Hoffman Run, by Dahoga equals long walk for Stash Hound and his family. We parked near the gate, 9 tenths of a mile away from the cache. The unplowed road was rutted and tricky to walk on. The lay of the land up this way is very nice though. I enjoyed seeing the land change as we slowly walked by. KC was having a lot of fun running up and down the hills. Takoda and Novalee got sick of the ruts on the trail quickly. Niki started out walking with Novalee. I walked with Takoda. Takoda and i talked. We talked about his favorite cartoons. The places we lived, and many other things that are very important to a 6 year old. I was really enjoying this. We led the way on the road and eventually we stopped letting Niki and Novalee catch up. I suggested Niki and I switch children. I figured Takoda was being so low maintenance that Niki could use a break. Some times... Not often though Niki has less patience with Novalee then I.
We switched and I began to entwine Novalee in conversation as Niki and Takoda pulled away. Novalee and I listened to the sounds out in the woods, and shared what we heard with each other. The brook, The dry rustling leaves still hanging in the trees. Natures wind chimes. A jet plane slicing through the sky. The crunch of snow under our boots. We even heard Takoda constantly complaining about his trek too Niki. We talked allot and this too was a pleasure.
At some point Niki and Takoda decided to wait up for Novalee and I. When it was ready to move again. I was holding both of the kids hands. Novalee listened as Takoda and I talked. Every now and then I would attempt to draw her back in the conversation. She was content to listen though. Niki, GPS in hand trudged on up ahead scouting for our little party. I asked the kids if they had ever seen "The Wizard of Ozz" They said no. I told them the story. Takoda was familiar with the story though. Seems as though to days cartoons are heavily inspired by our old stories. The kids were happy with my version though and was pleased to fill in the holes that I may have left out of the story.
We walked for nearly a mile into the wilderness in the snowing 10 degree weather. The walk though did not seem too long. Good conversation has a way of making time pass quickly. Before we knew it we were catching up to Niki who waited on the road facing the woods. Wen we got close enough Niki pointed. "65 feet that way. We are going in"
Looking for caches in the winter can be tricky. This cache for instance was billed a cache and go. It would have been too if there was no snow and the ground and if it was any other season. We would have driven withing 60 feet of the cache. Hopped out of the van, then quickly find the cache. It being winter made this cache a little more challenging. The walk was fun. Looking for the cache was fun too. We almost gave up though. We looked, and we looked and we looked. Thankfully the kids kept themselves busy, and were happy. After a little while Niki and I agreed to head back to the van empty handed. As we made our self back out to the road we both looked at and around every tree. Niki was almost on the road when I shouted I found it....
They all made their way back to me. The cache was still hidden, allowing the children to both find the cache. They were very pleased with them selves. Niki and I were relieved. I signed the log while the kids looked through the cache container. We make no trades, and began the journey back to the van...
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