A kilo of caches

Saturday March 29th
With the two caches that I did east of Sanderson, I now have a total of 1000 found. I celebrated by finishing my Swiss Orange Sherbet at dinner time. Then I stopped at Judge Roy Bean’s place, in Langtry, and Seminole Canyon State Park – to see the exhibits. It was a misty day, so I decided to stop at the National Park in Amistad, where I can camp for $2 on my Golden Age Pass.

I spent the rest of the day on the computer – laying out the course for geocaching and church on Sunday. The Woman Tour has their longest day on Sunday – 111 miles.

Sunday March 30th
I cached my way to WalMart, where I loaded up on food, gasoline, $, and other items of need. Then it was time for mass at the church where I am staying for the night.

I spent the afternoon doing some more geocaches and getting to know Del Rio. It is a much nicer town than I had thought from my first impression – riding through on the main highways is not the way to “learn” a town. I think this would be a good place to settle down – if I really wanted to settle down.

From the Alps to the seashore

Friday I did 7 geocaches (now 998) from the “Texas Alps”, near Alpine, to Sanderson Canyon where the mountains are an ancient seashore. In the Alps the mountains are lava formed and tilted on edge by shifting of the Tectonic plates. Sanderson Canyon, in contrast, is the bottom of a sea with many horizontal layers of sediment turned to rock. I saw what looked like a set of fossilized antlers coming out of the rock on one of my cache quests. I feel very enriched by the experiences that I have had while geocaching.

Saturday I am moving towards Del Rio. Since I am a day ahead of the tour, I probably won’t get there until Sunday. Hopefully Dave Tole will catch up to us in Kerrville next week.

2 Days without a link to the world

After Marfa I went to Fort Davis and the Davis Mountain State Park. The park is very nice and I booked a tent site for two nights, because Arda has the day off on Thursday and I found her internet facilities in downtown Fort Davis. Wednesday was the hardest day of the bike tour, according to Michelle who is one of the guides. About 2/3 of the women SAGed in to the lodge. That means they rode in the support and gear vehicles for part of the day. Arda rode the whole 90 (mostly mountain) miles. Here are some of the local rodents. Actually they are spotted peccary, known in Texas as Javalina – they are related to the real ones, but not as vicious.

Thursday I hiked up the trail (1.4 miles, the way I went) to find a geocache and leave a travel bug at 5280 feet. Here are some pictures of the hike and cache.

Perspective

It’s all a matter of how you look at it. Yesterday was a relaxing, geocaching trip from Fabens to Marfa. I did three geocaches and visited the Marfa/Presidio Museum and then went on to the viewing spot for the famous Marfa Lights. When I pulled in I saw an Escapee decal on the rig in front of me and had one of those small world moments. It was Mike and Beth Myers from northern Wisconsin, who I seem to keep bumping into. We stayed the night to see the lights. There was also a British couple staying there in their Fiat motorhome. They were very impressed with our very low fuel prices. He said, “It’s a real bargain here in the States to only have to pay $4 a gallon for diesel, when it costs over $10 at home. Also with the Euro being of more value than the dollar, food is really cheap.” And we thought that our prices were high!

I couldn’t figure out how to get my camera adjusted for a picture of the lights, so I will just have to describe them to you. The view point is a parking lot and raised area with fixed focus telescopes and bathrooms. This is provided by the city at no cost. After dark we saw house lights, car lights, and Marfa Lights. They are very hard to tell apart until you really watch the Marfa Lights for a while. I observed them until after 1:00 and then again from 5-7:00 AM. They look like regular electric lights – but they occasionally change in color, size, and location. Yes, they really do move. Some times there are groups of them that come on strong and then disappear. So far, there has been no scientific reason given (proven) for them. Strangely, they can not be observed from up close. They seem to be 10-15 miles SW of the viewing area. Although it was not a life changing event, I will remember the experience.

A New/Old stop in Fabens

Yesterday (Easter) I enjoyed an Easter dinner at Flying J, traded travel bugs in Anthony and spent the night at the Texas Welcome Center, where they have WiFi. The WiFi at the state rest stops is usually pretty slow and it doesn’t support the VOIP phone very well. Anyway I was able to get out s-l-o-w-l-y with my other internet needs and it was a good quiet bedroom place, with only one other overnight RVer in the very large lot.

In the morning I went to Camping World and replaced my stabilizer jacks. When I inquired about checking my trailer brake problem I found that they would charge me about the price of a new one just to troubleshoot the problem. I said, “No thanks!” and went on down the road, geocaching.

I only did two caches, but one of them was very significant to me. Some of you may remember that my “Charley, my friend” travel bug, which memorializes Charley Hendren, was lost from a cache in El Paso. Well, today I started up the replacement TB in a cache about 2 miles from the academy in El Paso where Charley worked. Now it is headed on to Arlington, Topeka, Sheridan, and Douglas.

East of the cache about 20 miles at FM793 exit from I-10 is one of my favorite stops. I decided to drop in to Texas Reds for a hamburger (the greatest) and to work on the repair of my brakes – and then to park for the night if it was late enough. Well, “Texas Reds” is no more. Here you can see them putting up the new sign. I went in and met the owner and he assured me that although it is now going to be called “FastTrak”, the spirit and demeanor of the place has not changed. He has taken up where Red and his wife left off, and he intends to still have the lowest gas prices, best hamburgers and a welcoming place to get off the road for the night. I tried the western hamburger (1/3 # with onion rings and BBQ sauce, dressed with lettuce tomatoes, onions, etc.) and it is still as good as I remember. The place has a real kitchen where the hamburgers and an assortment of Mexican foods are prepared. There is no dining room – you eat in your car, RV, or take it to the Faben’s Inn Motel across the street.

