Day 97 Diabetic Style - Dublin

It is10:30am, we just rolled into town at 2:30am.  I have been up for a while now. Takoda got up early of course. We were hoping he would be getting up a little later today. Not him though. I had to get him out of the room so as he would not wake Niki. We took KC for a walk, then got our complimentary breakfast. When we got back to the room. Niki was ready to leave. We figured we could do Diabetic Style -Dublin, by boula and boulette on the way to Niki's mother. We found the cache quickly, signed the cache log, re hid the cache, and then continued on our way...

Day 96 Cool Cat - Kitty Litter (GCX69B)

I know the post date says the 31st. That is when I wrote the blog 3am in the morning after a long drive from my current home, to my former home. We grabbed the Cool Cat- Kitty Litter cache by Fitzy, on our way out of state. It was a quick find on a guard rail on the edge of a section of 219. Niki and Takoda found it. Takoda was excited. We signed the log book charged onward into our Journey....

Day 95 River Valley Surplus Cache (GCWZ5B)

  We are beginning to travel further for our caches. Today we found River Valley Surplus Cache, by Happydancer 123. We were originally going to do the Winery at Wilcox cache. It was a no go though. The cache description asked anyone going to seek the cache out to be respectful of the property. The winery grounds was well landscaped and Niki and I truly felt that any searching on our part would constitute not being respectful of the property. It was sad but we decided to go to the next closest cache.
   The cache sight had good parking, and plenty of space for KC to run. KC and I were the first one up the hill and the cache jumped right out at me. I was worried too cause the cache hint said something like between the rocks. Up in Kane you can't really get to any rocks because of all the snow.. Here between Ridgeway and Johnsonburg.. What snow. The ground was thinly blanketed. There was no digging involved. After locating the cache I told Niki I found it and handed her the GPS. "Give it ago I said." Her and Takoda quickly found the cache. Takoda was asking for help, "I can't get the handle" Novalee and I helped him with it. I popped open the container and grabbed the log book while the kids looked throught the goodies. Soon all the trading was done, we re hid the cache and headed home.

Day 94 ANF 12 Micro (GC1CEM1)

    ANF 12 Micro by Pegasis was a pretty fun cache. Oh it was not a hard cache to find. We drove out we parked and I located it very quickly. After ward the fun began. We walked up the trail leading into the Allegheny National Forest. That is til we heard a gun shot in the distance. Even though we were all ablaze in our hunter orange we decided not to go too deep in.
   We got KC excited playing with sticks. I think Novalee started it. KC was not interested in her little stick so I showed Novalee how it was done. I got a bigger stick and KC just got so excited when I trhew it. KC went after it of course. He picked it up in his mouth and charged on past me daring me to pluck it out of his mouth. The first two passes he got past me. He would turn and then run towards Niki daring her to pluck the stick from his mouth. Then he would charge back towards and pass me. He was haveing a blast until I managed to pluck the stick from his mouth. He was shocked. I tossed the stick and he would go after the stick and start the game again. 
    Takoda and Novalee got into the action. We all had a great time.

Day 93 Chocolate Trail 2 Wine Cache (GC1DBT2)

Working days again. Weather is is overcast. Flurries rule the sky. It is cold out. Cold and windy. Happy winter. We decided on Chocolate Trail 2 Wine Cache by 2climb because it looked like it would be quick and easy. It was to the cache was at the Allegheny Wine store off route 6. We pretty much drove right to the cache. The kids and Niki stayed in the fan while I signed the log then we headed home.

Day 92 Highland (GC1ZMXF)

     Highland by Squirt Pearl Maggie was a fast cache. We traveled down 66  til we reach route 948. We were kinda in the middle of no where, but Niki and I knew where we were. We had been this way a few times on some bum cache hunts. Turns out this cache was in a local cemetery. I located the cache before the kids had all been unloaded from the van. I signed the log book. Then we walked the dog around the area, and headed out.

Day 91 Lower Gibbs Cache (GC247RA)

   Merry Christmas Straypoet, and thank you for the Lower Gibbs Cache.. Today the weather was over cast. We had had a good Christmas morning. We visited with neighbors, then we found a cache to seek and headed out. The kids were kind of upset to leave. They had little choice.  Poor things. We followed route 6 until we reached Gibbs road. Then we drove to within 200 feet of the cache. We found a good place to park. We left the four way flashers on in the van. Niki decided to bush whack. KC and I found a gated trail warning off tress passers. So we tress passed. At least I wasn't going to get my feet wet from the little brook that flowed between me and my cache.  
  As I got close to the cache I decided to unhook KC. He ran towards Takoda, Novalee, and Niki who were fording the brook. They caught up to me as I was figuring out that the cache must be in front of me somewhere. There was this rock which a tree had decided to grow on top of it. The roots dangled off the rock until piercing the ground a good eight feet from the trunk of the tree. This was a very neat sight in a very relaxing section of wood. The cache hint indicated that this was what I was looking for.
   The cache was frozen in place beneath a smaller rock. We found the cache. Then we managed to open the cache. I signed the log and we headed home.

Day 90 Ham 7 (GC1MP7C)

    Merry Christmas Eve everyone.   Kids are all tucked in bed, with dreams of sugar plums in their heads...  We settled on Ham 7  by Dadidida after attempting picture perfect. Picture perfect did not go so well. This is a pretty area. I would have loved to find the cache here. Unfortunately it did not happen. KC enjoyed the area though so going there was not a complete lost. After picture perfect we decided on a Ham cache. We love ham... lol
    The Ham 7 cache was on the edge of Arby's parking lot. Stuck tight on a guard rail. The guard rail was buried under a couple feet of snow. I dug a bit but found the cache.

Day 89 Air Day Travel Bug Express (GCYMMQ)

  Air Day Travel Bug Express by Witchiepoo 62 and Ghostfinder was a good choice for today. We were looking to find a larger sized chache so the kids could trade for items. I also knew this cache was at the Bradford International airport. I thought the kids might be fascinatated at seeing a plane or two take off.
   We drove down to the  airport. We took a back road that connects route 219 with route 59. The road is a narrow snow covered road. At one point we met a fellow traveler on the road. When we tried to pull off to the side of the road part of the nose of our car went into a ditch... Whew! We were able to back out of the ditch. I continuted driving.
   Originally we were going to attempt a diferent cache. When we got near the cache and dicided to pull the car over to park. I ended up in another ditch. Again luckily we were able to back out onto the road. This is when we decided to go to the airport for sure.
   At the airport we found a picnic area that overlooked the entire airport. The cache was in this picnic area. We found the cache very quickly. Then we explored the area slowly. It was great! We watched one plane take off. Novalee was mesmerized. "The Plane is fast", she would tell me.

Day 88 Ham 17 (GC2EJY3)

    Worked til 5 today. Work schedule changed to days til after the Holidays. Niki and I got the kids geared up then we headed towards Smethport to do Ham 17, by Dadidida. Niki parked the van about 300 feet from the cache. I crossed the street and walked along the guard rail until I was within 3 feet of the cache. The cache was easy to find even though I searched with flash light. I signed the log and we finished up.

Day 87 Grass is Always Greener (GC1DTMN)

   Working an on odd shift this week. Well day shift which I guess is not so odd for most of us. But it is very odd to me, and today is the day with the least sun light of the year. Add it all together and we can say I was worried whether or not I would get the cache in today. I did get one in. I came home after work and we got the kids ready... Uh thank you Niki. Then we headed out towards Hazelhurst.
   Hazelhurst is a nice place. We decided on the The Grass is Always Greener Cache, by Glendorn because it was described as a quick fun cache, and it was in Hazelhurst... We love this town. They have a park with a pond in it. We brought the kids here to fish last spring. The cache was in that very same park. What a coincidence. We parked the van Takoda and I got out. I started looking for Takoda's gloves. Niki said she would take care of it. While she was doing that I figured I would get a head start on the cache hunt. I had KC with me. Leashed, as this was a public space. I kinda stumbled across the cache. I showed it to Niki, "That was fast." She was saying as I looked for a pencil to sign the log book with. By the time I had the book signed Niki, Takoda and KC were heading towards the distant playground. Novalee hung back with me. We re-hid the cache and joined the others.... What a great way to spend the first day of winter....

Day 86 Route 6 Rest (GCPX69)

   Route 6 Rest by The "E" Team was a pretty quick cache. We headed over to Mt Jewit around 1pm. We spent most of the morning taking care of presents. Packing them in if it fits it ships boxes, and writing on the back of photographs. It did not leave too much time for geo cacheing. We took what time we had and made the best of it.
    When we got to Mt Jewit Novalee let us know she had to go potty. We stopped off at Cafe Sol. I waited in the van while Niki helped Novalee with natures call. As I sat in the van I looked across the street at the Post Office and said to my self why not. I grabbed the boxes, Steadied them using my chin and walked across the street to the Post Office and mailed out the packages. When I got back to the van everyone was ready so we drove on to the cache location
    We parked at a nice little rest area. Most of the tables were graced the flat areas in and around the hills around the parking area, which was nicely plowed. Novalee found a nice little gazebo that she enjoyed playing in. Niki in I climbed up the hill and counted down the footage between us in the cache. When we got close we read the hint. "In a hollowed out log" there was many of them. We looked for about 10 minutes before finding cache. We found it. I signed the log and we headed home.

