Road Trip

It was such a beautiful day and we hadn't had an opportunity to geocache in a bit so we really only had one choice today. Where should we go? We decided to make a road trip up to Lincoln, over to Newcastle, down through Rocklin and back to Roseville.

Along the way we met mama and papa goose and their four little goslings. We met the family in stages: mama and papa first as they walked along the bank; and, the babies one by one as they each peaked their heads out of the grass. It wasn't until they took to the water that we realized there were actually four babies. They cruised along and eventually disappeared under the bridge. This was a great place to relax and enjoy the surroundings. There was a cache nearby but we think it was under the bridge. We never really had the chance to look because the swallows were nesting under the bridge and they certainly were not happy with us being so close. We didn't mind just staying back and watching all the nearby activity.

We checked out another nature preserve in Lincoln. We were restricted to the walkway along the edge but we were able to enjoy the geese and the ducks. The biggest excitement for me (L2) was the two geese on a nearby building roof. I guess I've never seen a goose on a roof before. They are always on the ground, in the air, or in the water. They were honking like crazy the whole time we were there. I was convinced they were calling out for help because they were stuck. L1 (Larry) assured me they were quite capable of getting down by themselves. He turned out to be right. As we were leaving, they flew down to the pond below.

Lunch was at Awful Annie's in Lincoln. This is a favorite spot of the locals and we often stop here if we are in the area. Today, we took a little more time for lunch than expected because the server messed up the order. She blamed it on her allergies. I guess her head was so stuffed she didn't hear me and couldn't see where I pointed on the menu. She also couldn't remember the entire discussion we had about fruit coming with my selection so I didn't need to order it on the side. She apologized and I eventually got what I ordered. As usual, it was delicious.

We traveled on 193 between Lincoln and Newcastle. The wildflowers were out in force, including the beautiful California poppies. Too bad we didn't have a chance to stop for pictures. No place to pull over and there were a lot of people out enjoying the nice weather.

We actually, got lost in Newcastle. That is pretty hard to do as Newcastle is a pretty small town. We kept going in circles and missing the road that we needed. I think the residents were beginning to question our number of trips on this same circuit. Fortunately, we found our way to the road we wanted and headed back to Rocklin. This wouldn't be so unusual, but I pride myself on my navigational skills and they let me down today. I think it was the sun, the heat, and the thrill of the trip that got in my way of finding our way. Good thing I came to my senses before we made that circuit one more time.

Our day was about over. We had one more cache to find near a local nursery. Looks like this was a good day for working in the garden because everyone was trying to get in or out of the parking lot at the nursery. The cache was a multicache and the first stage happened to be in their parking lot. We did get in and find a parking spot fairly quickly. but when it came time to leave, we had a totally different experience. The line to the exit was long and all we could do was join the line and wait our turn. When we finally got to the road, we pulled up, looked both ways, and couldn't believe our eyes. The road was totally clear in both directions!! We quickly pulled out and eventually met the rest of the crowd at the next major traffic light.

We were not the only ones out on a road trip! We were almost home when several turkeys decided to cross the road. This event was occurring a few cars ahead of us but it did result in a few cars swerving and drivers stomping on their brakes. We were one of the brake stompers. Yes, we all had to stop so the rest of the turkeys could proceed across the road. We had a little traffic jam going but it didn't last long. The rest of the turkeys didn't waste any time completing their journey across the road.

It was a beautiful day to be geocaching and a beautiful day to enjoy a road trip! We traveled 54.7 miles in 5 hours and 45 minutes and were entertained at various locations along the way. And, we found 7 caches! Not many for a six hour day, but enough considering the fun along the way.