June 2007

Copyright (c) 2007 by William J. Long - Distribution for personal use permitted. Distribution for other uses with written permission.

6/1/07 - Last day of work for us at Kokobell's. We just decided not to put up with the manager anymore. Went Geocaching with Spencer and Robert. Found 6. Returned home and made a plan for what we want to do with our time now.

6/2/07 - Got up early and went Geocaching. Returned home and got all the packing done for the trip to Mobile, AL and Maine. Printed out Geocaches and made new TBs with tags of those that were stolen from us. Relaxed all day.

6/3/07 - Got up early and took Valentine and Taco to Laura's for grooming. Picked up cache while we waited for them. Picked them up and brought them home. Went to the gas station to get gas and air up the tires, but the tubers were all there airing up their tubes. Ended up at another one by Wal-Mart at Greenfield and 60. Stopped by Barnes and Noble before heading home. Worked on trip stuff all afternoon.

6/4/07 - Stopped by Kokobelli's to dropped off our uniforms and to pick-up the bagels for church. Did our volunteer work until 11:30 then headed to Spencer's to give him a map program. Next stop was the car wash. Picked up some groceries at Sprout's before heading home. Continued getting ready to leave on our vacation tomorrow.

6/5/07 - Mileage today - 213.5. Was on the road by 6 a.m. We headed to Starbucks first of course. Took 60 East out of town heading towards Eagar, AZ. We counted a total of 12 police officers catching speeders in our first 50 miles! Zoom was not real happy about that. We settled for looking fast, but going the speed limit. When we arrived in Show Low, AZ we stoppped at the city park and walked the 1.1 mile trail with the dogs. Our first cache was called Show Low, which was a statue dipicting a game of cards called 7-up between Cooley and Clark. Then they played a card game called Show Low and the winner got 100,000 acres of land and Show Low was part of it. We had to answer several questions about the statue to get credit. After a quick stop at McDs we found a second cache at the National Guard Armory. It was called a Piece of History. It was hidden in an Iraq anti-aircraft gun. The campground we had planned to stay in in Springerville, AZ was closed for renovation. So, plan B went into effect. We decided to go off the planned route and make a bit of a detour into Alpine, AZ. Good plan. We found a forest service campground called Apache-Sitgreaves Alpine Divide campground. Absolutely beautiful! Trees all around right in a meadow with a creek running through it! And best of all because Bill is a veteran it cost us only $5! Half price. Well within the budget. We also found out we can camp for free in National Forest Campgrounds because Bill is a Veteran. Got everything set-up and had lunch. Went for a hike out in the forest for a bit and then returned and relaxed. It is really cool here especially since it is over 100 in Phoenix. Stopped earlier than normal today because we wanted to make sure that we didn't forget anything and could get the new tent up. We allowed plenty of time. It was nice to relax for sure.

6/6/07 -Today's Mileage - 395.5. Was up at 5 a.m. We were freezing. It was 50 degrees and very, very windy. It was very windy all night. We had limbs falling on our tent all night. We both have decided that we love our new tent. It is easy to set-up and has many improvements over the older model. We were the only campers in the campground besides the camp host. Packed up and had breakfast and was on the road by 6 a.m. Right out of the campground we drove by 13 elk along both sides of the road. Scenery along the way into NM was beautiful and it continued into NM. We usually drive on the blue highways and shun the interstates. Very little traffic and you see much more. Stopped in the little town of Reserve, NM for coffee. Everyone was very friendly. It is a town of only 600. Found our first cache in the town of Magdelena, NM. It was at the ranger station. Signed the log and left a Travel Bug. Next cache was just outside of town. We had to take a magnetic reading of 203 and see what we saw on the mountain and write down what the sign said at the stop. It was the town elevation on the sign and we didn't see anything on the mountain. Hummmm so we read the hint and it said we should be able to see the leftprofile of a woman. Whatever, we couldn't see it. Continued on our way east on 60 to Socorro, NM. At 12:15 p.m. we visited the Abo Ruins National Monument. It is the ruins of the Franciscan Mission, dating from the 1620's. From about 1300 to 1670's, the Tompiro Pueblo of Abo was one of the Southwest's largest. It was located near Abo Pass, a major east-west trade route. This was acache stop and all we had to do was take a picture of us with our GPS in front of the ruins. We did that along with walking the mile long interpretive trail with the dogs, going inside and seeing the displays and getting our national parks book stamped. Continued on with stops for gas - $3.69 a gallon - and food. Stopped for the night at the Tucumcari, NM KOA. We have very high winds and they suggested we not try to tent camp. Instead they offered us a cabin for a reduced rate and allowed the two babies! What more could we ask for? The winds are supposed to top 65 mph tonight according to the weather report! So, we are very fortunate to be inside. A KOA Kamping Kabin is the only thing that was left standing after hurricane Andrew in southern Florida several years ago. Tomorrow we are off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of OZ.

