway in the fence around the place.<br /><br />There were no hints for this first stage of our first multi-cache. The cache owner said it would most likely be a “cache and dash”, meaning it would be easily found and we’d be on our way. We hoped so!<br /><br />Since my conversation with my sister yesterday, I now knew how to work Richard more<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTUunWzPBVD3OdlG_bwUjbK-p37JZH7VkIY-BE_BT78ZUyZl0SognSUt_od5gR-gUXJeFzHzT3K1EXMU6AaUGK7U_fEhsndycpaUtNk1srfUWKV6glwCrSEOA9Q7hQZQ0Klde_ni8vl2Gt/s1600-h/The+Pyre+2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTUunWzPBVD3OdlG_bwUjbK-p37JZH7VkIY-BE_BT78ZUyZl0SognSUt_od5gR-gUXJeFzHzT3K1EXMU6AaUGK7U_fEhsndycpaUtNk1srfUWKV6glwCrSEOA9Q7hQZQ0Klde_ni8vl2Gt/s320/The+Pyre+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274264060176989346" /></a> efficiently, so I brought up the screen with the L&L coordinates and placing him on our journal page underneath the printed directions, we watched ourselves get closer to the right spot. We actually ended up back tracking toward the gate. We had walked in a bit once past the entryway but found us going back. Once we were at the coordinates we looked up and found we had two trees, the fence and the gate post before our eyes. We read back through our cache info page in the journal and found the sentence where the cache owner jokes you might need a tool to open this one, but maybe not. Hunter and I agreed you wouldn’t normally use a tool on a tree, so we walked away from them and approached the fence and the gate post. I looked at the base of the post and saw what looked like a cover on it with small screws at the top and bottom. I pushed at it with my finger…and it moved. It was a magnet!<br /><br />I showed Hunter and he pulled it from the post. It was a solid plate, like one you’d put over an electrical outlet you no longer wanted to use. It was painted black to match the post and on the other side were the coordinates to the second and final stage of this two step trek!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXV4tyVlzz3nnAMacWmnnUMUgj9BpNnYCQfN7WTSz_E7OCkhEGR0miZq1sB6lFJIKTPyFLlF9X5WgNtq9nm6IdDkY-pjz_Du2Har1u7qEZCvO8QGapeHEFqca_GWAuB4G62bBHvokysnnA/s1600-h/The+Pyre+3.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXV4tyVlzz3nnAMacWmnnUMUgj9BpNnYCQfN7WTSz_E7OCkhEGR0miZq1sB6lFJIKTPyFLlF9X5WgNtq9nm6IdDkY-pjz_Du2Har1u7qEZCvO8QGapeHEFqca_GWAuB4G62bBHvokysnnA/s320/The+Pyre+3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274264296870707762" /></a>I wrote it down in the notebook and once back in the van Hunter entered it into Richard. Bryce was awake and smiling at us, Dev still asleep with his head hanging down. The next leg was two and a half miles away. Hunter watched for the green arrow and when he saw it, he told me where to turn before Richard. The cache owner didn’t give us much help as to what to expect at this second cache. He said two things. One – Stage two was a non-typical small container and two, Hunter deciphered the hint and it said, Final counter-clock wise.<br /><br />We found ourselves at another cemetery, this one still in use and looking like it was being expanded at the far side. I parked the van well onto the grounds and left the door open as both Dev and B were awake now. The clue wasn’t very helpful in telling us where to go, but the title of this cache, The Pyre, was. I didn’t know what a pyre was so I had to Google it before we had left. Once I read the definition I recognized what it was, a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite. Well, there weren’t any crematoriums on the burial grounds and there wasn’t anything in sight where someone might lay a body to burn, but there was a small wooden building at the back near the woods. While walking toward it I kept an eye on Richard, and his W reading was already in agreement with my written coordinates from the cache info page and the N degrees were climbing in the right direction as we approached the building. Once there Hunter and I looked around and on the fence behind the building was what looked like a large bleached candy cane with a screw top on the side. It wasn’t natural to the environment and it was indeed<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVPQpBJ5V5XAXcQW9BKZWB46aTBGefE7XiRWrwlc6zPHgeRNOsp_0bqQKCFrbuLzLgbeQ9DUGIqo2dEPruEUQAEVi2Yayv9Djy-utYSzKnX0AC2U6x_vYWU0rMM8vrfATG8SrDh20c9uyB/s1600-h/The+Pyre+4.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVPQpBJ5V5XAXcQW9BKZWB46aTBGefE7XiRWrwlc6zPHgeRNOsp_0bqQKCFrbuLzLgbeQ9DUGIqo2dEPruEUQAEVi2Yayv9Djy-utYSzKnX0AC2U6x_vYWU0rMM8vrfATG8SrDh20c9uyB/s320/The+Pyre+4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274264499227734082" /></a> a “non-typical small container”. Hunter grabbed the front square, not unlike the one at the previous cache we checked off our list. I told him by turning it to the left he’d be going counter-clock wise like the hint said. It opened and he pulled out another plastic bag! We had found two in one day. Hooray! Hunter claimed a gold coin and a guitar pick and left an Indian figure and a sea shell from our time at the beach in N.C. in exchange. We folded up the bag, pushed it back into the hole and replaced the top. We walked back to the van and found the boys still warm and safe in their car seats and went home, satisfied with our caching adventure!<br /><br />Thanks for reading our adventures!Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-51345563428087856482008-11-29T17:31:00.000-08:002008-11-29T17:38:25.455-08:00A great hide!We didn’t know it, but our first cache for today was named appropriately in a couple ways. <br /><br />Hunter’s grandma couldn’t join us in this adventure. We had gotten off to a late start and after breakfast at the local Amish bakery and restaurant, we parted ways. I took all three boys with me for a caching escapade while Tim, father and mother-in-law boxed up two dogs and climbed into my hubby’s truck in hopes of bringing home a wild game dinner (which I can now say, as I edit this long thing, that they did!).<br /><br />My MIL thinks I’m Supermom for taking three kids with me, but it’s not really different than any other day! The timing and location was right for a nap. Both Devin and Bryce had full tummies and it was coming up on 12:30 by the time Hunter and I arrived at our first cache coordinates. Both locations would have parking nearby so I wouldn’t have to wander far from my van with the boys inside.<br /><br />I used Google Earth again and it looked like we would be visiting another cemetery. The Latitude and Longitude showed me a spot in front of what might have been a group of trees or a small building. Google Earth put an X on the sport where there was and intersection of one road that crosses three roads in the memorial park, so I didn’t think I’d need Richard much and I was right. Phew! LOL <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyr_uts9TneTQBHJFvylFV9gd0nSRIXfpgf1psqg95TyH9zxutg71KEW94oFQcIZ_aQRYG1CILWOY5zaHDVA_xEY9gwwh3RgEsLApPP8ngXRmcMkHuUrfrOFVJfGS6KZJ-XGxsMmcHx-T/s1600-h/For+God+and+Country+1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyr_uts9TneTQBHJFvylFV9gd0nSRIXfpgf1psqg95TyH9zxutg71KEW94oFQcIZ_aQRYG1CILWOY5zaHDVA_xEY9gwwh3RgEsLApPP8ngXRmcMkHuUrfrOFVJfGS6KZJ-XGxsMmcHx-T/s320/For+God+and+Country+1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274257456012610914" /></a>Hunter entered the coordinates and we were off. Before Richard told us to turn, we could see where we were going. It was a long cemetery right off the main road of a small town with a bridge further down. I entered using the middle roadway and slowly drove past the markers on either side, some honored with flowers, some wreaths and some plants. We could see in the distance that where we needed to go was actually a group of four well groomed evergreen shrubs in the shape of the top half of an octagon with a flag pole in the center. The flag on top was limp and unmoving on this 38 degree, sunny day. <br /><br />Placed at an angle in front of the foremost bush were two stone benches with tops <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw0aXnMsoK-GWiV5pi3JyUz0fzHbASCIbldhr00tTc3Gfbtvd2FJuQFr2Pe6T633my4o2Tx60HVZdSPwb9Y3EE-bZWV7pMmRRBRj6YCkXyPPdbdjAx27k2UEm_WGATiNEBPfBjjj8RpKZq/s1600-h/For+God+and+Country+2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw0aXnMsoK-GWiV5pi3JyUz0fzHbASCIbldhr00tTc3Gfbtvd2FJuQFr2Pe6T633my4o2Tx60HVZdSPwb9Y3EE-bZWV7pMmRRBRj6YCkXyPPdbdjAx27k2UEm_WGATiNEBPfBjjj8RpKZq/s320/For+God+and+Country+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274257705107196066" /></a>polished so fine we could see the reflection of the clouds in the sky above. The flat, horizontal surface of the bench face was engraved with For God and Country. The other bench held a smaller print but lengthier message. It told us both benches were donated by a family. At the base of the flag pole was a plaque flush with the ground that said it was dedicated to a certain soldier, same name as family who donated the benches, lost in battle and other soldiers who didn’t come home as well. It was a very nice tribute and somewhere around there was a cache we needed to check!<br /><br />Hunter read the hint, How low can you go? How low indeed. We found out by squatting down in front of the benches and could see under them and the nearest bushes. Hunter got up first and said he was going to check the back. I went to the side and was getting down again to see under the second set of bushes when Hunter said, I think I found something. He was turned sideways between the two back bushes, reaching toward the ground. It was a close fit; each bush on his front and back were pressing their firm but soft dark green finger width branches into his coat, making a light scratching sound against it. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS0seS0oo47mi5A4Jaz7bdNbtEcL8B8qX9dkD1-tbkvjM2hoWgdl7zHGig905VCnA0pL2sd1FFpF-sDdyvJ04UG-CmMyWuPH8T85wdABcspXLlWWYzmNOnP92izHzpAmbYcuzPmlH1G5Mg/s1600-h/For+God+and+Country+3.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS0seS0oo47mi5A4Jaz7bdNbtEcL8B8qX9dkD1-tbkvjM2hoWgdl7zHGig905VCnA0pL2sd1FFpF-sDdyvJ04UG-CmMyWuPH8T85wdABcspXLlWWYzmNOnP92izHzpAmbYcuzPmlH1G5Mg/s320/For+God+and+Country+3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274258047077559346" /></a>I asked him what he saw and he said it was white and in the ground and that he couldn’t pick it up. Did it have a twist lid? I asked. Yes, he said, but I can’t get it open. Hunter has pretty weak hands, so I let him back out and I reached in there and saw a white square molded onto a white circle underneath a dusting of branches from the bushes around us. I brushed them aside and knew this was our geocache, although it lacked the sticker we saw back at the fire department. I told Hunter he found it, that all but the top is underground. I began twisting the top off and than backed away to let my son finish. <br /><br />He eagerly bent back into the embrace of the sweet scented evergreens and finished removing the top and then backed blindly out again with another wrinkled plastic bag in his hand. He opened it and handed me the log book which was cold and damp with a pencil that was too wet to give me enough of a tip to write with. I pulled the pen from our journal and signed our name, The Cache Checkers with today’s date. Hunter took two items, a mini Rubic’s Cube and a bouncy ball and left a small gorilla and elephant figures from his purple sack. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKYoqkbLwfggo2PHYRFgTtrZaFkbahI_ZeVlgQ0D2FUl6tCRmZN8e1QiVyS-kwrFGt5Qiwxe12Kuq8E0HvsYmIbLAwKAfm8iH7pA9RteH-WmpsDvx7oQPlv8cbsIjeZImhVn7mfIpr8Oxf/s1600-h/For+God+and+Country+4.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKYoqkbLwfggo2PHYRFgTtrZaFkbahI_ZeVlgQ0D2FUl6tCRmZN8e1QiVyS-kwrFGt5Qiwxe12Kuq8E0HvsYmIbLAwKAfm8iH7pA9RteH-WmpsDvx7oQPlv8cbsIjeZImhVn7mfIpr8Oxf/s320/For+God+and+Country+4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274258297741054386" /></a>While we were bent over our hoards we heard a rumbling sound getting louder and louder. I poked my head up thinking the tank we passed inside the fence at the nearby Army Reserve was coming down the paved path. Then the growl became a roar as a train appeared between the trees at the edge of the cemetery. We bent back down to our work and then Hunter sealed the bag, put it back into the cache and I screwed on the top and scattered the branches back over it. What a great hide!Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-55465382448579323522008-11-28T21:05:00.000-08:002008-11-29T17:54:08.127-08:00An after Thanksgiving Day CacheI hope you all had a terrific Thanksgiving! My in-laws came down to spend the holiday with us. Before their arrival I had spoken with my mother-in-law about going geocaching. She has witnessed people searching for these hidden treasures in our hometown and knows someone there who hides and seeks herself. So yesterday after we re-cooperated from stuffed tummies with a good night’s sleep, Hunter, Linda and I set off for two cache’s I had chose and Hunter deciphered. <br /><br />It was a chilly 34 degrees when we headed out late in the morning. Richard was on and directing us from his suction cupped windshield mount. Linda rode shotgun while Hunter was behind me with the journal and his soft purple sack. At this cache we would see a big water tower sandwiched between a small park and some houses. A parking lot was mentioned in the cache description, but Richard brought us to a dead end residential street. We could see the water tower, but it wasn’t until we parked my van and walked down a black topped path to the park did we see the parking lot described. <br /><br />This cache was categorized as small and we read it would be a small coffee container that would be hidden on the ground. While we approached the water tower from the narrow dirt road leading away from the parking lot, I asked Hunter to read the coded hint he deciphered the night before. He said, <br /><br />“Water, water every where, nor any drop to drink. Look for where the water tower gets its energy.”<br /><br />OK. Obviously the water tower gets its energy from the small burnt orange colored shed sized building at the face of the tower, just in front of the first leg supports. A barbed wire fence began at the sides of the shed and outlined the water tower in a long rectangle. I put Richard in my pocket, thinking I wouldn’t need him anymore. We were here, now we just had to use our eyes….<br /><br />We had 3 pairs of eyes looking for this one. We were a little leery though because there were warning signs on the door of the shed and no trespassing signs on the property lines of the houses next to the tower. We probably guessed correctly when we talked of past geocachers crossing into someone’s back yard while looking for the cache hidden among the trees and fallen logs between the tower and the houses. We looked for probably twenty five minutes, but didn’t find it. Thinking back we probably should have dug through the leaves more next to that building than we did, but our fingers were cold. I forgot to bring a garbage bag, but Hunter collected some empty potato chip bags and other wrappers and put them in the trash cans inside the park. <br /><br />We returned to the van disappointed, but we still had one to go!<br /><br />Hunter entered the Latitude and Longitude into Richard. From reading the cache entry we just attempted, I learned there was another cache less than a mile from our current location. If it had been a bit warmer and I had a better handle on what my GPS was capable of, we probably could have walked. Instead we warmed ourselves back up inside the van and obeyed Richard’s commands.<br /><br />Richard is a helpful and effective machine, however, his knowledge is roads. The destination of our second cache was described as Regular size and hidden at the end of a dead end street called Heather Lane. We were told to drive to the end and the cache wouldn’t be far from the road, not far off a dirt path next to a park the path passes by. Well, Richard brought us to the end of a Cul-de-sac, Cricket Lane, and told us where we wanted to go was through the yard and past two houses and just beyond a weathered split rail fence. You can’t really tell a machine that walking across someone’s yard without permission was a no-no! LOL We could see the woods and the park beyond the fence, so we back tracked a bit and found Heather Lane and smiled at the dead end before us with a path to the left.