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.
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.
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