6/7/07 - Mileage for today - 48.2. OZ is going to have to wait a day. We got a weather report of severe storms including tornados heading to where we were going to be tonight so we decided to err on the side of caution and hang out here until tomorrow. We don't have anywhere we have to be by a certain time so it doesn't matter. The winds here are still quite fierce. Taco won't go outside now because of them. His ears are so big the wind flops them around and it is driving him crazy. So, we carry him out. Valentine is so little it doesn't faze her. However, we are worried she might just blow away. To pass the time we are doing laundry. We went grocery shopping too. And, Bill had all his hair shaved off. He has his military cut back. It is an easy to care for camping hair cut and it will grow back. The most exciting thing so far today is that Bill saved a turtle. It was little and in the middle of the road. So, we stopped and he picked it up and put it! on the side of the road where it was heading. Lowe's here is the grocery store not the hardware store like it is at home. We drove right by it, when looking for the grocery store, thinking it was the hardware store. So, when we stopped and asked directions to a grocery store they said didn't you see it? It is called Lowe's. We always thought Tucumcari, NM was larger than it is. Everything is on one street - 66 - and most businesses are mom and pop motels. Lots of businesses are out of business and the rest are very run down looking. The busiest places in town seemed to be the truck stops. Helpful tip when traveling - it only costs .89 cents for an entire thermos of coffee at a truck stop. We went Geocaching after lunch. It was an ammo box hidden in front of the Mesalands Community College's Dinosaur Museum in town. The ammo can was empty just as previous logs warned us. So, we signed the museum log as suggested to get credit. The museum is very nice. It hosts the largest collection of life-size bronze prehistoric skeletons in the world. It is also the home to many fossils, figures, and minerals representing the unique paleontology and geology of this region. The museum centerpiece is a skeleton of the rare Torvosaurus, a large carnivore closely related to Tyrannosaurus Rex. There was also the only bronze restoration of a 6' tall Struthiomimus (ostrich-like bird dinosaur) on display in the world. As we were leaving the museumour flat tire warning light and bell went off. So, we thought GREAT, what next! Pulled into a gas station and checked the tires. There was a big nail in the back driver's side tire. Couldn't miss it. It was only 5 lbs down though, not flat. We have run-flats which help. Called our dealer in Scottsdale and he told us to just get it patched or plugged since it is a brand new tire. Run-flats have no warrenty and if they actually go totally flat you have to replace them not fix. We have had more trouble with the tires on the MINI than any other tire. So, off we went in search of a place that fixes tires. Easier said than done here of course. It was only $12.90 when it was done! They patched the tire. So, hopefully it will be ok for some time. We will see. It is late afternoon now and we plan to try and relax the rest of the day.

7/8/07 - Today's mileage - 245.6. Was up and on the road by 5:30 a.m. First stop was to get a thermos of coffee at the Love's truck stop. Then out on Hwy 54 towards Dalhart, TX where our first cache to find is. Lost another hour when we crossed into TX. We are now two hours ahead of AZ. Found Memorial Cache in Dalhart, TX. It was at the Dallam/Hartley Veteran's Memorial. The plaque said that the guys who dedicated the memorial all died one month later in a helicopter accident at Ft. Hood. Found the container and signed the log. The dogs were overjoyed with the park, because there was grass and lots of it. Continued on and stopped in Stratford, TX for gas - $3.39 a gallon. Entered Oklahoma at 9:45 a.m. So far the weather is great. It is COLD - 48 degrees! And I almost didn't pack our coats. It is hard to remember to pack cold weather clothes when it is 107 degrees outside! The next cache was a drive by. It was in Hooker, OK. Strange name for a town and their baseball team is called the Horny (not horned) Toads. We have to e-mail the last line of the sign. The answer was American Legion Baseball. Next stop OZ! Made it to Liberal, KS by noon. First cache was in the city park inside a tree. Signed log. Next cache was at Dorthy's House and Museum. We found both a Letterbox and a Geocache on a train on display nearby. I was disappointed with the whole thing. It was all run down and uncared for looking. We did take pictures of the yellow brick road and the characters from the movie. We did see the original model of Dorthy's housed used in the 1939 filming of "The Wizard Of Oz". Dorthy's last name is Gale. Bet you didn't know that, huh? Continued on our journey and stopped for the night at Beaver Dunes State Park. Yes, there are dunes out in the middle of nowhere. Nice little, quiet park. Ranger told us we will probably have the park to ourselves. It only cost $8 for the night. Weather is cool and comfortable. That's it for today! We are now relaxing.

