April 30, 2012

April 30, 2012

After leaving the campground we made our way to the Natchez Trace.  It may be our last time on it for this trip.  As you must know by now, the Trace is at the top of our “favorite drives” list.  This trip, however, is taking us to most of the COE campgrounds north of I-20, both on the west and east sides of the state.  The few times we have been the Trace this spring have been a real treat.

When we got to Tupelo we parked a Sam’s Club, rested for a few minutes, and then went in to Sam’s for lunch and some shopping.  After that, while Bill napped, I went shopping...JoAnn Fabrics, Hobby Lobby, and Walmart.

Bill was refreshed when I got home, so we went geocaching.  The first four caches were very easy to find.  The last two were quick to find once we found the correct roads to the cache sites.

When we got back home, the temperature was 85°.  Yikes!  We sat in front of fans for the rest of the evening.

Today’s Travel Totals:: Today’s mileage, 45---Geocaches, 6---Critter sittings, 2 wild turkeys.

April 29, 2012

April 29, 2012

No more ticks today, but I do have a small patch of poison ivy blisters.  If it isn’t one thing its another!

It was warm here today so Bill has been running the air conditioners.  I am about to freeze!  Br-r-r-r-r!  When Natalia was little she said that her mama wouldn’t turn the heat on until she turned blue.  Well, guess what!  I’m blue!

This has been an interesting day.  We are in a very large COE campground which was booked to capacity this weekend.  All day we have watched a variety of RVs heading out.  

We plan to go to Tupelo tomorrow for a couple of days.  There is some shopping that we need to do, including Hobby Lobby.  Bill is really thrilled about that one!

April 28, 2012

April 28, 2012

Today was a lazy day.  I didn’t get myself in gear until 12:00.  After that, I made a lot of progress cleaning out our file cabinet, getting the 2011 taxes all in one folder and put away, and filing papers from 2012.  

This wasn’t my idea of a fun day, but it felt good to get some of those chores out of the way.  Bill did some rearranging in his big red tool box while I was having so much fun with my stuff.  

Yesterday, I saw a bumper sticker that just about summed up my feelings---FIGHT CRIME, RE-ELECT NOBODY.  That might solve some of our major problems, eh?

April 27, 2012

April 27, 2012

Meredith called this morning to suggest that I needed to edit my blog from yesterday.  Instead of asking “our kids” about helping with my picture problem, it should read “our grandkids.”  She’s right!  They are all amazing when it comes to computers.

We drove to Red Bay, Alabama (Honk, honk! Yahoo!) this morning because Bill wanted to take the factory tour of Tiffin Motorhomes.  I went looking for garage sales with no luck.  I spent part of the time asking one of the “locals” for directions to Hwy. 247.  She gave good directions and also suggested that we go for lunch at Swamp John’s, which is at the turnoff to Hwy. 247.

After I collected Bill from his tour we went to lunch.  Swamp John’s is in an old converted service station.  We had pork chops, green beans, a roll, cobbler, and sodas for $6.50.  The food was good, especially the rolls and the cobbler...strawberry cobbler.  That was a new one for us.  It was very good!  

When we went into the restaurant at 11:30 most of the seats were filled.  Apparently, John’s is usually swamped at noon, so he added Swamp to the name.  Interesting, eh?

With very happy tummies, we took Hwy. 247 for several miles to the world’s only Coon Dog Cemetery.  Coon dog owners are especially close to their hunting dogs, who are experts at treeing raccoons.  The cemetery was started in 1937 and is only for coon dogs, with over 180 of the breed buried there.  Very interesting!

We took an exceptionally twisty road back to the Natchez Trace and into Mississippi.  (Honk, honk! Yahoo, again.)  Bill loved driving the twisty road.  As for myself, I hung on for dear life.

April 26, 2012

April 26, 2012

After a great breakfast prepared by Cowboy Bill, we set off to try to find a road into the area where we wanted to cache.  “Try” is the key word here.  Remember that!

It was a true adventure.  In Joshua-speak, that means we got lost.  We traveled every back road in that part of Mississippi.  The more exasperated the driver became the closer “the naviguesser” came to breaking into fits of giggles.  That is a normal reaction for me, but it doesn’t go over well with “himself.”  As more steam came out of his ears, I had visions of him pushing the eject button which would launch me through the sun roof.  

