11 caches this afternoon! Haven't done that well since way back on January 2nd ... the roads did cooperate with me this afternoon so I decided caching was a great idea after my half day of work. There was some light snow off and on but nothing that really impacted the roads.
First cache was near work, at the end of a street overlooking downtown Grand Rapids. A beautiful view, which I'm sure is even better at night. Quick nano cache (about the size of my thumbnail.) Then moved on to some caches a few miles south that were part of two different caching series. Found all that I set out to find but two...one was in a park with lots of snow, the logs show that it is a challenge so I don't feel so bad. The other was at a cacher's home in a mobile home community, everything is just way too close together to make me feel comfortable searching there, even if I know the person! I was pleased to find at least one ammo box today, was able to trade a travel bug (double decker London bus) for a coin. Also found "O Tannenbaum" on my third try, it was a small container hidden in a pine tree. At another location, I had to climb (literally) over this huge mountain of snow at the edge of the parking lot, it was probably six feet high at least. Found the cache, though.
A fun afternoon, got out and got some exercise, then did some errands on the way home as well. Looking forward to the weekend!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Keeping my fingers crossed for MIJE
I am still mentally debating my accommodations in Paris, post-sisters. I am very much decided that the MIJE hostels will be my best choice. I have to wait, though, until 45 days out to reserve. That 45 days is next Wednesday, the 4th. I'm thinking I have a reasonable chance to get in. But...just in case I am open to other options, including keeping my original reservations at the Young and Happy. So every time I am reading travel forums, and find a lead to good budget accommodations, I check it out. Last week I checked out (online, obviously) a nice studio apartment, would have been the SAME price as MIJE (I want to get a single at MIJE.) Good reviews, in the 11th, would have been a little more for transportation expense though. Unfortunately, it was not available until Sunday, and I need it Saturday. So would have been more expensive in the long run as I'd have to stay elsewhere one night. Oh well.
Checked out a few more apartments and hostels today at work while my little guy was sleeping. Many of the hostels were already full for my specified dates. That concerns me a little (as far as MIJE) but I figure that nobody should be able to get in any sooner than 45 days, hopefully....
Watch for a big sigh of relief next Wednesday, hopefully. If not, will obviously have to rethink my options.
On another note, received my mom and her sister's itinerary today for their 3 month trip around Europe. I have serious itinerary envy, of course. They will have a great time, especially if neither of them gets hurt this time around. Didja pack the bubble wrap, Mom? I am really grateful to be having even these two weeks though.
I also had a rare treat last night, a couple of quality hours of conversation with my youngest son. It was nice, just kind of talking about nothing in particular but touching lots of subjects including travel. Think he'd love to go with me, and I'd love to take him, but I need this first trip for myself. It'll be a good reason to come back.
Checked out a few more apartments and hostels today at work while my little guy was sleeping. Many of the hostels were already full for my specified dates. That concerns me a little (as far as MIJE) but I figure that nobody should be able to get in any sooner than 45 days, hopefully....
Watch for a big sigh of relief next Wednesday, hopefully. If not, will obviously have to rethink my options.
On another note, received my mom and her sister's itinerary today for their 3 month trip around Europe. I have serious itinerary envy, of course. They will have a great time, especially if neither of them gets hurt this time around. Didja pack the bubble wrap, Mom? I am really grateful to be having even these two weeks though.
I also had a rare treat last night, a couple of quality hours of conversation with my youngest son. It was nice, just kind of talking about nothing in particular but touching lots of subjects including travel. Think he'd love to go with me, and I'd love to take him, but I need this first trip for myself. It'll be a good reason to come back.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
It's past time to get back to my favorite pastime!
Since January 5th, I've only found ONE geocache (and attended an event) up until today. Why? A combination of bad weather, bad roads, and full days of work, mostly.
Yesterday and today were our winter retreat days at work. Usually we leave and stay overnight elsewhere, but stayed at our regular location this time around. We were done at 5 p.m., and I usually work until 6 p.m. on Tuesdays. Hmmm, a good 45 minutes of daylight left. Clear roads, decent weather for January anyway. No question about it, I'm a goin' caching! There are plenty of 1-1 caches around just begging for a quick find. (1-1 means easy to find, easy terrain. Basically one you can drive up to.)
First cache. Parked in front of the correct lightpole, followed the short geotrail, lifted the lightpole skirt, and voila! Took the film canister back to the car, signed the log, and quickly returned the cache. Went up the street to a cache that I had tried to find a few weeks ago. I had read the logs when I posted the DNF, and had a hunch where I hadn't looked. The hunch proved right as I quickly found cache #2. Checked my GPS for closest cache, there was one .2 miles away that I'd forgotten about. Went to that one, again followed the geo-trail and made the easy find. Stopped for my last of 4, found the container after a short search. GPS screen switched to night-time mode just as I made the find. 45 minutes from work to last find. Sweet. I'm up to 1438 finds now in 3 1/2 years of geocaching. I would really love to hit my next milestone, 1500 caches, in London or Paris. Will have to pace myself accordingly.
Yesterday and today were our winter retreat days at work. Usually we leave and stay overnight elsewhere, but stayed at our regular location this time around. We were done at 5 p.m., and I usually work until 6 p.m. on Tuesdays. Hmmm, a good 45 minutes of daylight left. Clear roads, decent weather for January anyway. No question about it, I'm a goin' caching! There are plenty of 1-1 caches around just begging for a quick find. (1-1 means easy to find, easy terrain. Basically one you can drive up to.)
First cache. Parked in front of the correct lightpole, followed the short geotrail, lifted the lightpole skirt, and voila! Took the film canister back to the car, signed the log, and quickly returned the cache. Went up the street to a cache that I had tried to find a few weeks ago. I had read the logs when I posted the DNF, and had a hunch where I hadn't looked. The hunch proved right as I quickly found cache #2. Checked my GPS for closest cache, there was one .2 miles away that I'd forgotten about. Went to that one, again followed the geo-trail and made the easy find. Stopped for my last of 4, found the container after a short search. GPS screen switched to night-time mode just as I made the find. 45 minutes from work to last find. Sweet. I'm up to 1438 finds now in 3 1/2 years of geocaching. I would really love to hit my next milestone, 1500 caches, in London or Paris. Will have to pace myself accordingly.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
I graduated today!
I've spent the greater part of the last two days traveling to Flint, Michigan (on the east side of the state for those who need a bit of a Michigan geography lesson) to attend a commissioner's training for Boy Scouts. My friend and I left about 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon and had a nice leisurely drive over to Flint ON DRY ROADS! She drove which was just fine with me! I had some geocache information with me but we were having such a good conversation that we decided not to.
We arrived at our hotel and checked in. We were put on the third floor so up we went. Walked down the hall and definitely smelled pot. Thankfully, by the time we got to our room, the smell was gone and our room smelled just fine. We settled in, then decided to go out for dinner. We ended up at Don Pablos for Mexican food, neither of us had been there. Good food and they had sweet corn cake just like Chi-Chi's had. We also had a complimentary appetizer thanks to a coupon from the hotel. Very nice.
Next stop was the place where our evening meeting was. Found it but still had an hour to kill so went back to the shopping area and ended up at Barnes and Noble where I bought two nice maps, one of London and one of Paris. Laminated so they'll last. Then back to the evening meeting. We'd been told that last year nobody wore their uniforms to this meeting, which was basically just a get to know you evening. Yep, of course (when we weren't) everyone else was in uniform! Oh well.
Back to the hotel, where I called my little sister and wished her a Happy Birthday while my friend caught up on her reading a little. We then went down to the hot tub for a while, that sure felt good in the middle of all this January winter weather we've been having! Came back to the room - then I tried to use the wireless without any luck. Turns out it was satellite internet and since it was snowing it wasn't working very well.
We got up early this morning, got ready, had the free hotel continental breakfast, then went to the main training. It was a fun day and we learned a lot as well. We even graduated at the end of the day, I now have a "Bachelors of Cub Scout Roundtable Commissioner Service" which, with a buck will get me a cheap cup of coffee I guess. But it does mean something in scouting circles. It was interesting to hear our speaker who was Tico Perez, National Commissioner. He told us about some major changes coming with a new Scout Handbook in September, as well as some changes that have been made to the national scouting offices and some other cool things.
