Geocaching in Argentina

We had a few different stops in Argentina, with Buenos Aires as our final destination. We found geocaches at two of these ports. For the first geocache, we had a driver take us to the stunning location so we could make the find. Totally worth it - stunning views from here and a fun search: Galese.

At another port, we decided to explore another cache (Caminito - República de La Boca). This street was super fun to explore! And on Leap Day!

Geocaching in Uruguay

Montevideo was a fun stop, and we had some of the best food on the trip here. Definitely try steak when in the area!

We had been exploring the city a while when we decided to go look for this geocache. Unfortunately, we forgot a pen. But, fortunately, we were able to get one as a souvineer to sign this log: Canteras del Parque Rodo.

Caching in Chile

A trip a year in the works finaly coming to fruition! We headed off to South America with our friends, and OF COURSE we did some geocaching along the way. We spent a few days in the area surrounding Santiago, then our first stops were all in Chile.

The first cache we found on the trip was a bit tricky, but fun: Vicente Perez Rosales. I also got the chance to put my feet in some water, so I took it.

A few days later, we had a port further south and found two additional caches: Furthest Southern Cache and Monumento al Ovejero - Monument to the shepherd. We visited a museum and did a lot of stair climbing.

Caching in Finland

This is such a great place to stop - I just wish we'd had more time! We took a ferry to visit Suomenlinna, which was a fortress built to defend the city (but didn't seem to do that all the time based on our tour guides comments). It is a pretty place to explore, very colorful, lots of history. I stuck my foot in the Baltic Sea here (soooooo cold) and we found two geocaches.

Suomenlinna
Hauta - Tomb

The first photo is Lesley and I close to the water right before I stuck my foot in.

Caching in Estonia

We had a stop in Estonia for our vacation, and we took a walking tour of the town with a fantastic tour guide (Lori). He did great, shared a lot of stories, and showed us many of the highlights of the town. At the end of the tour, we had some free time, so the four of us grabbed a geocache and beverages.

Old Thomas / Vana Toomas

If you can get a chance to visit Estonia, this was a pleasant surprise - just keep your timing in mind cause they said there is a lot of snow and cold and winter.

Visiting some cemetery caches on Memorial Day weekend

For Memorial Day, we decided to stop by some cemeteries and pay our respects. Our first cemetery was for the Forgotten Cemetery, where we did encounter others also visiting. The cache itself was rather typical (if not a little muddy), but really we felt this was a nice stop to start the day.

The next cemetery we visited (Mobley Cemetery) was a little off the beaten path and well-hidden. If we hadn't had directions to help us get there, we would have never known this cemetery existed. It is a small family cemetery and there was a table and chairs for those visiting.

Our last stop was in a larger cemetery which was quite well maintained, Sowers Cemetery. This one also had several older graves, as well as many children. I also get pretty sad when I look and see a family who lost many members around the same time period, and some quite young, which seemed to be pretty common in the sections we visited. The cache was quite well hidden and probably the best hide of the day.

There was a bit of time for reflection, and I'm glad I got to think about my family and friends who are no longer with us. Everything really was at peace.

Have you ever wondered where Preston Road ends if you drive north until you cannot anymore?

Today we headed out with Lesley and CJ on one of our random "where does this road end?" drives. For this adventure, we met up at Jack Macs on Preston, grabbed a quick bite to eat, then started our drive north.

I had intended to stop more for geocaches on the way, but was soon distracted by singing along to the music and catching up with friends. We did stop for one in Prosper, TX, though, and got to see a pretty old church with flowers (and bees) everywhere: Prosper Landmark #2 Old Church.

Okay, and perhaps then we found another distraction not too long later in the form of a winery we'd never heard of. But we stopped for a wine tasting at Eden Hill Vineyard and we pleasantly surprised. I really like the non-sweet reds best (as is usual), but even still, this was a pleasant (if distracting) pause in the trip north.

After that, we got back on our way and drove...and drove...and drove. We kept thinking, sure this is the end, but then we made it a little farther. And when we did find the end, we were met with a pretty view and could see (but not quite reach) Oklahoma across the lake.

Caching while visiting the Bourbon Trail

We all decided that we'd take a weekend trip to Cincinnati and then drive down the Bourbon Trail (which meant I was the designated driver on this trip). This was also great for me as I got to find a cache in Ohio (my first and only!). We also got another cache in Kentucky. This was a great time - highly recommend spending more time in Cincinnati, because we missed so much we wanted to do.

Caching with our cruise friends

While on our cruise last December, Lesley and I made some new friends and we all decided to go glamping together. Mainly, we played games and talked, and it was a great time. It was also quite a bit scary at times - this was during all the flooding in North Texas, and we stayed in a floating cabin, and the lake rose 18 inches the first night we stayed. Of course, we didn't let the rain stop us from trying to find a few caches - and succeeding.

• Nice Walk - probably is nice not in the rain
• Tuckers Tower

So, if you know anything about this area of Oklahoma, the ground is a lot of red dirt and clay and VERY SLIPPERY WHEN WET. We were laughing so hard the whole time, especially when I got the fun of sliding down a hill. The shirt is permanently stained from the mud.

