My baby is back where he belongs (for now)

Now that I'm finally caught up on my Mackinac blogs, I can share the good news that Scott is finally back in Germany at his home base. He called us last night from Spangdahlem. Didn't get to talk as long as I'd have liked (and Steve missed his call altogether) but it was great to hear from him. He ended up staying in Qatar for six days while waiting for the flight back to Germany. He got to go on an off base tour while there and saw the Arabian Sea. His swim in the Arabian Sea was cut short, though, by some nasty jellyfish.

While in Iraq, there were mortar attacks (not allowed to talk about them while there) and some came very close. He was in his shop, though, which is a fortified concrete bunker. Still chills me to think of it though.

I am very thankful that he is out of the war zone. Hope he doesn't have to go back.

Meandering to Mackinac, now going home (day 5)

Sunday, September 27
Woke up, went to breakfast, then had to go to our color group to make sure they got to chapel on time. After chapel there was a group picture (not an easy task when you're talking about 1500 people; the photographer was in a cherry picker truck.) Then the fun began. We had to inspect each campsite after the unit told us they were ready to go. After they passed our inspection, we issued parking passes that would allow the unit to go get their vehicles and load them up. Most units were great at making sure their area was policed and everything was taken care of.

My last unit, however, was really slow. I finally went over to their site to find out what was going on. About 2/3 of the scouts were just sitting around. Worse yet, all of the leaders were also sitting around, under the dining fly which hadn't yet been taken down. There were about six or so tents still up, too. Turns out they were the leaders tents and the leaders were expecting the scouts to take them down for them! I got them going and they finally did get everything done.

Then we were free to leave. I left just before noon from the campgrounds. Went to I-75 southbound to the first rest area, where there were three caches. At the third one, I met up with a troop from the Rendezvous that was having their lunch break. I ended up showing them a bit about caching.

Then on to other caches in other counties. My route took me east of I-75 then south, then west back over to US 127 in Clare. My last cache was in the Clare rest area just before 7 p.m., then I drove home from there without anything more than one bathroom break. Got home just after nine.

A great five day trip combining two of my favorite activities, geocaching and scouting!

P.S. I posted the group picture: Look for me in the second row, far left side behind the two people in red. Yellow Hat.

Meandering to Mackinac, day 4 - On the Island

Saturday, September 26

Today was the day for the trip to Mackinac Island! We loaded buses by color group to take us to the boat docks for the Star Line in Mackinaw City. Since we were staff with white "glow in the dark" wristbands, we could jump the line once we made sure our color group was where it was supposed to be.

Carolyn, Terry, and I ended up on the same boat with Fitz and Jessica Fitzgerald and we all decided to go to the nearest cache once we were on the island. Nobody had cache info on it, of course. I didn't because it was a multi-stage earthcache that I'd decided not to do. Fitz ended up calling his brother in Seattle to have him read the info, then they decided not to do it either. So we did two of the Road Apple Tour caches. Carolyn actually found the first one, and she's still a new cacher. Great work! After the second cache, I needed to meet some scouts at noon so needed to get there. The scouts (all from our Lowell troop and crew) were all eating lunch when I arrived, so got out my lunch and ate it too. Then the scouts decided that there were other things they'd prefer to do so I was on my own. Did four caches along a bike trail on top of the island. Sitting on a log at the first find, looking at the ammo box contents. Several young scouts were walking along the trail, and one called out, "Don't look left, there's a guy taking a dump over there." Definitely not the case on so many levels. Oh well. Also did a few other ones near Arch Rock, then saw Arch Rock again. Had one more to do on a more rugged trail near Arch Rock, called Mackinac Manitou. It ended up being tucked into the hollow of a tree about 6/7 feet off the ground. Had to use my hiking stick and another nearby stick to maneuver it out of the tree by the handle. That was tough! Then went down to the island road and found three more caches before heading back to town.

Once I got back to town, bought the requisite fudge (Steve and Eric had requested peanut butter and mint chocolate) and headed toward the boat dock. Was pulled out by security to go to the Fort and help with dinner set up. (Since I had a yellow hat I think they thought I was security, too. Same color hat.) I was done so didn't mind. So got to skip the line and go to Fort Michilimackinac where we were served dinner. My job was to stand at the front of the line and mark people's hands as they moved through the line. So I was one of the last to eat but that was ok. Then into the fort itself for an evening program, then back to the buses to return to the campground. Finally got to bed around midnight.