We were finished at about 6:30 p.m. and I made it back home about 8:30 p.m. Again DRY ROADS - which was a nice surprise as I thought the Grand Rapids forecast for today was for 80% chance of snow showers. I'm not complaining!
We arrived at our hotel and checked in. We were put on the third floor so up we went. Walked down the hall and definitely smelled pot. Thankfully, by the time we got to our room, the smell was gone and our room smelled just fine. We settled in, then decided to go out for dinner. We ended up at Don Pablos for Mexican food, neither of us had been there. Good food and they had sweet corn cake just like Chi-Chi's had. We also had a complimentary appetizer thanks to a coupon from the hotel. Very nice.
Next stop was the place where our evening meeting was. Found it but still had an hour to kill so went back to the shopping area and ended up at Barnes and Noble where I bought two nice maps, one of London and one of Paris. Laminated so they'll last. Then back to the evening meeting. We'd been told that last year nobody wore their uniforms to this meeting, which was basically just a get to know you evening. Yep, of course (when we weren't) everyone else was in uniform! Oh well.
Back to the hotel, where I called my little sister and wished her a Happy Birthday while my friend caught up on her reading a little. We then went down to the hot tub for a while, that sure felt good in the middle of all this January winter weather we've been having! Came back to the room - then I tried to use the wireless without any luck. Turns out it was satellite internet and since it was snowing it wasn't working very well.
We got up early this morning, got ready, had the free hotel continental breakfast, then went to the main training. It was a fun day and we learned a lot as well. We even graduated at the end of the day, I now have a "Bachelors of Cub Scout Roundtable Commissioner Service" which, with a buck will get me a cheap cup of coffee I guess. But it does mean something in scouting circles. It was interesting to hear our speaker who was Tico Perez, National Commissioner. He told us about some major changes coming with a new Scout Handbook in September, as well as some changes that have been made to the national scouting offices and some other cool things.
We were finished at about 6:30 p.m. and I made it back home about 8:30 p.m. Again DRY ROADS - which was a nice surprise as I thought the Grand Rapids forecast for today was for 80% chance of snow showers. I'm not complaining!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
He's going to a war zone...
Got three e-mails from Scott today that really made it clear that he IS going to a war zone in a few weeks. They were his will and medical directives. Good that he's prepared (the Air Force makes sure of that!) but hopefully none of those documents will be needed...
Not much happening on the travel front. I've been looking up geocaches for Paris and for London. Started entering them in the GPS and found out I've reached my GPS's waypoint limit. I'll have to go through and figure out what I don't need (old coords that for whatever reason I didn't delete...) so I have room to enter all those European coords.
I'm headed to Flint tomorrow with a friend - we're going to attend Commissioner's College on Saturday. We would have needed to be there at 8 a.m. or so on Saturday which would have meant getting up REALLY early... so we opted to go over tomorrow night instead. She's driving and I'm paying for the hotel room. Hope the roads are good. I'm not a good passenger and I don't want to embarrass myself by freaking out over the roads. (Unlikely but entirely possible...)
Not much happening on the travel front. I've been looking up geocaches for Paris and for London. Started entering them in the GPS and found out I've reached my GPS's waypoint limit. I'll have to go through and figure out what I don't need (old coords that for whatever reason I didn't delete...) so I have room to enter all those European coords.
I'm headed to Flint tomorrow with a friend - we're going to attend Commissioner's College on Saturday. We would have needed to be there at 8 a.m. or so on Saturday which would have meant getting up REALLY early... so we opted to go over tomorrow night instead. She's driving and I'm paying for the hotel room. Hope the roads are good. I'm not a good passenger and I don't want to embarrass myself by freaking out over the roads. (Unlikely but entirely possible...)
Monday, January 19, 2009
Geocaching planning for Paris
My hobby, as you may well know, is geocaching. I am really looking forward to finding some caches in London and Paris on our trip. I'm also hoping to make my milestone 1500th find in either place (I'm at 1434 right now so would have to find 65 more caches before I go. It's doable.)
So today I decided to start compiling caches for Paris. It's an interesting process. Many of the Paris cache pages on geocaching.com are written both in French and English. Pas de problem. The interesting part is when the page is seulement in francais! My french is pretty rusty so I have to copy the exact address that brings up that page, then open up Babel Fish (a great translating website BTW) and paste the address into the translator and wait for the English translation. It's never exact so it's kind of funny sometimes. But it gets the general idea across - and helps me decide whether or not the cache is doable. If it's doable, copy and paste the translation into a new page, then go back to the original listing to copy/paste the coords and map (the translated GC.com page doesn't show location as I'm "not logged in.")
Whether I'll take these papers with me on the trip, or copy things into a smaller form remains to be seen. I wanted to have the info, though, so that when I put all of my info for each day into one place, the caches in those areas are part of the info.
I'll have to recheck for disabled and new caches right before I leave, of course.
At work, I was able to go onto google.com/maps and see street views of places in Paris. Pretty neat! 61 days to go....
So today I decided to start compiling caches for Paris. It's an interesting process. Many of the Paris cache pages on geocaching.com are written both in French and English. Pas de problem. The interesting part is when the page is seulement in francais! My french is pretty rusty so I have to copy the exact address that brings up that page, then open up Babel Fish (a great translating website BTW) and paste the address into the translator and wait for the English translation. It's never exact so it's kind of funny sometimes. But it gets the general idea across - and helps me decide whether or not the cache is doable. If it's doable, copy and paste the translation into a new page, then go back to the original listing to copy/paste the coords and map (the translated GC.com page doesn't show location as I'm "not logged in.")
Whether I'll take these papers with me on the trip, or copy things into a smaller form remains to be seen. I wanted to have the info, though, so that when I put all of my info for each day into one place, the caches in those areas are part of the info.
I'll have to recheck for disabled and new caches right before I leave, of course.
At work, I was able to go onto google.com/maps and see street views of places in Paris. Pretty neat! 61 days to go....
Sunday, January 18, 2009
No scamming please!
Just a quick update first - Eric got home about 20 minutes after I posted my previous entry. Have to admit he's usually pretty good about either getting home by midnight or at least calling.
This has been a quiet weekend. Did some online reading last night, mostly on the Rick Steves site. I started reading about all the tourist scams...that can sure give you food for thought! There are several classic variations in Paris...
First is the gold ring scam. The person slips a "gold" ring on the ground, then "finds" it and offers it to you. When you take it, the person insists on your giving them some money for "lunch" in return for the favor. Usually on or near the Seine.
Another is the bracelet scam. Usually near tourist attractions such as Sacre Coeur, you're approached by a group of men who grab your wrist and tie a string bracelet on it, then demand money for the "gift" they've given you.
Also to watch out for are the trinket sellers around the Eiffel Tower who shove little plastic towers in your face to get you to buy them.
And this is on top of the ever-necessary vigilance against pickpockets and other thefts. It was strongly stressed in what I read last night that a money belt or pouch is a MUST.
Makes you wonder if it's even worth it. YES, of course it is!!!!!! Just need to be careful and aware. Most of the scammers ask you if you speak English. It's suggested that you answer, "Nein" (German) rather than "non" (French) or "no." Apparently you're not as apt to be bothered if they think you're German. Ja, das ist gut.
This has been a quiet weekend. Did some online reading last night, mostly on the Rick Steves site. I started reading about all the tourist scams...that can sure give you food for thought! There are several classic variations in Paris...
First is the gold ring scam. The person slips a "gold" ring on the ground, then "finds" it and offers it to you. When you take it, the person insists on your giving them some money for "lunch" in return for the favor. Usually on or near the Seine.
Another is the bracelet scam. Usually near tourist attractions such as Sacre Coeur, you're approached by a group of men who grab your wrist and tie a string bracelet on it, then demand money for the "gift" they've given you.
Also to watch out for are the trinket sellers around the Eiffel Tower who shove little plastic towers in your face to get you to buy them.
