This was a surprise-ish day trip with my niece Lena. She had no idea what we were doing ahead of time, but she was a good sport and went along with the whole thing.

We started with breakfast at Brothers Cafe, then made an important road trip stop at Gateway Exxon and Pilot Travel Center in Van. This was not your average gas station stop. They had a ridiculous selection of unique snacks and drinks, and it ended up being one of the highlights of the drive. Definitely worth remembering for future road trips when we need to fuel up and want something more interesting than the usual gas station options.

Then we headed to Barnwell Mountain Recreation Area for some off-roading.

We started out on a trail that was harder than Lena was expecting, and she was pretty scared. Once we got ourselves out of that one, though, things got much better. The rest of the afternoon was a lot of fun, with some good trails and plenty of dirt. We even managed to damage the rear wheel well liner, which is about the least important thing you can break while off-roading, so I'll take it.

After Barnwell, we headed over to Martin Creek Lake State Park. The park itself was...meh. Pretty much everywhere we went, there was a coal power plant either visible or audible. There would be a nice bench overlooking the lake, and then there was the power plant. The water level was also pretty low, and while there was a swimming area, it was so full of plant growth that swimming wasn't really an option.

The Island Loop Trail was actually pretty easy, though, and we saw LOTS of armadillos along the way.

Honestly, the armadillos were the real highlight of the state park.

And somewhere along that hike, we found Island Walkabout. It was a nice little addition to the hike and gave us an excuse to stop and do some caching along the way.

The hike also gave me a little personal victory. This was the first time since I was diagnosed with cancer that I managed to get over 10,000 steps in a day. I was pretty proud of that. It felt good to realize that I can still have days where I get out, do things, and actually put some miles on my feet.

After finishing the trail, we drove around the rest of the park to see what else there was to see. We got lucky and saw a deer feeding from its mom, which was probably the best wildlife moment of the day.

Then we headed to The Forge for dinner before starting the drive home.

The sunset on the way home was pretty spectacular.

Not every stop on a road trip needs to be amazing. Sometimes you get a questionable state park, some good off-roading, a ridiculous gas station, a geocache, a bunch of armadillos, and a really nice sunset at the end of the day. And sometimes you get to hit 10,000 steps for the first time in a long time and realize that's worth being proud of, too.

Lena survived the surprise, and I'd call that a successful day.

Not Geocaching in Big Bend But Keeping the Spirit Alive

This was one of those trips that was technically supposed to fit on a geocaching blog, but we somehow managed to go to Big Bend for 11 days without actually finding a geocache.

We had geocaches downloaded. We had plenty of time. We had plenty of opportunities. We just never actually stopped to find one.

Instead, the focus of the trip was night skies and offroading, and honestly, I loved this trip. I would do almost the entire thing again exactly the same way.

We spent a lot of time exploring Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park, including quite a few roads that definitely require a vehicle capable of handling them. We did a 4x4 tour, drove Old Ore Road, River Road, Glenn Springs Road, and a bunch of other back roads. Old Ore Road was probably my favorite, although really I loved all of the offroading.

We also crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico at Boquillas, did some rifle shooting, explored Terlingua and Marfa, and spent a ridiculous amount of time looking at the sky. We had several nights of stargazing, including a star party at McDonald Observatory.

We did have to work part of the trip, but even that wasnice. We worked remotely from our dome, with a pretty fantastic view as our office.

The one thing that did not make the favorite-things list was the Chinati Foundation. I didn't get it. At all. We also happened to be in the area at a time when there was a lot of discussion about plans for border barriers through or near Big Bend's public lands. After spending this much time driving through the parks and seeing how beautiful and wild this area is, the idea of putting a huge fence through parts of it is pretty depressing. The plans have changed several times, but the whole thing is worth following if you care about the future of the area. The Texas Tribune has a good overview of the current Big Bend border-barrier plans.

And then there was the tire.

On the way to Marfa, we punctured a tire on Pinto Canyon Road. It wasn't exactly part of the itinerary, but I suppose an offroading trip needs at least one reminder that you're actually offroading. I would make one change if we did the trip again: I wish we'd had the tires I have now back then.

