They Checked Out

My daughter signed up for a job shadow at Wickliffe Mounds State Historical Park in Kentucky and would work there all day. Being that Wickliffe is over an hour from Dresden, TN; I thought it would be best to just take the day off and geocache the Paducah area.

There was one cache I set my sights on and that being They Checked Out. Since it's placement on July 19, 2007, I have wanted to find this cache and see this historic hotel. I would not be disappointed when I arrived at the cache location in Smithland, Kentucky. The hotel has been around since the last 1700's and two US Presidents and other dignitaries visited the hotel that is situated overlooking the Ohio River.

Coordinates were tight and I found the cache quickly. I took some photos of the building, the overlook and historical markers. Afterwards, I went back to Paducah finding several caches downtown and then onto Wickliffe.

Garmin Nuvi vs. laptop

I have been using a Dell laptop with Garmin GPS 18 to navigate on the job and for geocaching purposes. It has everything the Nuvi has but also I have the benefit of a wide screen. Set at one mile, I can see 2.5 miles in front of me and 6 miles to either side. This wide screen gives me a distinct advantage while geocaching. The disadvantages if the laptop is bulky with wire running all over the floor and dash. My Dodge Dakota has an area to place the laptop, my wife Nissan has no such room. Unless one is used to using the nRoute feature, it's difficult to train someone while on the road.

Last Christmas, I gave my wife a Garmin Nuvi and it is very simple to use and I am able to send GPX files to the Nuvi; giving me a map and autoroute capability for geocaching. On our vacation that took us through Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina, we used the Nuvi and never set up the laptop for navigation. It's compact size and only one wire was great. It was also very accurate. Driving through Atlanta, Georgia, the Nuvi knew which lane were were in and gave us advance warning to change lanes. However, I did find the Nuvi is not up to the challenge of geocaching. It's map feature is not nearly as detailed at nRoute and the small screen gave me the impression of tunnel vision.

Overall, I do plan to purchase a Nuvi for my own truck and use it for on-the-job purposes and would use it for geocaching in some cases. But for a good cache run, I will go with the laptop.

Vacation 2009

With my upcoming deployment to Iraq, we decided to go on vacation this year during our girls spring break. We debated the destinations and at first looked at visiting our nieces in Ohio. With spring break being the last week of March and weather being unpredictable, we looked at locations further south. We ended up choosing Orlando, Florida.

First day was to be the most eventful. We wanted to reach Lake City, FL and found out that Mapquest travel time and Garmin Nuvi travel time were not the same. Leaving Dresden at 6:30 am, the Nuvi indicated, we would arrive at 7:30 pm. We made very good time and didn't take many breaks. We took a long break at A Peachy Place a nice geocache at an Interstate Rest stop in Georgia. We moved on through Atlanta and into Macon, Georgia. That is when the rain really came down and only got worse. Finally fed up with the weather we stopped in Valdosta, GA for the night. The next morning, I got up early and grabbed a few Park and Grabs in the area. Did find an ammo can in an urban area, that cache at a Boy Scout office, Timeless Values. Being it was an early Sunday morning, I had the area to myself.

We gathered our items and moved onto Tampa, Florida to visit Busch Gardens. We got in free, since I am military. Anheuser-Busch has free admission for military to include National Guard members at their parks. Military and families can visit one park for free, once a year. We found the virtual cache, Typically Floridian . The cache was at the flamingo location. About dusk, we left the park and headed towards Orlando. Got off the Interstate and I found out that I was going to dislike Orlando. At 9 pm on a Sunday night; traffic was horrid. We would face this dilemma every time we went out and I decided to suspend geocaching in the Orlando area.

Monday morning, we endured a time-share presentation in order to receive discount Disney tickets and went onto Sea World. We found the virtual cache, Seaworld Serpent. We didn't stay long at Sea World. The two long days of driving had taken a toll on us and we went back to the hotel.

Tuesday, we visited the Magic Kingdom. This made my third visit, my wife's second and my girls, their first. The park was packed with tourists but we did pick up the virtual at Cinderalla's Castle .

Wednesday, was probably the best day. We visited EPCOT. Back in 1986, while in the Navy and attending schools at NAS Jacksonville, I visited EPCOT but didn't like it. This time knowing what it was about, I enjoyed it and my girls really enjoyed it. We liked touring the other cultures and trying out food from different countries. Picked up two virtuals in the park, EPCOT and a waterfall in Canada. While in EPCOT, I turned my GPS on and saw I didn't have coordinates for the two virtuals. The one in Canada didn't bother me, all I needed to do was find the waterfall. The other required me to call a geocacher whom was near a computer. I contacted Nashville Joe and he saved the day. That evening, we attended a dinner theater at Capone's. The theater was fun and different from what I have seen before.