And this is on top of the ever-necessary vigilance against pickpockets and other thefts. It was strongly stressed in what I read last night that a money belt or pouch is a MUST.
Makes you wonder if it's even worth it. YES, of course it is!!!!!! Just need to be careful and aware. Most of the scammers ask you if you speak English. It's suggested that you answer, "Nein" (German) rather than "non" (French) or "no." Apparently you're not as apt to be bothered if they think you're German. Ja, das ist gut.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Two worlds of worry, mom-style
It's 11:40 p.m. Do I know where my children are? One is in Germany, of course, and the other is a bit AWOL. He was gone before we got up this morning, he was to go with a friend to his doctor appointment in Detroit, then come back and go to work. Last night he was home by 10 after working - not home yet, no word.
When the roads are bad, I worry even more. Eric is a good driver, but the roads are still bad because of the extreme low temps and I worry more about the other guy hitting him. Wish I knew he was safe, he usually calls by midnight if he's not yet home so hope he follows through.
He doesn't understand a parent's worry. I suppose I didn't, either, at his age. I don't worry nearly as much about Scott (on a day-to-day basis anyway) since he's not at home. But Eric still lives here, so I'm probably going to continue to worry until he is settled in his own place someday. Love you, Eric!
Then it'll be more long-term worry like it is with Scott. Of course, knowing your son is headed for a war zone in a month is a whole different world of worry... even though he'll be in the rear in a support role.
When the roads are bad, I worry even more. Eric is a good driver, but the roads are still bad because of the extreme low temps and I worry more about the other guy hitting him. Wish I knew he was safe, he usually calls by midnight if he's not yet home so hope he follows through.
He doesn't understand a parent's worry. I suppose I didn't, either, at his age. I don't worry nearly as much about Scott (on a day-to-day basis anyway) since he's not at home. But Eric still lives here, so I'm probably going to continue to worry until he is settled in his own place someday. Love you, Eric!
Then it'll be more long-term worry like it is with Scott. Of course, knowing your son is headed for a war zone in a month is a whole different world of worry... even though he'll be in the rear in a support role.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Meet & Greet
It's still bitterly cold. But at least it wasn't snowing as I left for work. Tonight was our monthly SW MiGO Meet & Greet potluck get together. (SW MiGO = Southwest Michigan Geocaching Organization.) I think we have an overabundance of cachers with names in the beginning of the alphabet. Usually we're assigned main dish - and there's lots of main dishes, not so many desserts. This time we got desserts - and yep, way too many desserts, the main dishes were cleared out fast! That's not a good thing when you're watching what you're eating...but I managed to be pretty good anyway. (I have lost 10 pounds since the beginning of the year, mostly by just eating less (especially snacking at work where treats are ALWAYS available) and listening to my body, as in eating only when I'm hungry.
The meet & greet was fun as usual - swapping caching stories and travel bugs, giving and getting help on unfound caches and puzzles, and just general catching up on what's happening in our lives. We are a very diverse group of people but have a common bond in geocaching. I truly enjoy spending time with these people.
The meet & greet was fun as usual - swapping caching stories and travel bugs, giving and getting help on unfound caches and puzzles, and just general catching up on what's happening in our lives. We are a very diverse group of people but have a common bond in geocaching. I truly enjoy spending time with these people.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Deep Freeze and driving too
Baby, it's cold outside! Not as cold as it is to the west of us, across the lake, but still hovering around zero or so. It's so cold that salt doesn't melt on the roads. THAT makes for interesting driving as I found out this morning.
I needed to be to work early as my annual review was today. So I left plenty early (so I thought.) After my creep down the hill by my house (it'll be a warm day before I go more than 10 mph down that hill again,) , M-21 seemed pretty good. I took the on-ramp to I-96 and that's where the fun began. There is an electronic info sign just after you get on. It was showing the message that there was an accident at the split (about a mile down the road where I-196 branches off to downtown from I-96.) So I start to slow down and, by golly, it was slippery (thought it didn't look like it.) Also the traffic had started to back up, it took a solid 10 minutes to go that mile. Looked like 3-4 cars in the accident plus 3-4 more that were slide-offs, probably to avoid the accident.
Crept along until I got past the split, one blessing was that I was only about 6 cars behind the M-DOT truck that was spreading sand as the salt wasn't working. So relatively good traction considering, as long as we took it slow. Passed another wreck on the side of the road about a mile later, plus a few other slide-offs as well. Slow and steady brought me downtown, where I broke one of my own unwritten rules and used my cellphone while driving (I wasn't going very fast) to call in to let work know I'd be late as I'd been stuck behind some accidents but it wouldn't be much longer as I was already almost to Lane Avenue (the exit before my exit.)
I spoke too soon. Just after Lane Avenue was a parking lot, or so it seemed as nobody was moving due to another accident between Lane Ave. and Lake Michigan Drive (my exit.) So I had to call back and let them know. Eventually got past the accident, but not until after I saw a car in the eastbound lanes do a spin and end up facing the other direction. Finally made it to work about 15 minutes later than I should have been there for the eval.
My saving grace there was that one of my supervisors was stuck in the same situation. They are also quite understanding so it wouldn't have been counted against me anyway.
It's supposed to get colder tomorrow before it starts warming up again in a few days. It's not the cold that bothers me but the effect on the roads. If you've read this blog much, you KNOW that I hate winter driving!
I needed to be to work early as my annual review was today. So I left plenty early (so I thought.) After my creep down the hill by my house (it'll be a warm day before I go more than 10 mph down that hill again,) , M-21 seemed pretty good. I took the on-ramp to I-96 and that's where the fun began. There is an electronic info sign just after you get on. It was showing the message that there was an accident at the split (about a mile down the road where I-196 branches off to downtown from I-96.) So I start to slow down and, by golly, it was slippery (thought it didn't look like it.) Also the traffic had started to back up, it took a solid 10 minutes to go that mile. Looked like 3-4 cars in the accident plus 3-4 more that were slide-offs, probably to avoid the accident.
Crept along until I got past the split, one blessing was that I was only about 6 cars behind the M-DOT truck that was spreading sand as the salt wasn't working. So relatively good traction considering, as long as we took it slow. Passed another wreck on the side of the road about a mile later, plus a few other slide-offs as well. Slow and steady brought me downtown, where I broke one of my own unwritten rules and used my cellphone while driving (I wasn't going very fast) to call in to let work know I'd be late as I'd been stuck behind some accidents but it wouldn't be much longer as I was already almost to Lane Avenue (the exit before my exit.)
I spoke too soon. Just after Lane Avenue was a parking lot, or so it seemed as nobody was moving due to another accident between Lane Ave. and Lake Michigan Drive (my exit.) So I had to call back and let them know. Eventually got past the accident, but not until after I saw a car in the eastbound lanes do a spin and end up facing the other direction. Finally made it to work about 15 minutes later than I should have been there for the eval.
My saving grace there was that one of my supervisors was stuck in the same situation. They are also quite understanding so it wouldn't have been counted against me anyway.
It's supposed to get colder tomorrow before it starts warming up again in a few days. It's not the cold that bothers me but the effect on the roads. If you've read this blog much, you KNOW that I hate winter driving!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
London plans
I finally got my thoughts together and have a preliminary London itinerary today. Subject to change, of course.
We fly from the states overnight from Sat. to Sunday, and are picked up by the shuttle at Heathrow at 2 p.m. local time. Puts us at the hotel 3ish, I'm thinking. Hopefully with enough time to take a bus tour just to get us familiar. If not, that'll have to be the next day.
Monday and Tuesday are switchable, it'll depend on when the Changing of the Guard is as it's only every other day this time of year. One of those days will be starting at the Tower of London, also the British Museum, perhaps St. Paul's Cathedral, and a visit to the London Harley dealer at Debbie's request.
The other of those days will have a visit to Westminster Abbey, the Changing of the Guards, a picnic lunch in Kensington Gardens, a visit to Kensington Palace, a visit to the Baden-Powell Museum which is free and nearby (at my request..Baden-Powell was the founder of Boy Scouting. Wish I could go out to Gilwell Park but given the time constraints that just isn't gonna happen...). Also perhaps a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum and ending the day with a stop at Harrods Department Store.