Caching with new friends in Grand Cayman

Lesley and I went on a cruise without the boys (we have more vacation time), and since all we wanted to do in Grand Cayman was walk around and shop, geocaching fit in here quite nicely. We made a couple of new friends on the ship who joined us, and really made it a lot of fun for us. I quite enjoyed all of these caches, for quite different reasons, but in the end they gave a great first time geocaching.

• By George, it's Fort George! - great intro cache, even with the puzzle tied to it to open the cache. What a tiny little fort.
• How Bazaar - the GPS was very inaccurate here, but we were able to spot the loot without notice. Neat little place to shop for crafts here.
• Spirit of Recovery 1 - this cache was so easy, I missed it. Simple, funny hide.

Walking and caching in the Burke Nature Preserve

There is a park I used to drive to on the way to work every day and I always wanted to explore. So when Lesley and James and I got together for the afternoon to walk, this was a good spot to go. The main goal of the day was walking, and we saw a lot of neat things, but we did also sneak in a couple of caches. Both of them were actually pretty neat, and since the GPS bumped around cause of trees and bridges, they were a bit more of a challenge than most Dallas caches.

One of these caches was definitely our favorite, as it did involve some neat stunts and cooperation to get. And with two accident-prone people, this was quite amusing.

• Tree Hugger
• Jane Goodall

Giant's Causeway and Belfast

While we did find a geocache in Belfast, I would be lying to say that this was more than an afterthought. There were some changes to the itinerary of the trip, and Belfast was added as a port. CJ was immediately on board for heading out the Giant's Causeway, and THAT was the big highlight of the day. What a FANTASTIC spot. I want to come back to spend more time here - as well as several other places we passed that just look like fantastic spots to visit. I loved Iceland, but this area...it was probably my favorite stop.

First off, don't argue, and go to Giant's Causeway. It really is that awesome.

Once back in the city, we grabbed lunch (Made in Belfast) and a quick geocache (Callender Street).

Starting the trip off with a geocache at the hotel

CJ, Lesley, Evan and I finally made it to Denmark, and we are so glad to have started the trip off with a geocache right at the hotel. I have to admit that we made this much harder than it had to be, but it was still a neat location and we enjoyed exploring the grounds. If you ever find yourself in Copenhagen, check out The Tower and the Arena.

Looking forward to caching in Europe

In a few weeks, I'll be in Europe, caching my way at each stop we make. This is just a countdown to the trip.


CountdownClockCodes.com

Post bachelorrette party cache

One of my best buds is getting married, and I threw her a fun party to celebrate. She ended up staying over, and we went for breakfast at the Coffee House Cafe right next to this cache. When we were leaving, I pulled up the app on my iPhone, and the cache was ten feet from our car. So, couldn't pass this one up: Coffee anyone?.

Caching in Louisiana

Another weekend trip for some caching. This time, joined by Lesley, and headed to Shreveport. I have to admit, this trip would have been slightly better if I liked gambling...

Left Dallas Saturday morning and drove to Shreveport. Stopped for a few caches along the way. The first was about 10 feet inside of Texas, right by the sign. It was interesting to figure out the traffic flow here.

Found a cache on the way into town at a random dead end. We also stopped at a park and found a pretty neat cache there. The title of the cache was perfect for the signs that plastered the park - never seen so many limiting signs in one space, ever. After these, we checked into the hotel and walked around downtown. Not much going on here, but then we stumbled upon the most awesome cache (at least in terms of location) I've been to in a long time. When finding the cache, there is a HUGE painted mural on the side of a building, with signs and instructions, and everything.



As I said, pretty awesome.

Lesley and I surprised Evan with a nice dinner and we had a relaxing evening. The next morning, we grabbed breakfast headed back to Texas. Along the way, we stopped at Caddo Lake to show Lesley the awesome views (and of course find the cache at the gates). There is something fantastically beautiful about Spanish moss growing in cypress trees growing in a shallow lake.



Since we were traveling in the Jeep, we asked the lady at the park check-in if there are any good off-roading locations nearby. Sure enough, there is the Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge. After quite a bit of exploring, we stumbled upon some old storage areas.



All in all, this was a great weekend. I loved the trip and the company, but pretty sure I won't make Shreveport a travel destination again.

Caches this weekend:
GoNoMo'
If It's Fun Don't Do It!
Highland Mardi Gras Cache

Math school - part one

Lesley wanted to go out and do something active, so while searching in the area, I found this puzzle series called Math School. I printed out the pages - a LOT of math - and headed her way. Thankfully the guys were there too. After about an hour of math fun, we successfully completed the first nine coordinates in the series. We did not have much luck with the more advanced stuff, but we'll come back to that another day.

Since our heads were now sufficiently sore, we decided to head out and find the caches. They were actually pretty easy - the ones we could find.  Some PNGs, some worth spending a little more time at, some we couldn't find at all.

Our favorite was the one with the friendly llama, Stanley.  The cache was about 20 feet from him, and he sure was a friendly llama.  I'm betting he has seen a lot of us cachers, and he sure seemed to enjoy the attention we gave him.

All in all, that part of the series was pretty simple, and we'll finish up the others when our heads recover.  Mainly we just have one left for each of them anyways.

After that series, we made a few quick walk-in grabs near the Muddy Creek park (great park with some night caching, too).