December 30, 2004

A fun afternoon caching with Ben, Claire and Maggie. The rain held off until the very end, and we went 6/6 on finds.

At What Cost?: One track mind = long search. 'nuf said.

Mayfield Puzzle: After several befuddled minutes, we put things together. Thanks for this very original hide. We laughed about it all the way to the next cache.

Crossing Adobe: I'd been here before for another cache, but never seen the plaque. It was well worth another visit.

Pete's Castle: I've been on this road before for another cache. It's always amazing how I miss things when I'm focused on that arrow. Thanks for sharing the story. BTW, the log is completely soaked. Even if I'd had a bag, it would have been too late. I had to carefully spread it out on the hood of the car to sign. TFTC.

The Purple Heart: Parked within 10 feet, but had to convince the guy in the golf cart that we really didn't want a ride over to the hospital. My purple heart was earned for 3 trips to the doctor in 2 months to get 'roids for PO. You'd think she would have been willing to call the darn Rx in for me after the first time. Beyond that, you'd think I could have been careful enough to avoid the cursed stuff after the first time.

The Sound of Silence: A very nice hike to an interesting location. I always thought that it was a retaining wall not a sound wall. The trail was quite muddy. TFTC.

December 28, 2004

Smokey Bear's 60th Birthday: 2pm FTF!!! This is a great place for a cache. Definitely something I would have never found on my own. With the rain, the trail was wet, but not extremely muddy, and the creek was running full. The sounds of water dripping from the trees and flowing over the rocks were wonderful. GPSr coverage was spotty, but fortunately I spotted the hiding place easily.

December 22, 2004

Magic Forest: Whether it's 5 finds or 500, it doesn't really get any easier. My little noodle couldn't make sense of the clue, although I was quite thorough with the angles that occured to me.

root of my root: Cache run with John and Ted. Noticed the cache right off, but dismissed it as trash. (Whoops! Note to self: Cache in, trash out, maybe it will help!) Took some small stuff, left some bigger stuff. Container is full.

Homage to Silence: After getting spider webs on our fingers (yuck!), and reviewing simple physics prinicples illustrated by this sculpture, we paused to reconsider the situation. Suddenly, a light went on! (I know, I know, pretty lame.) Thanks.

From small acorns...: I made the find and signed the log while keeping the twins' swings going. Wow, what a talented Dad! Thanks.

December 21, 2004

Fresh Water Marsh: The kids ran ahead and found the cache. This trail was just right for a family outing. Thanks for showing it to us.

Salt Water Marsh: No luck finding this one on the way in. The kids were eager to move on for the big score...I mean ammo box...at the next location. Fortunately the trail brought us back for a second try on the way back.

Ceara Cache: Found. Traded (and re-traded...and discussed...and argued over!) Logged (quickly and quietly). Can you guess who did what? Ceara, you've got a lot to look forward to! TFTC!

Duck View Cache: The amateur ornithologist (my better half) in the family really enjoyed this spot. She was busily taking note of all the birds, and declared that there was one she had never seen before. I'm sure I'll find her with the identification book when we get home. Oh, we found the cache too.

December 20, 2004

Sugarloaf For Non-Climbers: On my first visit, I came here without studying the map. After about 20 frustrating minutes trying to drive to it by following the arrow, I really wasn't in the proper frame of mind for a search. This time, I knew where to go, and even though the GPSr wouldn't settle down, it was a quick find. Thanks for showing me this interesting canyon!

John & Ted are 5!

It's hard to believe they're so grown up. We had a party with 12 pre-school friends (Crazy!) and then a family party a few days later.


John is proud of his cake!


Ted waits to greet his friends for the party

December 18, 2004

Pirate's Booty: Being pretty familiar with this area, I knew where to go. There were plenty of dogs out walking their owners: I think we counted 15 (dogs, that is) during our 2.5 mile loop. It was a long hike for two 5-year olds, but they only started complaining during the last 0.1 mile or so. The cache contents weren't quite up to their standards, but we left it better than we found it . I don't think it was too easily seen, but tossed some leaves on it for good measure. Thanks for a new twist, and bringing us back to this beautiful place.

John pets a banana slug
Tis the season
Trail guides
Taken by a 5-year old...can you believe it?

December 13, 2004

Horse Trail: I snagged this cache on the way to work. It was a refreshing hike on a warm and sunny morning. Plenty of hoof marks, but no horses. For some reason I though Belmont was a bit too urban to have them. Wrong! TFTC.

My trip to Little Matthew's blessing

Last weekend I went to Washington DC for Matthew's blessing.

It was great to see Ben & Tara, as well as the families of Richard & Diane and David & Lisa. The weather was perfect. Matt cooperated and Ben did a good job. After church, everyone went back to the apartment for dinner. Besides family, there were several of their friends present. Tara had made soup and salad, and we crowded into their small apartment. There was a lot of good conversation. Eventually, the afternoon wound down and it was time for me to catch my plane back to California.


Ben, Tara, Matt, & the proud big brother


Matt in his Sunday best

Scriptures I noticed this week at Church

Ether 4:15: A great challenge and promise!

Alma 34:17-28: Amulek's testimony of prayer.

December 10, 2004

I went hiking in Santa Theresa county park...oh yeah, there were some caches there!

Nicely Stacked: I spent some time looking for this cache, to no avail. I'm wondering if the recent rains could have obscured a visual clue? Or, more likely, I just missed it. Oh, did I mention that it's really muddy?