We finally figured out that the map showed a road that wasn’t there and probably never had been there.  We decided to call it quits for the day and find the Natchez Trace to make our way home.

We had just turned back on the Trace when I looked down onto a road we were crossing over and saw several mule-drawn wagons parked by the side of the road.  I “pleaded” with Bill to turn around and make our way down to the group.  There were eight wagons.  Most of them have been in this “sport” for 30 years or more. They build their own wagons, which aren’t like covered wagons, except they both have four wheels and are pulled by mules. 

Diana, one of the ladies with the group, took me for a ride.  We took pictures, but I don’t know how to put them in my blog.  Maybe one of our kids can teach me in Colorado this summer.

It was an interesting day!

April 25, 2012

April 25, 2012

I spent most of the morning doing geocache work on the computer.  I had gotten behind in posting finds and maps and things like that.  It feels good to be caught up, but it won’t last long.  Oh, well.  Such is life in the fast lane.

After lunch we drove to Tishomingo.  It is a little town not far off the Natchez Trace.  Tishomingo was named after Chief Tishomingo of the Chickasaw tribe.  I think its a neat name.  We found two caches there and two more further out of town.

There are several more caches across the Trace, but we couldn’t figure out how to get over there.  When we got home we looked at our map of the area and think we found a route. 

Perhaps tomorrow we will see if our map skills panned out.

April 24, 2012

April 24, 2012

I knew the day was going to be an “adventure” when I lost my cell phone.  Since our house is only 306 sq. ft. there weren’t too many places to look.  Finally, I asked Bill to call me.  After grumbling about using up his minutes that might cause him to not be able to talk on the phone as much as he would like to (yeah, right), he called my number.

You must realize something about the cowboy in the coach.  It is kind of like on the old TV show, Rawhide...head ‘em up, move ‘em out.  When Tex gets ready to go he puts things away, whether it is where they belong or not.  My phone was in the bag with our GPSs!

With that mystery solved we headed down the road toward Bay Springs Lake to a COE facility, Piney Grove Campground.  Along the way we passed a wrecking yard for ATVs.  There weren’t just a few broken down or wrecked.  There were hundreds.  This area must be a hard place for those machines.  Wow! There were a lot of them!

We checked into the campground, after driving for 20 miles on very curvy, narrow roads.  We are in a forest of pine and ash trees.  Its beautiful.  This is the most northerly COE campground on the Tennessee (River)-Tombigbee Waterway.  We plan to stay at several campgrounds on the “Tombigbee” before returning to Brent’s house in early June, just in time for Sara’s 12th birthday. 

April 23, 2012

April 23, 2012

We left our overnight spot at 10:00 this morning and drove to Booneville, a distance of 20 miles.  Poor old Bill...already down for a nap!  All that driving just does a feller in!

There was a strong, cold wind blowing today.  It made any outside activity less enticing.  However, after lunch, we went on the hunt...for caches.  The five that we found were easy ones.  And we didn’t have any DNFs.  Yea!

Knowing that our next Corps of Engineers Park is rather remote, we spent an hour shopping at Walmart.  We stocked up on groceries for the week.

Today’s Travel Totals: Today’s mileage, 20---Geocaches, 5.

April 22, 2012

April 22, 2012

It was 11:00 before we got on the road to Shilo National Military Park, about 10 miles into Tennessee (Honk! Honk! Yahoo).  We spent over an hour at the Visitor’s Center.  There was so much information to process, I think I was kind of dizzy when I came out.  Maybe that's not so unusual for me, even though I'm not blonde.

We drove through the park for awhile, but didn’t stop at many of the monuments.  It was all a bit mind-boggling.  Certainly overwhelming!  And it saddens my heart to read about the things done to people.

After leaving the park we drove down a little country road.  At the end of the road was a restaurant, Hagy’s Catfish Hotel.  It is one of the longest family owned restaurants in the country...four generations.  The food was really good.  And the view of the Tennessee River was great.

Another positive note about the place was the geocache hidden very close to the water’s edge.  It took us longer than necessary to find it, but we didn’t give up.  The cache was hidden under the foundation of a very old cabin.

After leaving that location we drove to the other side of the Park and found another cache.

Going back into Corinth we crossed back into Mississippi and got some more practice at our state line routine.  We returned to the coach, moved it a couple of miles to the Visitor Information Center just off Hwy. 45, and spent the night.  

