June Update

It's been almost a month since I last posted and a lot of geocaching has happened since then!  .  We've found our 1000th cache and have cached 118 consecutive days.  We've also cached in 33 of the 48 contiguous states, well on the way to our goal of visiting all 48 this year.

My most memorable cache on our latest trip was one I found early one morning in Montana.  I had already gotten my cache for the day, but another cache on a mountainside was calling my name.  Mona was still sleeping, so I knew I had plenty of time.

I was immediately enthralled by the magnificence of the site....the Yellowstone River was rushing before me and across the river was a beautiful visit of the Rockies.  I grabbed my bear bells and set out for the cache keeping a watchful eye out for bear, elk, bison and wolves which are all in this remote area. When I got to the geocache site I discovered that it was tucked under a large rock. The rock was big enough to provide shelter for an animal on the lee side. Being“Mr. Safety” I decided to check for wildlife on the other side of the rock before grabbing the cache. I stepped up onto an adjacent rock and immediately went whoosh/bam….down onto the ground, hard! 

At least I had a great view as I wasy lying there!

My first thought was that no one knew where I was.  (As Walter would say, "Dumbass!")  Then I decided to take inventory.  Toes work, check!  Fingers work, check!  Everything seemed to be fine...well, except for the stinging sensations along my left side.  Damn!  I had fallen into cactus.  Left arm, hand and leg were full of  needles!

Got up, signed the cache log (You've got to keep your priorities straight when in these situations!)  Then made my way back to the car where  I got out my geocaching tweezers and began pulling needles out.  It took days to get most of the needles out, and even after two weeks I still have one needle in the palm of my hand.  Did I learn anything from this incident?  Damn right I did!  Ignore the bears and go straight for the cache!

Last week we hit some caches in Allerton Park.  It's been 15 years since I've been there and I had forgotten how beautiful this park is.  The park is even more fun now, because of the caches hidden there. 

Laura has been busy caching, too.  She's  found her 500th cache and has cached 70 consecutive days.  She's now using a Magellan Explorist GC reciever and that seems to be working well.  Yesterday, she found a cache that his been eluding her for quite some time, "Y'all Geocaching" is now a FOUND for her.  Seems like Steve S. is now the only one who hasn't found this one.  :~)



We've hidden about twenty caches since we've been home, including three earthcaches.  Earthcaches are devoted to geology and all teach you something about the geology around you and require you to answer a few questions about the site.  I got hooked on these while on our trip to the Southwest and I have been seeking them out since. 

We've found some neat spots for our caches and have learned a lot about the geology of Central Illinois.  (Did you know that the last glaciers stopped their advancement about 15,000 years ago, right in this area?  Yep, you can see the "edge" of the glacier all the way from Shelbyville to Peoria!)  Also, came across this unique headstone in a cemetery just north of Bearsdale.  Two brothers are buried here...both lost their lives in WWI.

Continuing to love geocaching!  Getting outside every day and learning every day....hard to beat that for a hobby!  Also, it's a great way to meet new friends.  You just never know who you're going to meet out there caching.  As an example, we were "talking" to a fellow geocacher (wjtphd)  via emails because we had similar geocaching goals.  A day or two later, we met a cacher out on a country road...it was wjtphd!  A couple of weeks later, while on our first foray after our vacation, Speedy Troll and I were looking for a cache in the country.  Ahead of us was a car pulled off the side of the road....wjtphd!  We've since met for lunch and found we have a lot of common interests...geocaching for one!

Time to get out there!  wjtphd has a new earthcache calling my name!

Happy caching!