<br /><br />The original cache, placed in early February of this year, was all golf oriented. In the beginning it contained golf balls, tee’s, divet fixer and a Grand River Academy coaster. We weren’t expecting to find any of those items left, if we found the cache at all. Don’t count us out yet! <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia-O2qP3bWKO-X-k0N2_0BpV-nCcgnzajh2FPvf10_eoCQQawg3r-N_71Z-LBhlZI8I2iSyNrwXm_Lg6p6fH5cw22DGJwzMoKJs5B6YY6T2YudqemzVJ6wPpEqxhlPtCZevhPAAzCeB_VM/s1600-h/Fore+with+Grandma+1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia-O2qP3bWKO-X-k0N2_0BpV-nCcgnzajh2FPvf10_eoCQQawg3r-N_71Z-LBhlZI8I2iSyNrwXm_Lg6p6fH5cw22DGJwzMoKJs5B6YY6T2YudqemzVJ6wPpEqxhlPtCZevhPAAzCeB_VM/s320/Fore+with+Grandma+1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274187616628335858" /></a>As we walked down the beaten path we came up to a small wooden bridge that arched across a shallow ravine with a bit of ice amongst all the frozen mud below us. I wanted to catch this moment digitally. My MIL was eager to pose with Hunter, but Hunter, as you can see in this picture, wasn’t thrilled with the idea of stopping. He wanted to find that cache! <br /><br /><br />Just like before, he read us the hint he deciphered, the longest one so far:<br /><br />“Two paths diverged in the wood and I took the one less traveled by and that made all the difference. From the park turn left, from the street turn right. The ground is a little bumpy around this one.”<br /><br />We came up to where there was a fork in the road but they both appeared the same, one didn’t look less traveled by than the other. Since we came from the street we turned right and started walking slowly, looking for anything unnatural like a pile of stones or branches crisscrossed. After about ten minutes, when we had walked around the small wooded area and approached the park, I determined that I would need Richard and I headed back to the van. We came up to the park and saw that the path we had begun to walk on was paved and the one that went into the woods, the one we had been on, was dirt packed and littered with leaves, stones and broken, “…the one less traveled by…”. So after I got the GPS from the van, we met at the split and took the path back into the woods.<br /><br />During this time a tall woman had appeared on the path. She crossed the bridge with her arm held out and at first I thought she was the Hider or even a Seeker pointing out the way to us, but then I saw the chubby dachshund who was leading her, decked out in a Christmas sweater with a pocket on his back. I wanted to ask her what her dog kept in his pocket, but instead I answered her question honestly and said, We’re geocaching. I knew from her dumbfounded look she was a Muggle, a term used after a non geocacher looks puzzled when befriending a geocacher searching for a cache. I explained it was a scavenger hunt with GPS systems. She smiled and nodded, saying she had heard of that. She also said she and Rufus (I don’t think that’s the dog’s real name…) come to that park twice a day, six days a week and she hadn’t seen anything and he hdsn’t sniffed anything out. I think if she had heard of geocaching she’d know that it wouldn’t be where just anyone would see and no dog would be interested in it because no food items are allowed. Play-Doh is even on the Do Not Use list because apparently raccoons think it’s a treat. She and her warm and cozy dog carried on and the three of us put our eyes back to the ground. <br /><br />My plan was to watch the coordinates on Richard’s screen (what I should have done at the first cache) and get us close to the L&L given for this one. Unfortunately, I hadn’t finished my homework. I still didn’t know how to use the walking directions yet and gosh darn it, my L&L were presented in the wrong format! I played with it a little bit while Hunter and his grandma continued a slow trek through the woods, looking for anything that would be an X for a geocacher. I was impatient and called my sister Karyn in Georgia. She was actually just about to head out in search of her own cache. She was very helpful and did all the work for me. When I said goodbye, I knew I was going to get an A+ because Richard was now talking on the screen in a language I could understand! <br /><br />I called out to Hunter and my MIL. I got it now! I told them. I showed Hunter what I was watching for, comparing what Richard had displayed to what we had printed in our journal of where the cache was hidden. GPS’s can be up to 10 feet or so off, so when we got close to the correct coordinates, I stopped looking at Richard and told my fellow finders to now start looking for something “not right” or holes, something that you would consider hiding something in. My MIL was already looking, intent of making the best out of her first day of geocaching. Hunter had returned his attention to the small items he carried with him, but when I told him we were close, he began to look as well.