Thursday we left Orlando for the final destination of Charleston, South Carolina. I decided to take advantage of our situation and see the only ex-Confederate state that I had not visited. First we stopped in St. Augustine, Florida to see the oldest city in the United States. I had been to the beach in the city back in 1986, but this time, we looked at the history. Very nice city and would like to return someday. We found two virtuals, Cathedral Basilica a church with roots back to the 1600's and Hot Shots a fort, reconstructed in the 1700's but roots back in the late 1500's.

We proceeded up I-95 finding an fruit stand and onto Georgia where we met rain again. The rain would torment us through Georgia and into South Carolina. We continued to find a couple fo rest stop caches but the one I was after was H.L Hunley. The rain was coming down on us in buckets and made travel in the city difficult. We arrived at the cache location only to see the custodian closing up for the evening. We did manage to visit the beach in the rain, that being the highlight of the day.

On Friday, we headed back home to Dresden, a very long drive from Charleston, South Carolina. We picked up some caches in South and North Carolina. As we moved into Tennessee, I became more aggressive in my caching finding caches for the Tennessee County Challenge. I picked up Sevier, Cocke and Jefferson counties.

Lake Graham

With a vacation upcoming and more weekends devoted to my military obligation, I took the afternoon of March 26th off, with supervisor approval and went after the Lake Graham geocaches with my new kayak. Spend the evening prior finding the best way to secure the kayak on top of my truck. That was a chore, but in the future it will become easier with more experience.

Being that Lake Graham is a TWRA lake, I had already purchased a fishing license, lake permit and took a pole with me. TWRA rules require a license, lake permit and fishing equipment. I began my journey from the boat landing. A few anglers were around putting their boats into the water or coming out of the water. Most ignored my kayak; I did overhear one comment that my kayak was suicidal. I shook my head in their ignorance and proceeded with my mission.

Took off from the boat landing and struggled to gain my steering under the bridge. Overcame the difficulties and made a beeline towards B&G-Bluff's H2O Micro #2. Found the cache with ease. Signing it was more difficult since my kayak wanted to drift away. After replacing the cache, I remembered that I had a rope and next time I need to secure my craft to the stationary object. The next cache ended up with a DNF (Did not find). JTP #3-Paradise Lost , two attempts to find this one were in vain. I paddled to the furthest cache at the north end of the lake. I came in contact with fisherman but other than some looks, they paid me no attention. JTP #4- Paradise Found gave my valuable experience with steering the kayak in tight areas. Found the cache without any trouble. Thankfully, I came to this lake in March. Waiting another month, this end of the lake would be infested with snakes. Next on the list was JTP #2-North Island . I had to circle around this island to find a good place to beach my kayak. Giving me some trouble was a Canadian Goose. The bird was sitting on the island and my have been ill. I choose to keep my distance from the large bird and kept an eye on it too. Found the cache and left the bird undisturbed. The last cache find was JTP #1-South Island found a place to beach the kayak and had to struggle to get out of the boat to get on the island. Searched a while and unable to find the cache, but did find many beer bottles and cans. I figure this island is a drunk fisherman's getaway. Giving up on the cache and preparing to replace the ammo can, I found what I was seeking. Signed the log and paddled back to the boat dock.

All told, the adventure took about 2 or so hours and did manage a speed of 4 mph. The lake has many hidden stumps and I found several of them. This journey was fun and rewarding.

Paintball

Before I left for Iraq in 2003, I was into the sport of paintball. I got into the game in the summer of 1989, while in the US Navy stationed in Puerto Rico. I played at a field near where I lived in Fajardo and really enjoyed the game. When I returned to the United States and attending college, I took up the game and played in a small field in Gleason, TN. I quickly learned that playing paintball on the college budget and lack of spare time, this hobby would have to wait, even through I purchased a pump rifle. After returning from a combat tour in Saudi Arabia, I played sparingly at a field in Beech Bluff, TN, just outside of Jackson. Didn't play as often as I wanted, spare time and distance were enough to detour me. Thinking it was the end of the game for me, I sold all my gear, it was too expensive and not enough spare time.

After one Christmas, I had several Wal-Mart gift cards. Seeing that the prices of guns, gear and paint had really dropped since the last time I played in the mid-1990's, I bought a semi-automatic Brass Eagle gun. Used the Internet and found two places to play, one in Mercer and another in Humboldt. I started playing again. I played in Mercer several times, and really liked the game of speedball. I took the youth from First Baptist Church of Dresden to the field a few times. Later, I got word that a group played in a backyard field in Martin, TN. Got in contact with the ring leader and I was playing many weekends in Martin. I played up to the point I went on active duty in 2003. I had even upgraded my equipment with a semi-automatic Piranha. Returning from Iraq in 2004, I lost contact with the group in Martin and the field in Mercer closed. My gear gathered dust while I took up the game of geocaching.

