goinggone

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Of sun, snow and caches.

The weather channel had one of those awfully red screens yesterday, warning us that we would get snow! That is a big thing for them, for once or twice they have been caught totally off guard by not predicting snow, and then we would get a dump with all the consequences of that: cars not being able to make it uphill, cars in the median on the freeway, etc. It ain't ever happening again that we have snow and not having been told about it.

You in snow country know how you talk about snow in BC and that we don't know how to drive in the snow, and how we call two inches of snow a lot of snow. But you probably don't know (and it is true, you cannot know everything...) how we sit here in amazement every winter when the news and the weather channel show us all those pictures of cars in ditches and on top of each other and stuck in the city and all that...we say to each other: did you know that so many people from BC moved to the Prairies and Ontario? Poor sods, not knowing how to drive in the snow...not even with all those experts around them, not even with all the practice they get...

Anyway, the weather channel is not ever going to be accused of not predicting snow for this region. So now they will put up the red screen and tell us that we may have severe weather, to wit 2 inches of snow...never mind how likely or unlikely that may be.

We did not get any snow where we live, but they had some in Vancouver and Victoria, so they can proudly say to the folks in those towns: See, we told you so! Ha!

Today it was invigorating but rather windy weather, especially enjoyable inside. But after noon we said, "Shouldn't we go out for a bit? Aren't there any caches left nearby that we have not found?" So we thought of some: on Sumas Mountain. We took the truck, and a good thing we did.

The first cache was at Gate 1, just after we got off the pavement. It was howling up there, and it was a good thing we found the cache rather quickly so we could get back into the truck.

Then we had to go way further up the mountain. The gravel road started to show snow and ice. The driver, she switched into 4wd. The truck, she did just fine!
We got to Gate 2, parked the truck and stepped out into the snow. We took time to take pictures to prove that I am not telling no tales either.

We found also this cache quickly. Good thing!
Then back down the mountain to do one more in the McKee area where it was colder than up on the mountain...more open to the wind, I guess.

In all, it was an invigorating adventure, and we feel great now that our hands have thawed and we have had a warm meal. Who said caching had to be boring, eh?

Friday, November 28, 2008

Puddle-de-dum

This morning I had the privilige of being allowed to go caching all on my own. The main reason for that was that mom went to see the doctor yesterday who, when he heard that she had already been on the trails again, was not amused. When he proved to her that her muscle has not yet healed completely by squeezing her calf gently in the crucial spot, she was not amused either. Doctors' offices clearly are not always the amusement parks one would like them to be...
The other reason she had little desire to join me had to do with the weather: we had some refreshing rain.
I went back to Campbell Valley Regional Park where on previous occasions one cache had eluded me: Clue: The Kitchen. Perhaps I have mentioned before that this is a series based on the game Clue. At each cache you get some information as to where the murder might have been committed or not, who might have dun it or not...You, dear reader(s) might as well acquaint me with your familiarity with the game so I can have you help us solve the mystery. Clue: not in the kitchen...Clue: not the colonel or Mrs. White. Rest to follow upon approved qualifications, yours. By now you, if you are worth your salt, have figured out that I found the cache, no?
I also found some others there, puzzles that you do not know where they will be until you solve them and get the coordinates.
Did I mention it was raining? I had to take the Shaggy Mane trail again for a stretch. They should change the name to Sh...y Mane trail...; again, if you are worth your salt, you have figured out what the name should be. You can mention it in your application if you are not averse to using that type of language...I will close my eyes so I do not have to be party to it...
Rain makes for puddles. Puddles bring out the little boy in me, the Dutch little boy. No, not the one with the famous finger, but the one that produces dry land out of watery places. That happens by digging canals so the water can move to where no one lives. I have not yet succumbed to the temptation of having a shovel in my cache mobile on rainy days, so I am reduced to the one, stone-age tool I always have with me: my stick. So on my way in I dig little canals, seeing the water gush out of the puddle, off the path, into a lower area. Such instant gratification this produces that one forgets about the rain and wet feet and all the concomitant misery of BC weather. And one wonders why the duo of cachers that calls itself Puddlejumpers is not with me but would rather shovel snow...or hang drywall...ah well...
So from puddle to puddle I hopped and skipped, humming as I went, puddle-de-dum, puddle-de-dum, until I got onto the Ravine Trail. Not much in the way of puddles there...the ground does not get mushed up and holes are not created by horses hooves...and as a result it is not a Sh...y Trail, as a matter of fact the ground is hard enough to make it a bit of a skating rink, especially when going downhill...four times I almost had my back join my feet at the level where they live, but thankfully my legs have become strong through all the exercise of this year that I was able to stay upright...
On my way back to the car I checked on all the work I had done. I had a hard time finding back the spots where I had laboured: most puddles had become dry land!!! Welcome to Holland, I thought. Puddle-be-gon, puddle-be-gon...