On Wed. we take the Eurostar to Paris from St. Pancras Station. I found out today that our departure time is about 90 minutes later than originally planned, so we'll probably have a little bit of time to wrap up sightseeing. Close to St. Pancras is the British Library and also Kings Cross Station, which has Platform 9 3/4 for the Harry Potter fans (not my cuppa tea but willing to go if the sisters want to.)
Then on to Paris! That extra 90 minutes in London means 90 less minutes in Paris that afternoon, we don't arrive there now until 5:26 local time, that's the disadvantage to be sure, especially for Debbie & Judy who will only have Thursday and Friday there.
Comments and suggestions gracefully accepted.
On another note, I finally received my ScotteVest travel vest replacement from Magellans today. I had originally ordered the jacket, and in what I thought was the correct size but turns out they run a bit smaller (really, it's not an excuse for too many Christmas cookies!) Decided I would like the vest better and since I was returning, opted for the next size up to give me a bit more room. Haven't had much chance to try it out but I like the fit a whole lot better. I used up all my Christmas money from my father-in-law to get it but I think it'll be worth it to be more hands free, discreetly. As I play with it I'll let you know what I think.
Weather report: our expected high winds and snow really didn't come as planned today. But the cold weather did - it's 3 below right now without the wind chill....brrrr.....
We fly from the states overnight from Sat. to Sunday, and are picked up by the shuttle at Heathrow at 2 p.m. local time. Puts us at the hotel 3ish, I'm thinking. Hopefully with enough time to take a bus tour just to get us familiar. If not, that'll have to be the next day.
Monday and Tuesday are switchable, it'll depend on when the Changing of the Guard is as it's only every other day this time of year. One of those days will be starting at the Tower of London, also the British Museum, perhaps St. Paul's Cathedral, and a visit to the London Harley dealer at Debbie's request.
The other of those days will have a visit to Westminster Abbey, the Changing of the Guards, a picnic lunch in Kensington Gardens, a visit to Kensington Palace, a visit to the Baden-Powell Museum which is free and nearby (at my request..Baden-Powell was the founder of Boy Scouting. Wish I could go out to Gilwell Park but given the time constraints that just isn't gonna happen...). Also perhaps a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum and ending the day with a stop at Harrods Department Store.
On Wed. we take the Eurostar to Paris from St. Pancras Station. I found out today that our departure time is about 90 minutes later than originally planned, so we'll probably have a little bit of time to wrap up sightseeing. Close to St. Pancras is the British Library and also Kings Cross Station, which has Platform 9 3/4 for the Harry Potter fans (not my cuppa tea but willing to go if the sisters want to.)
Then on to Paris! That extra 90 minutes in London means 90 less minutes in Paris that afternoon, we don't arrive there now until 5:26 local time, that's the disadvantage to be sure, especially for Debbie & Judy who will only have Thursday and Friday there.
Comments and suggestions gracefully accepted.
On another note, I finally received my ScotteVest travel vest replacement from Magellans today. I had originally ordered the jacket, and in what I thought was the correct size but turns out they run a bit smaller (really, it's not an excuse for too many Christmas cookies!) Decided I would like the vest better and since I was returning, opted for the next size up to give me a bit more room. Haven't had much chance to try it out but I like the fit a whole lot better. I used up all my Christmas money from my father-in-law to get it but I think it'll be worth it to be more hands free, discreetly. As I play with it I'll let you know what I think.
Weather report: our expected high winds and snow really didn't come as planned today. But the cold weather did - it's 3 below right now without the wind chill....brrrr.....
Monday, January 12, 2009
Monday, Monday
Monday, Monday. Start of a new week. Hope it turns out better than the end of the last one did! I didn't get to go to the Michigan Geo-Rally which was held yesterday. I was feeling better from my Saturday "bug" but not quite up to going yet. I did get a consolation prize of sorts today though - all of the temporary caches from the event (I think there are 16...) were turned into regular caches so 16 more new caches to find! There's a storm coming this evening so I didn't go for any of them after work but I do have that to look forward to.
I did finish getting all the Christmas stuff packed and down to the basement yesterday. I still have to get it all back under the stairs but that won't take long. I also tried to load the Rick Steves mp3 tours in Paris onto my mp3 player without any luck. So yesterday when I was out (I did go to church even though I didn't feel quite up to going to the rally) I stopped at Meijer and there was a store brand mp3 player, 2 gb, on sale for $20. So I bought one and was able to (I think, haven't tested it yet) load them onto the new mp3 player. This one is smaller with twice the capacity. So should be a good thing, provided it works.
This morning I had planned to go to the Cascade library to drop Eric off so that he was close to the Subaru dealer. This so Steve could pick him up there (without going all the way home first) and go get the "new" outback. They're not home yet so hope it's all going ok. Anyway, I ended up not having to take him since his friend picked him up and was going to drop him off at the library. I decided to go anyway, though, and got an anti-virus update and a few other things done.
A quiet afternoon at work with just my little guy. He was in a great mood and we had a good afternoon. Now I'm home, before the anticipated storm which could escalate into a blizzard with the winds and wind chill. Eric just got home and I went out to see the "new" outback. Very nice looking, has all the bells and whistles that the old one did, plus dual moon roofs and leather seats. The old owners upgraded to a Tribeca, according to Eric. The car is still in Steve's name (it would have been in mine too if I'd been there to sign the new title) as that lowers the insurance rate for Eric.
I did finish getting all the Christmas stuff packed and down to the basement yesterday. I still have to get it all back under the stairs but that won't take long. I also tried to load the Rick Steves mp3 tours in Paris onto my mp3 player without any luck. So yesterday when I was out (I did go to church even though I didn't feel quite up to going to the rally) I stopped at Meijer and there was a store brand mp3 player, 2 gb, on sale for $20. So I bought one and was able to (I think, haven't tested it yet) load them onto the new mp3 player. This one is smaller with twice the capacity. So should be a good thing, provided it works.
This morning I had planned to go to the Cascade library to drop Eric off so that he was close to the Subaru dealer. This so Steve could pick him up there (without going all the way home first) and go get the "new" outback. They're not home yet so hope it's all going ok. Anyway, I ended up not having to take him since his friend picked him up and was going to drop him off at the library. I decided to go anyway, though, and got an anti-virus update and a few other things done.
A quiet afternoon at work with just my little guy. He was in a great mood and we had a good afternoon. Now I'm home, before the anticipated storm which could escalate into a blizzard with the winds and wind chill. Eric just got home and I went out to see the "new" outback. Very nice looking, has all the bells and whistles that the old one did, plus dual moon roofs and leather seats. The old owners upgraded to a Tribeca, according to Eric. The car is still in Steve's name (it would have been in mine too if I'd been there to sign the new title) as that lowers the insurance rate for Eric.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Farewell to the Outback
I spent most of the day today just recovering from a bit of a stomach bug that found me. Feeling much better tonight though. Nothing exciting happened so guess I'll give you a Subaru update.
The insurance did total it out after Eric drove it through a flooded roadway two weeks ago tomorrow. (It's still Saturday night as I'm typing, don't know if it'll post before midnight or not...) This was mainly due to the fact that water got into the car interior. Not much, but enough. This plus the ruined engine equals no more Outback. This one, anyway. We're going to get about $8700 (I think) from the insurance. Steve went to the Subaru dealer and found another Outback, a year newer, with bigger engine, for just around $8000. Only drawback is that it has 140,000 miles. The old one had about 85,000 (I think.) It has been completely maintained by the dealer, so hopefully it will work out well. You never can know for sure when you haven't taken care of the car from the start. Steve and Eric will pick it up on Monday.
The Outback was the car I drove for probably 2-3 years; I still miss it as it was a smaller car but with all wheel drive. Oh well. It IS just a car, after all. Eric wasn't hurt in the incident, that's what counts the most.