Day 85 101 Dalmations #70 (GC28T36)

  Day 85, wow, and so close to the Holidays.... Been pooring through pictures on the computer most of the morning. We are doing something with pictures this Holiday season. The process is getting tedious. It was getting late. I needed to have some of the pictures printed out. Oh and of course there is always last minute shopping. Niki and I had a brilliant idea. She would go take KC for a walk while I go on geocacheing.com to see if there was any quick Bradford caches. Sweet there was. In fact more then a handful of caches was on or around the Walmart parking lot.
   We drove to Walmart in Bradford. Constrution on rte 219 is finished.  It took us about 36 minutes to get within 265 feet of the cache. We parked. I looked up and in the direction the cache was on. Yeah. the cache was up on a ridge. I looked up the cache notes on the GPS.  The description said stick to the trail. We walked around to the back of the store looking for a trail. We found it just in back of the dumpsters. The ground was snow covered but the snow was not too deep. I carried Novalee on my shoulders we followed the trail until we lost it. Then we walked in a drainage trench that was built along the top of the ridge. Niki had fallen behind. I looked back and it seemed she was playing with her shoe. She could have been frustrated? She had a chance to back out of this cache. I did too we chose to go on so I pushed forward looking for a likely spot where the cache might be hid. I kind of knew what to expect as this was our second 101 Dalmations cache. This one being #70 in that series of caches. Niki had the GPS so it was guess work for me. I set Novalee down. She stood for a second then fell forward breaking her fall with her hands on the cold snow. She got upset but it passed quickly.
  I started digging around a log. Poking around in likely places. Then walked back towards Niki and Takoda. "You guys comeing..?" Niki called from in the woods above. "We are comeing hold your horses, We are comeing." Yep she was anoyed. Oh well We started hunting for the cache. She handed me the GPS and I got within 0 feet of it. I noticed a trail further away from the ridge and directed the children to stand on the trail. They were more then happy too. Takoda though took the opportunity to tell me it was too cold to be here. "Too cold"
   Niki and I dug and poked around this log for about 10 minutes. Then Niki asked for the GPS. The readings had changed. We were now 30 feet from the cache, even though we had not moved. Niki pointed over to two other logs that could be hiding the cache. Both were hollowed out creating great natural hiding places for caches. I explored the closest one and promptly uncovered the cache. We were very excited. Niki and the kids posed as I took a picture of them with the cache. Niki then took some pictures of Bradford. The view is very impressive way up here. Then they started back, while I signed the log with a pen that did not want to write in the cold. I did manage to sign the log then tucked the log back into the container. Then oops I did not get the name of the Dalmatian.... I opened the container pulled the log back out and unrolled it looking for the name. Got it. Put everything back in place then raced down the trail to catch up to my fam....

Day 84 Mikey Mouse's 4 Corners (GCVYNC)

  Mikey Mouse's 4 Corners by Mikey Mouse was a fun little cache. We found the cache fast, we are loving this road. It cuts through some very pretty back country. On the way too the cache we stopped off at the cache we did yesterday so Takoda could trade for something. It was kind of neat, in a clandestine way. We pulled over I reached into the hollow of a tree and pulled out a container.... It really felt like magic. After I put the doll cache back. We continued on to our destination. When we got to the four corners we scouted for a good parking place. We parked and I headed straight to the cache.. :) I had to dig it out and my hands were a little to big, but I got it and signed the log. Then the five of us just played. It was a great moment of a great day.

Day 83 Dolls of Guffy (GC1X62T)

    Day 83 and another proper cache. We continued on with the road we left off on.yesterday. Or we regressed. I have know idea why I by-passed Dolls of Guffy by Witchiepoo 61 and Ghostfinder yesterday. But we did. Today we rectified that.
    Another overcast day. There was a couple more inches of snow on the ground today. The road we were on had not even been plowed. We pushed on though and even managed to find parking near the cache. I got out and let KC run. This is a low traffic area so it was safe. Then I actually walked a full circle while the GPS tried to make up its mind where the cache was. It came down to one side of the road or the other. Then the GPS decided it was on the right side of the road. So while I was playing with my GPS Niki says. "That tree looks like a perfect hiding place." She be-lined  it for the tree and started digging snow out its hollowed out trunk. I watched her for a second and said, "You found it didn't you." She did not answer which was an answer in and of itself cause she was working the tree pretty intensely. Then she said "Yeah but I can't get it to move it is frozen in there." Metaphorically I rolled up my sleeves as Niki stepped aside and I worked the cache container out. It was a plastic coffee can filled with pretty little dolls. Novalee was very excited. She found the perfect doll then we traded gingy, a Shrek toy for it. I signed the log book then we drove up to the Barrel House to make breakfast with Santa reservations for tomorrow morning.

Day 82 101 Dalmations #103 (GC28T4Y

   Ha, ha, 101 Dalmations # 103 by Mat-Kat+1 was not a dash and cache. I almost feel like I am getting my groove back. We took Duffy road off of route 219. This is definately a back woods sort of road. Very scenic and hilly an not so salted or sanded. We drove carefully and enjoyed the scenery. Every thing was white. The trees were frosted the sky was blue. Yep blue skies... Yay! Eventually got close enough to the cache to park.
   The GPS lead me to within 6 feet of the cache. We hunted around for a bit. We were sorta in the triangle clearing where two roads meet. KC went right up to the cache. So I dug in the snow in that area. Not finding cache I wandered off then KC was back at that spot on the other side. Again I investigated. Still nothing so i wanered away again. Niki was poking around near the wood edge and Novalee was just enjoying the snow until her boot fell off. That got the old drama flowing. Niki tended her and then Novalee sorta just stood still while Niki and rutted around digging in the snow around a fallen log. Niki came over to the spot I KC and I had investigated earlier. She tried pulling up a stick. It did not budge and she wandered off. I came back to the same spot and gave the stick I might heave and it cam loose. I dug around through the snow that was underneath the stick and I spotted a hunter orange cylinder. Ah ha it was the cache we sought. Strangely there was a black zip tie around it. The cylinder was attached to something. I dug the whole package out. How cute it was attached to a Datamation statuette. Unbelievable! Niki and I got a real kick out of this. It was about then that Novalee turned up her drama volume. She had to go answer natures call. We tried explaining to her that we were heading home and she could go there. She would not hear it. She stayed agitated awhile. I signed the log and we raced home to tend Novalee's needs...

Day 81 Ham 4 (GC1KBK9)

   Can you believe it another snowy day in western PA. Ham 4 by Dadidida was another in a series of Ham caches. I love Ham lol...  I am grateful that there are so many cache and dash caches in the area. It makes geo cacheing in the winter a lot easer. Especially when I have time restriction. I apologize though, these cache and dashes does not leave a lot to write about.
   This cache was along the side of route 219 going towards Bradford. As we approached the cache I asked Niki if she would drop me off before turning around to park on the other side of the road. I don't think she heard because we just whisked on by. We turned around and parked. I crossed the road and found the cache quickly. I signed the log book and we went on to enjoy the adventure that was the rest of our day.

Day 80 The Sign Remedy (GC11K4D)

   This was an over cast cache and dash. I did not know that the Sign Remedy by Withiepoo_61 and Ghostfi... was going to be such a quickie. It was though and considering how cold it was this was a good thing. We drove up route 219 towards Bradford. We were able  to park near the cache local. I got out of the van and walked to within zero feet of the cache. I was curious where the gps would take me. Because of the name of the cache I knew it was in or around the near by Allegheny National Forest sign. I ended up walking 65 feet away from the sign. The GPS said I was zero feet away from it. So I walked up to the sign and with in minutes located the cache, then signed the log book. We then went across the street to Mead Run road and walked KC.

Day 79 Ham 3 (GC1KBK8)

   Teehee, another quickie. It is a good thing to. Today was COLD and overcast. Novalee did not even have to get out and be submerged in this frigid weather. On days like this cache and dash is good. Parking was not a problem. GPS was dead on for a change. I had to dig the cache out but that was not a problem. I signed the log and then we took KC for a walk in Whetmore township. I tell you what we weren't warm for long. KC did his business quickly which was a good thing. We were all happy to get back home and out of the COLD....

Day 78 Ham 16 (GC2EJY2)

    Ham 16 by Dadidida was a nice cache. This was the second time I've atempted this one. The first time I could not find a parking place near the cache. It has been raining today washing away some of the snow, so now I can  park on the side of the road. Yay. Niki the kids I loaded into the van and we drove for a bit. I guess I kind of cheated myself with this cache. I had a feeling it was a cache and dash, and I was right. Niki and I got out of the vehicle and found the cache with  in minutes. It being Sunday I should have sought a more challenging cache. It was a good day though. I signed the log book and we found a nice place to walk KC properly. We even had some fun in the snow before I left for work. Sigh. Life is good.

Day 77 Sylvesters Micro (GC1BNJ7)

Another day. It is clear. The sky is blue. No snow falls. None. It is comfortable out side. We are all charged with a playful energy. We head out. All of us. It looks like there is a easy cache on Longhouse Scenic Drive. Who knows might have lots of pretty scenery in the winter. We drove on by. The road is not maintained in the winter. I started looking for another likely cache already loaded in my GPS. Sylvesters Micro by Pegasis seemed it might fit the bill. So we drove on until the GPS said we were close. Drove by about 200 feet looking for a good pull over point. We found one on the other side of the road. The nose of the van facing traffic. Which wigs me out by the way. The van though was fully on the right side of the white line so I tried to forget it.
   We were at Elijah's boat launch. The kids and Niki took KC down the hill towards the water. I headed too the cache. I had a sneaky feeling it might be on the guard rail. I poked around a bit and came up with the cache. Then walked back to the van to find a pen to sign the  log book. Eventually I re-hid the cache and then joined in the winter fun the rest of the family was having down below.

Day 76 Civil War Vet Revisited (GC1V5Z0)

Winter geo cacheing. A different animal. The biting cold. The white ground that absorbs my every step. The icy slick ground that doesn't. The caches hidden in the best of conditions. Now hidden even better with the aid of layers of snow.
    Our first cache attempt was in the Gibs cemetery.  The cache was near a rhododendron bush. My GPS thought so anyhow. The snow was over knee high for me. It came up to Novalee's chin. KC would not go any where until I broke a path. While hunting for the cache, Niki circled the bush. I dug out a couple of grave markers. After a little bit Niki and I came to the same conclusion lets go look for different cache. We headed back to the van.
    Our second cache attempt was Civil War Vet Revisited by Pegasis. By now Novalee was getting pretty up set. She had to go to the bathroom. She had gone what seemed to me just a few minutes ago. Besides sometimes she will tell us she has to go potty to force our hand in going home. We found this out not so long ago. I was shocked. Niki was like duh! So I did not put much weight into her potty needs. I figured it would blow over.
    This was suposed to be a cache and dash. So Niki and I left Novalee and KC in the van, and began our hunt. Poor Novalee must have really had to go, cause by now she was screaming, "I got to go Potty, I got to go pee"  I ignored her with a heavy heart and ended up further and further away from the Van. Niki called out to me. "Is the cache really that far from the road" I called back, "I really don't know, Right now I'm resetting the fracken GPS."     "Ok, I'm getting Novalee then.."
    It wasn't long before I heard the jangle of KC's collar. Niki and Novalee came up to me as I was closing on the cache. Niki helped Novalee partially undress. I held Novalee in a sitting like position so she could answer natures call. Then Niki buttoned Novalee back up. In the meantime I was digging around a big rock. The GPS said I was close. The hint implied it was near a rock. I was digging. I almost gave up on this spot when my gloved hand slid off a smooth metallic surface. "I think I found it" I said. I lost it momentarily then found the cache again and dug it out. Novalee was in a much better mood now. She was being cute and she was helping me dig. Once uncovered, the cache was an ammo box. We opened it up. I signed the log book. We traded my favorite pen for a Christmas wreath tree decoration, then we headed home.

