On vacation

Since my return from Annual Training with the National Guard, I remained on vacation from DCS since there was little I could do in the department with 8 working days and my caseload needed to be transferred prior to going on active duty on December 1.

Been spending time with family with a great Thanksgiving, putting up the Christmas decorations and geocaching. Since the end of Annual Training I have amassed 77 finds to include 35 in one day with pscenn on a run through Arkansas and returning home on Hwy 51. Day was very long leaving home at 5:30 am and returning after 7 pm and accused of being online as Moderator 4 on the GOWT forums on that day. Moderator 4 is someone other than Titansfan.

At the end of 2008, I decided not to have any major geocaching goals for 2009 since deployment to Iraq was upcoming. Dates were pushed back and I was not selected to go on 10% in June, thus giving me more time for caching. But, I did have many home projects I wanted completed and all those were accomplished. Prior to Annual Training I picked up my pace with a far reaching goal of hitting number 2,500 by December 1. That goal will not be reached but I have had fun regardless.

My first run was through Union City and to Tiptonville, sweeping all of Lake and Obion Counties. My next run began in Murray, KY and went into the Land Between the Lakes. I really wanted a cache run in the LBL since it's one of my favorite places since it's remote and forest. Will miss the forest and see a lot of desert in Texas, New Mexico and Kuwait soon. My favorite find of that day was Geocache by Imperitus which is maintained by GEO.JOE. It's one of the oldest geocaches in Kentucky. I pretty much stuck to staying on the Trace in the LBL since I am in need of new back tires for my Dakota.

The next run was for numbers through Dyersburg to Alamo. Best cache of that day was Cemetery Walk by Bashful. Chores at home kept me close for the next days but did manage to find the new caches on the Brian Brown Greenway in Martin; a greenway that had just opened to the public. I have made three trips on the greenway, two for caching. On the last trip, I took my daughter minnie mouse and she rode her bike about 2.5 miles.

A numbers run was made with pscenn and cached around Blythville to Marion, Arkansas. We crossed the Tennessee River at Memphis, delivered Girl Scout peanuts to a fellow Guard member and proceeded up Highway 51. The most fascinating find was Three Monkey's #3 - The Stacks. This place was weird and odd, being it was once a foundry where the high smoke stacks are still intact. How this cache never made my radar I can't figure out but I am glad to have found this cache and see pscenn's attempt to hurdle a gate.