The insurance did total it out after Eric drove it through a flooded roadway two weeks ago tomorrow. (It's still Saturday night as I'm typing, don't know if it'll post before midnight or not...) This was mainly due to the fact that water got into the car interior. Not much, but enough. This plus the ruined engine equals no more Outback. This one, anyway. We're going to get about $8700 (I think) from the insurance. Steve went to the Subaru dealer and found another Outback, a year newer, with bigger engine, for just around $8000. Only drawback is that it has 140,000 miles. The old one had about 85,000 (I think.) It has been completely maintained by the dealer, so hopefully it will work out well. You never can know for sure when you haven't taken care of the car from the start. Steve and Eric will pick it up on Monday.
The Outback was the car I drove for probably 2-3 years; I still miss it as it was a smaller car but with all wheel drive. Oh well. It IS just a car, after all. Eric wasn't hurt in the incident, that's what counts the most.
I'm really gonna go (Lord willing and the creek don't rise...)
My half day at work. Clear roads on the way in, by 12:30 when I left it was snowing AGAIN so decided to just go on home without any caching.
I packed for my trip this afternoon. Really. Ok, so I unpacked afterwards. But I wanted to see if the clothes that I wanted to take were realistic for just a carry on (I have the eBags convertible suitcase.) My packing "list" for today was: two pairs of pants; two mockneck shirts; one sweater; one short sleeve shirt; 1 t-shirt with sweatshorts to sleep in; 7 pairs of panties, 1 bra, 4 prs of socks; my sleep sack and a lightweight small fleece blanket; a small bag with my netbook power cords and my adaptor electrical plugs; my empty toiletries bag; and probably a few small miscellaneous items as well. I did forget to put my guidebooks in. Anyway, that fit easily into my suitcase (with the help of those bags that you can get all the air out of them.) Weight was 15 pounds so far. I will have a ScotteVest travel vest with lots of pockets, one will be big enough for the netbook itself plus some of the miscellaneous stuff. I'll also take my fleece jacket and wear jeans and a sweater. I have plenty of time to tweak this, of course!
Tonight after dinner I brought up the storage tote for the ornaments and started the sad (to me anyway) task of taking down the Christmas tree. I had packed them in shredded paper for the last year or two; this was really messy every time I took them out. So I took some advice I'd read at the start of the Christmas season and packed each ornament in a styrofoam cup with just a little shredded paper in the cup. Much neater though I couldn't fit as many into the storage tote.
While I worked I watched a DVD that I'd checked out of the library: Travel With Kids Paris. It was the first video I've seen of Paris since this trip became a reality (well, like I said: Lord willing and the creek don't rise) EXCELLENT views and descriptions of Paris, even though it was from a family's point of view.
I started watching the DVD and was somewhat surprised to find myself a bit choked up. It hit me that this is really going to happen, I am going to finally see Paris after first learning about the city back in 1973 when I started my first year of French class. Four years of hearing Mr. St. Clair teach us about French and France; then many years of "someday" and now it's real. I hope my mom realizes just how much this means to me. I'll never be able to thank her enough. Getting a bit choked up again just writing this.
I watched another DVD, this one of London but not the same series as the first one, after the Paris DVD was finished. I'm very excited to go to London as well but I didn't get choked up like I did with Paris. Maybe because I'm going to be able to more thoroughly explore Paris. Maybe because I've had English "lessons" since birth. Maybe because it wasn't as good of a DVD as the first one. I don't know. But I am looking forward to ALL of this trip, of course.
I packed for my trip this afternoon. Really. Ok, so I unpacked afterwards. But I wanted to see if the clothes that I wanted to take were realistic for just a carry on (I have the eBags convertible suitcase.) My packing "list" for today was: two pairs of pants; two mockneck shirts; one sweater; one short sleeve shirt; 1 t-shirt with sweatshorts to sleep in; 7 pairs of panties, 1 bra, 4 prs of socks; my sleep sack and a lightweight small fleece blanket; a small bag with my netbook power cords and my adaptor electrical plugs; my empty toiletries bag; and probably a few small miscellaneous items as well. I did forget to put my guidebooks in. Anyway, that fit easily into my suitcase (with the help of those bags that you can get all the air out of them.) Weight was 15 pounds so far. I will have a ScotteVest travel vest with lots of pockets, one will be big enough for the netbook itself plus some of the miscellaneous stuff. I'll also take my fleece jacket and wear jeans and a sweater. I have plenty of time to tweak this, of course!
Tonight after dinner I brought up the storage tote for the ornaments and started the sad (to me anyway) task of taking down the Christmas tree. I had packed them in shredded paper for the last year or two; this was really messy every time I took them out. So I took some advice I'd read at the start of the Christmas season and packed each ornament in a styrofoam cup with just a little shredded paper in the cup. Much neater though I couldn't fit as many into the storage tote.
While I worked I watched a DVD that I'd checked out of the library: Travel With Kids Paris. It was the first video I've seen of Paris since this trip became a reality (well, like I said: Lord willing and the creek don't rise) EXCELLENT views and descriptions of Paris, even though it was from a family's point of view.
I started watching the DVD and was somewhat surprised to find myself a bit choked up. It hit me that this is really going to happen, I am going to finally see Paris after first learning about the city back in 1973 when I started my first year of French class. Four years of hearing Mr. St. Clair teach us about French and France; then many years of "someday" and now it's real. I hope my mom realizes just how much this means to me. I'll never be able to thank her enough. Getting a bit choked up again just writing this.
I watched another DVD, this one of London but not the same series as the first one, after the Paris DVD was finished. I'm very excited to go to London as well but I didn't get choked up like I did with Paris. Maybe because I'm going to be able to more thoroughly explore Paris. Maybe because I've had English "lessons" since birth. Maybe because it wasn't as good of a DVD as the first one. I don't know. But I am looking forward to ALL of this trip, of course.
Friday, January 9, 2009
I survived the trip to Roundtable...
Since I'm able to write this morning, I obviously survived the trip to Greenville last night! As I left work at 5:30, it was snowing lightly. Just what I DIDN'T want! The trip there wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, both 131 and M-57 were pretty much just wet with little snow cover until almost to Greenville. Roundtable itself went well. A little bit lighter attendance than usual, the weather was probably the deciding factor. The trip home was a little bit more difficult. I know Lincoln Lake Rd can be a bear in bad weather - lots of hills and curves plus it's just a county route, though a main North-South road for the east side of the county. The road had some snow pack but overall wasn't too bad. I had no traffic following me all the way down which helped quite a bit, I didn't feel bad about going slower than some would have. (within MY comfort zone!)
I learned a lesson yesterday about dry ice. I bought some on Wednesday night for a ceremony at Roundtable. My thinking (wrong, yeah I know better now) was that since the garage was below freezing, the ice would be ok out there overnight. Loaded the car yesterday morning and found an empty bag. Yep, it evaporates when it's not contained. Lesson learned. I thought that I'd just pick up more at the Meijer in Greenville, but they didn't have any, so I had to present the ceremony without it. I shared my newfound knowledge about dry ice, too!
It was a quiet afternoon before I left for Greenville. I only had one child, who took his nap. I had some computer work to do anyway, then got to IM with my sister in Wisconsin. She's been reading about London and Paris! I'm excited about that because it is the first I've heard from either of them about the trip directly. She wants to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (a given) plus visit Harley dealers for t-shirts. Doable provided she knows where they are, I guess. Probably not my top choice but I'm flexible. She also thinks another idea of mine, which I'm not sharing here because I know she reads this blog (Hi, Mom!) is excellent and we'll do our best to pull it off.
I have to get ready for work now. More snow expected today so the drive to work should be ok, but the drive home may be another story. If the snow comes as expected, I will most likely NOT be doing any caching this afternoon! Besides, I have a date with a Christmas tree that stubbornly refuses to let me take it down...it's been a busy week getting ready for Roundtable, I'll stick to that story!