Day 75 Let the Stairs Guide You Cache (GCQXK8)

    Another late start on a over cast flurrying day. Niki, Novalee, KC, and I left the house around 12:30. We had a little difficulty getting pointed in the right direction. Eventually however we were driving towards the cache. Route 321 was still snow covered. We drove slow. We were looking for bliss hill road. For those of you who know the lay of the land it is the left hand turn off just after Bob's Trading post. Great place to pick up a wedgie if you are ever in the area. Bliss hill was very well maintained. The road crews sanded and salted. We were able to drive up Bliss hill with confidence. We drew near the cache then drove past it scouting for a good parking place. No such luck however so we parked on the side of the road and put the four way flashers on. We had parked at a set of stairs that are part of the north country stairs. I asked Niki if she didn't mind waiting in the car with Novalee and KC while I headed up to the cache. She looked at me and smiled I can go. I looked back saw that she was serious. So I was like why not and handed her the GPS. She disapeared up the stairs. I got out of the van to dig ice out of the wheel wells. The ice build up looked pretty dangerous to me. Niki came back down the stairs a few minutes later handing me the micro cache container smiling. I signed the caches log book while Niki continued on with my good work on the wheel wells. She then returned the cache, and headed out to look for a great place to walk KC.

Day 74 Wildcat Park (GCQXJV)

    The Wildcat Park cache by Wiz&Mol was a great choice today. It has been snowing for days now. I have been having a heck of a time finding places to park near the caches. When I saw this cache I was thinking Wildcat park... They have winter events over there, so the parking lot is probably plowed. With that in mind I got the mighty geo dog KC boarded onto the van and we headed out.
   On a day like today slow and steady wins the race. Eventually I arrived at Wildcat park. Yay, not only was the parking lot plowed. The roads that wind through out the park were also plowed. This was happiness for me. I drove into the park for the first time. I've wanted to check out this park for a while. A cache within its fenced boundaries was a great excuse. The park is very impressive. Snow covered picnic tables and gazebos grace the landscape. There is even a baseball field. The gazebos looked like giant mushrooms. I found a place to park about 300 feet from the cache. I opened up the back of the van and let KC out. I did not even bother with the leash. He jumped out and slid his four feet going in every which way. I looked at him trying to stifle my laughter. KC actually looked embarrassed. I have never met an animal with so much facial expressions. Once he recovered we began to walk. It was nice walking along a plowed road. Eventually the cache was 50 feet away, so off into the knee deep snow we went. The snow fall picked up. It was very close to a white out. KC stayed behind he was literally on my heels. The GPS counted down to 0. I was close to the cache and began feeling around for it. A few moments later I made the cache discovery. I signed the log book. Then I decided to explore the park and give KC a chance burn off some energy.

Day 73 Crossroads (GCQWGA)

   Wow, it is still snowing? I have discovered that finding winter caches are easy... So far. However finding a good  parking place near the cache can be daunting. Keeping this in mind I was unable to pursue the first cache I was closed in on. I drove past the cache location looking for a place where I could turn the van around. Getting stuck was not on my agenda. So I am glad I didn't. I found a nice plowed out road I could turn around at 5 miles past the my first choice. I continued on after confirming there was no place near to pull over.
    My second choice was closer to home at the cross roads in Lance Corners. I hoped there would be parking. It was my luck. There was, so the Crossroads by Biddlebeach was a good second choice. I parked and began walking. The GPS silently counted down the distance as I approached the cache. The snow was waist high in some places.  The wind here was intense, almost knocking me over. I came to within 30 feet of the cache, decided I could get closer and then approached within zero feet. I thought I was looking for a micro cache so I brushed the snow off the tree. I must have looked funny standing waist deep in snow dusting off a tree. It soon became apparent that the cache was not in the tree. I walked  further away from the tree and performed the same operation on a different tree. Nope not in that one. So I walked back to the first tree. This cache was definitely not in the tree. I started digging around the base of the tree, and there the cache was in plain sight after clearing 2.5 feet of snow off it. I signed the log book and trudged back through the snow too the much warmer van.

Day 72 Cabin Fever Blues #6 (GC1NTJV)

I think there is 3 feet of snow on the ground. I guess this is why Pegasis started the Cabin Fever series of GeoCaches. Driving was slow. Visibility was low. I drove us out there and past the cache location. Turned around at Bob's Trading Post.... A great pizza joint. Then found a place to pull over near the cache. Our final resting place was about 130 feet away from the cache.  I was kind of nervous about where I parked the van. I was not 100% sure I could get the old girl moving again. I would find out soon enough though. So Niki and I left the warmth of the van to go and find the cache. We had to cross the road. The GPS lead us towards the guard rails on the other side of the road. Once I was within 13 feet of the cache I spotted it quickly. Niki also spotted the cache at about the same time. Yeah but I saw it first lol... I signed the log book. Then we went back to the van to see what we could do about getting out of where we parked..

Day 71 Bus-E-Turn Around (GC1PYDG)

    We decorated the Christmas tree today. It looks real nice. After ward we decided to go and find the Bus-E-Turn Around cache by Mikey Mouse. We all left the house just before 12. The little ones put up their traditional resistance. Sigh. We loaded into the van cleaned the snow off. Yep it is still snowing :) It is very pretty. Then we drove. It was a short trip along route 6. Until our turn at the cross roads.
   We parked the van 30 feet from the cache. I read the hint to Niki. Niki dove into the hunt. I kinda dragged my feet hoping the GPS might divulge more information. Mean while Niki is in an old foundation of a building that has been torn down or was never built, and she is digging in the snow. I start wandering around. I have walked to within 3 feet of the cache.  I look up Niki is smiling, she asks "Is this what you are looking for." She is holding the cache., "I was hoping I was digging in the right place."  "Looks like you were babes" She handed me the cache. I signed the log book then we headed some place to take KC for his walk.

Day 70 A Fine Cache (GC1VV3G)

    Niki and the kids joined me on A Fine Cache by Pegasis. The kids did not want to come. They wanted to watch TV. We bundled them up and left. We drove to within 60 feet of the cache. Niki and I were going to leave Takoda, Novalee, and KC in the car while we looked around for the cache. Then a puzzling thing happened. Both Takoda and Novalee asked if they could look for the cache with us. We piled out of the car and 2 minutes later I was signing the log book. Yay!

Day 69 Watermill Micro (GC14KDC)

   A quick cache and dash, just out of work, Watermill Micro by Pegasis was just what the Dr. Ordered. Things are heating up at work. There are lots of bottle necks to work through. As a result I worked a spit shift. 3-6, then 1230 til 6. I know I am going to be wiped out later so I figured I might as well find a cache before the second wind leaves my sail. Niki works today. I hope I can grab a nap before my next shift begins.
   I found the cache by the cold light of the dusk... and, um my flash light. When I left work I had a pretty good idea where I was going. I had park in the same location for two other caches. This did not help me much, I still passed the parking area. I found a safe place to turn around, and then swung the van into the parking area. I was pleased to note that the parking area had been plowed. I double checked to make sure the van doors was unlocked. Made my flash light ready.
   When I got out of the vehicle I headed straight for the gate. This was one of Pegasis hides and I knew her m.o.. To my surprise the cache was nowhere on the gate? I then followed the GPS signal to the near by guard rail. This time with confidence that my infallible GPS would not lead me astray I walked with in 6 feet of the cache. I did not see it. I circled away from the spot then came back to close proximity of the cache. Still nothing. I poked and I prodded. Dug around in the snow. Going away from then back to the GPS hot spot. It took a bit of looking but eventually I found the cache in the very spot I had looked several times earlier...? How did I miss that. I signed the GPS log then headed home.

Day 68 Where the flowers live (GC1BH6W)

    Another Cache and Dash. Am I taking the easy route? Yeah I probably am. I am juggling a few things at the moment. Today I spent part of the morning loading the gps with caches that can be relatively easy to find in spite of the snow covered ground. I do like hiking. I do not like frantically  looking for a cache that is probably buried by several inches of snow, while my 3 year old daughter, who has better winter gear than me is upset because she is cold. Enough all ready! The fun is getting leeched right out of this. This is why I decided to stack the deck with more then just a few winter friendly caches.
    Where the flowers live, by Ogrin was pretty clever. The name of the cache was a great hint for where to find it. Niki drove down 6 east. The land is frozen and white. As we  approached the cache the GPS counted down. I drew a mental image of the area into my head. 30 seconds before the green house came into view I realized that this is where we would end up. "Niki, I bet this one is at Belles." She pulled into Belles and the GPS read 3 feet from cache when we passed their sign. I looked at Niki. "Um, looks like it is near the sign. I should be right back" I hopped out of the van. Walked around the sign. Then poked around at the signs base. What seemed to be the cache moved. I brushed snow off the container. It was the cache. I brought the cache back to the van and signed the log book in the vans warmth. Novalee traded for bunnie whistle. I put the cache back where I got it. We moved on.

Day 67 Blackberry Micro (GCT37W)

     Almost gave up today. I just did not feel like doing anything. I do not know what got into me. It could have been the the the snow that was piling out out side or maybe I could have a case shift change jet lag. Either way we did not leave the house til 12pm. Novalee, KC and me attempted another cache before settling on the Blackberry Micro by Pegasis.
    We got off to a bad start. Novalee played in our front yard while I cleaned the snow off the van. When we were ready to leave Novalee had told me she had to go pee. We went in side I helped her out of her winter garments. Then after wards I helped her bundle up. It was 12 when I had decided I better get going on the cache. It was 12:30 by the time we were able to leave.
    I started  towards the cache. It did not take long for me to realize I needed to turn around and fuel up the van. At the gas station Navalee told me she had to go to the bathroom again. This was the 3rd time with in a half hour. I drove back home, then helped her out of her winter garments.. Then back into them again. I was very frustrated by this. I was starting to feel a bit of panic.  I finally decide to get going and it felt like I could not get out of town. 
    Eventually we did get going. I drove to within 70 feet of my first cache choice. Took me a bit of time to find a decent place to park. At first I wanted to park near a gate. The road that led to the gat though was not wide enough for me to park off to the side and let traffic flow around the van. I did end up finding a place to park 300 feet from the cache.
    We got out of the van, donned our hunters orange. I put Novalee on my shoulders, grabbed KC's leash and we headed towards the cache. We got to with in 0 feet of it. I set Novalee down, then let KC off the leash, and started hunting. I made circles from ground zero. I did not see the cache anywhere. Novalee started complaining about the cold. I distracted her by asking her if she wanted to make a snow man. "How?" she asked. "Make a snowball and roll it on the ground." I told her. to her credit she tried. Then I did and realized the snow was not sticky enough. Poor thing was disappointed. It did not take long to realize that we would have to move on. So we did.
    We hopped back into the van. This is when I decided on the Blackberry Micro, a cache and dash. I drove in the wrong direction at first. Turned around and drove in the right direction. It was 2 oclock when I parked the car at the second cache location. I thought the cache was in a magnet on the gate. I left the Novalee and KC in the van while I checked out the gate. I walked to the gate and noted on the GPS that the cache was a good 300 feet away from the gate. I walked back to the van and got Novalee and KC. Then we headed past the gate 300 feet to the cache location.
   We were at an old oil well. The cache was a magnetic key holder with a log book in it. It was hard to find. Mostly because I was running out of time. I did find it. I signed the log book just as Novalee was telling me she had to go pee again. I called KC to me and leashed him, then popped Novalee back on my shoulders telling her, "We will be home soon babes". Then we left.