Despite the tire, the questionable art, and the complete lack of actual geocaching, this was one of my favorite trips. The scenery was incredible, the offroading was a blast, crossing into Mexico was a fun experience, and the night skies were exactly what we had gone looking for.

So, no finds to report.

But we had the geocaching spirit. We explored, took the roads less traveled, stopped at interesting places, and spent a lot of time outside wondering what was around the next bend.

I'll take that as a pretty good geocaching-adjacent trip.

Easter Geocaching

Donnie and Angela planned a surprise-ish Easter trip for us so we could see my nephew and meet his new girlfriend. We decided to make a weekend of it and spent some time together around Bob Sandlin State Park.

This was my first trip with Donnie and Angela since chemo and surgery, and I was still doing immunotherapy, so I definitely wasn't back to 100% energy yet. Luckily, this was a pretty chill weekend, with some time together, a short hike, and plenty of relaxing.

Of course, we also had to find a couple of geocaches while we were at the park.

We found The Jaws of the Grave, which was a quick little park-and-grab. We also found Wood Duck, which gave us a reason to get out and explore a little more of the park.

A short hike, some geocaching, time with friends and family, and a pretty low-key Easter weekend was exactly what I needed.

Geocaching in Santa Fe, New Mexico

We took a trip to Santa Fe that was really meant to be about relaxing. I hadn't finished chemo yet, but I had a break between sessions and wanted to get one more trip in before surgery in the fall.

And relax we did.

We spent 10 days wandering around Santa Fe and the surrounding area, with plenty of time built in to slow down. There were spring-fed pools, jeep tours, museums, food, and a lot of just enjoying being somewhere different. We actually loved the first jeep tour so much that we booked a second one.

One of my favorite things we did was make our own silver pendant. I also really enjoyed the spring-fed pools, which were exactly the kind of low-key activity I needed at the time.

There were a few geocaches along the way too. We found Blue Hole, book case, and Perfect Stop. None of them were really the reason for a stop. They were just nice little additions to the trip and gave us an excuse to explore a bit more along the way.

This was one of those trips where the destination and the downtime were the point. The geocaches just happened to fit nicely into it. A little sightseeing, a little caching, a lot of relaxing, and a pretty great silver pendant to bring home.

Mackinac Island Geocaching

We had planned a trip to Mackinac Island with Rachel and Andrew long before I started chemo for breast cancer, and we decided to go ahead with the trip anyway. It was definitely a different kind of vacation for me than it would have been normally, but I'm glad we went.

There was plenty of relaxing. We spent time sitting on the grass snacking and watching the sun, worked on a puzzle in the resort lobby, wandered around the island, and just enjoyed being together. Rachel and Andrew were awesome about letting things be whatever they needed to be.

We also did some geocaching while we were there. RAS - S.I.T. was along the perimeter road, which follows the shoreline around the island. We also grabbed St. Ignace Boat Launch 2025 before leaving the area. Bird Watching on Market Street was a busy and sneaky cache we had to wait out others for.

The hardest part of the trip for me was definitely the bike ride around the island. The 8.2-mile perimeter sounds pretty reasonable until you're doing it while your body is dealing with chemo. That was a lot more physically demanding than I expected.

One thing I absolutely loved was getting to forge my own knife. That was probably my favorite activity of the trip, and I came home with a knife I actually made.

I also started losing my hair while we were there, which was one of those very real reminders of what was happening even while we were trying to enjoy the trip.

Overall, Mackinac Island was a strange combination of relaxing and physically demanding. Some things were harder than they should have been, but there was also a lot of good in the trip. Time with friends, snacks on the grass, puzzles in the lobby, a little geocaching, and a knife I forged myself. I'm glad we went.

We Went to Casablanca!

Our trip was mostly about travel. We had a work trip in the UK, then added a few days in Morocco before heading home through Madrid.

Morocco was especially exciting because it was our first time on the African continent. We spent a few days exploring Casablanca and Rabat, taking in the sights, eating, and generally enjoying being somewhere completely new.

