Blitz that Fizzled!

We (Geo-Jeeper and L2--Larry is still in Utah) started the day intending to go for the numbers. We were sure we could get 50! Afterall, with all the end of the road caches, it should be an easy day.

It didn’t quite turn out that way. We started in Woodbridge to grab a couple we had missed on previous trips. We knew we would have a short walk, but it turned out to be longer than that because we missed the correct path the first time and had to back track a little. Fortunately, it was a nice trail through a pretty park so we didn’t mind too much.

Then we picked up all the miscellaneous caches in Lodi proper. We even managed to get a couple we had not found before. So we were feeling good and still had high hopes for the day.

Our route led us out into the country next. There was a little more distance between caches and we had a few more side trips off the main road. We made it all the way to Clements. We chose not to look for one of the caches in this area because it appeared to be in the middle of a field full of baled hay. That reeked of private property and we were not willing to risk “prosecution”. Fortunately, we found another one faster because a local resident gave us quick directions to a “future” development, the site for the cache. We think this may have been a future development in the past. Presently, it looked like a area of neglected streets and end of road signs.

We continued to make our way through the back roads. We were unable to located a couple of older caches--we are sure they are missing, but we managed to find 16 before heading back across town and beyond to the Panera Bread we had passed earlier in the day. The place was crowded, but we found a table and enjoyed our lunch. Too bad they didn’t list coordinates for the restrooms and the drink dispensing machines. We would have found them faster if they had.

After lunch, we elected to head south and pick up some old and new caches. We ended up in Oak Grove Park. It is a beautiful little park with a lake and paddle boat rides for the kids. Too bad we were there for other reasons. The shade, in particular, looked inviting.

We followed several of the trails and found several caches. Three of the caches contained clues that led to the final cache. We found the first two easily and headed for the third. The third was a problem. It was somewhere in the pile of logs. We actually found the correct spot almost immediately, but nothing was there. We were not about to give up so we kept looking in case the owner had outsmarted us. After searching for quite a while, a bike rider came up to us and said we didn’t have to look that hard--we were starting to lift up heavy logs. He turned out to be the owner. We pointed out where we thought it should be and declared it was missing. He agreed! It was supposed to be there and after he searched extensively himself, he agreed it was missing. We asked if he could give us the clue we needed to find the final and we asked if we could log this cache. He agreed we could log this cache, but he couldn’t give us the clue because he didn’t have his notes with him. In fact, he didn’t even have his GPS receiver so he couldn’t give us the final coordinates either. He did give us directions of a sort and we headed out. Fortunately, it was in the same park. He stayed behind to continue looking for his container. We were about halfway to the possible final when he came up from behind on his bike. There had been a fire through here on Wednesday and the area didn’t look the same to him. Then he told us that he had given us the wrong directions. He redeemed himself by riding ahead of us until he found something familiar and then he directed us to the tree--behind it was the cache! We thanked him for his help, signed the log and made the trek back to the car. Good thing he was so helpful. Who knows when we would have been back in this area again!

By the time we finished this cache, it was late. Cynthia and I decided we would head home and Mike was grateful. But wait, there are two other caches on the other side of the freeway. It won’t take long to get to them and they should be easy! Mike agreed and we drove practically right to them. But wait, there are two more just a little south of us on this same road. Again, Mike agreed to drive just a little further. One of these caches was out a bike path so we had to walk just a little bit. The other one was in a park and right where some group was having a large gathering. We had to pass on that one.

Now, we really were done for the day and we headed up I-5 toward home. The day wasn’t as productive has we had planned, but we were glad to find several caches that had been on our list for a while. And......we got in our 10,000 steps! See, even if you don’t meet your expectations, there is always something good about a day of geocaching.

Up Up and Away

Geocaching has given us many moments of new and exciting adventures. Yesterday was no exception.

Larry is out of town, but I didn’t let that stop me. I teamed up with Geo-Jeeper (Cynthia & Mike), dstoye (Don) and imawahl (Ann) and headed for the Oroville area. The weather was nice, the traffic was pretty light, and the whole day was loads of fun.

We started caching just a little ways north of Marysville. We wanted to pick up some of the caches in the outlying area that we had missed on previous trips! We found the caches and made good time the rest of the way. To our surprise, this was the first time Ann had ever been to Oroville. We introduced her to a lot of it! We were in town and out of town. We were crossing water ways and climbing rocks. We even climbed a slope to get a cache and then slid our way back down. It is always easier climbing up than down!

We saw some beautiful sights and I did take some pictures. The pictures were mostly of the rest of the group. At one point, I turned the camera on myself and got a self portrait! It wasn’t great, but at least I can prove I was there.

Lunch was particularly interesting. We arrived at the Thermalito South Forebay and discovered two helicopters and a whole slew of men in all the appropriate garb for making water rescues. Two men would stand on the “feet” on the outside of the helicopter and it would head out over the water. In the meantime, a boat was dropping off another man in the water--he was the “victim”. The chopper would fly in low and one of the men on the outside would drop off into the water near the “victim”. The man still on the chopper was there for backup. The chopper lowered a harness and the man in the water put it around the victim. The chopper would then haul the two men in the water to the shore. They did this several times while we ate our lunch and watched. We talked to them briefly and got the skinny on this annual rescue practice session. The things you get to experience while geocaching--amazing.

The afternoon was uneventful, but we ended the day with lots of caches. It was a blitz sort of day and we accomplished our mission.