Sunday, November 23, 2008

1000

It's been at least a week now since we arrived at the milestone of our 1000th find. Some of you probably classify that as belonging under not quite sane, while others stand applauding (thank you, thank you...please imagine us bowing humbly...) for this wonderful accomplishment. Some of you even contributed to it.
We had kind of hoped to make this find in relation to a special cache, but we could not think of one worthy of it, so we decided to just let it happen. And so it did: it was kind of part of a 'normal day's work'. We went to Rolley Lake where there was a new series, and the second one in that bunch of five was the one. Mom is looking for the picture to prove it but it starts to look like we left it with the cache for it isn't here.
We plan to place a special cache celebrating and commemmorating this event. We have called it Millenium I {the 'I' is something like a hopeful hint at some future event (can you perhaps guess what that might be?) and we hope to put it somewhere near Rolley Lake.} Perhaps we will take a picture that will keep.
Mom was in Victoria for four days last week to help celebrate Paige's birthday and to do some caching there with Niki and Paige. Niki is quite hooked on the idea of becoming a cacher and now she discovered that her phone will actually function as a GPS she might actually realize her wish.
By the way, the pictures have been found...
Last week I promised to write another blog right away but it never happened. I was meant to mostly glory in the fact that we had one day in which we had four FTF's. I guess the glorying idea was wrong so I now mention it somewhat modestly...hmm.
I might as well reveal in this post that I (the other half of goinggone was deemed not be fleet enough of foot) went with a group of four others to Mt. Vernon Saturday a week ago to just cache for the numbers, in other words to add to our respective totals. We did 33 caches that day, but it wasn't really a lot of fun. Just going from parking lot to parking lot, lifting skirts on lampposts, looking under benches, signing the log and moving on to the next one...no, I'd rather go on a two hour hike for just one cache...
Regardless of it all, we (I especially) are very happy and thankful that we have this hobby, that we have the health to pursue it, that we can do it together (when there are no ouchies), that it gets us out in all kinds of weather and at all times of the day (the second batch of that foursome of FTF's had us hit the road at close to 11pm). We are also glad that the gas price is coming down...
We are toying with the idea of un-winterizing the RV and taking off for a while, setting up in a few places and do some caching...I have to see yet whether that will actually materialize...we will keep you posted.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Our First Cache! Finally!

I am getting rather behind with my blogging. We (I) are (am) just too busy caching during the day (the leg is pretty good again) while at night we are occupied with other activities. So today I will try to cache(!) up a bit by writing more than one, hopefully.
As we were getting closer to the magic number of having 1000 finds, we felt more and more guilty about not having placed a single cache ourselves. Well, we did something about that feeling of guilt and went and bought a bunch of containers and other paraphernalia.
Our first cache is called All About Caching, a container full of helpful items that cachers use: tweezers to get the log out of these little nanos, a couple of bison tubes, etc. We put it at the rest area between here and the 264th exit. It has in the meantime been found several times. Our second cache is one aimed at scrapbooking activities and has the title of Scrappy...would never have guessed that one, would you?
The third one we placed in some trees near a clearing for a pipeline so it has the appropriate title of PLINE. This one almost landed us in the ditch. I thought I'd drive into the clearing and somehow the little ditch was not in my view until one loud scream stopped me dead in my intentions, saving us from going down. I was able to back us out of our perilous situation.
We have more caches ready to go but need to find suitable places for them. Mrs. Goinggone had the idea of doing a series to do with nursery rhymes, so you can look forward to those. But the one that needs to go out first and soon is one that we will probably call Millenium I, to celebrate our 1000th.
Mom is going to Victoria on Tuesday, so we will need to do this tomorrow.
We will keep you posted on that, hopefully accompanied by picture(s).