Day 66 Windy City (GCWC92)

Didn't get out there til about 11:00 today. It is getting later and later. Flood watches today. Lots of rain is hitting the area right now. Not so good considering the ground is frozen solid. I was surprised when Niki decided that in spite of the rain that she in the kids were more then willing to come with. Well she and Novalee was. Takoda had a little hissy fit about. Sigh. We dealt with it calmly. They all got ready and we headed for the Windy City cache, by Glendorn.
   The ride was uneventful. We found the trail head and began to follow it. Takoda ran ahead of us, his mood changing drastically for the better. KC joined him ahead of us. Novalee hung back as usual. Niki and I walked side by side enjoying this windy, rainy, and muddy day for what it was. We  walked right up to within 65 feet of the cache. The GPS froze. I was resetting it when Niki, KC and Novalee went in after the cache. Takoda hung back with me running up and down the trail.. The GPS was taking its time finding satelites. Eventually it did though and to my surprise I was 30 feet away from the cache. With out even moving. I called Niki back, on her way she and Novalee spotted the cache. The cache location was pretty neat. It was set up not to be seen from the trail, but it was in plain sight on the way back to the trail. The kids traded for items. I signed the log book, and we headed home.

Day 65 Coming or going Welcome (GCW97K)

Ah it is hunting season. Every season seems to be hunting season. Now however the woods seem to be more populated then down town Kane. I wish all the hunters out there both great safety and bounty. We headed to a cache. Found our parking spot. Decided it was way to crowded, then moved on to another cache in the area. Today seemed to be a great day for a cache and dash. We shouldn't get shot near the road.
    Our second choice, Coming or going Welcome by Glendom was a pretty good choice. We drove a few back roads and found ourselves driving by the cache location in no time. About half a mile later we found a good place to turn around. We drove right up to the cache. Niki parked I located the cache. Novalee got out of the car I helped with natures call in the woods. Niki helped the kids decide what to trade for. I signed the damp log book and we headed for a safe haven where we could safely walk the dog, and exercise the kids.

Day 64 Blackberry Cache (GCT37K)

We decided on the Blackberry Cache by Pegasis this morning. I knew we weren't going to be home most of the day and I had a feeling this would be a great cache on which KC could burn a lot of energy. I was not disappointed either.
    We drove over to the parking coordinates. The morning was chili so we brought gloves for the kids. Novalee wore hers, Niki carried Takoda's in her pocket. The gps indicated that the cache was .4 of a mile in as the crow fly. We walked. KC ran. There was a fresh blanket of snow on the ground. A little more than dusting really. Enough to make everything both wet and white. We walked mostly up hill. Takoda ended up falling at some point. He was shocked that the ground was so cold. After wards he was happy to put his gloves on.  We continued on. Niki and Novalee fell behind. Takoda,, was keeping pace with me pretty well but suddenly decided he wanted to hang back with his mother, and charged back down the pretty steep hill we had just climbed. As for me I was eager to find the cache and then get on with the day. Later on we were going to ga and watch the new Disney movie Tangled in Eerie. A reward Takoda had earned for fantastic performance on his report card earlier this month. Because of this I'd walk ahead. Wait, then walk ahead again. At one point I was going to be a wise guy and call Niki's cell phone. She saw me up ahead though on my phone and decided to ignore hers... I think this would have been funny.
    Along our trek there was two points we could have bush whacked. I am glad he didn't when the first opportunity seemed to arise. However I should have when the second one arrived. When I finally decided bush whacking was a good idea we ended up charging though a thick patch of blackberries. This was a very prickly situation. I had Novalee on my shoulders.as I charged through closing on the cache. Niki tended Takoda with a mothers patience. Eventually I found a clearing set Novalee down. Asked Niki if she minded if I tried to get closer to the cache first and call them too me when I was withing a few feet of it.  This would be both easier and faster and theoretically only I should get cut up by the blackberry bushes. Once I got close to the cache they could find a safe route to me. Niki thought this was a good Idea.
    It took me about 10 minutes but I was finally on top of the cache. The gps had kept freezing on me. So I would have to restart it. Once I was this close to the cache I helped Niki and the kids get back to this spot. Then I asked the kids to hang out together while Niki and I circled the area. This is when Novalee decided she was sick of this adventure and began to cry. We let her upset run its course and started looking for the cache. Almost instantly I spotted the cache. The kids traded for items they wanted I signed the log book. Hoisted Novalee back onto my shoulders and we all headed to the car.

Day 63 Kanesholm Micro Cache (GCP4GV)

    Ha ha, working on my 3rd month of geocacheing. Two months down, 10 to go. How exciting is that. I got out of work late again. I went home to pick up KC. Then we sat in the car while I figured out which cache to go for. Kanesholm Micro by Dgroomer looked nice and easy. I was hoping to find a cache that  would not land me in the middle of the woods on a snowy evening such as this. Kanesholm has a 1-1 rating. Theoretically it should be nice and easy.
   The roads were slick. I drove slow. I did not want to miss my turn off.  I pulled over a couple of times so as other cars could drive on by at their owne pace. Eventually I found my turn off. Wow a church. Very kewl, and what is this. I found my self driving on a narrow road in back of the church through a cemetery. The road was very narrow. There were reflective markers on either side of the road. I felt as if I might hit one before I found a good place to park. I didn't though, and eventually found myself parked right in back of the church.
    KC and I got out of the car. I unhitched him. Thought twice of it. Decided it would be ok then hoped he would not desecrate any of the graves. I was glad that he was only interested in the occasional tree. He loved being out here in the dark. He ran darting too and from me. His eyes reflecting the light of my head lamp in an eirie glowing way. Eventually at the back of the cemetery within the bow of a great big tree I located the cache. It was a good hiding place. I signed the log book. Then KC and I walked around a bit more. Until it was time to go home.

Day 62 Cabin Fever Blues #3 (GC19F3)

Worked til it was dark out. Ate dinner then. Drove down the road and grabbed this cache and dash cache by Pegasis. This was a solo gig. Just me the dark, and the cold. I found the cache quickly signed the log book then headed home

Day 61 County Line Cache (GCQ3PN)

        Happy thanks giving. Yep we went geo cacheing today. This was a great way to walk off some of that delicious thanks giving turkey. We sure did put out a great spread. Niki and I worked very well together and created a masterpiece of a meal. After the meal and clean up, and then desert we left for the County Line Cache. This in spite of the Patriots were playing the Detroit Lions. I did not expect Niki would want to leave the game and go on a cache hunt. She did though and this gave me a very warm feeling inside.
     We decided on the County Line Cache. we tried this one yesterday. Unfortunately we did not get too far. I was scared away by the big dump truck that was rumbling up and down the road on some earth moving endeavor. If it was just me no big deal. I can handle that. When it is the kids, the dog and me it is all safety first. The little ones, KC included are not ready to be responsible for their well being. Each one of them represents a little bit of chaos. Add a dump truck and a one truck road. The safety factor goes way down. We came back to this place today because I doubted that anyone would be working up there today.
    I was right. the road was quiet. It was safe. Novalee was in mixed spirits. She started out upset. Got happy. Then leveled out as ok. Takoda was eager. He needed to get out today. He needed to burn off some energy. So what if, it was raining. He gets devious when he gets bored. Devious and into everything. Things went well. We walked up a big hill. A river valley was off to our right. The little brook issued a relaxing noise as it flowed. The wood in this area was dark the back ground gray. Kinda bleak, but my good mood seemed to brighten the scenery a bit. The .4 of a miles too the cache shrank rapidly. Then when we were in close range we spotted it quickly. Niki first, then  me, Takoda, and finally Novalee who eagerly hauled the container from its hide y hole. The kids traded for items while I signed the log book. We headed home hoping to catch the end of the Patriots game. Go Pats!

Day 60 Cabin Fever Blues #4 (GC19FXE)

The days are definitely getting much shorter. I think dusk began to sinks its teeth into the day around 4:30. I was feeling the pressure. Getting the children ready for a cache hunt takes time. When searching for the cache there is no room for error. If we don't find the cache then we need to move on.. With the days this short and getting shorter. Moving on means geocacheing in the dark.
    Todays cache Cabin Fever Blues # 4 by Pegasis was not the first cache we worked on. In fact it was the 3rd. Construction was happening at the first sight. We nearly had a run in with a dump truck. The second sight turned out to be connected to the first sight, even though we drove half a mile away. I had to back down an old logging trail. By this time I was ready to search for a quickie. I packed the kids and the dog back into the car and then we drove 6 miles away to this cache. I found it signed the log book and headed back home.