Of course, being somewhere new also meant checking to see if there were any geocaches nearby.

We found CMN while we were in Casablanca. It wasn't the reason we went there, but we wanted to find one, and getting a geocache on our first visit to Africa seemed like a pretty good idea.

Sometimes geocaching is the main event, and sometimes it is just a little extra adventure tucked into a much bigger trip. This was definitely the second one.

Team Caching Around Town

It was a good day when the geocaching crew was finally back together. Me, Evan, Lisa, and James were all out caching again, so we decided to make an evening of it.

We made our way through several caches, including If Wishes Were Horses, Furneaux Cemetery II, Back the Blue, Find it, and Good luck.

Nothing particularly complicated about the day. It was mostly just nice to have the whole crew together again, driving around, looking for caches, and catching up along the way.

Five caches, four friends, and time spent doing one of our favorite things. Pretty good way to spend a Wednesday evening.

Geocaching in Atlanta, Georgia

We went to Atlanta for Memorial Day weekend with our friend Fred and packed a surprising amount into a few days. We did escape rooms, a food and cocktail tour, a spray paint and sip, some history, and plenty of eating and drinking.

We had a little spare time before one of the escape rooms, so Fred and I decided to take a walk and find a geocache.

Allons-y, Alonso! was a nice little excuse to get outside and explore for a bit. We walked over, made the find, and then headed back for our escape room.

Not a major geocaching adventure, but a fun way to fill some extra time while exploring Atlanta with Fred.

Geocaching in Japan

We went to Japan in March 2024, and one of the fun parts of the trip was getting to meet up with our friend Rachel. We arrived in Tokyo a little before she did, which gave us some time to explore on our own.

And, of course, we went geocaching.

We found GCA8Z37 while we were wandering around Tokyo, and this one was SO FUN. We love finding caches that make you stop and look at your surroundings a little differently, and this was definitely one of those.

After we made the find, Rachel arrived and the Japan adventure really got started. We had a ridiculously packed trip planned, including Tokyo, Hakone, a ryokan, a Tokyo Drift car ride, shrines, lots of food, and plenty of other adventures.

But before all of that, we had a little solo time in Tokyo and a geocache to find. Not a bad way to start a trip to Japan!

More Anniverary Celebration Geocaching

I love cemetery caches, so when we saw Hagerman Cemetery, we had to attempt it.

This was part of a day trip up to Denison and Sherman. We started at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, which was AWESOME. I really enjoyed exploring the refuge and could have probably spent a lot more time there.

From there, we headed into Denison and stopped at the Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site. It was okay, but probably something we could have skipped. Lunch at Best Burger Barn was next, followed by one of the highlights of the day, the Red River Railroad Museum. The guide showed us so much about the history of the railroad and the area, and it was really neat.

We also stopped at a winery and wandered around downtown Denison before heading back toward Sherman for BBQ and an escape room.

And somewhere in the middle of all that, we found our cemetery cache. I will pretty much always make the effort for a cemetery cache, and this one gave us another reason to explore an area we might not otherwise have visited.

A wildlife refuge, old trains, wine, BBQ, an escape room, and a cemetery cache. Not a bad Saturday.

Some Anniversary Caching in Denton

One of our 20 places for our 20th anniversary was Denton, TX. Denton isn't exactly a new destination for us since we live pretty close by, but that doesn't mean we've done everything there. We decided to spend a day finding some new things to do.

We started the morning with alpaca yoga, then headed into Denton for an intro to stained glass class. After that, we wandered over to the Chairy Orchard, because apparently that is a thing and we needed to see it. We finished the day with dinner and drinks.

Of course, I also had to find a geocache while we were there.

Amber's Anomaly was a quick find and a nice addition to our day. I always like finding caches in places that are close to home, especially when they give me another reason to explore somewhere I thought I already knew.

It was a pretty good anniversary day: alpacas, stained glass, chairs, food, drinks, and a geocache. Not a bad way to spend a day in Denton.