Monday, November 3, 2008

Campbell Valley Giant - 900

Last week I spent three days in Campbell Valley Regional Park which is located south of Langley, close to the border. It is a good size park and at the present has over 20 caches, some of them multi's which means that they can be two or four or more parts.

Unfortunately I had to go by myself each day because of the affliction my dear wife is burdened with. Btw, it is getting better but it will be a while before she'll be her old-mountaineering-self again.

Going out alone is not a total disaster but it is way more fun doing it together, especially when one comes upon a problem that seems insurmountable and for which an additional pair of eyes would be very welcome.

I had only one such problem: 'Clue - The Kitchen'. This one is part of a series based on the game Clue where each cache contains a clue. In the end, when all the clues have been obtained, we should be able to tell 'who did it' and in which location. We are not there yet and may never get there if I/we don't find all the components. Like I said, an extra pair of eyes, especially eyes that are kitchen trained, would have been welcome.

The park is for a large part suitable for horses. This means, among other things, that the trails are well fertilized. Unlike dog owners, horse and rider are under no obligation, apparently, to do the scoopy/baggy thingy. Or the shovel/wheelbarrow thingy. I could support this problem with pictures but I won't. I am sure most of you thank me for that.

I did a lot of walking those days, especially the first. When I left my car, I was sure I would only 'do' this one cache called 'Have you seen Douglas?' and then return to the car to move to a different parking spot. Well, I saw Douglas, one of the largest Douglas firs I ever saw. I cannot show you a picture; you will understand in a moment.

However, when that one was in the bag, the next cache seemed to be closer than the car was at that moment so it's not hard to guess what happened. What is worse, it kept on happening so that by the time 2 o'clock came around I was miles and miles (kms and kms just doesn't do it justice, I feel) removed from my vehicle that is adorned with the sticker: "Found cache, Lost car".

I had left everything in the car: drink, food, apple, camera, and some might add, my wits...Neither had I taken a reading of the car's location in terms of coordinates when I left it; of course not, I was going to be back in a short while...! And my park map was guess where: in the car.

In the end I had to bother someone to tell me how to get back to my car.
It is now 4 o'clock. Why not ask someone at 2? Well, you know, there was one cache fairly close by, so it would be a shame to leave that...and then, of course...etc. etc.

The lady that I approached must have seen the condition of my body on my face: before she even bothered trying to tell me where to go she gave me an apple and a candy...the apple was meant for her horse, the candy for sugar. But there was no doubt in her mind that I needed it. She said, 'I don't want to read about you in the paper tomorrow.'

Anyway, she told me how to proceed to the car and nice as she was, I was sure she was wrong. So I let her depart and then headed in the direction I was sure I should go. Until, of course, I stumbled upon a cache...and got lost again. And had to approach some others. Fortunately, the weather was nice so there were lots of people on the trails. Anyway, to make this already long account not any longer, I did get back to my car. And drank, and ate...and headed home, and ate again...and looked back on a day well spent.

Somewhere in this account I should have mentioned that one of the caches I found was our 900th: Campbell Valley Giant, a huge cedar. Again, I have no picture....

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Lights Out In Lynden

A new day, another post...time for catching up on reporting on caching.
Now you know about the owie calf, you will understand my hesitation to take the person so afflicted to a caching event in Lynden last week Saturday (Oct.25).
The idea behind these events is to meet other cachers, exchange experiences, ask for hints on caches that they placed or found, and perhaps do some activities together. In this particular case the event was organized with Hallowe'en in mind; the plan was to have a potluck supper around 5 and after that clean up together. By the time that was all done it would be dark and we would be given a sheet with a list of 13 newly placed caches in and around Lynden that we all could go after in the dark.
I had my reservations about attending this with a person who is less than mobile...but the vote was 1-1 which means I lost...go figure!
Seeing that it was a nice day, we left in the morning to do some caches in Sumas and Lynden before the event. After doing a couple in Sumas we discovered that we had forgotten to take our second most important tool: our flashlight. So back we went and back we came, taken the border line ups with patience and resignation.
Once in Lynden, I cached and the patient stayed mostly in the car. She was not complaining, and I was never gone for long. So that went alright, really, and it became more and more evident that it was a good thing I lost the vote. I think we did about 12 caches. One neat thing about it was that we kept running into other cachers. No wonder, because some 100 people had signed up for the event.
So when 5 o'clock came around we found ourselves with those 100 or so people in the Lynden Community Center, meeting people whose names you had seen on the website or in cache logs, or whom you had met that day. It was a very good atmosphere in that room as you may conclude fromt he picture above.
When the time came to go out into the dark, it did not dawn on me that here was a chance to score some first to finds...it did on mom but somehow we did not communicate at that moment. So we, I, took our, my, time to upload our GPS with the info of the 13 caches instead of tearing out of there and going for one cache, never mind the others: they could wait. But as I said, I was totally asleep at the wheel, so we had no first to finds that night.
We did find 12 of the 13 though. Quite a neat feat considering that it is dark, you do not know the town, have no map...I guess it was all due to having the best navigator available available!!!
All in all, it was a fun event. We hope they will do a repeat next year. You can all come and join us.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Calf Is Owie

