A Morning of Geocaching in the HIlls

I had some time today so Melody and a good geocaching friend (Vicki Miller) and I drove out to the Spenceville Wildlife Area to find some geocaches. The area was used prior to, during, and after WWII as training grounds for the Army. (What is now Beale AFB used to be Camp Beale). Some of the caches we've looked up previously are located in abandoned pill boxes and fortification structures. Very fun stuff.

Below are some views of the kind of landscape we walked through. It's very dry this time of year. The best time to go is Spring or early Winter. Summer brings out the rattlesnakes, burrs, and star thistle. Of the three, I prefer going up against the snakes. At least they can be scared away. Nothing removes start thistle.

;;;;;;;;

But today was overcast and cool, and windy enough to want a jacket. We did a quick find, then started a 7 stage multi-cache stretching a mile and a half where each stage took us farther from the road and back and forth across the one remaining creek. Actually Melody and Vicki stayed on the road (with the dog) and I had a great time tromping off through the thickets and brush. Below is one of the creek crossings I made before finding the last two stages

Each of the 6 lead-up stages was a camouflaged pill bottle with nothing more than the coordinates for the next stage. But after hiking up over a small hill I located the final stage - and the cache. I looked up and there is was, hanging 10'-12' up in an oak tree - a 5 gallon bucket! The largest cache I ever seen. So how do I get to it? Climbed the tree of course. So up I go, and just as I'm leaning over to open the lid, I see the thin cord and set of pullies. It's strung up from another tree. I climbed down and let the bucket loose as was intended. Loads of fun!

;;;;;;;;

These bottom photos are just interesting sights along the way. The left one is of an old watering trough, and the right one is of Melody picking stickers out of the dog's fur. No, the dog still doesn't have a name. I just call her dog.

*************************************************************************************

This photo is a left over from our trip to San Diego earlier this summer. It's a 20' tall statue of the famous picture taken of a sailor kissing the first girl he sees upon his return home at the end of WWII. The statue may not look that tall, but I was quite far away when I took it. They have it placed right next to the USS Midway. We drove past it a couple of times a day on our way back and forth between our motel and the convention center. I got a big kick out of it.