Getting a Little Fresh Air

Last week we had 2 chances to get outside for some fresh air and geocaching.  On the first day we picked up my parents, dressed warmly, and headed out.  The first cache we looked for was hidden on a gazebo near a park.   It took us about 10 minutes and then I pushed something and Dad took a closer look and found the cache!

Another fun geocache was a very sneaky one hidden near this fire hydrant.  I've seen fire hydrant hides before and this one was very clever.  There was even a decoy cache hidden here.  Take my word - it was a sneaky cache!

Then we drove off to the woods to grab a few.  It was a perfect day to be out hiking around and it felt great to be outside.  Can you spot the cache here?

It was so pretty walking in the woods with the leaves crunching underneath our feet.  Check out my mom - 2 knee surgeries last year, and then radiation and chemo this year, and she was out walking in the woods like a champ.  I think she's pretty darn inspiring, don't you?

She even spotted a couple of the caches before the rest of us...

This cache practically hit me upside the head as I walked underneath it and totally missed seeing it...

I think we were all happy to be outside doing something together that we enjoy....

We found this geocache laying out in the open, its contents laying in the dirt.  We cleaned everything up and then re-hid the cache better than we found it....

The next day Louie and I headed out alone to tackle a series of geocaches that were going to require quite a bit of bushwacking and about 3 miles of trail.  My favorite one of that day was this one where we needed to improvise with some natural tools to reach the cache that was hidden about 20 ft. up in the air....

 Getting it down was pretty easy.....

But putting it back up proved to be more difficult.   Louie was determined tho and finally got the cache back where it needed to be.

I have to say, walking in the woods this time of year is one of my favorite things to do.

It's All About the Teamwork

Recently I had the pleasure of spending 5 hours in the woods with several of my geocaching friends.  Eight of us got together to tackle a 5 stage multi-cache, and grab a couple of other geocaches along the way. Since this multi-cache is a difficult one that involves some problem solving, I'm not saying which geocache it was.  I'm also not going to show you all the stages.  But I will share some of the highlights of the day with you.

Here's our Dream Team setting off in the morning....

The woods are gorgeous this time of year.  It was chilly when we left with temperatures hovering around 32 degrees....

Each stage of the multi had something different that we had to look for.  Some of the clues were very well hidden.  2 stages took us an hour each to find - with 8 people.  So it was pretty difficult.

Between the multi-cache and the other ones we grabbed, we had to rely on each other....

Think outside the box....

Discuss.....

Bushwack......

Trek through waist high brush....

Tumble around on the ground.....(personally I think Dina is telling Bret to move his big head out of the way)

Laugh.....

Cry...  Ok, Walt wasn't really crying, and he did give it his best shot....

Reached new heights....

Forded streams.....

And after 5 hours we solved the multi-cache and got a few additional ones as well...

I highly encourage you to cache with others once in awhile.  It's a great way to make new friends, promote teamwork and just have a great time!

(some photos courtesy of Mary Muchowicz.  Do not use without permission)

Where's the Snow?

What do Snowplowers do when December arrives?  We stand and stare constantly at the sky, hoping, wishing and praying for snow so we can go to work.  So far, it's been a pretty quiet December and one of the latest on record for our first good snowfall.  What do we do while we impatiently bide our time???  Geocache of course.

Louie and I grabbed the caching bag and headed out to the woods to grab a couple of caches.  This first one was  placed as a 2000 milestone cache for a friend of ours....

There was a definite chill in the air when we set out, about 18 degrees with the wind chill.  I thought this tree fungus was interesting with the frost still on it....

While I was busy taking pictures, Louie was busy hiding behind the tree.  He thought it was hysterical that I couldn't find him.  We are so mature!

I really liked this cache - it was placed inside a real animal skull.....

We did quite a bit of bushwacking today.  Bushwacking is when you hike off trail and pretty much scramble over fallen trees, around logs, through vines that grab and hold you and try to trip you up and past burrs that somehow manage to get all over your clothes and stick in your hair.  It's really lots of fun.  Really....  LOL!

The last cache of the morning was the easiest one to get to and I dropped another TB that I picked up at Festivus....

We got 5 caches for the morning and we also had one DNF (did not find).  We're going to have to go back and try again because I hate to DNF.

In the meantime, could it start snowing???  Please????

Why I Like to Be In the Woods

I like to be out in the woods.  And not in a creepy way.  Ha ha!!  There's just something very peaceful about being there.

We usually head out early in the morning, before the crack of dawn.  We walk about 3/4 of a mile down a trail.  Usually there's just enough moonlight for us to see the path.  If not, we use our small flashlights.  This is what it looks like when we enter the woods.

Once we get to our deer stand, we climb up and settle in.  There's a farm nearby and we can clearly hear the cows and their constant mooing.  I imagine that's what it used to sound like on a trail drive.  They never stop mooing.  First loud, then soft, then loud again.  The sound is relaxing and could easily put me to sleep.

Next we start to hear birds chirping and we can make out the faint outline of the trees around us....

It rained the night before and we can hear the soft, steady drops of rain as they slide off the branches and hit the carpet of leaves on the ground.

Slowly the trees emerge from the darkness....

Off in the distance a rooster crows and chicken start to cackle.  2 squirrels play tag up and down a nearby tree.  One of them discovers us and its high pitched chirp sends out a warning that we are there.

Bushes and shrubs slowly start to stand out......

As the sky begins to lighten up, we tilt back our heads and look up at the tree tops.  The brilliant yellows and oranges of the leaves appear to be on fire.

The sun finally breaks over the treeline and light streams through the forest....

When the wind blows, the tree tops gently sway and the dried leaves rustle in the breeze.  The forest bursts with the harmonies of birds singing, turkeys gobbling, and squirrels whistling.

The final colors of autumn are still beautiful....

Walking out later in the day is nice too.

It's a good view, coming or going!  I never get tired of seeing the colors of autumn from inside the forest.