Mom is on crutches. What does that have to do with caching? Well, everything and nothing. Everything. because she is not caching. Nothing; because caching is not a matter of life or death. All the caching that got done in this family was done by my going out by myself and having a good time, but it would have been better, much better had we been able to do it together. The only positive is that now I could set my own pace and get an excellent work out walking the trails that I took. Oh, and the other not inconsiderable positive side effect is that she spends a good deal of her time at home working the puzzle caches which we until now pretty well have ignored. However, we are looking at too many areas where we have all the normal caches done and all that is left is the puzzles.
She is getting really good at it. At this moment she is wrestling with the Little Rascals. Part of this week she was in the company of the Three Stooges for two days. She has been in outer space tracking Star Wars episodes. Etc. etc. Now I can go out to find the caches.
The leg is getting better but we expect her to need at least two more weeks before she is ready for the mountains again.
We had some beautiful days this week but the forecast is for rain pretty well all of next week. So wet I will get...
Now to how this came about:
She went into the garage, (last week Tuesday) two steps down, and somehow tore her calf muscle. Excruciating pain evolved quickly. Phoning the doctor resulted in our going there an hour later. He could not really tell how bad it was because touching her leg put him in grave danger each time...like tickling a skittish horse, maybe? The leg would go airborne direction his face, jaw, nose, eyes...he has no insurance for that. He did come to a tentative conclusion that her achilles heel was probably not severed but that is as optimistic as he was willing to be.
Back on Thursday. The pain was down from a 19 (10 is high) to about a 3...much better. Now it was safe to determine that is was (only) a torn calf muscle...painful, not pretty, but heal-able. Get crutches and stay off the leg. Done.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

View Me, View Me...