Day 59 Watermill Meadow (GC14KDP)

     60 caches in 60 days.... Really? No, not really. Niki was working so it was me and the kids plus KC. I decided on the Watermill Meadow cache by Pegasis because I am by now familiar with the area. Virginia and I had been out here a few times. Then again Niki and I had found the Ancient Forest revisited cache out here also. So it was familiarity that helped me decide on this one.
   We drove out to the parking area. We weren't alone. It seems that a couple had decided this would be a great place to walk their dog. KC was so excited. He barked a few times. KC loves other dogs. I took my time getting  the kids dressed in their hunters orange.  So as the couple could have a good head start. Then I got KC out of the car. It was the leash for him. I usually let him run, not this time though. I was not quite sure how well KC would be received by the other dog.
    We walked. Very, very slowly. It seems Novalee does not like GeoCacheing any more. Poor thing. Takoda walked ahead. I walked next to Novalee, keeping pace with her, while KC tried pulling my arm off. He pulled from the left and then too the right. Urging me forward. He eagerly sniffed out spots to mark. He whined, his tail wagged. He pulled. He so wanted to catch up to the other dog. Me I walked slow next to Novalee resisting the poor dogs pull. Every now and again we could hear the other dog bark off in the distance.
      Eventually we saw the other couple and their dog walking towards us, on their way back out to their vehicle. This in itself is not a problem. KC became no more of a challenge to hold. He is a medium sized dog so is very easy to handle. Unfortunately Takoda. my boy. He had been enjoying the chaos that lead up til this moment. He knew that something interesting might happen if the two dogs met. Knowing this Takoda decided to try and facilitate the meeting by running up towards the people like a lunatic.... screaming "HI!" I was sorta prepared for this so I called Takoda back before he could get too close. Takoda quasi listened. He got close to the couple and their dog just hovering outside of arm, and leash length. I called Takoda again, "Takoda! Come back here! You don't just go up to people in that way."  I got to give the other people credit. They kept their dog back. The man was even kind enough to warn us that his dog did not do well with kids.  KC of course was pulling and whining. I was petting him, "Calm down boy"  It only took moments for the other couple and their dog to walk on past. We waited. After wards I let Takoda know what he already knew. "You don't run up to strangers and or stranger dogs that way. That is one way to earn a spanking. Not this time though, but it could. Think about it." He looked up at me with his big blue eyes, and with perfect voice inflection, "I'm sorry Dad"  I just looked down at him, "Yeah bud, Just don't let it happen again.
     I continued to walk KC. He pulled less now that the other dog had passed. Novalee still dragged her feet. Then she began to bargain. "I don't like geocacheing."  "Its cold, The cold makes me sick"  She had a lot of reasons for not continuing. So we continued. Eventually I was able to let KC off the leash. Shortly after that we found the cache. It was a good sized cache with lots of goodies in it. The kids each traded for an item and I signed the log book, then we re hid the cache and headed home.

Day 58 Not the County Line Cache!!! (GCWEWA)

Out of work at 3:15. Picked up kids at day care. Helped Novalee change her cloths. Packed up the kids and the dog. Then at last. GeoCacheing! Yay!. Not the County Line Cache!!! by Dgroomer had a 1, 1.5 rating. I thought it might be one of those caches in which a nice short cache would lead up to it.  It was one of those gate caches though, nice and quick. The cache though was not in a magnetic Key holder. It was in a little round container that was saturated with water. We logged our visit and took KC for a walk...

Day 57 AGT- Kinzua Dam Overlook (GC167F9)

This was our third AGT Warren cache. We drove all the way to the dam before realizeing that we should have taken the Long House Drive scenic over look. Once we got back on track we were able to pretty much drive right to the cache sight. I did not realize there were such great views up here. I've been up to Jakes rocks before while looking for Rim rock. Yeah but that is another story. Last time through I missed all this wonderful scenery. The Kinzua Dam looks so small from up here. Very cool.
   Once we all piled out of the van and got our hunters orange on I let KC run. We were on a one way road and there was no traffic. That is until I KC was off the hook. Then some guy in a 40 thousand dollar sports sedan drove by going in the proper direction then again in the wrong direction. After this KC got excited. He must have seen something he tensed then barked and made to run into the bush after something. I called him back to me leashed him until we went into the woods. Niki started poking around for the cache. KC tugged his leash I dropped the GPS, then in a snappish way requested help. I am a dick sometimes and this has been a rough weekened sorta. Niki was annoyed by my snappish ness. Oops. Then Takoda decided that he needed a better view. This entailed him walking to the edge of the stone wall railing... Niki told him not to go there because of the danger of the sudden fall.  Well Takoda must have figured that if he could not go on that  side of the stone wall railing then the other side must be OK.   Sigh not such a good Idea.  So Dick Head... Me, decided to show him why we did not want him close to the edge. I grabbed his hand firmly and I brought him right to the edge and asked him if he wanted a closer look... He declined then I brought him to the other side with the same question. He declined again. Then I brought him away from the edge and explained that Mom and Dad makes rules to protect our children. I think he got the point, because after that he stayed away from the drop off. With him you got to have eyes in the back of your head. He is both quick and determined.. Both good qualities but it can give parents nightmares.
    Once we got all the dramma out of our sytem, we started towards the cache. A trail led into the woods. I unleashed KC. He went off to explore. We walked towards the cache along the trail till it ended. I popped Novalee on my shoulders and then bushwhacked out to the road. Novalee and I spotted another trail into the woods, which led us right to the cache. Niki and Takoda bushwhacked all the way. I told Niki I found it. We then told the kids we were close to cache. Niki stood right next to the cache. By now the kids really know how to take our hints. Takoda found the ammo box, the cache. I signed the log book. Niki and I took turns stamping our AGT pass books. Then I stamped the kids hands. I told Novalee it was going to hurt... She did not even flinch. To the contrary she seemed very pleased by the green ink on her hand. Then I did the same with Takoda, he began to cry. He came over I stamped his hand and he looked up with surprise. "Hey it did not hurt Novalee, so why would it hurt you?" I asked.  It is a good idea to look around and make judgements based on evidence. That was why I did Novalee first. Takoda is more gullible. Now they were both happy with their freshly stamped hands. Niki and I were happy with our AGT stamped books. We were all happy, and ready  to head back home....

Day 56 Cabin Fever Blues #7 (GC23Z7M)

Not happy today. Sigh things seem to crumble all about me, as I make stupid decision based on my absentmindedness. Sigh. So we did a quick cache. Thank You Pegasis. KC found a bone with meat on it. I pulled it away from him just as Niki found the cache. I took the meaty bone away from KC and hooked him back up on his leash. I sent them up the path while I disposed of the bone and signed the log book. We then got the flock out of there.

Day 55 You can lead a horse to water... (GC2EK56)

    You can lead a horse to water... by Wegotthis was a tricky little cache. The description of the cache promised a traditional ammo box. I got to laugh. It was an ammo box but it was anything but traditional. Novalee, and KC was with me. Niki was at work. I miss her company. As much as I love to watch KC run, and I like to listen to Novalee ramble on with song and voice. It is Niki whose company I enjoy the most.
   This cache is on a trail off from route 6. The ANF-7 trail. I've been here before. We have found  a few caches in the area so we were in familiear territory. I let KC run. Novalee dragged her feet. I could tell that she was in a mood. Not a good one at that. She dawdled in the snow. Yes it snowed last night, just a dusting really. Novalee was fascinated by the little bit of snow she saw. KC clipped into her. He was checking on Novalee but it was startling enough to get her crying. She fussed a bit then relaxed. "I'm playing in the snow." she said. "Oh, Yeah?" I asked. She rambled on about it. Our trail branched off to the right. I took it. The GPS seemed to agree I should. We walked a bit and ended up near someones back yard. Sigh. We back tracked. Headed back up the trail from where it branched off. Once an track again the trail was intersected by a dirt road. We went right on this road. After seeing a couple of snownobile signs, I realized this was possibly part of the snowmobile trail network that runs all throught the Alegheny National forest. We walked this trek for about .4 of mile. Novalee complained of the cold. I would changed the subject to something more pleasant. She was not biting though. It was not really cold. In fact it was colder yesterday, and she did fine. It was even raining then. She was definately off today. We trudged on at her slow pace. The forest was beautiful. The snow lightly covering the ground pine, and the delicately arking cherry trees. The sky was mottled white and blue. Before long we reached the cache destination. We were very close to a watering troth built of stone. It was a very neat sight out here in the middle of the woods. KC excitedly climbed right into it. I should have known he had found the cache. A half hour later I had found it. In a traditional ammo box the size of a pocket pack of matches. LOL... I never seen one this small. It even had a bullet in it. Nice touch, that. It was then that Novalee got real upset. She was crying now. Big crockadile tears. "I want to go home!", and "I want momma." , and I can't take this any more." She was throwing out the dramma while I was trying to figure out how to sign the log book.. I left my pen and my most of my gear behind. I ended up using the bullet to sign the log book. Then I told Novalee we were going back home. I started walking knowing she would follow. She cried a bit. I was giving her a little bit of tough love. After about a minute. I waited for her. She caught up. I promised her I would put her on my shoulders when we got to the rough trail that led to this snowmobile trail. This did not chear her up. "I don't carry crying girls." I told her. I held her hand and she walked with me crying. I asked her to sing me a song. She declined. Then I begain singing Old Mcdonald had a farm. Novalee soon forgot her troubles, and began to sing along. By the time we got to the rough trail and several songs later we were both in good spirits. I hoisted her onto my shoulders. Shortly there after we were at the car. It was kind of a nice trip troubles and all. We went home to hot chocolate and some nice dog movies.

Day 54 West Run Rocks (GCPVT1)

Can you beleive. My 100th cache total. Most of them have been in PA. This is funny because I cached on and off for about 8 years in NH. I'm really learning the area. I highly recomend geocaching to any one fresh in any area. It really gives you a feel for the lay of the land. I don't get lost any more... Um... err, not that I ever have. Men don't get lost... Right?
  Thank You KB3ADF West run Rocks was a fun cache. This was a great hike in for us. 3 year old Novalee, KC, and me. The old road in made for a comfortable walk. Novalee was talkative today. She told me Takoda and her both had bad dreams last night. Hers starred Sponge Bob. I walked pretty slow. She kept up with my pace very well. KC stayed ahead of us, and kept running back to check and make sure we were doing well. Novalee eventually decided I should hear her new song. Her lyrics consisted of on word "Princess" I love that girls spirit she can really belt it. The sky was silver with promise of rain. The trees were bare. The ground was moist and brown with mud covered by a thick blanket of leaves. Novalee eventually quieted down and the quiet of the area was very peaceful. We could hear water flowing in a stream some where off to our left.         When we got to within 180 feet of the cache. We bushwhaked up to the cache. The stones were impressive. I love big rocks, especially in the fall. I can get a good view of em cause the lack of foliage. That said, I don't really like hunting for caches at big stone locations because there are so many great hideing places in the crevaces between the stones. I was a little worried when I saw them. Impressed but worried. I helped little Novalee and we made good time up the hill amongst the rocks.  ,        KC whent right to the hidden cache. This was a first for him. Usually the dog just runs around like a mad man. He has never shown an obvious interest in geo cacheing. KC comes along for the ride and the excercise. So yay KC! The real Cache Hound... Or Stashhound or what ever.. I signed the log book an we traded a screw driver bit for rosemay beeds that Novalee had taken a likeing to.I signed the log book. Then we explored the rocks under a light rain before heading home.  This was a great day, and thanks again...