We watched the recorded NASCAR race from Kansas.  That was the end of a busy day!

April 21, 2012

April 21, 2012

We awoke to a cold, windy, dreary day.  We went to McDonald’s for breakfast.  It was the snazziest Mickey D’s we ever seen.  In addition to the usual seating they had an area with comfy chairs and low tables, bar stools at long, tall tables for computers or watching a big screen TV, and three booths with computer screens set up to play a variety of video games. And another good thing about it...there was a geocache in the parking lot.  Wow! My kind of place!  Pancakes and a cache, too! 

Since the weather was less than perfect, we decided to visit the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center.  Around the city of Corinth were earth fortifications.  Over 23,000 men lost their lives in this battle area.  There were reports of the bodies and equipment of war strewn around the battlefields.  The Interpretive Center was built at one of these earth fortifications.  The US Park Service did an excellent job on the Center.  Walking on a path up to the building, cast in bronze, were items of war left behind by the soldiers...canteens, parts of guns, swords, backpacks, buttons, ammunition pouches and many other things.  The displays in the building itself were meaningful reminders of the bloody Civil War.  

After spending two or more hours there, we went back home to rest and try to get warm.  The temperature stayed in the 50s all day.  Br-r-r-r-r-r! 

Oh, yes! I found a tick left over from yesterday’s tramping through the woods.  The score now stands at Raymonda--4, Bill--0.

April 20, 2012

April 20, 2012

Keeping in mind that I have had three encounters with ticks, Bill checked to see if he had any “hitch hikers.”  He said he guessed he wasn’t a “tick magnet.”  I said he wasn’t a “chick magnet,” either.

At 10:00 we left Holly Springs for Corinth, also in Mississippi, but just barely.  We haven’t done our state line routine (Honk! Honk! Yahoo) in a long time.  We might have to drive north of Corinth for three miles, just to practice as we cross into Tennessee.  Its not as dramatic in the Honda as it is in the motorhome, but its just a practice run.

Our first cache took us to Corinth Contraband Camp.  When the slaves (at first called “contraband of war”) were freed, they came to this area, living in tents before building houses, a school, and a church.  It was a model for other camps.  

As many as 6000 ex-slaves were at the camp.  It was the first step toward learning how to live free.  Its hard to imagine what it was like for those people.  Part of the area has been preserved to honor the residents.  Its a well maintained park with seven bronze life-sized sculptures depicting daily life in the camp.  It was a peaceful place to visit, plus there was a cache hidden there.

We then went to the NE Mississippi Visitor Center to gather information about the area.  Before going back to the motorhome we located a cache on the grounds of the center.

By the end of the day it was raining.

Today’s Travel Totals: Today’s mileage, 65---Geocaches, 3.

April 19, 2012

April 19, 2012

Our intention was to geocache on the campus of Ole Miss today, but for several reasons, we decided to forgo that pleasure and journey on up the road.

We parked at Walmart when we got to Holly Springs.  The weather was beautiful so after lunch we went geocaching.  

As I was putting on my socks and shoes I saw a tiny, tiny, tiny tick walking on my pants leg.  Ticks are very hard to kill and this one was no exception.  It may have been very small, but it was tough.  Kill it we did, tho!

Four of the caches were close to the Square around the Courthouse.  We decided to walk to as many as we could.  One of them took us to the South Reporter, established in 1865 and still publishing the local newspaper.  

From there we walked several blocks to a cemetery that has been in use since the 1830s.  Many veterans’ graves were there, including 10 Confederate Generals, a veteran of the Alamo, one of the first prisoners of war in France during WW1, and many more notables.

We went back home to rest for awhile, before going back out on the trail for four more finds.  It was a good caching day...no DNFs.  Yes!

Today’s Travel Totals: Today’s mileage, 35---Geocaches, 8---Ticks, 1.

April 18, 2012

April 18, 2012

The Walmart gas station in Batesville had diesel, at 20 cents a gallon less than the truck stops.  As high as fuel is right now, we save as much as we can.  The cost doesn’t keep us from going where we want to, because that would defeat the purpose of our lifestyle!  So we save one place, but not another.  That’s the beauty of choice, eh?

We drove to Oxford, Home of the University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss.  After parking at Walmart, we set out on the caching trail.