I learned a lesson yesterday about dry ice. I bought some on Wednesday night for a ceremony at Roundtable. My thinking (wrong, yeah I know better now) was that since the garage was below freezing, the ice would be ok out there overnight. Loaded the car yesterday morning and found an empty bag. Yep, it evaporates when it's not contained. Lesson learned. I thought that I'd just pick up more at the Meijer in Greenville, but they didn't have any, so I had to present the ceremony without it. I shared my newfound knowledge about dry ice, too!
It was a quiet afternoon before I left for Greenville. I only had one child, who took his nap. I had some computer work to do anyway, then got to IM with my sister in Wisconsin. She's been reading about London and Paris! I'm excited about that because it is the first I've heard from either of them about the trip directly. She wants to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (a given) plus visit Harley dealers for t-shirts. Doable provided she knows where they are, I guess. Probably not my top choice but I'm flexible. She also thinks another idea of mine, which I'm not sharing here because I know she reads this blog (Hi, Mom!) is excellent and we'll do our best to pull it off.
I have to get ready for work now. More snow expected today so the drive to work should be ok, but the drive home may be another story. If the snow comes as expected, I will most likely NOT be doing any caching this afternoon! Besides, I have a date with a Christmas tree that stubbornly refuses to let me take it down...it's been a busy week getting ready for Roundtable, I'll stick to that story!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Snow snow snow
More snow. Isn't it spring yet? Roads weren't too bad (yet) when I went to work yesterday at noon. By the time I left at 5:30 they weren't very good. Still, church (Awana) was not cancelled so off I went to Lowell. Slow and steady, got there ok. Only two kids in our group made it but they both did very well on their sections tonight. One has just three sections left to finish her book!
I left Awana after book time as we had a troop committee meeting. Usually they are on the first Thursday but this month that was New Years Day. 2nd Thursday doesn't work because that's roundtable (tonight.) So I was late but didn't miss a whole lot as the treasurer's report was still being discussed. It was after 9 by the time we were done, and the snow was a little heavier by then.
I needed to make a quick stop at Meijer for dry ice for a ceremony for roundtable tonight. By the time I left Meijer, the roads were still bad and the visibility was worse as well. Y'know, that snow coming right at you, makes you think you're piloting a spaceship like on Star Wars. I still made it home safely and so did Eric (thanks to his friend Jim.) He is still carless, the insurance has decided to total the car altogether because of water getting into the car itself. They were to talk to Steve about it yesterday, calling him on his cell phone since he's back in Detroit.
Anyway, finished the evening by getting all the roundtable preparations finished, then burned the CDs this morning. (I make a resource CD for the participants instead of printing out lots of paper copies.)
The snow seems to have stopped, hopefully until at least tomorrow. Judging from the back deck, looks like we got about five inches of new stuff. Now to just hope that the roads are clear tonight for my trip to Greenville and back home.
I left Awana after book time as we had a troop committee meeting. Usually they are on the first Thursday but this month that was New Years Day. 2nd Thursday doesn't work because that's roundtable (tonight.) So I was late but didn't miss a whole lot as the treasurer's report was still being discussed. It was after 9 by the time we were done, and the snow was a little heavier by then.
I needed to make a quick stop at Meijer for dry ice for a ceremony for roundtable tonight. By the time I left Meijer, the roads were still bad and the visibility was worse as well. Y'know, that snow coming right at you, makes you think you're piloting a spaceship like on Star Wars. I still made it home safely and so did Eric (thanks to his friend Jim.) He is still carless, the insurance has decided to total the car altogether because of water getting into the car itself. They were to talk to Steve about it yesterday, calling him on his cell phone since he's back in Detroit.
Anyway, finished the evening by getting all the roundtable preparations finished, then burned the CDs this morning. (I make a resource CD for the participants instead of printing out lots of paper copies.)
The snow seems to have stopped, hopefully until at least tomorrow. Judging from the back deck, looks like we got about five inches of new stuff. Now to just hope that the roads are clear tonight for my trip to Greenville and back home.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
99 cent gas
One of the local grocery store chains (with attached gas stations) is running a promotion. It started on Sunday and went through today. If you buy $100 worth of groceries, they will give you a coupon for up to 20 gallons of gas for 99 cents per gallon. I was debating whether or not it would be worth it, then as I started for home this evening, I realized gas had gone up another dime or so a gallon this afternoon. Yes, I know it's still a far cry from the high prices of last summer. It shouldn't really bother me. But for whatever reason it was enough to motivate me to go to this chain as opposed to the chain I usually go to.
I ended up spending over $100 - stocked up on pop, frozen dinners (for Steve & Eric when I'm gone) meat, and other items. Bought over 13 1/2 gallons of gas at the attached gas station for $13.50!
I ended up spending over $100 - stocked up on pop, frozen dinners (for Steve & Eric when I'm gone) meat, and other items. Bought over 13 1/2 gallons of gas at the attached gas station for $13.50!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Back to work...
Back to work today. Have to admit it wasn't too hard of a work day - just one little boy from noon to 3:30, and he took a nap during that time. It was good to be back with him today!
I was not looking forward to the drive, after my slick trip yesterday. My home road wasn't nearly as bad as yesterday, though I was still cautious. The main roads were clear and dry. Thankfully.
3:30 was early for getting off work on a Monday, so I decided I'd have enough time to pick up a few more caches in the winter series. Headed up the road to the one nearest my workplace, which turned out to be in a cemetery. I was worried about icy roads within the cemetery, but it looked clear as I turned in. Near the cache (which turned out to be a very easy find) the roads turned quite icy. Really had to creep a bit to get through that area. If the whole cemetery had been like that, I would have skipped the cache. Headed up the road to another pair of caches on one of the busy commercial streets. The first ended up being near a Chuck-E-Cheese's: glad it wasn't too busy! Then decided to head up the street first to pick up another cache, not in the series. Found it quickly but had a lot of trouble opening it. It was a pill bottle w/childproof lid. I think some of the cammo duct tape was stuck in the lid.
Found the cache across the street from the Chuck E Cheese cache quickly - a true drive up cache. Then went towards home with two more caches to go before dark. The first turned out to be my first DNF (did not find) in the series. Looked quite a bit without success. Read the logs tonight when I logged the DNF and think I know where it might be. Then found the last which was a magnetic key box stuck to the back of a bench in front of a drug store. Many of the caches in the winter series aren't all that difficult or creative, but it's still nice to get out there anyway.
Worked on roundtable preparations tonight - roundtable is Thursday night. I really shouldn't watch the weather on TV, they're saying there's a good chance of snow and I have to drive from Grand Rapids to Greenville and then home. Definitely NOT looking forward to the trip...
I was not looking forward to the drive, after my slick trip yesterday. My home road wasn't nearly as bad as yesterday, though I was still cautious. The main roads were clear and dry. Thankfully.
3:30 was early for getting off work on a Monday, so I decided I'd have enough time to pick up a few more caches in the winter series. Headed up the road to the one nearest my workplace, which turned out to be in a cemetery. I was worried about icy roads within the cemetery, but it looked clear as I turned in. Near the cache (which turned out to be a very easy find) the roads turned quite icy. Really had to creep a bit to get through that area. If the whole cemetery had been like that, I would have skipped the cache. Headed up the road to another pair of caches on one of the busy commercial streets. The first ended up being near a Chuck-E-Cheese's: glad it wasn't too busy! Then decided to head up the street first to pick up another cache, not in the series. Found it quickly but had a lot of trouble opening it. It was a pill bottle w/childproof lid. I think some of the cammo duct tape was stuck in the lid.
Found the cache across the street from the Chuck E Cheese cache quickly - a true drive up cache. Then went towards home with two more caches to go before dark. The first turned out to be my first DNF (did not find) in the series. Looked quite a bit without success. Read the logs tonight when I logged the DNF and think I know where it might be. Then found the last which was a magnetic key box stuck to the back of a bench in front of a drug store. Many of the caches in the winter series aren't all that difficult or creative, but it's still nice to get out there anyway.
Worked on roundtable preparations tonight - roundtable is Thursday night. I really shouldn't watch the weather on TV, they're saying there's a good chance of snow and I have to drive from Grand Rapids to Greenville and then home. Definitely NOT looking forward to the trip...