M&J Style: Mint Cage: Got it! It's always nice to see a cache container that's been prepared with it's location in mind. SL.

Rocky Bench: Somehow, I ended up on the trail towards this cache with only the coordinates and not the description. Things turned out okay. A great hike, although everything was socked in with fog. TFTC.

Dwimmerlaik: For me, the degree of difficulty on this cache was increased by one star due to mud-caked shoes. Very nicely done.

I LIKE 1KE: In my haste to look at what might be hiding behind the camo'd cache container, I quickly grabbed it and set it aside. Only later did I notice the cache in its hiding place.

Once in a Blue Moon: Not wanting to uncover even a torpid snake, I made a half-hearted search. No luck. The trail is really muddy.

B-G-J Ranch: As predicted, my GPSr was a bit off. Since the barnyard was empty, I started a systematic search. After going over several likely places with a fine-toothed comb, the naturalist (who must have been watching me from the ranch house) came to my rescue. The conversation turned to snakes (of course). He also told me that there were several park rangers who happened to be avid geocachers. All in all, a very pleasant find.

Santa Teresa Spring: What an interesting place! TFTC.

December 4, 2004

Ben chauffeured me around during my visit. He's a good sport to put up with my little obsession.

Washington, DC LIVE!
I am visiting from California for just the weekend, but had the chance to find this cache and see a little bit of the GW campus. My first webcam cache! Thanks for doing the finger-work, Caleb.

TBUG INN ICEXT EASE X
I am visiting from California for just the weekend, but had to make a find in a new state! This cache was a bit challenging to find in the dark, but after spotting the geo-trail everything fell into place. I was hoping to snag a TB, but didn't find any.

The twelve rules of Christmas

Are children really forbidden from learning about one of the most culturally significant events because it is religious? For that matter, are adults forbidden at work or in public places to celebrate the religious aspects of Christmas?

The truth is simply that no, they are not.

Eye-opening reading. Don't let ignorance control how you celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Claire

Claire

This is a picture of my oldest daughter Claire. Cheerful, happy, gregarious, and ready to be older than I think she should be! What a great blessing.

Cache log

Going in Circles: Knowing the distance to each waypoint and flipping back and forth between the two, I was able to get pretty close. A careful search produced the desired result. What a nice park! I stopped to watch a group of hard-core bocce players for a while. Otherwise, the cool temperatures seemed to be keeping everyone else indoors.

Cache Log

Rabbits for Rosco: Thanks for bringing us out for a walk on a very pleasant winter afternoon. And now for something completely different...a visit to Costco.

Cache Log

Horse Chestnut Trail: We parked in the no parking zone, and made a quick dash up the hill. I decided to let the preteens take the GPSr, after all, what could happen in 150 feet? Well, next thing I know, they're off the trail, hand over hand up the hill! Fun!

Inspiration Point Hitching Post: We took the service road, it was plenty tough for our party. I'm afraid the cache site took a beating, at least 8 of the kids were in on the final search. After resting at the top on the benches, we made our way back to the ranger station. Unfortunately it had just closed. There was a lot of disappointment when everyone realized that a chance to see the king snake was gone. We did see a herd of turkeys come down the hill to drink at the stream. Quite appropriate for the day after Thanksgiving.

Rustic Lands Hollow: Very nicely done. There's another place nearby that fits the hint as well. After going over it with a fine-tooth comb, we widened our search a bit. None of the kids fell in the creek either!

Cache Log

End of the Trail 3: Palo Alto Baylands: Ted and I took the walk to this cache on Thanksgiving Day before dinner. A great way to whet the appetite!

My nephew Matt

See? No teeth!

He's named after me! Cool, huh?

My nephew Matt

Bright eyes!

It's okay, Matt, those camera flashes blind me too!

Cache Log

New Life from Old: One small faded sign marked the trailhead where we came in. You'd think these folks would have the dough to maintain proper signage. Then again, maybe they don't want to encourage interlopers like me. In any case, we enjoyed ourselves immensely, petting a very friendly horse for a few minutes, and throwing rocks in the stream. Thanks for showing us this trail.

Banana Slug Highway: The patch antenna on my Garmin really let me down at this cache. Beyond that, I really should learn for sure what that plant in the clue looks like. I'll bet the cache was right under my nose, but I couldn't find it.

Shady Trail: As with the other nearby caches, another pleasant suprise. Once we found the unmarked trail, it transported us into a hidden world. After noticing all the traps, we were glad it wasn't bee season. Half way back to the car, I realized that my son still had the log in his hand. Oh well, we were on the trail that much longer!

Another Fog View: We parked next to the van that was missing the left rear wheel. Other than that, nothing else questionable in the lot. After finding the cache, signing the log, dropping off a TB, and trading, we stopped to appreciate the view. Today was only a 5 on the view meter though...it's kinda hazy.

Woodside Store: The store was closed today. Too bad, we were looking forward to exploring it. We found the cache straight away, and signed the somewhat damp log. I was wishing I had ziplock bag to put it in; that hiding spot will become a puddle in the coming months.

Cache Log

Varney Air: My son played while I cached. Thanks.

Brittan Park: I rummaged around for a few minutes, then, voila! Right in front of me. I was careful to avoid that blood stained branch!

Fog View: Sunset. Still clear as a bell. T: rubber robot; L: plastic ocelot. Took a picture of my son Ted with the view in the background. #24, I think. TFTC.

Maggie

Maggie

This is a picture of my daughter Maggie at the beach in Oceanside. I love her happy smile.