Our success rate in the morning was about 50%.  Not good, not good!  We ate lunch at Wendy’s and then continued the hunt.  There were some good caches.  One was back in the woods hidden in a rusty can.  Bill saw the can, but didn’t check it out.  I got a few feet from it and saw the cache container inside the can.  Yippy, Skippy!  We were glad to be able to log our find.  

There was another success story at that location.  I felt something on my leg.  It was a tick heading north.  I dispatched him before he could find a tender place to dig in.

We went out caching again before the sun went down.  We found four more caches with not too much trouble.

Today’s Travel Totals: Today’s mileage, 22---Geocaches, 9.

April 17, 2012

April 17, 2012

Our departure was delayed this morning because of the weather.  We finally left Enid Lake at noon and traveled to Batesville to park the motorhome at Walmart.  

After eating lunch at Captain D’s, we headed for a cache.  The instructions were rather vague.  Even using the hint, which was very specific, we were not able to find the “treasure.”  Drats!  

Part of the problem with this particular search may have been that it started to rain just as we got out of the car.  That certainly “dampened” our enthusiasm for the immediate cache.  Of course, you might cut us some slack if you knew we are both “allergic” to rain!

On the way back to the MH, Bill stopped at Sonic for a treat for me...a Diet Dr. Pepper.  I am very fond of DDP, but I absolutely love Sonic ice.  

I told Bill that the two things I like about being in a hospital were the “Sonic ice” and the warm blankets.  And I have had quite a lot of experience with hospitals.  So take my word for it!

By the time the weather improved it was too late to look for hidden things.  We spent the rest of the evening watching TV.

Today’s mileage: 14.

April 16, 2012

April 16, 2012

During the night we had very hard rain, several times.  When we got up this morning the heavy rain had let up, and the winds were calm.  The sky was overcast so the temperature was cooler than yesterday.

After a walk around the campground we went home and ate leftovers from yesterday’s anniversary dinner.  Cracker Barrel’s leftovers are good.  Yum, yum!

The rest of the day we spent inside working on various projects...balancing the checkbook, making travel route plans for the week, and, as always, loading geocaches into the GPSs.

We also had visiting time with other campers.  We’ve met some really nice people since coming here nearly a week ago.

April 15, 2012

April 15, 2012

Fifty-two years ago, Bill and I said “two I do-s and an amen” and started this wonderful adventure.  Four children and seven grandchildren later we are still going strong.

Bill fixed us a really good breakfast...bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast, and juice.  A great way to start the day!

We drove to Batesville for a late lunch at Cracker Barrel.  The food was really good, as usual.  There was a geocache in back of the restaurant.  After logging our find we drove a couple of blocks and found another cache.

Before driving to Sardis Lake to check out the camping situation, we went to Sonic for a Diet Dr. Pepper.  Happy Anniversary to me!

Camping at the lake didn’t look very promising so we went back to the motorhome and looked at possibilities for our travels when we leave here on Tuesday.

While Bill took a nap I sorted beads.  It was a bigger job than I had anticipated so I will continue another day.

Bill said that since it was a special day, he was going to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for supper.  He really knows how to live, doesn’t he?

To end our perfect day we watched “Weekend with Bernie,” one of our favorite movies.

I think you’ll have to admit that these two old folks really know how to celebrate, don’t we?

April 14, 2012

April 14, 2012

We decided to stay three more days here at the Enid Lake Corps of Engineers park.  This is the nicest COE campground we’ve ever stayed at.  It is clean and well maintained, much of it by volunteers.  We have met some really nice people here.

For lunch, we drove 10 miles north to Batesville.  Bill wanted to go to Burger King so we could practice for our 52nd anniversary dinner.  Tomorrow’s the big day.  He’s such a sweetie, don’t you agree?

While in Batesville we found three caches and made a quick stop at Walmart before returning to the motorhome.

I worked on a beading project while we watched the NASCAR race from Texas.  It was a good race with no wrecks, just good driving by some of our favorite drivers.

April 13, 2012

April 13, 2012

Friday, the thirteenth!  I was off to a good start.  First, I discovered a tick, my first of the season.  Ugh!  Next, we couldn’t get the major networks on our TV...ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX.  That was a disaster.  NASCAR races in Texas tomorrow.  Help!  I don’t remember getting a notice that it was due, so I hadn’t paid it!  Oh, dear!  My third “Oops” of the day was that our car insurance notice got lost in the shuffle of doing our income taxes and expired on March 24th.  We’ve been without insurance on the Honda since then.  Yikes!  