Meandering to Mackinac, Day 3

Friday, September 25

Woke up in the cabin after a restless night. Hard to get to sleep next to someone besides Steve, I guess. Had breakfast prepared for us, then helped to do some last minute set up in preparation for the scouts arrival. After everything was done, I had some free time so did some caches in Mackinaw City and towards Cheboygan. 11 caches in all (oh, and 21 yesterday. Forgot to mention that.) Among them was my #2100 milestone, just 3 1/2 weeks after my #2000.

Then back to the campground, where we changed into our scout uniforms and the scouts started arriving at 3 p.m. We had charge of the "yellow" color group, which meant showing them where they were to camp in the yellow area, making sure they unloaded and then took their vehicles to the parking area, and knew the schedule for the weekend. Our last group made it in about 11 p.m. Then I went to talk to the Venturing group about geocaching on the island - I'd made two routes for them to follow while on the island. Then off to the cabin for a better night's sleep.

Meandering to Mackinac, Day 2

Thursday, September 24

Woke up at the motel, got ready to go and had the motel breakfast. Then outta there. Realized that I could still do the Geography puzzle cache I'd solved before I left home as I did have the printout after all. So did two other Traverse City caches on the way to the Geography cache. Then was on my way out of town.

I was following the Lake Michigan shoreline (roughly anyway) today - did several caches right on the beach or shoreline. The weather was much better than yesterday, a great day to be out there caching. Around about Charlevoix, I looked at the time, looked at how many possible caches I had on my list, and thought about whether or not I wanted to cache in St. Ignace. I decided that I wanted to cache in St. Ignace more than in Emmet County (which I already had cache finds in anyway) so skipped quite a few caches on the list. Did a couple of travel bug hotels and that was about it until I got to Mackinaw City. I did go into town for one cache - because I knew that it was a two stage cache with the first stage in Mackinaw City, second in St. Ignace.

Then across the Mackinac Bridge I went. I really, really, really hate driving this bridge. But I like caching more than I hate driving the bridge. So went anyway. At least it was not a windy day. Crossed the bridge and kept going, up to a cache a few miles north of St. Ignace that I've tried to find at least three times without luck. I got some clues after my last attempt and they weren't quite accurate but helped enough that I did find the cache (Roger's Park) this time around. Back to St. Ignace after that and to Straits State Park. This was where we've held previous Mackinac Rendezvous events and it was really strange to be there without a bunch of boy scouts there as well. Did several caches in the park, then went across the "street" (I-75) to Father Marquette Park and did one there as well. Then back across the bridge and to the campground.

There were seven of us staying in one of the campground's cabins. Bathroom, shower, microwave, refrigerator. Only downside was sharing a bed with the scoutmaster's wife. She is nice but I don't know her all that well. We slept sideways on the double bed which gave everything but our feet more room.

Got online from the campground ($2.50 for 2 hours but I wanted to see if Scott had updated his Facebook with news he was back in Germany) and got some of the caches from the day logged.

Meandering to Mackinac, part 1

And it truly is a meandering. I need to be in Mackinaw City Thursday night so that I can start in on my staffing duties on Friday. Our Boy Scout council hosts 1500 people for the weekend, and does this once every two years.

I left at 8:30 this morning (Wednesday.) Straight shot it's about a four hour trip. Would RedhedMary do a straight shot trip? Naaaah. Of course not. I planned out a trip that involved going through 14 Michigan counties that I had never found a cache in (as well as other counties of course.)

Tonight I am in Traverse City - if you think of Michigan as a left-hand mitten, its about where your little finger would be. I've found 29 caches today and can cross six counties off my list.

The day started out drizzly. Never did have a hard rain, but those first few caches were kinda dampish. Started off with a stop at the Denny's off Plainfield in GR, there was a new one just placed and I don't get up that way so often. So made the quick stop. Next a park and ride near Sand Lake, just off 131. A bit disconcerting there, someone had decided they needed the ammo can more than the cache did so took it. They left the swag and log in the ziplock and rehid that. But not before writing an obscene message in the log book. Too bad.

Then 131 to Reed City, then west on 10 to 37 in Baldwin. North on 37 to 115. West on 115 to Frankfort. North on 22 at Frankfort to 72. East on 72 to Traverse City. Memorable caches include one that was in a relocated outhouse in a cemetery (I could tell it had been relocated because the cache was in one of the holes and there was hard ground underneath, not what would have been there if it was once a working outhouse.) Another one, called "America's Finest" was suspended by a rope from a tree. One was hidden opposite from the largest Black Willow tree, at least in Michigan and I think in the US. There was also one near the Betsie Point Lighthouse. By this afternoon it was a lot sunnier than when I left.

I hit Traverse City with about 2 hours of daylight left, cached most of that time, then checked into the Knights Inn. A nice room but it doesn't have a table and chairs! Most do these days, I'm a bit surprised. But the price was good, it has high speed and breakfast in the morning, so we'll call it good.