Day 53 Cherry Forks (GCXXOV)

   Cherry Forks, by Gsatlati was a fun little cache. We headed out shortly after I got home from work. Takoda finished up his homework in record time. Big and pleasant surprise there. Niki popped a ham in the oven. Everyone went to the bathroom. Then we were off.  On the way to the cache site I looked over some of the cache logs. It looked like a lot of people made this cache harder for themselves then necesary. There is a trail that leads to the cache. Most everyone bushwhaked in then walked the trail out. Once armed with this information I was bound and determined to find the trail that lead pretty much right up to the cache.
   We found the right back roads. That lead us to a parking place that  was .4 tenths of a mile away from the caches lair. We all got out of the van and geared up in our hunters orange. The GPS indicated we should go in the direction of an old logging road that ran away from our  parking spot. We walked it. . To our right was a feild that traversed along the road. Ahead of us was a big hill to be climed. There were targets in the field off to the right. We spotted empty shot gun shells on the ground as we walked and then  decided not to let KC run free until we got up over the hill. Eventually we were in a safe place I unleashed KC and off he went.
   Along our trek we saw some rusty tanks and other peices of equipment. We even spotted an old oil well or two. Eventually our trail lead us to a lightly wooded copse of cherry trees. The GPS indicated we were within 200 feet of the cache. I handed both the GPS and the Compass too Niki. she delved into the woods like a blood hound. I hung back ensuring the kids made it through this section of wood without getting their feet wet. I put Novalee on my shoulders and held Takodas hand. Eventually Niki and our path met again. We were within 19 feet of the cache. We read the hint. I set Novalee down and liberated the gps from Niki. I toggled over the map feature zooming in. Then walked in a circle to see if it was tracking me well. Then I headed in the direction of the cache. It was like reeling in a fishing line, us to .to the cache location. I spotted the cache. I pointed it out to Niki then we told the kids we were close. Then Takoda spotted the cache container. I signed the log book then we headed back to the Van.

Day 52 Ancient Forest II (GC14KD)

There is something about a cold November rain that just suck the life out of me. It is November and it is raining, and it is cold. My energizer bunny is not still going. This is ok though. I am glad to be out and walking. Maybe I can cache some life back into me.
  Todays cache Ancient Forest II, by Pegasis is sort of a second attempt for me. This is the cache Virginia and I worked on before she fled back to civilization. Neither she nor I found the cache but we did enjoy our little hike. Today my companions are Niki Novalee, Takoda, and  KC. I forgot exactly where we should park. I knew if I saw the parking area I would recall it. I did not recall this place. We were .3 miles away from the cache, so Niki and I decided to give it a shot. We walked the trail down hill then we turned to our left in the area the GPS indicated.  I know we walked more then a tenth of a mile, but the GPS wasn't talking to me. The trail we were on ended. I had no desire to bush whack half a mile to the cache on a rainy. I read the description on the GPS. Surprise parking coordinates. I checked into the coords on the GPS. Time to walk back to the van. We all hopped back in and drove to the proper parking space. We all piled back out of the Van and started back towards the cache.
   This was a very nice walk. Yes it was cold, and rainy, but it was nice. Every one was in good spirits. It was not long before we delved into the woods propper.  The GPS led us to withing 13 feet of the cache. I spotted this one first, Niki second, and then Takoda.  I signed the log book. It was time to go home and get dry.

Day 51 Camp ANF-7 Revisited (GC1T3G5)

Blah. The only one of us who really felt like geo-caching today was KC. Just as soon as I got home he got excited.Tail wagging with anticipation. He had to wait though as I sorta helped Takoda trudge through his home work. He had a rough day today at school so he lost TV priveleges for the night. I don't think he is happy with me. Niki is the real trooper as far as homework goes. She plugs away with him through all the procastination and every thing. Me I just make guest appearances here and there, and then pat myself on the shoulder... Yeah I am a great dad.... Sigh. Eventually Tokoda finished his homework then we left for the hunt.
   We decided to head for Camp ANF-7 Revisited, by Pegasis. It was taking the GPS a while to get its bearings so we just decided to start up  along route 6 and head to the ANF parking area. I knew this cache was in the area. We were half way there,  when the GPS beeped. I was thinking, bout time you joined us... I don't know if I will ever owne another Magellan.. I seriously doubt. If you want awesome go Garmin.... :(   Fortunately for us we had been heading in the right direction... "Surprise" A couple of minutes later we were parked. Niki asked, "Is the cache across the road?" I zoomed in on the map feature of the GPS. "Yep! It sure is" I was anxious to get going. Takoda was lolly gagging in front of the ANF sign.... I am glad he has taken an interest in reading but come on. The sun would be fading soon. I patted my pocket reassured my flash lights were in there. "Novalee wanna hold my hand?" I tried. "No, I wanna listen" then she pointed at the sign.  Ok?  Whatever that meant. I waited for a few minutes and the geo-caching train finally left the station. Niki corralled the kids on on each hand. I had KC on the leash and we were crossing the road.
  The trail was nice and wide. The weather not cold but definately a fall cool. The loweing sun shown brightly on the trees. I love this brief part of the fall day. I began to relax.  I began to enjoy myself. I had unhitched KC moments earlier. He ran. His enthusiasm always brings a smile to my face. Soon after that Niki and I were holding hands. The didstance between us and the cash grew smaller as my outlook on the day grew brighter. Before we knew it we were bush whacking into the woods hunting for the exact location of the cache. Niki spotted it first. Then we gave the kids time to find it. Takoda was the first to spot it. He let out an excited yell. I signed the log book. Then we headed back to van under a setting sun.
 

Day 50 AGT-Warren 646 Mystery Well (GC1XOAR)

AGT CACHE.... So COOL!  Yep we finally got onto the trail of another AGT cache. I am happy Niki is very happy. She has her owne passbook you know. We have not done too many AGT chaches since she got her pass book also. So here we are on a Sunday all happy and warm like because we did done do it...
   The 646 Mystery well is actually located relatively close to our Dr.s office. I almost hunted it down the other day when I dropped off the Niki in the kids for Takodas Dr appointment. I had decided against it because it looked to be on some serious back roads. Was it.. Nah we weren't mudding and stuff, but we did end up getting their in a round about way. The cache is in a little known town called Cherry Grove. Of course the cache is on Cherry Grove road.  We started towards the cache on the wrong road. Rather then turning around we searched the GPS for where the road we were on would intersect with Cherry Grove road. Luckily it did. We found a good parking spot at a picnic area that was a couple hundred feet away from the cache. We hopped out of the van. The kidsl were excited about the play ground in the picnic area. We promised them a chance to play after we were done geo cacheing. We all hunted around for a trail that would bring us closer to the cache. We found one. I unleashed KC and we headed in.
   This trail was, is a bueatiful fall walking trail. I tell you boys and girls the leaves may be laying on the ground in brown rusty heaps, but there is still beauty in the wood. Poking up through the leaves are a pine like undergrowth. I guess people make wreathes out of them. I picked one while telling Niki about it. I was impressed with what all came out of the ground. It looks like a bunch of little pine trees, but it has multiple ruts like a strawberry plant. When pulled up it is long fuzzy and vine like. It would be easy to weave this material into a Christmas wreath. I think Niki and I are going to try and do this.... I hope so.    We continued on. I tried a new technique with my gps which helped us to find the cache. Once Niki and I found it, we decided to have fun with the kids. We hinted that we were close. They began to hunt for the cache. Then Woof...... KC got tense and went afte something  that was too deep into the woods for us to see. Niki and I both called him.  KC ignored us and kept heading deeper away.    I left Niki and the kids to hunt for the cache... (Wink) I moved closer to KC then called him again. He came back to me three quarters of the way and be lined back into the wood. I called him again.... He came too within my grasp then barked and dove back into the wood. The third time he came back I put his leash on. I praised him for comeing to me then I said, "Now lets see what got you spooked boy. Is it a bear?" He proudly led me towards two men. They greeted us. I invited them to come closer so KC could familiarize himself with them. They told us they were going to be on the shooting range not so far away calibrating their guns. They did not want to startle us. I thanked them. Then I headed back up to Niki and the kids.    Turns out that Takoda  and Novalee  spotted the cache at the same time. They were just trading for items in the container when I returned.. Niki stamped our AGT pass books." AGT so kewl" while I signed the log book. We then headed back to the picnic area to play.

Day 49 Cabin Fever Blues #2 (GC1118X)

49 caches in 49 days. I am taking tiny steps but my pace is steady. Today we did another of paegasis cabin fever caches. Again cached in the fading light at the end of a long day. We got the ice gaurd underlayment on the garage roof. Niki sorta over came her fear of ladders. Well she managed any how. So we drove down dwight road. Parked the van close to the cache. Surprise another gate. Niki sorta walked right to a gate post and plucked the cache container out of the post. I signed the log book and we let KC run for a bit...

Day 48 Cabin fever blues #5 (GC1NQ18)

Cabin fever blues #5 was kinda tricky. We parked the van right where we parked it yesterday for the Camp Jazz cache. We saw a likely trail across the road. We headed for it. The trail skirted the road for a bit I really thought I was onto something. Novalee had a peice of underbrush snap onto her leg. Then trudged up the hill crying. KC pulled at his leash. No way we were going to let him run free so close to rte 321. Takoda just kept zipping around us. He was in really good spirits. He got his report card today and it was very impressive. I gave him a big High Five and then  a big hug. So yeah he is in a great mood. It did not take long to realize we were on the wrong path. We got closer to the cache then further away. We walked back to the beginning of the trail then along the road (321) until we were within 50 feet of the cache. It looked like we needed to bush wack in. We did this. I lead the way. We had to hop over a drainage ditch,  We all got over I went up the wooded bank. I looked back Niki was doing great with the kids but I knew she could use a hand. She is cacheing  with me, so we can be together. I hitched KC to a tree and helped them up. Niki took over KC duties and the GPS. I kept close to Novalee helping her when she needed it. Takoda was trudgeing along on his owne. We found a metal pipe. I knew the cache was in a magnetic container on that pipe. It wasn't there but I kept looking. Niki realizeing that Pegasis had placed the cache. She also realized we had done some other cabin fever blue caches. Futher more all these said caches had been placed on gaurd rails. Once she put all these bits of realizations together she headed 30 feet away towards gaurd rail.  A minute later she had the cache container... Good job Niki. I signed the log book. Then we took KC for a proper walk.