And I thought I was doing so much better at my “secretarial” job.  I may get fired!

All of this happened before noon.  Do you wonder what the rest of the day had to offer?  Well, we went caching.  The path to the first one was carpeted with poison ivy.  We decided that cache was a DNT...Did Not Try.

There was a cache at a pretty park at the spillway.  It was an easy one to find.  From there we went to a fish hatchery.  I wanted to “drown a worm,” but the workers didn’t take too kindly to my idea.  After finding the cache we drove through the town of Enid.  At least we think we did.  As towns go, it didn’t seem to have much going for it.

We drove west to a cache placed in a very old cemetery.  We took a different route home and still didn’t find a town.

I think Friday, the thirteenth ended better that it began.  Yea!

April 12, 2012

April 12, 2012

I woke up with a headache, which is unusual for me these days.  I didn’t accomplish much until afternoon when the ache began to ease.  

Bill spent the morning working on the outside of the MH.  There is always something that needs to be waxed, or polished, or shined, or changed.  He never runs out of fun projects to do.

At 2:30 we went for a drive.  This is a beautiful lake with lots of interesting roads the lead to the water.  One dirt road took us to a wooded area where we were able to find a cache after much hunting.

We drove across the dam to the other side of the lake.  We were in search of another cache.  The path took us about two tenths of a mile back into the woods.  Although we were not in a zoo, we saw lots of wild animals...deer, wild boar, bears, mountain lions, a wild turkey...back in among the trees, around some caves, and in the gullies.  

“No hunting” signs were posted along the path.  We didn’t feel in danger, though.  Apparently, we were in a nature area and all the critters were life sized statues of the animals in the area.  Whee! 

We were really glad we were the only beings that were moving.  It was an entertaining path to be on, plus we found a cache.  A very well done nature park...and I wasn’t worried about my safety.  I had my big brave guy to protect me!

April 11, 2012

April 11, 2012

It was nearly noon before we pulled out of Walmart’s parking lot.  That is just about the latest departure time we’ve ever had, I think!  Its amazing how easily we can switch back and forth to retirement mode.

We drove north on I-55 to Enid and parked at Wallace Creek Campground, another Corps of Engineers facility.  Our particular camping area is called Piney Woods.  That’s a nice name.  It reminds me of Mammy Yokum.  Oh, she lived in Dogpatch, didn’t she?  Who lived in the Piney Woods?  Besides us, for the next three days.

I didn’t load any caches for the area so the only exercise we can claim for today was walking to the Registration Kiosk.  It was about a mile, roundtrip.  This is a really beautiful campground and it was a pleasant walk. 

Today’s mileage, 29 miles.

April 10, 2012

April 10, 2012

The sun was shining this morning, so after Bill did some routine maintenance on the coach, we went to try again to find the cache that we couldn’t find yesterday.

Today we entered the search zone from the opposite side.  The trail was easier, but it took us right back to the area where Bill spent 30 minutes yesterday.  I couldn’t climb up to the hunt area so Bill went had gone looking alone.

And there we were back to the same steep hill.  Ugh!  A few feet on down the trail there was a ravine that I thought I could manage, so off the trail we went.  In our hunting around Bill went back up on the ridge where he encountered a “killer” frog.  I  struggled with roots and a three inch carpet of dead leaves down in the draw where I came upon a turtle.  Bill’s threat hopped away, but my newfound friend stayed right where he was.  I ask him if he knew where the cache was, but he just looked at me as if to say, “What is this crazy old lady in my area for, anyway?”

Bill was ready to call it quits again, but I don’t give up so easily.  I saw a big flat rock by a tree stump, but I couldn’t get up to it.  Bill came back to where I was, climbed up to the rock, and there underneath it was the cache.  Yippy, Skippy!

On the way back to the car we went to the location of a fort used during the Civil War.  It was a great history lesson.

We moved the coach back to the Walmart parking lot,  went searching for two more caches, shopped a bit, and then decided it was time to rest.  It was a really busy, active day.

April 9, 2012

April 9, 2012

Our caches this morning took us on trails through the woods.  They gave us quite a workout.  