<br /><br />Linda spotted a large pile of snow covered fallen logs and had gone around to the other side. Then she called out that she found it and Hunter and I ran and stood next to her. I let Hunter look for himself, although he was trying to look in-between logs packed on top of each other. MIL suggested he look more to the left and he put his face level with a hole the size of a basketball and he said, I think I see something! He pulled out a large plastic coffee can covered in silver duct <br />tape. This one didn’t have a Geocache sticker on it, but how it looked, where we found it, and the discovery after Hunter pried off the gold lid and pulled out a <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEPfM9zsg7o2jJOmuGqME0OgTHxI50PigWA0Lhr5JzbKLEsTEI04umnZRuL1HSENGu1Im4Gxka7NKn4bQH6UD3bGJeIdVxxIQSkg0TcjTH9Y2dW73zINxxXVCyzbi15B0s1taD3THkPQB2/s1600-h/Fore+with+Grandma+2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEPfM9zsg7o2jJOmuGqME0OgTHxI50PigWA0Lhr5JzbKLEsTEI04umnZRuL1HSENGu1Im4Gxka7NKn4bQH6UD3bGJeIdVxxIQSkg0TcjTH9Y2dW73zINxxXVCyzbi15B0s1taD3THkPQB2/s320/Fore+with+Grandma+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274187977297227602" /></a>wrinkled plastic bag, told us it was the hidden cache! There wasn’t all that many tradable items in there, but as Hunter took a red barrel monkey and left a glow in the dark dinosaur, I wrote our geocacher username and the date in the small log book. I checked that the lid was on water tight and Hunter put it back in as he had found it. Our second successful find and we were so glad to have grandma with us!Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-28205382444151713992008-11-22T12:24:00.000-08:002008-11-22T14:52:32.768-08:00Success in the cold!We did it! We have finally found our first hidden geocache!<br /><br />Before I tell you about our triumph, we first went to one of the two we couldn't find last weekend. Since last time, I've perused the Geocaching.com's forums and re-discovered a handy little free computer program I already have on my computer called <a href="http://earth.google.com/">Google Earth</a>. With this I can literally fly anywhere I want, with either a physical address or using the laditude and longitude for geocaching!<br /><br />So I copied and pasted the coordinates from this elusive cache and Hunter pressed the Enter button on the keyboard. We zoomed acrossed our computer screen north east of our house and a little box ressembing the target on an arcade shooting game soon focused on a spot closer to the road and to the right of where Hunter and I were looking the first time. We wrote that in our traveling journal and then entered the coordinates of our second hope to find of the day and saw an overhead view of an intersection and some buildings, two with good sized parking lots. Google Earth doesn't know what the buildings are, but that small box gave us the general area and what side of the road it would be on. <br /><br />When I told my hubby about using Google Earth, he chortled that it was cheating, but I disagree. Maybe if I pick up a more geocaching friendly GPS device I'll say it's deceiving to use Google Earth because that type of GPS will lead you to within just a few feet of the hidden cache. My particular system is meant for driving, not walking. I'm still trying to figure out the features so until I get used to it, Google Earth is my friend and Hunter was impressed with how quick we could zip from one place to another like a super hero.<br /><br />My hubby's four wheel drive truck was the last parked in the driveway, blocking our one car garage where my van stays dry and snow free. He agreed we could take his pride and wet dog smelling joy after promising we'd fill his tank before he quickly closed the door behind us. (Was he so fast to keep out the cold or was he grinning like a cat about to pounce because I was taking with me the one remaining child that was awake?? :) )<br /><br />We went to the cache we failed to get last weekend first. Since that attempt we've gotten a foot of snow but we were dressed for the change of weather. The only thing in the area Google Earth showed us was a telephone pole with a small electrical box on the side. We trudged through the snow and avoided riding on our backsides into the ditch between us and the road. Once again we assaulted the area with our eyes and brushed at the snow with our gloved hands, but we didn't find anything. I asked Hunter if he though maybe the cache owner removed this one when the weather got cold. I've read that many cache's are simple Rubbermaid or Glad containers that are inexpensive and easy to use, but although they do a great job in the warmer months, they crack and leak when the snow flies. So I've sent an email to the owner and asked if he could check that the cache is still there.<br /><br />There is a way to plan a route with Richard, our GPS, but I haven't figured that out yet, so Hunter typed in the coordinates and Richard took us a to the next cache in a completely different way than I would have gone had I not had an electronic map in my possession. Even though the snow had stopped earlier this morning and the main roads were wet but snow free, the route we set off on was mostly back roads made narrower by snowplows who passed through once, never to return. With a flick of my wrist I was able to initiate the four wheel drive. We passed quite a few Amish buggies and I commented on the branches of the trees above us dropping clumps of snow as we drove by underneath. Hunter spends a lot of time focused on what's in his hands and not what is out the window.<br /><br />Before we set off we read up on this second attempt of the day. What attracted me to this one was what I read in the online log by previous finders. This cache was put together by some firemen and was within walking distance of their building. It seemed unlikey to be buried by snow and was described as "creative", "cool" and that finding this particular one made someone's day. <br /><br />After driving eleven miles in about 20 minutes, Richard announced we had arrived. Hunter and I looked around and saw the fire department on our left. We didn't want to park nearby because, as noted in the cache details, it was a high muggle area. Across the street was a library. Perfect! We parked the truck and put our hats and gloves back on. In my pocket my camera was ready and Hunter clenched in his hand our purple sack full of trade items.