An Incredible Week...

Too much has happened since my last blogging...too much to take care of in one post...no matter how much i would like to record all that happened. It comforts me somewhat to know that most of our readers were all part of what happened so they don't really need to be informed. So we will see where this goes...before it goes off into blogland.
By Friday night (the 15th) everyone had arrived who was expected. The next day the eight of us took off for the Chilliwack River Road to spend a day of caching. It was cloudy and sometimes a little drizzly, but most of the day was okay.
I will not record every cache we did and found. Some of the caches we (mom and I, or me, if you prefer) had done already, others were new to us too. Regardless of who found which one, everyone thoroughly enjoyed him or herself (or themselves, if you prefer) and all were bitten by the caching bug...and we all enjoyed the beautiful area we were in.
When most of us decided that enough was enough Henk and Alfred decided to do the remaining caches. And they did, finding each one. I forget the exact total of caches we did that day but it was a goodly number although not a record. I believe that our record is 13 for one day.
I am not sure anymore whether there was one day that we did not go out during the next week. Our group was shrinking as Henk left again on Monday, Thelma on Tuesday, Erica and Alice on Friday and finally, Peter and Petra yesterday.
I am not sure either how many caches we did in all during this period. It does not really matter. More important is the wonderful time we had together, caching or not.
I am incredibly thankful for the wonderful week God gave us, and judging by the reports of each, it was truly great for everyone whether it was a week or just a couple of days of being part of it in person. I hope everyone is already planning for a repeat next year...:)
Of course, we took loads of pictures, and of course, there is no way I can attach them all to this blog. I will let mom decide which ones are going to be it.
I wish Garmins were less expensive so we could buy one for each of you. But I am afraid it ain't going to happen...Sorry... I am very happy for Len and Thelma that they have one they can use and made history with their first cache.

Record in the Sun...

The sun was out...for the first time in a long time...so we decided to take the day off (again?Alfred is grumbling, I am sure) and go do guess what. Yes, indeed, how did you guess. And we set a record...12 caches in one day.

We stayed around town and found some more parks I had never been in. You've all driven east on Downes Rd. from Mt. Lehman and seen all the trees and woods on your right before you come to MEI. Well, that is Downes Park, parts of it also known as Clearbrook Park and other parts also known as Ron Wiebe Playing Fields. Don't have a clue who Ron Wiebe was, maybe a geocacher...

The most interesting cache was called Stairway to Hell/Heaven. The trail leads to a set of about 8 sets of stairs going down...easy...but a few hundred feet farther you go up about the same number...puff, puff, puff...Never been there either; didn't know it existed. According to Mom there are more stairs farther up/down...hurray!!! Maybe I will go there one day...Perhaps we could hide a cache there for you to find...The picture at the top gives you a bit of an idea...

The forecast for tomorrow is guess what: rain. The forecast for Saturday: sun! And for Sunday: sun. And also for Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday...past that we don't believe the weather man no matter what he says.

So in a few hours Henk will be here, and then one more night of sleep and y'all be here. Hurray!!!

Getting too excited...better stop.

Good night and see ye...

It dawns on me only now that most of you won't even read this before you read this. Too bad; it is such a happy story.

Love y'all,

Dad and Mom, Dad and Sandy, Grandpa and Grandma, Opa and Grandma...

Must some rain fall in our life?

Yes, already another post.! If it is too much, you can wait a few days to read this one.
Today was Saturday (which means a day not interrupted by work) and, in spite of the rain, we left home at 9:15 to head for the Cheam Wetlands, a place I had never heard of before but where the Chilliwack Naturalists had scheduled a walk-about to look at birds and nature in general. I am not sure if fog and rain are part of nature but we had it in abundance. The place is an old marl quarry, marl being something like limestone. It is believed that about 5000 years ago the peak of one of the mountains in the Cheam chain came sliding down and filled the valley, re-routing the Fraser and causing all kinds of other things. Did not see a lot of birds, except for on our way back in the Sumas Prairie: about 600 swans in a field.
The walk-about did not take that long so after it was over we set ourselves to find a cache in that area. Quite a quick and nice find by the lady cacher.
After that, on our way out, we stopped at 'The Mint' and located another one, placed there by some people from Amsterdam. (Hence the name: it is a tower in A'dam which onced housed the Mint). Then we went into the Bridal Falls park and found yet another one. We walked all the way up to the Falls but once again found it very hard to take a good picture of it. But regardless, it was a nice walk and the weather had improved a bit by then.
On our way home we stopped in Sardis to pick up a boterkoek that Kirstin had baked for us. We were home around 4, nicely in time for a short nap.
On that sleepy note I will leave you for now.
The picture shows you a scene of the Cheam Wetlands.
Love, Dad and Mom

Caching in the Snow

Yes, you can sing that to the familiar tune...

There has not been a lot of activity in this blog off late simply because there has not been a lot of geocaching activity lately. The weather has been very uncooperative and, unfortunately, there is really no improvement in sight. So those of you who are soooooo looking forward to joining us in this, be prepared with rain gear and perhaps snowshoes.

Seeing that the shop has been slow, we have been out a couple of times but not for very long and nothing much to report. Yesterday we finally did what we had been planning for some time: scout the area where we want to take our guests next Saturday. So we ignored the rain and cold and went to the Chilliwack River Road. Our aim was to find a number of caches along this road so that when we take you there, we can just stay in the car in case it is raining heavily or snowing...

Our first two finds were not that hard. The second one confronted us with a 'snake' as you can see. Trying to park before we went for the next one landed us in a snowbank and stuck. But the pusher in our relationship got us out again. Too bad we did not take a picture of that. The third cache required a bit of a hike up a fairly snowy hill but we found it.

We are still excited about this hobby. It takes us places we have not really 'seen' before, it gets us out of the house in the fresh (very fresh) air, we are dealing with challenges, we are doing it together and yes, we are looking forward to letting you share in it and perhaps be bitten by the bug as well.

Today we went out again to re-visit two sites that have so far skunked us to see if we could solve them now. Alas, still not. We have to take you guys there and help us. One is in the park right behind us, of all things.

See you in a week or sooner...