6/9/07 - Mileage today - 205.2. Our camping experience last night was awful. Around 6 p.m. the ATV's and motorcycles started arriving in the dunes, which was across the lake from where we were. They rode ALL NIGHT and were still going at it when we left! We couldn't believe it. At 10 p.m. all the campers started arriving in our campground who thought they were not going to have to pay since it was after 10 p.m. Little did they know the ranger followed them in and got his money. They argued with him. We had the same problem when we were camp hosts at Mark Twain Lake SP in Missouri many years ago. For some reason there is a certain element of our society that thinks they shouldn't have to pay since they are coming in so late, or because there are still open sites. You're not busy why should we have to pay? We never did get what was with that excuse. In the meantime, the party crowd showed up and set-up in a campsite near us. Not to camp just to party. So, when the ranger came through we asked him what the deal was. He said they were allowed to party till 10 p.m. then he would kick them out. It was after 9 already so it was close to 10. He did come back and got them out fortunately, but not without mouth from them. We finally fell asleep only because we were exhausted. We awoke at 4 a.m. to the ATV's and motorcycles continuing to tear up the dunes. It was stormy looking outside, too. So, we got up and walked to the facilities, it was quite some distance away. Came back and broke camp and headed out. It was our usual 6 a.m. The sky fortunatley looks better the direction we are traveling. Got gas today for $3.25 in Woodward, OK. We are averaging 37.1 mpg at this point. Found a Super Wal-Mart and stocked up on food supplies. Saw our first squished armidillo today. For those of you that know about the found money fund, the count is at $1.04 since we left. Stopped for the day at Red Rock Canyon State Park in Hinton, OK. We are in search of 4 Gocaches that have to be hiked to in the park. We found all 4 and all 4 were ammo cans. They were called Sugar Creek Vista, The California Trail, 2005 Spring Fling Commemorative Cache and Alyssa's Birthday Cache. The hikes were wonderful. We saw wild flowers all around and butterflies of all different sorts everywhere. The weather cleared up so much it became hot and muggy. Not as hot as AZ, but still very warm. There are bugs all over the place. We are not used to bugs. We found several ticks on the dogs and one on Jan so far. blakkkk The mosquitos are fierce too. We hiked every single trail in the park and enjoyed it immensely. We went into town after hiking and each got an extra large ice tea. It was only a $1 for both! Boy were they were good and cold. We are all beat. We have a nice campsite and after showers we are hitting the sack. Continued tomorrow...