Day 47 Camp Jazz Cache (GCX69E)

Oh, how fun. day 47 is Camp Jazz courtesy of Pegasis... Thank You Pegasis. I beleive we may be stocking her caches. T-hee. This one was a little more challenging. That means we got to take a wonderful walk in the woods. It is a good day for it. The weather these last few days have  been awesome. To any veterans who might be reading this blog... Thank You. This country owes you who serve or ever have served so much... The good fight isn't over though. You fought for your nation. Now it is time to help manage it. Manage her well.
   The cache was off from route 321. We parked the van at the head of a oil access road. Then we walked along the road which crossed a little stream via a bridge. At some point we delved into the wooded area. Takoda, Novalee and KC were high in the energy department. They ran around through the woods. Novalee a little slower but they both explored. I love it. They are little adventurers. They love the out doors. I think we are. Niki and I  are doing ok with the next generation. Niki and I walked aroun in circles. "We keep on comeing back to the same spot"  Niki acknowleded this. I was just asking her to walk back onto the oil access road while I hang back with Novalee when Niki  was saying, "I founs it." She was walking towards the cache. I was looking in the direction she was walking and still hadn't seen it. And then feeling like a goof I spotted the cache. This was a very neat, and very tricky hide. I love it Pegasis.... Takoda traded a key chain for a little plastic figure. Novalee wanted to trade for a bracelet. It was a pretty bracelet but she had nothing to trade. I happily signed the log book and we headed home.

Day 46 Old Route 6 Micro (GCQYAQ)

Another cache and dash. And yes I really have to slow down. What good is doing this daily geocaching thing if I am not taking the time to enjoy myself.  I will be glad to be back on second shift. Well er... sorta. I like my evenings with the Niki and the kids. Takoda is responding very well to my pressence. They are a great bunch. Going back to second shift how ever will make daily geocaching in the winter that much easier.
   Tonight Takoda had a Dr appointment. We struggled through his home work and used up pretty much all our caching time. We still decided to give it a shot. We were hopeing to hit the cache on the way to the Dr.s turned out to be a pipe dream. We drove past the cache location spot and kept going. Niki and I decided that I should hunt for it while Takoda was at the Dr. It was a good Idea so once we got to the Dr office. KC and I drove back 7 miles and parked the van.
   I Chose Old Route 6 Micro by Pegasis because it was a cache and dash micro. The cache description explained that the cache location is part of old route 6. I guess they straightened 6 out a bit . What was left  is a paved trail. A great little place to walk. This I found out later. The cache was on the gaurd rail. I signed the log book. Then KC and I went and explored. Unfortunately Niki and the kids had been waiting for our return for about 10 minutes. Not a bad day to wait though the  weather is beautiful....

Day 45 ANF 7 Micro (GCQTJ6)

Tah Dah! day 46. Days are shorter the trees are bare. I'm still working days for a bit, and everything is working out great today. Niki and I decided to go back after ANF 7 Micro. We had a good idea as to where it was. Especially after we did County Line yesterday. After waiting ro Takoda to finish his home work we headed out. We knew where we were going. We parked the van. The dead fox did not surprise us this time. A spider did. The little guy had made his web over the caches hidy hole. It wasn't their yesterday. Novalee touched the web. No way in heck she would have done that during the summer. What changed? Who knows. I took and stick cleared out the hole and Niki dove into it. Bringing out a magnetic key holder. The Cache was in key holder. I signed the log book. Niki had the look of victory upon her lovely face. We then decided to hike the trail for a bit so as to give KC a chance to commune with nature. Yay... 46 days we are very pleased with ourselves...

Day 44 County Line Micro (GCT38Q)

The Corliss family had to race the sun today. It was setting fast and we had yet to find our cache. We had originally settled on Camp ANF Micro. We did not find it but we did find a dead fox... Boy am I glad that it did not stink like I thought it should. We gave up on the first cache and decided to head for the county line. The sun set as we arrived near the site of the second cache, County Line Micro by Pegasis. We hiked up to the cache. Got our feet very muddy hunting for the cache. Niki found it and I was very glad. We walked back to the van by flash light

Day 43 Durant City (GCGP3P)

Today has been a lazy Sunday. Niki and the kids came with on this hunt. We picked a easy one cause this is football day. It is hard to pull Niki away on FB day. We decided on the Durant City Cache, by Wolf Track. Daurant City has a 1/1 rating. We checked out the map. The cache looks to be located just off route 66 near James City. We loaded up in the van and buzzed off. Maybe 8 minutes later we were pulling off from the road. We got the kids dressed in their hunters orange. We were 500 feet away from the cache. We started walking up the logging road. This land is owned by the Collins company. I hear they are one of the largest private land holders in the state. If not the country. They don't mind foot traffic though so here we are. The logging road is well maintaned. We let KC run ahead. Takoda asks me if I want to run with him. Run! Me? Of course I do. I start out at a good clip. I hear Takoda crying. He fell on the loose rocks. I pick him up and give him a big hug. Some times you got to make a big deal out of the little things. It means so much to him. I asked him if he was ok. He was so I set him down. Then we ran our hearts out, until. Niki called us back. She had the GPS. She also was much closer to the cache then Takoda and I was. She was right to call us back. Niki was 54 feet from the cache. I really did not want to bush whack in though so we hunted around for a trail into the wood. It did not take us long to get back to where Niki originally wanted to go into the woods. There was no trail. We headed in.toward the cache, Novalee on my shoulders. It did not take us long to reach the cache. Niki spotted it. Then walked right up to it and stood near it. Novalee caught on and then spotted the cache just before I did. Novalee is starting to get very good at this. Niki is too. I am of course as good as I ever was. Take that for what it is. The Cache container had a big hole in it. I put a dry paper in the log book bag. Signed and dated of course. The kids traded for a couple items. Then we headed home to football.

Day 42 West Kane Micro (GCQYTZ)

Day 42 all ready. This has been fun. Niki and the Kids have done a great job keeping up with me, and visa versa. So far we have 3 unfound caches. Back in the day I would have never given up. I guess I've matured. This is fun and I want to keep it that way. So today we attempted one cache but finished another.
  We started West Kane T Cache. it was supposedly in a real nice area.  We enjoyed the hike. We even enjoyed the hunt. We walked 4 tenths of a mile mostly up hill.  There was no views. But the woods felt like home. We have a reservoir back home near where my parents lived. The trail leading to the reservoir was much like this one. Very nice. KC ran around with lots of gusto. That dog loves inclines. He really is beautiful. Even Takoda had lots of energy. Novalee rode a lot of the way up the inclines on my shoulders. Niki hung back with Novalee when Novalee was not on my shoulders. I think she was haveing fun. I hope so any how.
   Eventually we got with in 10 feet of the cache. We hunted for the cache for some time. We kept coming back to this same rock. This rock was interesting, it looked like it was part of a building project. Big rusty lag  bolts juted out from it. This rock was curious. Time and time again we studied this rock. At one point at a distance from the rock I saw two paper towels on the ground. I picked them up thinking I was going to put them into my pocket. I really don't like littering. I know it is rude. Unfortunately after picking up the paper towels I saw ominous brown stains on the paper towels. No way they were going into my pocket. Regretfully I put them back on the ground.  I guess I'm not that good of a samaritan. After a bit we decided that this cache would not be found today. We headed back to the van.
   Niki pointed out that there was a a cache and dash cache down the road. We decided to  attempt it even though cache and dash cashes never seem to work out that way for us. This cache is West Kane Micro by Mister Stooge. To our surprise we were able to drive within 32 feet of the cache. We decided to leave the kids in the van while we investigated the area we thought the cache was in. We belined it right for the cache. I located this cache and signed the log book and then we headed home.

Day 41 Pine Haven Cache (GCQJ29)

We originally had decided on Tree Farm revisited by Dgroomer. We drove down to the location, the GPS guided us real close to it, but we came up empty. We met the owner of the property. He even helped us look for the cache for a bit. Novalee made lots of shivering noises. It got wet and cold fast. After a little while Niki and I called it quits. We then decided to go for the next closest cache. Pine Haven by Dgroomer.
Niki new the cache was at Pine Haven Veterinary clinic. She was right. We drove right into the Pine Haven parking parking lot. The GPS did its job counting down. Niki decided to wait in the van with the kids. We figured we would go out to a place where KC could run next. I walked up to the Pine Haven sign,. I knew  the cache would be right around there. It seemed to much like a few caches I had done earlier. This cache though was very tricky. I was so impressed with the way it was hid I had Niki come down to the sign and help me rehide the cache after I signed the log book... Of course..

Day 40 Corpus Delecti (GCTRH4)

Todays cache, Corpu Delecti by Glendorn was a good choice. We have been letting KC run free while we look for the cache. This has been good for him. He burns up a lot of energy this way. KC is a yellow lab/coon hound mix. He favors the yellow lab side of his genes. At almost two years old he is just a energetic teen ager. This cache location was a great place for KC to burn energy. Takoda to for that matter. He did not want to go geocaching today, but he is the one running circles around us. The kid runs around like a maniac. Novalee hangs back. She can walk fast if she wants. She seldom wants to. We, Niki and I Match her pace. Niki has the GPS. I have the compass. The GPS gets us near the cache. I spot the caches hiding space immediatly. Niki sees it second. We hover near the cache, and put on an exagerated show of not knowing where the cache is. Novalee found the cache quickly after that  Once Novalee located she showed Niki and Me where the cache was. Takoda doug it out excitedly. We helped em trade out baubles. I signed the log book. We headed home.

Day 39 Leave it to Beaver Cache #2 (GCWJ8Y)

Leave it to Beaver Cache #2 by Dgroomer was awesome. First of all I worked the evening shift today so we were able to do this cache during the day... It was about 9:30am.  The  Beaver dam was off of Reagal road. This is a very nice back woods road. A lot of people walk it. Lots of trees and water and stuff very pretty. Traffic is light on this road so we let KC run. He had a great time. The GPS led us very close to the cache. There was a little trail off of Regal road that lead us by the cache and to the waters edge. The water was iced over and frost blanketed everything. I had a moment as I took in this frosty beauty. The sun was coming over the ridge which added magic to the moment. KC decided that the ice was safe to walk on and promptly broke through. He could not get out of the frigid water fast enough. He actually leapt 3 times out of the water before he finally made it to shore. Poor thing. Niki and I spotted the cache and then gently guided Novalee to it. Novalee was very excited to have found the cache. We traded a few things. Novalee ended up with some princess stickers and a tierra like head band. I signed the log book and we headed home.

day 38 Kane Stone Cache (GCQAE1)

Happiness. Every thing worked out fine with my GPS. I gotta remember that I can't fix every problem that comes along. Sometimes even though an issue inconveniences me, it may not be my issue to solve. I think ground speak was haveing issues. Sigh. "If I could turn back time." LOL. I would have spent my evening diferently.
   Today we settled on the Kane Stone Cache, by Dgroomer. It was a nice ride out to the cache spot. We took the car. The van is loaded and waiting for a trip to the landfill. The car was crowded with Niki, the kids and KC all stuffed into it. Fun, Fun. The cache was hidden behind some stones on the side of the road. No great adventures today I am afraid. There was a nice view. But it seemed as though this is an active stone quarries/sand pit... thing. We found the cache quickly signed the log book and headed out.