<br /><br />The clue was, If you were a dalmation, this would be a pit stop. Well, a dalmation is a dog and a "pit stop" could be a tree, post, mailbox, just about anything a dog could pee on. However, since this was created by firemen, Hunter came to the correct conclusion that it was probably a fire hydrant. We immediately saw one to the right of the fire hall, in front of a split rail fence. We crossed the street and casually walked by, studying it. Geocaching involves a bit of stealth because you don't want anyone to see what you're doing. We were in a small town about 2:30 on a Saturday. There were a few cars going by, but no people in sight. I gave Hunter the all clear and he started brushing off snow on the top while I cleared away some at the bottom.<br /><br />When I first looked at this fire hydrant, I did notice it's shiny red paint job, like it had just received a fresh coat and thought it curious that it was more symmetrical than your typical fire hydrant. It also had four protrusions on the main body; two on the sides and one each on the front and back. The top was round but flat with a lip around it with a thin small linked chain attatched to the middle top that hung down the back where it was joined there as well. We stepped back and I made Hunter continue walking with me so we wouldn't attract attention. We looked for other hydrants as we walked to the end of the block, crossed the street and headed back the way we came. We didn't see any other dog, more specifically, <em>dalmation</em>, friendly items, so we crossed the street again and back to the hydrant.<br /><br />I was still five feet or so from it when I saw a small spot of yellow on the front piece. I looked closer and it said "geocache". This was it! It suddenly hit me that this wasn't a real, working, fire hydrant, but actually a clever copy made to be a cache! I pulled and I twisted at the piece with the sticker and Hunter did the same to the sides. I looked back at the top and the chain seemed to make perfect sense then! I positioned my fingers under that lip and with a bit of force I popped the top off with a soft hissing sound and the chain caught and held the lid from hitting the ground. <br /><br />Since this was our first find, my intention was to let Hunter discover and open the cache, but in my excitement to find it myself, I opened it. Hunter was the first to see inside though and his face just lit up like a child first laying eyes on the treasure under the Christmas tree. This cache was as deep as a fire hydrant is wide and it had quite a few small objects which Hunter immediately started sorting through. On top of it all was a small log book zipped securely in a plastic bag. While Hunter pushed around a truck wheel, a fireman figurine and a map of an Ohio park, I pulled out the pen, notated the date and wrote what a great cache this was and how creative and fun it was to find. I signed it The Cache Checkers and as I fumbled to get the notebook back into the cold baggie I told Hunter to make his choice because we didn't want to stay much longer in the cold in front of a fire hydrant with the top off next to a main road! Hunter grabbed some Silly Putty in a red egg and left behind a ball that looks like an eye.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPcxHYv7ZZH0aKkYCrqb6P6WdeQg3EO-CS2qz6NNXlO8ObHC1Ewod3KkMVwF8viyuiMEjus-e6E-ldLysoKmbwSVybs_yrxlapc6ZDl6KI6NrmZSn1MBYZlGPC2B8UJuUaeLhFS2c914h/s1600-h/Fir+Na+Tine+.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPcxHYv7ZZH0aKkYCrqb6P6WdeQg3EO-CS2qz6NNXlO8ObHC1Ewod3KkMVwF8viyuiMEjus-e6E-ldLysoKmbwSVybs_yrxlapc6ZDl6KI6NrmZSn1MBYZlGPC2B8UJuUaeLhFS2c914h/s320/Fir+Na+Tine+.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5271617993821993362" /></a>Excited and satisfied with such a resourceful and imaginative cache, we returned to the truck and back to the house. Oh, and we didn't forget to get gasoline so hubby wouldn't be left out in the cold!Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-58440396008329273182008-11-16T14:42:00.000-08:002008-11-16T17:03:00.572-08:00Darn! Still no luck!Even though it's finally feeling like November here, Hunter and I attempted a different cache today. It was another Micro, (thumping myself on the head), but I had already put it in our journal and it just seemed so simple....<br /><br />Now I've learned my lesson. Before I did, Hunter entered a new set of coordinates into Richard and off we went. Before he even said we had arrived I knew we were in the right place. The cache owner warned of a washed out area by the driveway of a racetrack he frequents. This particular one was called Sign O' the Times. Once again Hunter worked out our clue. It said, "It's in the name."<br /><br />The first thing we saw was a big sign with the name of the race track. Behind it was a weathered split rail fence and further on a tight corner of a dirt race track banded tightly by a long even mound of truck tires. To the right were two mobile homes. The cache owner also noted that the people living nearby, referred to as muggles, knew of the existince of this cache.