Since my return from Iraq, I did get asked my youth on occasion about playing paintball again but the only field I found was in Memphis about 2 hours away. I was informed by a church member that a paintball field opened in Paris, TN. Place is called Adrenaline Paintball.

Yesterday, 26 youth and 2 adults from First Baptist Church of Dresden played at the field and had a great time. The field is most unusual that it is all indoors and simulates urban warfare. I found myself in the 3-dimensional battlefield. Oppose forces were above, side to side, in front and behind. The only aspect of real urban warfare missing was movement through sewers. I had to use a rental gun in that my old Piranha would not fire but enjoyed playing. I refused to play inside the building. During the safety brief and tour, the floor was very slick and I risked being injured if I went into the building.

Today, I debate whether or not to re-enter the paintball game. One of the aspects I enjoy about geocaching, I play when, where, most any weather, daylight or dark, alone or with others, at my choosing.

Maiden voyage of the kayak

With my next three weekends tied up with church activity, National Guard and vacation, I have been itching to get the kayak out on the water. I had studied this site to learn more about kayaking. Today, the temps were good, first day I have been wearing shorts, but very windy with gusts up to 31 mph. Observing the weather on the Internet, the wind advisory mentioned the wind would die down about 6 pm. I headed out to Garrett Lake, about 25 minutes away about 5 pm. The lake is run by TWRA (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency) and not meant for pleasure craft. I had my fishing license and a fishing pole to please the game warden. Arrived on the south part of the lake and the wind had changed directions from the southwest to coming in from the northeast. Wind were very gusty and making small white caps. I knew that putting in the water there would not be a good idea.

I drove to the north side of the lake and the woods shielded the wind and put the kayak in the water. I used my new GPS mount to observe my speed. This was my maiden voyage with the Pelican . This is the second time playing around on this type of kayak. Last year, I used an inflatable 2-person kayak. My experience with the inflatable is that I got soaked every time I used it.

This time around, I didn't get wet and didn't touch the water. I spend about 30 minutes of so on the water seeing how fast I could go, which was 3.0 mph. The kayak can turn on the dime and was steady even with the wind kicked up. The above website mentioned never to hand onto the kayak in rough water and it was true. Let the paddle settle the boat down.

Overall, I think it was a good idea to head out today and experience the kayak in a somewhat stressful situation. I have some lessons learned. Such as not using my arms so much, rely more on torso to paddle. Also not to over paddle, this created problems with keeping a good heading. Also need to get my confidence up. Attempted to look behind me and felt the kayak loosing control. Need to overcome this problem for long geocache runs since my water/food/supplies will be in the cargo hatch in the stern.

Geocaching after a Winter Storm

Last night I watched the winter storm roll into the West Tennessee area and viewing the radar; I saw that Madison and Haywood Counties were being slammed. Facebook posts by -boatman- and EverywhereActs1:8 were verifying what I saw on the radar. After hearing a radio announcement that church was cancelled, which was not true, I decided to ready myself for two 4-star terrain geocaches on wondered how difficult they would be in the deep snow. While researching the geocaches, DHCPA29 posted on Facebook that there was little accumulation of snow in Paris, TN.

With the mission a "GO", I went out and crossed the river at Paris Landing to go after the most difficult, The River is Wide. After crossing the river, I turned south on a gravel road. I had been down this way before, summer before last to scout an area to view the 4th of July fireworks. I parked below the cache and looked up the monster of a hill to climb. Just as DHCPA29 reported on Facebook, there was little snow on the ground. I took off after the cache stopping about every 40 feet to catch my breath. Elevation change was just over 150 feet and was very steep. I climbed to the top of the ridge, again for a breather. Looked at my GPS'r and saw I was within 10 feet. Looked to my left and there it was; the ammo can covered in leaves. Signed the log and headed down the hill. My left knee began to give me some problems, thinking I need to take more Glucosamine, but made to the bottom and onto the next geocache.

Next geocache was Lost Creek Cache V2.0. There was a cache on the ridge a long time ago, I found it during my first LBL cache run in October 2005. My military training has benefited me to read a topographical map and I knew where to park to make this cache easy. I parked onto of the ridge line and strolled the .20 mile to the cache. It was a nice and relaxing walking in the woods and enjoyed finding this cache as much as finding the first Lost Creek cache.