6/11/07 - Today's Mileage 206.2. Last night the camping experience was more like it is supposed to be. No hooligans nor noise other than wildlife. There was one other camper and he just waved and did his own thing. He was in a camping trailer. Was up and on the way by 6 a.m. as usual. We all were rested, relaxed and ready for the day. Today we are looking for the Talimena Geocaching Treasures along the Talimena Scenic Byway in the Winding Staircase Mountain National Recreation Area. First one was White Horse Run Free. Ammo Can. It was only 2 miles from where we had camped. Signed the log and continued on. The drive is beautiful and has 13% grades. Zoom is enjoying it too. Second stop was at Big Cedar Vista. Found the Ammo Can and signed the log. Third stop was at the Robert S. Kerr Memorial Arboretum and Botanical Area. It consisted of 8,026 acres that contain special plant communitites that are significant in their occurrence, variety, and location such as the windswept dwarf white oaks and yellow buckeye. We walked the one mile interpretive trail to get the answer to the question we had and to take pictures. We have seen no one since we started driving this scenic road. The trail was really nice and it reminded us of hiking in Germany. Had to do tick removal on the dogs when we finished though. No problem. Fortunately, neither dog is big nor do they have much hair. The 4th stop was a Pioneer Cemetary our first cache in Arkansas. It was a short trail to a small community cemetary of Rich Mountain. There were 23 graves, only one of which has a legible inscription. The rest of the grave markers, consist of stones placed at the foot and head of the graves. The last person buried here was in 1949. Many homesteaders settled here on Rich Mountain for health reason. The moutain air and spring water were thought to be good for healing. Malaria and TB were rampant in the surrounding areas. Others came to the area to seek the freedom and independence that this area offered for illegal reasons such as moonshine operations or evading the law. For the most part, the settlers were "salt of the earth", and a hardy breed. This cache was illusive. We finally gave up and got back on the road to the last stop on this scenic road. It is at the visitor's Center on the Carriage Trail. Found it at 10 a.m. with no problem. Nice stop. Continued on to Crater Of Diamonds State Park. So much for looking for diamonds. Everyone else in the USA had the same idea. No camping sites open and the digging area was closed to more people too. Oh well, plan B. We found the two caches in the park instead. Both had to be hiked to. One was on the Wildlife Viewing Trail and the other was on the River Trail. Found both caches with no problems. We rescued a stranded TB. It had been sitting in the ammo can for over a year! The owner will be happy it is going to be traveling again. Left the park and headed into the town Murfreesboro and found the cache Muffler Man. Met the man he belongs to. A new cacher who's son got him interested in geocaching to get them out of the house. He told us they thought their son was crazy at first, but they really enjoy the places that Geocaching takes them too. He was really nice. Picked up some ice cream at a Sonic on the way out of town. Stopped for the night at White Oak Lake State Park in Bluff City, AR. Nice place. Walked around the lake. Rained a tad bit and we can hear thunder in the distance, but don't think it is coming our way. The lady who checked us in checked the weather info for us. Should be at my sister's sometime Wednesday. : ) We haven't had phone service for two days. That is why the journal is behind.

6/12/07 - Today's Mileage - 342.5. The park we stayed in last night was very nice. No problems. Got on the way just before 7 a.m. It was very hot and muggy last night. We figure by the time we get home we are either going to have encephilitis or lyme disease with all the ticks and mosquitos we have dealt with. blakkkkk Just passed through Camden, AR where they have lovely huge antebellum homes. They looked so much more majestic and nice than the big cheaply made but expensive homes we see around the Phoenix area. We have sun today for once. Not sure that is exactly a good thing since it just makes it hotter. Baby Valentine has been bitten by something on her foot. It is all swollen and has a icky looking bump on it. We think maybe a fire ant bit her. If it isn't better looking by tomorrow we may have to see a vet at my sister's. She doesn't seem to notice it other than to lick it incessently. We entered Louisiana at 10 a.m. It does look a bit different than Arkansas. First cache was in Bastrop, LA called Quiet Overlook. It was in a cemetary hidden behind two pine trees. Signed the log and got back on the road. You know we haven't been anywhere near a Starbucks in an entire week! There haven't been any. We haven't seen any cameras at any intersection in any of the cities we have been in since we left either. Interesting. We really haven't had anyone trying to run over us like in Phoenix. We haven't seen people driving around with a cell phone attached to their head either while driving or standing in line ordering food. It is good to see that there are still places where people aren't so wrapped up in that stuff. The next cache was called Siamese Tree -- But Different. It was in a Cemetary in Redwing, LA. It was a cherry tree that has grown from inside of a cedar tree. Not beside it, inside it! The locals think a bird deposted a cherry seed in the cedar tree trunk many years ago and somehow it took root. The cache was supposed to be an ammo can the best kind, however, it appears to be missing. Back on the road. Wow, just bought gas for $2.99! The cheapest so far. The next stop was The Louisiana Cotton Museum in Lake Providence, LA. It was an 7 acre museum complex. They say they bring to life the unique world of America's Crop: Cotton -- A Gift Of Nature. Admission was free. They are having some sort of get together because the parking lot was full and people were sitting at picnic tables out in the yard. We had to park along the side of the highway and Bill walked back to it. However, he couldn't get anywhere close to the cache location because of all the people watching him. So, we went on. Next stop was called Grant's Debacle. It is part of the Vicksburg National Military Park, which is 7 miles away from this site. It was the historical remanents of Grant's Canal, located in Delta, LA. Not many people know about Grant's Canal. Several attempts were made by Grant to bypass Vicksburg by digging a canal 1 1/2 miles long, 60 feet wide and 6 feet deep. The Confederates placed several big guns on the opposite shore and bombarded the work on the canal, this disrupted the work and the Union even lost the site. Once they regained control they pressed into service 1,200 blacks from the area to help dig. On March 7, 1863 the upper dam gave way and the entire peninsula was flooded. Grant's Canal had failed. For credit for the Geocache we had to count the total of killed, wounded and missing, which was 589. We then headed to the actual Vicksburg National Military Park. All we can say is there is A LOT of History here. We were given 4 separate coordinates and we are to e-mail to the owner what we found at them. They were different monuments of famous leaders. We used our National Parks Pass to get into this National Park. There was no way to see everything this park had to offer in the short amount of time we had alloted for our visit. It was overwhelming for us. Continued on to today's destination with one last stop in Georgetown, MS to find the cache Georgetown's Pride. It was a steam locomotive and coal car from 1923. It was a model 2-8-2 Mikado. It was refurbished in 2003. The cache owner's father is the mayor of the town. Found it with no problem and continued on to Lake Lincoln State Park. Finding the state park was a problem. We went to the town where it said it was on our map and it wasn't there. Our car GPS said it didn't exist. However, we had a state guide that said it did. So we put the road name in the GPS and had it just take us to that road. Wow, what an adventure. Just like deliverance without any deaths. We went down back, back, back roads. Even one lane roads, roads that looked like driveways. Gravel roads, tree covered roads. Very scenic. Even when we got to the park there were not any signs saying that it was there. The manager was not happy to see a camper coming in either. It was most bizarre. Not our problem. We picked a very nice site on the lake and set-up. No one else is in the tenting area. :-) He came around about an hour later and collected the fee. Ate and hit the sack. We are tired.