It's almost two weeks ago that we decided that we should have a little more exercise than we get with just city caching. So on this overcast day with rain threatening we set out for an area west and north of Mission. We knew a couple of new caches had been placed there but two or three days had gone by without anyone claiming them. So we decided that maybe we should have a look. And who knows, they were still untouched.
So, parking the car along Dewdney Trunk Road we set off on this well maintained logging road. The first part was rather uphill but then it flattened out somewhat...but that was the last of the 'flattened' for the day. Uphill and uphill, never ending uphill! Not necessarily all that steep except for some portions, but we plodded on...didn't we want the exercise? And weren't our legs a lot stronger than a year ago? And didn't our lungs have a much increased capacity for huffing and puffing than they used to? Yes, to all of the above, but still, flat stretches are nice, really!
After more than an hour of this, we arrived at a cache that we might as well do as we were on our way up...not a new one, just a rarely done one, and we began to understand why. We couldn't find it...
So on we went, and up we went, and up till we arrived at the end of this logging road. We expected a trail to continue our travels on but that was no trail to be found. We must have missed a turnoff!
So after trying to find a shortcut down, I, just by myself, and after almost losing each other (Wouldn't that have been fun! A new chapter in our caching history, time for a new sticker: found cache, lost wife!). So we went down the way we went, came by the turnoff we should have taken, and were now within a stone's throw of this first cache we tried earlier...why don't we try once more just in case our journey leads us into an area that would un-necessitate our coming back this way...
So we looked and came up empty again!
Well, to the new trail then on our way to the (hopefully) not yet claimed caches called Little View and Big View. Do I need to acquaint the reader with the nature of the terrain and the gradient of the trail...No? You already guessed?
Well, on we go then until we finally arrived at the first view. And what a view it was in spite of the fact that it was not a clear day. The lake with the little island in the middle is called Hoover Lake. We said, "Well, even if it is not a first-to-find, at least it was worth it for the view! Yea right!
It was a first-to-find!!! Three hours or so after we left the car we had a cache!
Now onto Big View. If Little View was as great as it was, what might we not see at this next one!? Well, to not to let you sit in suspense for ever and to share our disappointment before we actually get there, it was not nearly as good. The weather really took this one away.
Our trek up there was wrought with fair sized rocks , fallen trees all over the place that we needed to get over or around, low hanging branches, and now a fairly steady drizzle as well. But we persevered: might as well; now in our fourth or fifth hour. And who knows: another first-to-find? Quite likely. If nobody had been crazy enough to make it to Little View, certainly nobody would have gone where we now were, past any view of sanity.
We got there! I already mentioned the disappointing view. Somewhere down there we saw Mission and Hayward Lake, but the fogginess didn't really do it justice in spite of the fact that we had now climbed at least 2000 ft.
The hint was 'under a cedar' near the path. Should be easy, except there were no cedars close to the path, so we ventured away from the path under the few little cedars we could find. You guessed it: no cedars, no cache. Right! Coming all the way up here and not finding the cache? Not ever!
I said, "Dear, some people don't know their trees. We have run into that before." No sooner had those words left my mouth or under a fir tree she found the cache! Hurray! The cache is in hand! And, you guessed it, another FTF (you should know by now what that stands for).
What goes up needs to go down. So that's what our weary and wet bodies did. But not long after we were stopped dead in our tracks. In our path was a bird the likes of which we had not seen before. Larger than a dove, smaller than a chicken, with orangy patches above its eye. It uttered a very low sound as if it were angry. Out came the camera and pictures were taken. And more pictures because the bird came closer and closer, making for better pictures, of course...and closer, and more pictures, and closer to within a foot... and...well, you get the picture, I hope...
When finally our camera was sated with pictures we got ready to move on. But you think the bird was done with us? It wouldn't let us past! We move to the right, it moves to its left and we move to the left, it...well, you get the picture...you have gotten good at getting the pictures by now, right?
I finally had to shove it aside with my stick and quickly move past it without stepping on it. Then it starts to follow us! It wasn't nearly small enough to be an orphan but it surely behaved like one. In the end our longer legs got the better of him/her and we disappeared out of view...
This blog just goes on and on, it seems.
So we come close, for the third time that day, to the spot where we tried to find that first elusive cache. And what do we see? Another cacher! With his dog Sasha. Shaking of hands all around and pleased to meet you's and what's your handle. His is Hellraisers, from Mission. He is the FTF'er par excellence! But this time he got beaten by a couple of wet and tired old fogeys.
So now he does not know whether he wants to go on. To give him time to make up his mind we all together take another try at this cache that keeps playing hide-and-seek on us. With his help we find it, fairly soon actually. It was just a matter of walking along this one tree on the right side instead of the wrong side like I had done a number of times...
By now one of us really had had enough, and the other one of us promised a while back that we would not bother with a fourth cache in that area, much as that bothered him, for would we ever want to come up here again just for this one cache? Probably not. A cache with such a nice name too! "Old Tales of a Lumberjack"!
Then says Hellraisers, "You know there is another cache here close by?"
"Dear, how about you stay here while Hellraisers and I quickly do this cache?"
Good old sport that she is, she comes along.
An hour or so later we are back at this by now quite well frequented spot. Fatigue is etched in the face of one of us, satisfaction in the features of the other one of us. Four caches, two FTF's!
From here it is all downhill in fairly steady rain. But somehow rain is not nearly as wet when you have found your caches as when you have not.
Seven hours after we left our car our little eyes spy it again.
It was a day well spent!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