Tomorrow I plan to head east to Kalkaska, then northwest to Charlevoix and then northeast to Petoskey and on to Mackinaw City. If I have time I will brave the bridge and do some caching in St. Ignace. We'll see.

Tales from the back of the bike

On Saturday, I went with Steve on a motorcycle trip (Gold Wing) with our Riders Redeemed motorcycle church group. A bunch of Baptists on motorcycles? Yep. And our Pastor Dave is among them. It's great for outreach, and what I hope will someday be a link to draw Steve back to church. In the meantime, he does love a good ride, we both do, so agrees to come with the church group from time to time.

Our destination was Clare, Michigan, home of Jay's Sporting Goods. Our four bikes left the church parking lot about 8:45 a.m., with the air temps hovering around 50 degrees. It was brisk! Four guys plus me on the back of Steve's bike. Had I known there would not be any other ladies coming this time, I might have opted out so that Steve could get to know the guys more. But there I was, so enjoy the ride!

What does one do on the back of the bike? It is somewhat passive, of course. You don't have to do anything to make the bike go except lean in the right direction from time to time. So lots of time for looking and thinking and praying.

Looking at the scenery passing by, lots of thoughts come to mind:

• That's an interesting car (bicycle, motorcycle, truck, etc.)
• Nice house! Wouldn't that look good at home?
• Wow, that house has seen better days.
• The morning light would make that a great picture. Just not while we're moving though.
• Look at those (horses, cows, etc.)
• Here we are in (insert name of small town - we were taking the back roads.) Never heard of this place before. Don't blink or you'll miss it.
• Wow, I can see my reflection in the back of Steve's helmet.
• and, of course, the proverbial "that would be a great place to hide a cache" and "wonder if there's a cache hidden there already?"

Caching is usually not an option on group rides. Steve is reluctant enough to stop occasionally when we're on the bike by ourselves. When we're with a group, the stop decision is usually not in our hands. And you never know for sure just where we're going to stop, except for the final destination. Luck would have it that there were no caches within walking distance of Jay's. So I was out of luck. I still bring the GPSr anyway. I can entertain myself by knowing how far we've gone, how close we are to our destination, how fast we're going, how long we've been going, what road we're on, and other such valuable information. I think I can also play a game or two on it, just never have, other than the great game of geocaching.

I did take some time to count just how many waypoints I have entered into the GPSr. 384 to be exact. I needed to know because I need to load waypoints for my upcoming Mackinac trip and I only have room in the GPSr for 500. What's in there now are mostly local caches. By local I mean about 30 miles out in every direction.

Yesterday, I was able to load in the caches for the first day of my trip. Home to Traverse City. I have a room reserved for Wednesday night at the Knights Inn there, and will go the rest of the way to Mackinaw City on Thursday. Friday is check in for the scouts, that's those of us on physical arrangements staff are working. Saturday we don't have much to do so are free to roam the island at our leisure. Read geocaching into this. Sunday we work again, checking out the scouts, then head for home. If all goes well, I will add 14 counties to the "found" list and only have 7 lower peninsula counties left, and about the same in the UP.

I'm really looking forward to this last blast for the year!

A ride for veterans

We finally (Steve and I) got out on the Gold Wing yesterday. Home sweet home, my body said as I eased into the seat. Much more comfortable than the Beemer. Anyway, left about 8:30 a.m. for a 9 a.m. breakfast meeting of the Gold Wing group.

Arrived a little late because of traffic tie ups due to the Reeds Lake Triathlon. But still enjoyed time with other GW riders, then set off for Muskegon where we were meeting with riders from other clubs. That was a nice ride through the countryside.

Got to Muskegon, and after a short wait we took off for Custer, Michigan and the VFW there. The ride was called the "Freedom Ride." We had to pay a fee to ride, but the fees were all donated to the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. Well worth it. The ride was great, very scenic and roads we'd never been on. There were so many bikes that we split into three groups. I would say there were 40-50 bikes all together. Stopped midway at an Artesian Well for a break. The water had an iron taste but was clean and cold.

Arrived at the VFW, where we were treated to snacks and we both won door prizes. Ok, it was apple sauce and apple juice (Indian Summer was a major prize donator) but it was nice to get something useful. They also had T-shirts for sale, we didn't bring enough money so Steve got back on the bike and found an ATM so we could both get shirts (again profits to the Vets.)

Rode home with three other bikes from our Grand Rapids group, took more major roads so it wasn't as long of a ride, but still two hours or so. I was actually getting sleepy and came as close to dozing off on the bike as I ever have. The armrests would have kept me in I guess. Got home around dinner time. A nice days ride.