Day 37 An Ideal Cache (GC1VV4D)

Red Hot burning anger. Nestled deep in the gut. Jeesh!.. I got home from work and tried updating caches in the area onto my GPS. For some reason my Magellan Communicator isn't working. You better believe I tried everything in my power to get it working. The only reason I owne a Megellan eXplorist GC is that it interfaces flawlessly with ground speak. Boy am I mad. The more I tried getting the GPS to work with ground speak the later it got. It was almost dark when I gave it up and went for a cache that was already in the GPS. KC needed a walk and I wanted to find the cache before it got real dard.
   An Ideal Cache by Pegasis was my choice of  caches today. It was close by at 1.5 miles away. I left the house in a huff. I was steamed. I was pressured for time. I did not want to accept defeat. All this was on my mind when I stormed out with the dog. We drove to within 100 feet of the cache. Parked the car near An Ideal Farm Rd. Weird huh. I walked north keeping KC leashed. The GPS lead me to a couple of signs. I looked around a couple minutes, and there it was. I should have not found it that quick, I think I get focused when I am upset. Well good for me. I gotta get home now. write that blog, and work on getting the Fricken Magellan Communicator going.  Wish me luck.

Day 36 Ancient Reservoir II (GC1HBYD)

Today is Sunday. It is also officially Halloween. I still got a pumpkin to carve. I found a pattern for a wolf. I look forward to starting that project. I've been working on the garage roof all day. Niki has been painting the porch. Everything is coming together. Ham is for dinner. I have about 20 minutes before it is ready so KC and I head out for our cache hunt.

Today I will be doing Ancient Reservoir II by Pegasis. I bring KC. He has been cooped up all day and he really needs to burn some energy. This cache is near the Old Boardinghouse cache. In fact I park in the same space as I did for the other cache. KC is up to the hunt.

We get down along the trail. I unhitch KC. He runs ahead. We hear atv's buzzing about. The trail goes up at a good grade. The GPS leads us right too the old reservoir. It looks like a cellar hole. The Cache description says this reservoir used to be used by a chemical factory. No more chemical factory. Things change I guess. I poke around a bit. Then read the cache description and the tip. The tip says "think rocks." Well there certaintly are a lot of rocks here. I poke around with a stich. KC gets tense, barks and scoots away from me. I see the white tail of a good sized deer. KC chases off after the deer. I call him back. He will have none of it. He is gone. I see the deer a couple more times. KC seems like he is coming back then goes into the wood deeper. I am worried. A dog chasing a deer is a good reason to shoot the dog. Finally KC comes back to me. I hitch him to a tree then hunt some more for the cache. This time I find it quickly. I sign the Log book, and KC and I head home to and uncarved pumpkin, and a ham dinne..

Day 35 Old Boardinghouse Micro (GC1HBZJ)

We celebrate Halloween tonight in Kane. I've yet to carve my pumpkin. I will do the carveing officially on Halloween day which is Sunday. That right buying time. I started working on the garage roof today. Busy Busy. Niki painted a lot of the porch. We worked out side til 4:30 or so. Then KC and I went for the cache hunt. Niki opted to stay home so as she could get the chillins costumes on them and stuff.

I decided on the Boardinghouse Micro cache, by Pegasis. According to Pegasis there was a chemical factory in Kane. A lot of the Chem workers lived in the boardinghouse. This was some time around the great depression. All I know is when I arrived on location there was a cellar whole. Nature sure was busy reverting this one back to nature. KC was being rambuctions jerking this way and that so I attached his leash to a tree and started my search. I did not think the cache was in the cellar hole itself casue it was over grown with vegetaion. I hunted around a bit. KC whined. I reasured him every thing was fine, then checked the GPS for hints.

The hint said in the crook of an apple tree at eye level. I zeroed in on the only apple tree and proceeded to look. It still took a few minutes to find the cache, even though the hint was awesome. Once found I signed a very soggy log book. KC needed a long walk. So I brought him up along the telephone poles. This lead to a few trails. Then headed back home to begin the Halloween

Day 34 Cabin Fever Blues #8 (GC23Z6Y)

    This is day 34. BooYah. I gotta tell you the days are getting shorter the weather is getting colder. The long strolls through the woods hunting down geo caches are comeing to a close. That is ok though. There are plenty of fun and easy to find caches around here. Today Novalee, Takoda, Niki, KC, and I tackled one of these fast and fun caches.

    Niki and I logged onto the geocaching web page, and looked at a few caches. We are planning our trip. We definitely don't want to turn the kids into icicles. Niki was wondering about the Cabin Fever Blues #8 cache, by Pegasis. Niki looked at me, “It is on JoJo road next to the Leave It to Beaver cache.” I look up at her, “I like beaver.” We both know that this is childish. I think she tolerates my angst just so as not to see me mope . It is one of the many little sacrifices she makes on my behalf... Poor Niki... We decide on Cabin Fever Blues. I know this because she has lost interest in the geocaching web page. I load the cache info onto the GPS. This is what is great about the ExPlorist GC GPS. It is very easy to use when compared to my old Garmin 5.

    We pack up the kids and the Dog. Drive to JoJo road. Park the car in a good place. We let KC run free until we realize the cache is near the road. We walk along the road Takoda is running ahead. I have to ask him to walk back to us a couple of times. He doe not like this. I figure it is no big deal except I am teaching him to listen. It is kinda funny I really don't care. Traffic is light. Unfortunately if he chose not to listen and come back to us things would get crazy. That is what I hate about being a “the dad.” Can't really do it with out being a dick. That is ok too, cause I come from a long line of dicks. I like the next stage of father hood. You know the one where I can be a friend. Can't get there without being a dick first though. Grr.

    The GPS guides us within 6 feet of the cache. We are on a bridge. I am excited, Niki is to. We have seen a cache similar to this before. “I bet it is in a magnet on the guard rail” Niki agrees we search the rail for 2 minutes. She found the cache. Very cool. I sign the log book. We decide to walk around the area a bit so KC can burn some energy. The days may be shorter but I believe this is the beginning of a beautiful weekend.

Day 33 Leave it to Beaver Cache (GCQHJN)

  Day 33 is leave it to beaver cache, by Dgroomer. Niki the kids and I drove to the place where the cache is. The area was nice. There was a neat beaver dam here. Very impressive earth works. The cache, was found by Novalee (wink). KC ran around like the silly dog he is. We had a good time.

Day 32 Happy Tails Micro Cache (GCNRZW)

This is the first day of my second month of geocacheing on a daily basis. I'm psyched about this. I still have a long way to go but this is a fine start. Today we decided to make it nice and quick. I have had a long day and am very much looking forward to a good nights rest. I decided to try my luck with Happy Tails Micro, by Dgroomer. Even though this cache is .7 miles away we decide to drive. I noted that there were parking coordinates in the cache description so I added the parking coords to the way-point list in the gps.

    We drove to within 50 feet of the parking coords. Then piled out of the van. No KC today but the rest of the gang was here. I switched to the cache coords. We were in Happy Tails Pet Groomers front driveway. These home caches makes me feel like a prowler. Niki refused to come into the yard. She feels uncomfotable walking in a private yard also. I wondered around in the driveway for a few minutes. I kept peering into the fenced in back yard. This is when the owner of the house came out. I held up my GPS, and she said GeoCachers” I smiled, “Yep”  Niki joined me as the homer owner gave us a good nature d scolding., “I put parking coordinates in the description, But we do the same thing. The cache is in the back yard through the fences, you can go through the yard if you want.” I smiled, she continued “We do the same thing.” She introduced herself to us. She is the Dgroomer. I have been to several of her caches. We chatted a bit more. She did operate the pet grooming business, and yes she would be happy to clip Kcs nails at a very reasonable price. We found the cache quickly. Chatting with her the whole time. I signed the log book. She handed us a business card. This was fun, and it was very nice meeting another geocacher.

Day 31 Natures Resting Place (GCR85V)

Natures Resting Place, by PAWINGERS was my 31st cache.  11 months to go :) We decided to skip AGT for today. There is a huge storm a coming in from the west today. Big winds and lots of rain. There are tornado watches for a bunch of counties in my area. I really did not want to worry about a big storm while geocaching with my family. Natures Resting Place sounded like a really nice cache. It is in a cemetery just outside of town.

We drove there. Hopped out of the van. David was walking KC, Niki and I were on kid duty. Every one is in a great mood. This is an Indian summer sort of day with a windy bite to it. In short. For the now the present everything is perfect. We quickly found a path leading to a run down old cemetery on top of a hill. The graves are very old. There are bird houses in the scattered trees. The bird houses are worn they have seen better days. The GPS leads us to where the cache should be close to. We look around. None of us sees the cache. We gain distance from the cache then we get closer to the cache. Right back at the tree again. We all split up. I think we all study the stones, as we point out the neat things we see. David shows me a grave stone whose right side is complete whilde the left side of it is is raw stone. I like it. We hunt some more for the cache. At one point Dave says, “Their are too many birdhouses” this being in the tree the GPS leads us near time and again. He goes to investigate and is forced to back off by the chittering of an angry chip monk. “I thought that was a bird” he was saying, “I did not know chipmonks chirped!?” I looked at him, “Me neither.” We went back to looking. Niki began to use the GPS for a while. Time after time it brought her back to that darned tree. After a bit I decided I should investigate the birdhouses, chipmonk be damned. It chittered and vanished up the tree in a blur. While looking at the birdhouses I noticed that one of them. had no entrance that a bird could get into. I exclamed. “Them Sneaky SOBs'” Novalee piped up with the SOB thing. I let it go. It was cute. I found the cache. Niki and David came over I showed them the clever hiding spot.

   I signed the log book. The kids traded for some baubles. Niki decided to walk KC home while I  broght the kids home and heated up dinner. This was a very nice cache. I had fun with David, Niki and the Kids. David is heading out to Utah tomorrow so this was our last cache for a while. It was very nice that so much went so well today....