The first one took us an a path beside a small stream.  When our GPSs told us to go off the trail we questioned it.  There was so much undergrowth, but we finally figured out a way and found the cache container fairly quickly.

The second cache was on a cliff trail.  We walked much further than on the first route.  The trail was in good condition and Bill found the “treasure” without much of a problem.

The third adventure took us up a steep road (closed for winter).  When JP was three we climbed a difficult path through the woods in Monterey, California.  Bill offered to carry him, but he wanted to walk.  It was a mile up a steep path.  When we got to the top, JP said, “That was a heavy hill.”  Let me tell you, the climb up the road today was “heavy.”

Once at the top of the hill we took another hiking trail.  It was in poor condition...roots and rocks...so I had to really watch where I was stepping.  Bill went a long way off the trail, but couldn’t find the cache.  We will try again tomorrow (unless it rains), approaching from a different direction.

I haven’t done this much walking in a long time so I didn’t accomplish too much after getting home.  We were both tired. Whee!  What a day!

April 8, 2012

April 8, 2012

Happy Easter!

Bill fixed a really good breakfast this morning...bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast, and orange juice.  That gave us the fuel we needed to go caching.

We drove east of Grenada to the small town of Holcomb.  One of the caches was hidden at the site of an old village.  It is always nice to learn the history of an area.  The next cache took us a mile away to a tiny park.

From there we went on to Oxberry.  It was little more than a bump in the road, but we found two caches in the area.  One was at a very old storm shelter.  It was built in the side of a hill and was all made of metal.  I’m sure in its day it was well used to take cover from tornadoes.  Today the door wouldn’t close, which might be a problem, but certainly more protection that being out in the elements.  Thank goodness, the weather was great today, so we just signed the log.

On our trip back to the motorhome we stopped at Walmart for a few items.  After eating a late lunch at KFC we went home to rest and relax.

April 7, 2012

April 7, 2012

We went into Grenada for lunch and then to cache.  It was another beautiful day in Mississippi...ideal caching weather.  

The first was located at the edge of a little park.  The hardest part was finding the road into the right area.  That was a real trick.  Finding the actual cache was a piece of cake...except for having to walk around the poison ivy.  That took some doing.

The next cache was at a lookout place above Grenada Lake.  The last time we were in Grenada we looked for this particular one with no luck.  This time we were a little cautious because of red wasps flying around.  But brave Bill located the cache and retrieved it as fast as possible.  (insert sigh)  My hero!

Before going back home we stopped at the Visitor Center for information on other Corps of Engineers campgrounds north of here.  There are four others, which will give us lots of new caching areas.

April 6, 2012

April 6, 2012

Not a cloud in the sky.  Yippy, Skippy!

We drove to Grenada Lake this morning to check out the Corps of Engineers campgrounds.  After thoroughly scouting out the area we went back to Walmart to get the coach.

It is really beautiful at this campground...lots of trees and well maintained grounds.  The campsites are spacious with concrete pads.  We have signed up until Monday, but might stay longer.

We walked around part of the campground late this afternoon. 

We plan to keep working our way north to other Corps of Engineers campgrounds, so that means more caches to load.  Work, work, work!

April 5, 2012

April 5, 2012

Brent called this morning to warn us of a storm headed toward us and him.  It came in with rain, winds, lightening, and thunder.  In 30 minutes it was over and we had mostly blue sky.  We called Brent who said the main storm went between the two of us.

Bill and I headed out into the country for some caches.  After finding one and running into way too much mud we decided to abandon the others in the area and drive toward Possumneck.  We were able to find the cache there, but the sign entering the “town” was gone.  One of the “locals” told us that every time they put up a sign, someone steals it.

The lady also told us that at one time Possumneck was noted for its cheese, but that dairy was no longer there.

We drove on to West where we found two caches.  

The drive back to the motorhome was very pretty.  We decided to go on toward Grenada.  Just before getting there, dark clouds started forming.  We parked at Walmart just as the storm hit.  It lasted about an hour.

Today’s Travel Totals: Today’s mileage, 60---Geocaches, 4

April 4, 2012

April 4, 2012

It was just after the lunch hour when we pulled out of Brent’s driveway and started singing our theme song, “On the Road Again.”  As we crossed the Reservoir Spillway I saw a guy catch a fish.  Can I count that on my critter list (the fish, not the guy, I guess)?  There was also a large heron in the area, hoping for lunch.