<br /><br />I reminded Hunter we were looking for something no bigger than a film canister He took the right, I took the left and then we switched. Together we looked up, behind and on the ground. We also looked in the holes of the split rail fence behind the sign. <br /><br />After no results we stood back and analized the sign. We asked ourselves, If we were the hiders, where would WE put it? I looked again at the back of the sign, in the area between the flaking, unpainted plywood flipside and the wooden supports. Hunter looked under the rocks by the leg braces. Still nothing. <br /><br />I didn't take any pictures this time. I admit I was disappointed we didn't find it, but I said for my and Hunter's benifit, This is only our second one on our second day. Don't give up! <br /><br />Hopefully before next weekend I will have heard from the two cache creators we can't check off in our journal. I'm also going to send out inquiring emails to find out which caches are possible to find once the snow sticks to the ground.<br /><br />Have a great week!Yolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-59817387224286349922008-11-15T19:42:00.000-08:002008-11-16T17:03:54.454-08:00We struck out on our first one!I made a newbie mistake (which I didn't realize it was until later), when I chose which caches Hunter and I would seek out first. The website my sister shared with me listed hidden caches in increasing order; nearest one to my zip code and out. I printed the information for the first four and put them in our journal. Hunter deciphered the hints and we packed the journal, GPS, digital camera, some water and a garbage bag into a back pack. <br /><br />At the top of each infomation page about a cache you want to seek out are some images. There are pictures of the type of caches you'll be hunting. This one was a Regular, but there are also Multi, Earth and Unknowns. The other symbols are the size of the cache. They can be micro, small, regulare and large. The last symbols are ratings for difficulty and terrain. These are measured by stars and the more stars filled out in orange out of five, the harder the cache is to find.<br /><br />The first cache I chose for Hunter and I was the first one listed on my search page. There is room for a description and other information on the search page. The creator said it was inside an old historic cemetary and at the top, or so I thought, of a park with cliffs and waterfalls. <br /><br />When we woke this morning, well, it wasn't exactly the best weather to be outdoors! The weatherman had predicted 100% chance of rain and it was already raining when I looked out the windows about 8:00 AM. We waited and we waited. Finally about 2:00 it was only a sprinkle so Hunter and I grabbed our bag and got in the van.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd5bF5c2Zo3qKwFbzkEdb5EuujwRaL1vpDWEb3s10xPD7ohpqBUweCkj1xLvVaow-SUw-v7Ykm24sW95FMcKuEKolwgZqVZxVQqSJIdJu_jw0Oh4iPzpqgBdRIORbERnXP7OsYqQK3hb_-/s1600-h/Richard.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd5bF5c2Zo3qKwFbzkEdb5EuujwRaL1vpDWEb3s10xPD7ohpqBUweCkj1xLvVaow-SUw-v7Ykm24sW95FMcKuEKolwgZqVZxVQqSJIdJu_jw0Oh4iPzpqgBdRIORbERnXP7OsYqQK3hb_-/s320/Richard.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269417040964258626" /></a>Hunter entered the coordinates into Richard. We had to disobey at first because this darn detour is still going by our house! Richard finally caught on that we weren't turning around, so he recalculated and stopped repeating himself.<br /><br />When we reached the road I beleived we'd be turning on, Richard hadn't given me a heads up yet. I was confused and dialed my hubby as I complained to Hunter that I should have written down the alternate GPS coordinates that were on the website. Even with the new ones I got from that conversation, Richard still told us we should keep going. Oooookkkkk.<br /><br />So we continued on another mile and a half and then he told us to turn right. We did and he almost immediatley said we had reached our destination. I saw a house a little bit further on the right, but on the left we spotted grave markers. Have faith in Richard!<br /><br />We pulled into the small area next to the cemetary. I grabbed my camera and Hunter put Kit on her leash. I thought we'd be going to a different area that dogs were allowed and didn't think about keeping Kit in the van while we walked through a cemetary. I realize now we were being disrespectful, but at the time we were eager to find our first cache.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpZFpa2ZpLUpTWmUq0kZtyjHekk_ulPH5aeKTmaYXDIs8Qo621cTYPXXEzHs2O1MGgBogQoycHYX0b4cCv_zhk5MwI7tF4jaYntnof59fCkT5yHBOeKZ2PR95TBc8LyZZXV8fDyoC1VQHg/s1600-h/Ledgtop+on+the+Spirit+Trail+1.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpZFpa2ZpLUpTWmUq0kZtyjHekk_ulPH5aeKTmaYXDIs8Qo621cTYPXXEzHs2O1MGgBogQoycHYX0b4cCv_zhk5MwI7tF4jaYntnof59fCkT5yHBOeKZ2PR95TBc8LyZZXV8fDyoC1VQHg/s320/Ledgtop+on+the+Spirit+Trail+1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269418063019778578" /></a>It had stopped raining on the drive, but once inside the cemetary and its outline of thick trees, the wind blew rain down on our heads. The ground was wet and sticky with limp leaves, but we started our search. Many of the grave markers were unreadable. The last date we found was the late 1800's. Some headstones were so low to the ground and faded, they appeared as small boulders. Only the worn corners and their symmetrical placement hinted of their story.