Monday, August 18, 2008

Monday Away

Kim & Mike, Adam and Jake after lunch at the Tuscan Grille in Manistee. Everybody seems the same as ever, and the boys are still fun, polite and interesting :) Kim looks great, and is in good health - hooray!








Found it 8/18/2008 You found US 31 Bikepath (Traditional Cache)
We came down to Manistee today to have lunch with friends and give a presentation about Medicare assistance at the Senior Center. The lunch at the Tuscan Grill was fantastic if a little on the pricey side. The Calzone's were outstanding. The presentation took about an hour and then we headed up 22 to grab some caches.

This was a quick grab, unfortunately we left our cache bag in the other car so we just signed the log, left our pencil, and picked up some beverages for the ride. Thanks for the fun and the smilie.

Found it 8/18/2008 You found Art Decko (Traditional Cache)

This is a neat spot that we would have never found - - yada, yada, yada. How often we add that to our log. It's why we have so much fun with this activity. We peeked at the art,(We are inept dilettantes when presented with art. "It obviously took skill to create but what is it?")and tried to find a place to sign the log book. It is totally, absolutely, positively, completely full. We would have added a micro book but we left our cache bag in the other car. Sorry.

Found it 8/18/2008 You found Landing At The Point (Traditional Cache)

The launch site was totally dead today, only one car in the parking lot. We retrieved the cache and took it to the cachemobile for signing when a motorcycle pulled up behind us and sat there watching. and watching, and watching. What? He's never seen cachers before?
At last he cruised the lot and left. We replaced the cache and followed.

Found it 8/18/2008 You found Memorial to Blanche (Traditional Cache)

This was the most memorable stop on our trip home. First, how do you find the park? We could have driven closer because there was a gravel road that was crossed after about 250 feet of cedar swamp bushwhacking. Anyway we didn't find either the park or that road because I spotted a trail like path that was going in the right direction just north of the boat launch and - -.
What the heck, the cache was found. She who refuses to plow through the brush stayed with the car. Then the fun began, at the cache site, just as the container was returned to it's proper location, voices were heard approaching on the true path. Attempting to quickly return to the car through the brush, the noise of snapping branches caused the woman on the path to shriek. I turned and observed a couple whose eyes were as large as saucers. I said "Sorry, it's just a bear" and pushed on into the brush.
Meanwhile, back at the car, she was reading when she looked up and saw an old guy peering in through the windshield. It seems that I had pulled in onto private property. Mrs Basswood explained what we were doing there and the elderly gentleman understood. "I have a son-in-law that does that stuff down in Lansing". We profusely apologized and as quickly as we could, drove away.
Once again, Geocaching has taken us to a place which we otherwise would never have ventured. Thanks for the fun.

Found it 8/18/2008 You found Spirit Series #2 (Traditional Cache)
On our way home from our Manistee excursion, we were running out of time and decided that we could only grab a couple more "quickie's". This one was successfully retrieved by the "Micro Maven" shortly after 4 while I was searching for something somewhere else. (When you know where the cache is, why bother with a GPS?")
Thanks for the smilie.

Found it 8/18/2008 You found Spirit Series #3 (Traditional Cache)
Our last find on a perfect day. It is a shame that days like this can not be bottled up and saved for some time in February. The temperature was a perfect 77 with a nice breeze off the lake. Unfortunately, time was running out on us and we had to get back home to Traverse City. A quick visit to the grave of Henry Starke and we were back on the road again. Thanks for the caches cobbie et al, we will catch some others on the next trip.