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Slicker than snot
This morning, I was cautious as I set off for church, as I'd heard we were to have received the "gift" of a bit of freezing rain overnight. For the lone reader or two who may not know it, I live out in the country on the corner of two hilly roads. We don't get first dibs on the road crews coming through, that's for sure! Anyway, started down our road, creeping all the way. You know it's slick when you're only going about 5-10 mph and start sliding on a level stretch of road! I was a bit shaken after the 2nd or 3rd incident of this BEFORE I got to the big hill at the bottom of our road, leading to the state hwy into town. Decided that I didn't want to take my van on a luge run down the hill, so turned back and went home. I really hated to miss church and my 1st graders in Sunday School, but I just couldn't drive it this morning. Steve went into town at noon and he said the roads were ok by then, either the road crews salted or the temp went up just enough. But of course that was too late for church.
I had a busy day yesterday. We had our quarterly Wood Badge Association board meeting, which lasted from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. After the board meeting, which included a potluck lunch (two of us brought the same dish, meatballs!) some of my Bear friends - Tod, Sonia, and Becky - and I adjourned to a nearby establishment for our two hour secondary meeting. We talked about possible ways we could help in the rebuilding of the dining hall (see my earlier blog post) and of course, many other topics as well. We left about 4:30 p.m.
I had more new caches from the winter series at this end of town. How many could I get done in an hour (before dark?) Turns out I was able to get five altogether. First one was (I thought anyway) nearby. Parked in an apartment complex lot, tried to climb a big hill only to realize that there was a shopping center at the top of the hill and the cache was best retrieved from the other direction! It was a park and grab from the other side. To continue on the hill would have been dangerous, especially alone. Also came at the next cache from the wrong way, had to drive around and then found it easily, another park and grab. Picked up a geocoin commemmorating World Diabetes Day in this 2nd cache.
Made a detour to another cache, not in the new series, that I had tried to find twice before. Finally found it this time but it was about 7 feet up, tucked behind a tall sign. Managed to knock it down with my hiking stick, but then couldn't put it back so just hid it nearby and made a note of apology in the log. From the clues, I'm not sure it was supposed to be up that high anyway!
Went to a nearby park where I used to take kids swimming in the summer when I worked in this area. Two cachemobiles were parked there and the occupants were just coming back after finding the cache. We talked for a few minutes - they had come from Kalamazoo just to do the series (26 caches) - I gave them the coords for my nearby Ice Breakers #2 cache as well. Took me a few minutes to find that cache after the rest left - wish I'd asked for a clue. Then decided I was close enough to another cache I'd looked for previously. The owners had given me a clue after my DNF but where they told me to look, it wasn't budging. Will have to wait until spring, I suspect.
Last cache, just as sun was setting, was just about across the street from my last find. Took a couple of minutes but there it was. Headed for home afterwards as I've promised Steve from the get-go that I wouldn't cache alone after dark. A nice, but full day.
I had a busy day yesterday. We had our quarterly Wood Badge Association board meeting, which lasted from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. After the board meeting, which included a potluck lunch (two of us brought the same dish, meatballs!) some of my Bear friends - Tod, Sonia, and Becky - and I adjourned to a nearby establishment for our two hour secondary meeting. We talked about possible ways we could help in the rebuilding of the dining hall (see my earlier blog post) and of course, many other topics as well. We left about 4:30 p.m.
I had more new caches from the winter series at this end of town. How many could I get done in an hour (before dark?) Turns out I was able to get five altogether. First one was (I thought anyway) nearby. Parked in an apartment complex lot, tried to climb a big hill only to realize that there was a shopping center at the top of the hill and the cache was best retrieved from the other direction! It was a park and grab from the other side. To continue on the hill would have been dangerous, especially alone. Also came at the next cache from the wrong way, had to drive around and then found it easily, another park and grab. Picked up a geocoin commemmorating World Diabetes Day in this 2nd cache.
Made a detour to another cache, not in the new series, that I had tried to find twice before. Finally found it this time but it was about 7 feet up, tucked behind a tall sign. Managed to knock it down with my hiking stick, but then couldn't put it back so just hid it nearby and made a note of apology in the log. From the clues, I'm not sure it was supposed to be up that high anyway!
Went to a nearby park where I used to take kids swimming in the summer when I worked in this area. Two cachemobiles were parked there and the occupants were just coming back after finding the cache. We talked for a few minutes - they had come from Kalamazoo just to do the series (26 caches) - I gave them the coords for my nearby Ice Breakers #2 cache as well. Took me a few minutes to find that cache after the rest left - wish I'd asked for a clue. Then decided I was close enough to another cache I'd looked for previously. The owners had given me a clue after my DNF but where they told me to look, it wasn't budging. Will have to wait until spring, I suspect.
Last cache, just as sun was setting, was just about across the street from my last find. Took a couple of minutes but there it was. Headed for home afterwards as I've promised Steve from the get-go that I wouldn't cache alone after dark. A nice, but full day.
Friday, January 2, 2009
A geocaching day
It was geocaching bliss today. Friday afternoons are usually my caching afternoons, but I've missed the last two Fridays because of the holidays. Today was my chance, especially with so many new caches out there.
Started off at noon. Went to East Paris and picked up my first cache (and discovered how cold the wind was!) then went over to East Grand Rapids and picked up the second. I actually skipped the first stage accidentally as I followed a geo-trail and found the final first! Next went to a nearby one that I had been warned was for taller people. Yep, even parking my car really close and using the floor of the middle row seats as a step up, couldn't see it. Oh well.
Next headed down the Beltline, picked up one at WMU, then one at a Shell station at 28th & Breton (the hot chocolate dispenser was out of order...) before going to a cemetery at 28th & Kalamazoo for a letterbox cache (you follow directions after arriving at the waypoint instead of following your GPS. The directions headed me around in a circle so I looked at the cemetery map, realized it could only be one of two places, and found the cache. Next headed across the street to a park where I had already tried to find one hidden in a pine tree. Lots of pine trees to choose from. I thought I had a heads up from a caching friend, but the owner contacted me tonight and says it's much lower than I was looking.
Headed back eastbound on 28th, picked up several around the malls, then headed down Patterson to a Winter Fix cache at 44th and Patterson, which was behind a Wendy's. Wendy's doesn't sell hot chocolate.... went back up Patterson to one that I thought might be in the cemetery at 28th and Patterson. The cemetery borders the nearby shopping area, and sure enough, it was in the shopping area instead. Got that one, then my last one at the Cascade Meijers which was really convenient as I needed to go to Meijer anyway.
Surfing the MiGO website tonight (Michigan Geocaching Organization), I discovered that my Michigan ranking is #100! (it shows me as #102 but without today's caches added, I'm now ahead of the current #101 and #100.)
I have a Wood Badge meeting tomorrow but AFTERWARDS...there are caches in this new series that are up in that area, you can guess what I'll be doing!
Started off at noon. Went to East Paris and picked up my first cache (and discovered how cold the wind was!) then went over to East Grand Rapids and picked up the second. I actually skipped the first stage accidentally as I followed a geo-trail and found the final first! Next went to a nearby one that I had been warned was for taller people. Yep, even parking my car really close and using the floor of the middle row seats as a step up, couldn't see it. Oh well.
Next headed down the Beltline, picked up one at WMU, then one at a Shell station at 28th & Breton (the hot chocolate dispenser was out of order...) before going to a cemetery at 28th & Kalamazoo for a letterbox cache (you follow directions after arriving at the waypoint instead of following your GPS. The directions headed me around in a circle so I looked at the cemetery map, realized it could only be one of two places, and found the cache. Next headed across the street to a park where I had already tried to find one hidden in a pine tree. Lots of pine trees to choose from. I thought I had a heads up from a caching friend, but the owner contacted me tonight and says it's much lower than I was looking.
Headed back eastbound on 28th, picked up several around the malls, then headed down Patterson to a Winter Fix cache at 44th and Patterson, which was behind a Wendy's. Wendy's doesn't sell hot chocolate.... went back up Patterson to one that I thought might be in the cemetery at 28th and Patterson. The cemetery borders the nearby shopping area, and sure enough, it was in the shopping area instead. Got that one, then my last one at the Cascade Meijers which was really convenient as I needed to go to Meijer anyway.