September 11, 2001 & 2009

I'm sure that many of you are thinking today about where you were and what you were doing eight years ago today when you heard the news about the events of September 11, 2001.

I was working as a day care director. We usually didn't have radio or TV on, of course, and it was progressing as a normal day. Took a call from my husband, he told me that a plane flew into the World Trade Center. Not quite sure what he was talking about, turned on a radio and started to get reports. The more we heard, the worse it got, of course. I remember allowing the teachers to bring a radio out to the playground and listen while watching the kids play. Never before, probably never again. But that day, yes. We tried to keep things low key for the kids sake. (Hard to believe but those kids are teenagers now.) I do remember one little girl, a few days later, telling me she saw a movie on TV about an airplane flying into a building.

Eight years later. Since I don't work on Fridays, I was able to participate in our Boy Scout 9/11 Salute. We raise the flag at the Gerald Ford Museum at sunrise, and stand at salute (in 5 minute shifts) until sunset. I took four shifts. My arm definitely got tired, but it was nothing compared to what people went through that day, even what my son goes through right now in Iraq.

God Bless America.

A trip to Sunny's Grand Isle

I can finally log a find on Sunny's Grand Isle!

After getting close a few weeks back (I'd tried Reeds Lake and found Beaver Island but decided I was too tired to try this one, too) and also trying to set up a trip here after Age of Discovery (the weather was very uncooperative) I finally convinced Muggle Hubby (Steve) and Tall Son (Eric) to go out with the kayaks on Sunday. They weren't thrilled that a cache was involved but I pointed out that it was five minutes out of a nice afternoon of paddling.

The geo-kayak was still in the cachemobile. MH and TS loaded up the two-seater kayak in the carrier on the top of the cachemobile, and off we went. Arrived at the boat launch and got everything off-loaded. TS really wanted to try out Mom's kayak. Knowing that the first half of the trip was upstream, I generously offered to let him go first. I rode with MH in the two-seater, had a much easier paddle than if I'd been on my own. Our trip up to the island was a nice one, probably 45 minutes but we weren't looking at our watches.

Got to the island, found a nice little sandy beach area to disembark at, and I got out to go get the cache, less than 100 feet away. That took just a few minutes of tiptoeing through the poison ivy, wrestling with a less-than-cooperative ammo can, then signing the log and leaving one of my signature cards. Put everything back in its place, and turned around. No kayaks.

Steve and Eric thought it would be funny to paddle around to the back side of the island and make me think I'd been stranded. I figured out their plan pretty quickly and decided to just go back to the beach area to wait for them. Only trouble was, I slipped in some mucky sand on the way back, and got that mucky sand all over my legs and shorts. Took advantage of the waiting time to clean up as best as I could. Sure enough, they soon tired of their little game and came paddling back to get me.

I decided that I wanted to take the geo-kayak back to the boat landing, so switched places with Eric. That was probably a mistake. One little me versus two strong guys. Not a good plan. They would paddle furiously for a few minutes, get way ahead, then just sit and wait for me to catch up. After a few turns of this new game, they decided they weren't quite being fair and paddled with me the rest of the way.

A great day for a paddle, and glad to finally get my 2009th cache. Found it in the year 2009, too - that's pretty neat.

2K and counting

I really had some trouble deciding which cache would be worthy of #2000. Even posted a plea for suggestions on facebook; got LOTS of good answers there. But due to timing (I knew I could cache Wed. a.m. and wanted the big 2K before then) I decided to take my geofriend Golfdiva up on her offer to go do a night cache.

A night cache, for those who might not know, involves taking a flashlight and trying to find tiny little reflectors attached to trees, following the path, and eventually finding the cache. And yes, it's DARK. I've done very few of these, mostly due to my promise not to cache at night by myself. But two of us together, different story.

Golfdiva picked me up at dusk, and we headed to the cache, 13 miles away. Glad she was driving! Got to the parking lot, set off down the trail. She checked one side, I checked the other. Quickly determined we needed to follow the trail to the RIGHT. So off we went. After a short time, heard a rustling. Golfdiva said she surprised some critter right on the boardwalk. Glad she was in the lead, not me. We continued and soon found the red reflector and the reflective X on the cache itself. Not as long of a hike as we'd hoped, but still fun. And my #2000 was finally here. Took the obligatory pictures, signed the log, then headed back. On the way home, we stopped at her new cache, and I found it in the dark. Not too far from the trailhead so it wasn't bad.

This gave me free rein to grab caches on Wednesday, without having to worry about a "special" cache for #2000. For the first time, I cached paperless now that my nuvi has the cache info. Found six caches, then went to the eye dr. for my yearly check. Then home for the evening.