6/13/07 - Today's Mileage - . Was on the road before 6 a.m. today. We had a geat evening last night. Camped all by ourselves on a beautiful lake. Weather was great too. It cools off very nicely in the evenings fortunately. We left the rainfly most off and we could see all the stars in the sky.Our first stop for Geocaching was in the town of Prentiss, MS. Found it and signed the log. Next stop was in Laurel, MS at the Veterans' Memorial Museum. On this one you had a choice depending on weather or not the museum was open. It wasn't so we did choice #1 to find the cache hidden outside on the military trailer outside. Found it and signed the log. Headed to the next one in town called Daphne1 - No Swimming. It was in a nice local city park. It was hidden in the bushes where the local swimming pool used to be, but is a tennis court now. Signed the log and headed to the last cache in this town called Medal of Honor. It was at a war memorial and we had three questions to answer. Stopped for food and gas on the way out of town. No more Geocaches on the way to Mobile, AL. Arrived at my sister Sandy's house at 12:30 p.m. First thing we had to do was introduce our two babies to her three babies. They all were OK with each other. However, Sydney, decided she didn't want either of us to be in the house. Heck, with the dogs she had bigger people to scare away. She didn't warm up to us at all until bedtime and then it was probably only because she was tired. We will see what happens tomorrow. Our two decided that anytime anyone moved from the room and came back it was time to sound the alarm. That included dogs and people. They need their eyes checked I guess. We called the vet about Valentine's foot. We gave her Benedryl and put several different meds on it and we will have to wait and see how it is tomorrow too. We can't get one of those plastic things that go around her neck to keep her from licking her foot incessently. They don't have one small enough. We recorded all our Geocaches and checked our mail before supper. After supper we watched the movie 13 Going on 30. They have movie theatre set-up in the living room. It is really cool with a projector and everything to make it a movie going experience. We had grat popcorn too! We were all beat so we all hit the sack after the movie.

6/14/07 - Here we are in hot, muggy southern Alabama. We both are just relaxing. It took us hours last night to weed through the e-mails and to record all our Geocaches we found along the way. Today it seems somehow the cat has gotton out of the house. We all searched for her all morning. Inside and outside including the huge park behind their house and the neighborhood. We are hoping she is just hiding in the house really good. We watched the movie Doc Hollywood and then went to a local Chinese Buffet for a late lunch. It was very good. When we returned we looked for the cat again. There she was sitting on the dryer with that look of smugness on her face that said "you weren't looking for me were you"? Thank goodness! We have decided she was somehow hiding behind the machines and then had her body squeezed out of sight because we all looked for her there. I guess if I was a cat and there were 5 dogs, 4 of which are bigger than me I would be hiding very well too. Valentine is the only one smaller than the cat. We did the mundane thing like grocery shopping today. After supper Rod made homemade ice cream and we watched the movie Her Alibi. It had Tom Selleck in it. It was interesting and not too bad. After the movie we all crashed.