Surfing the MiGO website tonight (Michigan Geocaching Organization), I discovered that my Michigan ranking is #100! (it shows me as #102 but without today's caches added, I'm now ahead of the current #101 and #100.)
I have a Wood Badge meeting tomorrow but AFTERWARDS...there are caches in this new series that are up in that area, you can guess what I'll be doing!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Paris itinerary tentatively set!
Another nice thing about a holiday is the chance to just get some things done. I've finally figured out a tentative itinerary for the Paris part of our trip.
Wed. 25th - travel from London to Paris. We won't get to the hotel (in the 8th) until probably 5-6 p.m. so not planning to do much except walk over to the Arc de Triomphe and perhaps down the Champs-Elysees.
Thurs. 26th - We have to go pick up our Paris Passes at the Hard Rock Cafe on Bvd. Montmartre so that will be first on the agenda. Then heading for Montmartre: Sacre-Coeur and the Place de Tertre (since we're already fairly close by.) Taking our L'Open Tour of Paris after that, provided we're able (the voucher says the 27th, have to check on that....) and the Batobus, ending up at the Eiffel Tower to finish the day.
Fri. 27th - Starting the day at the Jardin du Luxembourg, also going to the Ile de la Cite/Ile St. Louis to see Notre Dame and other sights. Then to the Jardin des Tuileries area, ending the day at the Louvre as Friday is one of the days that the Louvre is open later.
Sat. 28th - Debbie and Judy head for home. I'll plan to check into my hostel (hopefully the MIJE) then spend the rest of the day in the Marais area, with possibly going back to the Louvre if I still want to see things I missed yesterday.
Sun. 29th - heading up to the Parc de Villiers to check out the Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie, then traveling down the Canal St. Martin, possibly by canal boat. Also may go to the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery.
Mon 30th - La Madeleine, Opera Garnier, Galeries Lafayette & Au Printemps (not to buy, just to look...) then up to Parc Monceau, with possibly stopping at the Arc de Triomphe/Champs Elysees if there's anything I missed earlier that I want to see.
Tues 31st - Musee de Cluny, Pantheon, Rue Mouffetard, the Jardin des Plantes, and possibly a walk through Butte-aux-Cailles in the 13th if I have time and energy.
Wed. 1st - Versailles
Thurs. 2nd - Luxembourg Gardens (if I still haven't seen something I want to) the Rue Cler in the 7th (mentioned in Rick Steves Paris guidebook) the Invalides, then to the Musee Orsay, open later on Thursdays.
Friday 3rd - to CDG airport for the trip home.
Comments and suggestions gratefully accepted. This is flexible, at least for the time I'm there solo - though I'm keeping closing days in account (can't go to Versailles on Monday, for example.)
Wed. 25th - travel from London to Paris. We won't get to the hotel (in the 8th) until probably 5-6 p.m. so not planning to do much except walk over to the Arc de Triomphe and perhaps down the Champs-Elysees.
Thurs. 26th - We have to go pick up our Paris Passes at the Hard Rock Cafe on Bvd. Montmartre so that will be first on the agenda. Then heading for Montmartre: Sacre-Coeur and the Place de Tertre (since we're already fairly close by.) Taking our L'Open Tour of Paris after that, provided we're able (the voucher says the 27th, have to check on that....) and the Batobus, ending up at the Eiffel Tower to finish the day.
Fri. 27th - Starting the day at the Jardin du Luxembourg, also going to the Ile de la Cite/Ile St. Louis to see Notre Dame and other sights. Then to the Jardin des Tuileries area, ending the day at the Louvre as Friday is one of the days that the Louvre is open later.
Sat. 28th - Debbie and Judy head for home. I'll plan to check into my hostel (hopefully the MIJE) then spend the rest of the day in the Marais area, with possibly going back to the Louvre if I still want to see things I missed yesterday.
Sun. 29th - heading up to the Parc de Villiers to check out the Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie, then traveling down the Canal St. Martin, possibly by canal boat. Also may go to the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery.
Mon 30th - La Madeleine, Opera Garnier, Galeries Lafayette & Au Printemps (not to buy, just to look...) then up to Parc Monceau, with possibly stopping at the Arc de Triomphe/Champs Elysees if there's anything I missed earlier that I want to see.
Tues 31st - Musee de Cluny, Pantheon, Rue Mouffetard, the Jardin des Plantes, and possibly a walk through Butte-aux-Cailles in the 13th if I have time and energy.
Wed. 1st - Versailles
Thurs. 2nd - Luxembourg Gardens (if I still haven't seen something I want to) the Rue Cler in the 7th (mentioned in Rick Steves Paris guidebook) the Invalides, then to the Musee Orsay, open later on Thursdays.
Friday 3rd - to CDG airport for the trip home.
Comments and suggestions gratefully accepted. This is flexible, at least for the time I'm there solo - though I'm keeping closing days in account (can't go to Versailles on Monday, for example.)
Happy New Year: 26 new caches!
A nice New Years present came today in my e-mail: 26 new caches published! The new winter series, placed by "Just Below Freezing" all around the Grand Rapids area. I would have gone out this afternoon but it was already late enough that I would have only had about an hour and a half. Guess what I'm probably doing tomorrow!
Just Another New Years Eve...
It was just another New Years Eve...hoping 2009 will be better than 2008 (at least the last quarter or so...)
Spent most of the day scanning info from my library guidebooks so I can return them to the library. Now that I have the Rick Steves books, I shouldn't need to keep borrowing the library guidebooks but there were some things that the other books had that Rick Steves doesn't.
Eric decided to go out with friends so it was just Steve and I going over to his dad's for the evening. Mostly watching TV and (for me) using the Acer netbook. I made oyster stew for Steve and his dad (a Cooper NY tradition) but didn't have any myself. I struggled through that stuff the first few years after we were married but then decided that since I was only a Cooper by marriage that the "good luck" part didn't necessarily apply, at least not badly enough for me to want to eat that stuff! To each his own.
There was a big celebration in downtown Grand Rapids tonight - complete with a ball drop. Maybe not as big as New York City, but still big enough to count. Estimated that 20,000 people were there.
Scott called at about 11:45 p.m. and we all talked to him on Grandpa's speakerphone and were still talking at midnight so got to "be" with at least one of our sons to celebrate! He is 6 hours ahead of us in Germany so it was 5:45 a.m., he hadn't been to bed yet but he works night shift so is used to different hours.
Came home about 1 a.m. and just not tired so decided to check e-mail and do other stuff online. Also waiting up for Eric even though he hates that. A mom never stops worrying; that always used to bug me when I was their ages but now I totally understand the concept.
Spent most of the day scanning info from my library guidebooks so I can return them to the library. Now that I have the Rick Steves books, I shouldn't need to keep borrowing the library guidebooks but there were some things that the other books had that Rick Steves doesn't.
Eric decided to go out with friends so it was just Steve and I going over to his dad's for the evening. Mostly watching TV and (for me) using the Acer netbook. I made oyster stew for Steve and his dad (a Cooper NY tradition) but didn't have any myself. I struggled through that stuff the first few years after we were married but then decided that since I was only a Cooper by marriage that the "good luck" part didn't necessarily apply, at least not badly enough for me to want to eat that stuff! To each his own.
There was a big celebration in downtown Grand Rapids tonight - complete with a ball drop. Maybe not as big as New York City, but still big enough to count. Estimated that 20,000 people were there.
Scott called at about 11:45 p.m. and we all talked to him on Grandpa's speakerphone and were still talking at midnight so got to "be" with at least one of our sons to celebrate! He is 6 hours ahead of us in Germany so it was 5:45 a.m., he hadn't been to bed yet but he works night shift so is used to different hours.
Came home about 1 a.m. and just not tired so decided to check e-mail and do other stuff online. Also waiting up for Eric even though he hates that. A mom never stops worrying; that always used to bug me when I was their ages but now I totally understand the concept.
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