700 in the dark

It's been a long time since I blogged about our geocaching adventures. Somehow it did not seem to work while we were on the road. But now we're home again, and while I am still retired (and plan to remain so) I have no excuse anymore to neglect this activity. And to be frank (to quote a popular sentence opening by politicians), I find it not a hardship... And to be honest (....) I kind of like it.
We did a fair bit of caching during our travels. When we left home our count was at less than 400...when we got home it was at 702. So that is not to be sneezed at.
The city that we probably remember most kindly for its caching opportunities is Holland, MI. The place is just plastered and looking for them has brought us into interesting places and made us feel at times as if we were in the Netherlands with all the genuine Dutch names everywhere. I do not know how many caches we logged while we were there, but I do know that if we stayed there for another week, we would still not be done by a long shot.
By the time we hit Ellensburg, WA we were close to our 700th cache so we decided to try and get that number in that place. We discovered that there was a night cache near our campground, and seeing that we had never done one of those, we decided to make that one our 700th.
A night cache is one where you go into the area with a flashlight. As you shine the light around, it will pick up little reflectors attached to a tree or other objects. These reflectors guide you farther into the darkness and if you have never been in that area (and we hadn't) it is kind of spooky...Perhaps that's the whole idea. I have to say that Mom dealt with it as a real trooper.
So we arrive at the spot we need to be. Now find the cache. It took us a few minutes...the clue was: find the chain, then the ring that is attached to it, then pull up. Well, Mom found the chain, and the ring, and gave a mighty heave...open pops a box, and at her stares a skull...
I have to give it to her: she did not scream; she just froze for a few seconds...or maybe more than a few...but honestly, no scream...
The pictures tell the story.
In the meantime we have not been idle. I spent a few days by myself in Langley and we went there a couple of days together. We have had some nice weather.
Today we reached our 800th...!
That is probably worthy of its own blog page, but I don't want to bore you...
We hope to make the 1000 before the year is out.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Hand it to me...

We have been on the road now for almost two weeks and, curiously enough, we have not really missed home. In my journal I have begun referring to our RV as 'home'; note the ''; when they disappear it might mean that we will not want another
home again...
Our first stop was Green Lake Prov. Park. We had no problem finding a place; it was mostly deserted this early in the season. On our way there we did a couple of caches but we were more concerned with getting there so we left a bunch unattended. We will just have to go back there one day.
Our next stop was Williams Lake where we stayed in a private campground at the grounds of the WL stampede. We did a fair bit of caching there but we got a little tired of all the micros. One area we did not really have time to explore to any great lenght was the WL River park and trails: quite a nice area of about 12 km in length along the river until it joins the Fraser.
Not enough time...we are on a schedule (!) so it still feels rushed. Yesterday we arrived here in Dawson City, and when I thought about it this morning it looks like we have basically only one day here for ourselves. Today is Sunday so we are taking it easy. There is not really a church here that looks half decent (I was sure there was a CRC here, but think it must have folded) so we listened to a sermon on Spindleworks and will do that again later on. Tomorrow we have nothing scheduled but caching. Tuesday is taken up partly by the soccer game and Wednesday we have to leave again and take two days to make it to Calgary. Rush, rush...not an easy life by any stretch...but complaining never got me anywhere so I will not start that...and enjoy thankfully, very much, what we have and receive each day.
I skipped Prince George where we had a nice time,, also staying in a private campground. We visited with Jim and Nallely Witteveen a few times and had a really good time with them. They are settling in and making contacts and dealing with other things in their life. Read their blog: http://www.jimwitt.ca/
I now remember telling you about most of our activities in PG in the email I sent a few days ago so I won't repeat all of that..The caches in PG were much more enjoyable than the micros in WL. Some people really like to hand it to you as one of the pictures shows. Mom jumped about 3 feet when I kindly endeavoured to hand it to her.
And being out in the wild also reveals that she is particular regarding certain animals. At Green Lake it was a snake that made her scream, try to scream, but her cold prevented her from producing any kind of sound louder than a pipsqueak so I did not hear it and was unable to come to the rescue...In PG it was another interesting creature just minding his own business that caused unheard-until-now noises in the forest...the picture shows how cute he really is...and what a nice size he has grown to be...and how he could be a very well camouflaged cache...and how I would have loved to hand that to her...
O, and that reminds me of Yorick...if you go to Hamlet Act 5, Sc. 1, you will be able to figure out for yourself what kind of cache the Yo-Rick cache was like... Mom figured she had done her quota of ups and downs for the day...so this one I found by myself and I had no opportunity to hand it to her...or cause an underworldly noise to be heard in the woods...or take a picture...alas, poor Yorick.
There aren't that many caches here so we should be able to make to make a good dent in that tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will improve somewhat so that we can at least stay dry and so the OFF does not wash off ...we had to use it quite liberally already in PG, and I am sure we will be here as well...good preparation for when we see Erica and her family.
On that optimistic note I will call it a blog. O, mom posted some pictures on Facebook as well...go check them out...and if you are not already a Facebooker, you will have to become one now, I guess.
Love, Dad and Mom