Caching in Amsterdam

We had a work trip to the UK in August, and decided to add a little vacation onto the end of it. After spending some time in Reading for work, we headed to Amsterdam for a few days before taking the train to Paris.

Amsterdam was packed with things to do.We did a Dutch food and history tour, a boat cruise, visited STRAAT, explored the Red Light District, did an escape room, and somehow also managed to fit in a wine tasting. And, of course, I had to find a geocache while we were there.

We found Bicycle Parking, a little micro cache in the Netherlands. Nothing particularly complicated about this one, but I was glad to get a cache while exploring Amsterdam.

Then it was off to Paris, where apparently we hadn't scheduled nearly enough things to do.

La Bufadora - Caching in Mexico

We took a cruise from Los Angeles down to Baja California, and while we were in Ensenada we took an excursion out to La Bufadora. Of course, when I saw there was a geocache at the site, I had to add that to the excursion.

La Bufadora was a fun place to explore. The blowhole itself was pretty impressive, and there were plenty of people around enjoying the area, so I wasn't sure how easy the cache was going to be to find without looking like we were doing something completely random. Luckily, we were able to make the find! Not much internet service out there, so I wasn't able to do much with the cache page at the time, but it was a nice site for a cache and a fun addition to the excursion.

Gracias para el cache!

800 Caches Found

Since I was on a roll this morning, eolyn and I went out and found a few easy PNGs this afternoon. This time, I deliberately looked for PNGs that had been found recently, so it really was a simple afternoon. And when I was done, the app gave me this fun congrats animation.

• Minty Fresh #3
• #Lamppost
• Too Easy!
• Minty Fresh #4
• Bad Weather Day #2

I also learned a new feature (okay, maybe it has been there a while, but it is new to me) in the app that let's you open up directions in your maps app. In may case, I shared it via Car Play and it was an awesome addition to PNGs.

Exploring a Walking Path in Carrollton, TX

My brother-in-law (BIL) and I have been walking the same path for two years now, and somehow it just not crossed my mind to search for caches along it. Sadly, almost all are in needs of maintenance and we only were able to locate two of them (and almost two years of DNFs on the others makes me think they are just gone).

Our first cache was a fairly easy find, if you negate all the webs that were around it. Also, park nearby so had to pay attention to who was around. Super cute cache name: Monkeys in the Zoo.

The next caches ended up being DNFs, and I'll list that below. But the third search of the day was successful, and I'm glad we were able to work together to find this one. Also glad I read the terrain and difficulty or I'd have made this much more difficult on us. Fun hide in an area I've been walking by for two years now and never noticed: Bel Air Greenbelt #2.

Now, the list of DNFs. One of these is likely still there, it just required tree climbing and I was really not prepared for that this morning. The other two I'm fairly sure are gone.

• Adding fun in our lives #1 (maybe fun if you like climbing trees?)
• Bel Air Greenbelt #1
• Bel Air Greenbelt #3

Geocaching in Belgium

Evan and I went to the UK for a work trip. A day before we left, the queen passed, and it was a strange time to be in London that first part of the trip.

Our second weekend away, we headed out to Brussels. It was the land of waffles, chocolate, and beer, and it was amazing! We did waffle and chocolate making classes, and we happened to be there when a folk music festival was happening. We also found three different statues of peeing things in the city.

We also found some geocaches while in town. The first happened after a visit to the Coudenburg Palace (do the undergorund tour - amazing!). This one had SO MANY MUGGLES: Expo58 - The Whirling Ear STEALTH.

The second was right outside our hotel at the entry to MOOF (fun comic museum). If you like Smurfs, find this cache and go to this museum if you are in the area: The Albino Smurf 🍄.

Geocaching on the way home from Tyler, TX

After the past year, we decided to take a small family trip just to get out of our houses. Tyler isn't too far, so off we went to stay for the weekend. Mainly we hung around and ate smores, but on the way back with my niece, Evan and I stopped for lunch and a couple of caches: Texas and Pacific Railroad Freight Depot and Sister Spirits

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!