We drove north on the Natchez Trace, one of our favorite roads to drive in the entire country.  We stopped at Kosciusko, hometown of Oprah Winfrey.  After parking at Walmart and resting, we went out to do some caching.

Our search for caches was in the downtown area.  We met several of the “locals” while looking for the hidden things.  That’s always a treat for us.  We find out a lot about an area from people who live there.

On of our new “friends” is a fireman.  He told us how to tell if a snake is poisonous or not.  That is a comforting bit of knowledge, don’t you think?  At least he didn’t say if you get bitten and don’t keel over you can pretty much be certain that it wasn’t poisonous.  The clue is to look at the snake’s eyes.  If they are like a cat’s eyes its not good.  If they have pupils like human eyes they are OK.  I wonder which one of us will hang around to do an eye check if we meet a snake.  The fireman didn’t mention dying of fright.

We found five caches, but had two DNFs.  

Today’s Travel Totals: Today’s mileage, 68---Geocaches, 5

April 3, 2012

April 3, 2012

Our wireless printer suffered from a stroke.  Some of its functions still worked, but the main one for us was gone.  We weren’t able to print, which is vital for geocaching.

At 10:00, the three of us set off for Best Buy, Brent’s favorite store.  It took us about half an hour to buy a new.  We got an HP which is the brand that we have had for many years.  HP has served us well...and it fits (into the computer cabinet).

Buying it was the easy part.  Installing it was a different matter, especially since a couple of nimnuls were trying to do it.  (JP has accused me of making up words.  “Nimnuls” may be one of them.)  After much work, the new gizmo (not a made up word) worked beautifully.

When Coleson got home from school he wanted to go to a new nature park in Flowood.  So off Brent, he, and I went!  It was a really nice walking trail through a new area.  Lots of people were on the trail which is a mile long around a large pond.

After walking we went to a convenience store close to the newly expanded playground area.  It was my kind of place to get something to drink.  They had “Sonic-type ice” and Diet Dr. Pepper.  Ah, life is good!

Coleson played at the playground for about half an hour before we headed for home.

April 2, 2012

April 2, 2012

Today is a must cache day...our last!  We have cached on all of the 366 days of the year.  The pressure is off.  

Last night I talked to friends Dwight and Sheila.  She suggested that we find at least one cache early in the day, just to be on the safe side.  That is what we intended to do.  Well, the best plans sometimes go awry.  They nearly did today.

Several things kept us from going out on the hunt this morning.  It was a great day although a little warm and humid.  We weren’t worried.  When the kids got home from school we set out to cache.  

The weather was fine!  The first order of business was an ice cream shop for treats.  It took some time to order and get our ice cream.  When we came out of the shop dark clouds had started to gather.  Traffic was terrible so Brent took a back road to miss some of it.  I had not a clue where we were.  When we got back to the main road I was slightly disoriented.  Earlier I had told Brent that the cache was in Walgreen’s parking lot so that is where he headed.  

The cache was easy to find, thank goodness.  Just as we got  back in the car big raindrops started to fall.  In the ten minutes it took us to get home the rain was coming down in buckets, and blowing sideways because of 70 mph winds.  As far as geocaching goes, that was a close call.  Yikes! 

The rain and wind kept up for most of the evening.  Bill and I had planned to leave Brandon in the morning.  That may change, depending on the weather tomorrow.

April 1, 2012

April 1. 2012

The weather was great today, but we didn’t get out and enjoy it much.  The morning started out overcast and muggy, but it soon cleared off.  The high was 80°.

We spent part of the day watching the NASCAR race.  Jeff Gordon did really well until the very last of the race, but then misfortune struck.  He finished 6th.  Dale, Jr. finished second or maybe third.  There are a number of drivers that we cheer for, and some that we don’t want to see finish well.  The Hendricks drivers are our favorite.

Brent smoked a pork roast today, made potato salad, green beans, garlic bread and a lime pie.  Some of the neighbors came over and  brought several vegetable dishes.  There is always so much food when the group gets together.  I promise, no one went home hungry!

Sara played an April Fool’s joke on me.  She came out to the MH and said her dad wanted a can of Diet Dr. Pepper.  He’s a Pepsi guy and when I ask him about it, he said it was a joke.  She is such a little scamp!