<br /><br />The clue Hunter and deciphered earlier in the week said, "Centrally located oak". There were two clusters of six trees, three in each grouping, in the middle of the graveyard. I can't recognize a tree by its bark and with all the leaves gone from these particular ones, I could only guess they were what we saught. Being the only trees in the middle we focused on them. Hunter and I hunkered down and picked through the leaves. We looked for holes covered by loose wood, stones in a pile, and for anything hanging on the bare branches. We saw nothing. We looked at some of the trees along the outline of the grounds, but after just a few minutes we agreed they weren't centrally located. <br /><br />Last weekend I had sent an email to the cache owner and said his cache, Ledgetop on the Spirit Trail, was going to be our first. I asked him for any helpful info on caching in general. He shared a lot of information with me and even passed on his cell phone number to call if we needed any help. So I went back to the van and took him up on his adventure. I know it was cheating but I didn't want to go home empty handed and the wind was picking up. With it being our first one, we weren't sure what we were looking for.<br /><br />He didn't answer his phone so Hunter and I looked a little longer, spreading out from the central trees, a total search time of about 30 minutes. In the end we didn't go home empty handed! We headed back to the van in a head on wind with a couple beer bottles in our garbage bag! <br /><br />I have since searched through the forums about geocaching and have found that Micro (the size of a film canister), which this cache is described to be, aren't easy for newbies to find, especially when they are concealed with camoflauged tape! I also read that some cache hiders position sticks in a teepee foundation to mark their hiding spot. After reading that I remembered the right group of trees did have four or five thin, broken limb, leaning against each other in the center of the cluster. Hmmm. Maybe Hunter and I will return this week. It won't matter that Dev and B are with us. They can stay in the van while we walk the twenty feet or so to that potential marker.<br /><br />Hunter and I discussed how geocaching is like learning a new game. There are new rules to remember and new skills to learn before we can earn the congratulations and check off a cache find in our journal. As with everything Hunter does, he needs a bit of coaxing. I have faith that once he finds his first cache and discovers the small treasures inside he can leave or exchange, I think this just might be something he and I can do together over the years.<br /><br />YolandaYolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129236116869241248.post-90822631033518266612008-11-07T10:12:00.000-08:002008-11-16T17:04:23.091-08:00Geocaching as a new hobby.Hello all.<br /><br />I've created this seperate blog as a way to share with you our geocaching adventures. Before leaving for our weekend in Hocking Hills, my wonderful hubby gave me a TomTom GPS system. My sister Karyn later picked up her own GPS, same make and model as mine, and told me about her discovering of geocaching while online researching her unit. <br /><br />I started looking into this interesting version of hide and seek and decided that not only would it be fun for me because I love scavenger hunts, but I think it might be something for Hunter and I to do together. We both enjoy watching movies, reading and computer games, but I've been striking out in getting him to do more active and outdoor activities. <br /><br />When I approached him about it, I described it as treasure hunting with Richard (what we call our GPS unit). I also said that once a cache is found, we can pick and choose any one of a few to many small items to trade for another small item we bring with us. Hunter has a TON of small things scattered throughout his bedroom. We took the small soft, deep purple draw string bag that his father's Crown Royale whiskey came in and deposited marbles, a dice, a Chuck E. Cheese token, an army and an indian man, lizard, spider, glow in the dark dinosaur and other similar items, into it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-SS9GAJcIdIu_jbK-JiNM1nfpeua5Z-2oeSDPluyEq2330DP7IRkn2sava122WhyOXCom5V4buAVlsqHSZLPCFAeBJa-Pe_DXX7LPkH9HIFEbivwuyxQRRSFThUebIhIDRA8PGPivkEvm/s1600-h/CC_journal.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 264px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-SS9GAJcIdIu_jbK-JiNM1nfpeua5Z-2oeSDPluyEq2330DP7IRkn2sava122WhyOXCom5V4buAVlsqHSZLPCFAeBJa-Pe_DXX7LPkH9HIFEbivwuyxQRRSFThUebIhIDRA8PGPivkEvm/s320/CC_journal.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269388771747419906" /></a><br />We also made a journal, seperate from the cache logbooks we'd be adding our names to, to track our progress and log memories. Not only is it our own personal record of our adventures, but it's a way for Hunter to practice his printing. Inside this yellow notebook we pasted cache information of our choice from the www.geocaching.com website. In our own hand we'd pen in the hints, if any, that we had to decipher and after our search was complete, we'd write in our observations one there and our geocaching experience.<br /><br />Before we did all this though, we had to come up with a name. I wrote down a list of synonyms and we picked through the list, listening for what sounded good. We both agreed on The Cache Checkers.<br /><br />So, here's something more for you all to read, like I don't already overwhelm you! We're going to attempt our first find next weekend and hope to do two each on Saturday and Sunday.<br /><br />Until then!<br /><br />Yolanda and HunterYolandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152586675576545299noreply@blogger.com0