I got my brake repair done as far as I can go today. The good news is that the brakes on the trailer and the controller wiring test out perfect. The bad news is that the problem seems to be a fatal error in the controller logic. I will have to find the controller install papers and warranty and proceed at the next appropriate place to get it repaired.

A Happy Easter weekend

I came in to Las Cruces and the historic town of Mesilla in the early morning. The town is watched over by a huge Chaparral bird (aka roadrunner) that I have always wanted to check out. You can tell we are getting close to Texas from it's size. It is a neat piece of art made locally at the landfill. I spent the middle of the day checking out the town of Mesilla. It was the first seat of government in the New Mexico/Arizona territory, which became part of the U.S. when the Gadsden Purchase was formalized in this very square. The “Posta” (aka stage stop) and the old state house, later court house, are the original buildings and have withstood time, with very little modernization to their structures. In the evening Arda, Jan, and I participated in the Easter Vigil mass at San Albino, the church shown in the picture of the square. On Easter Sunday I am proceeding to Camping World in Anthony TX for a couple of minor repairs and of course some more geocaching. Then it is on to Marfa to see the famous lights and Fort Davis, where I will go to the McDonald Observatory.

A Good Friday in Deming NM

Today was a catchup day. I showered, did the laundry, straightened up the trailer, cooked dinner and ate – all before the services at church. Since I had to drive in to town for church it, of course, made good sense to do some geocaching and get on the internet while I was at it. I have now successfully geocached the entire city, but next time I come by there will probably be some new ones. I need to learn to take my signon/password lists when I go to town – I was unable to do some checking on my Rx program. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. I will be in La Mesilla, which is almost home (Texas). I have a date to take some women to mass with me at an historic old Mexican church. The church was Mexican until the Gadsden Purchase.

It's Spring and I have a new toy!

I left Arda & Dave in Silver City and came to the Escapee park “Dream Catcher” in Deming today. I had several things that I wanted to accomplish; my laundry, geocaching, filling the propane, and getting my mail. Well, I got the propane and the mail. The propane was over filled and I had to go back and have the tank purged. In the mail was my new toy – a voice over IP device, so that I can now call at any time of the day – if of course I have an internet connection. I spent several hours playing with it and reading the rest of my mail, so I am going to have to stay in Deming tomorrow too and get the rest of my chores done. It’s enjoyable staying here, so I don’t mind.

Holy Thursday mass was bilingual, but very inspiring. The priest was a dynamic preacher, and I really feel fed.

I recommend that you look into www.magicJack.com if you are interested in free long distance using your high speed internet. I think it is going to save me a lot of grief, if not money. Now I can call any time of the day that I can get on a WiFi connection. I am still keeping my cell phone for the many times that I will not have the internet available.

3-19-08 Even more ghostly

I went to Steins Ghost Town to meet Dave this morning only to find it closed! It seems that they are using Methyl Bromide to fumigate and it looks like it will be closed all year. I geocached Silver City already and am about to sit down to dinner with the Woman Tours group. Plan on heading out in the morning for more exciting surroundings.

March 18, 2008 - Day 26883 - A day of providence.

The day started out normal – breakfast, dress, wash dishes, put away electric cord, make sure all the cupboards are latched; hatches closed, gas off, and then take off. How come the brakes seem to be on? Oops – I’m 26883 days old and I can still forget something important. The jacks were down due to high winds last evening and now they are bent beyond salvation. Oh well, tie them up and find a welder to cut them off down the road.

After a nice downhill ride, passing the Woman Tours participants, and arriving in Lordsburg, I found a repair shop that would cut off the two pins holding the jacks. “$60 – No way!” said I to my self, and I left to do a ghost town geocache. After finding the geocache and a travel bug that wanted to go with me, I looked at the jacks and decided that I needed to be my own repairman. One half hour later I had hack sawed the pins off and removed the jacks. This problem will not happen again, because I will replace the jacks with the type not attached to the trailer frame.

After the repair job I went to the Flying J to fill up and to do two more geocaches. While there I discovered that they have a new discount system. I spent some of the money that I saved by not having the welding done on a shower (really luxury) and a Magic Dragon lunch. That earned me a 3% discount on my gas purchase. I then spent the rest of the day at Hotel Flying J (free) and worked on my financial records, pre-cooking a couple of meals, and writing this blog and the geocache workups for tomorrow.

All in all, it was a great day – partially because I screwed up at the beginning.

Lots of walking today

Spent almost all day geocaching (I don't get tired of it, but you may) and getting to know Safford. Arda was in before 3 and I arranged to have dinner with her and Dave and the Woman Tours group on Wednesday. I will geocache Lordsburg tomorrow and spend the night in Steins, so I will probably not have a blog until Wednesday or Thursday. Oh yeah, Happy St. Patty's Day!

Thru Miami and on to Globe (AZ, that is.)

Had a great visit with Nancy Speck in Mesa, cached Apache Junction and Globe and went through a snowstorm (Very light snow). I now have 961 caches, and I just got word that the "Bike4Cancer travel bug has been picked up in Houston and is headed to Atlanta!

And then night fell.

I left North Ranch early and geocached my way to the Best Western Bell hotel where Arda was staying. We went to the Black Bear Diner and she had soup to stave off starvation, while I had a terrific apple bear claw for my dessert. Then I cached until dark. I'm up to 948 found now, so I'm heading to Apache Junction.

An Act in Congress

I have spent two days in Congress AZ – trying to communicate. Wednesday I geocached my way to the Escapee park “North Ranch” (total caches now 939). There is no free internet here so I decided to pay the $3 and start at 9AM on Thursday. Well, it is S L O W! I spent all day getting my geocaches logged in and taking care of my finances. I could read Dave’s blog, but not Arda’s. I would always time out – too many pictures for this system, I guess. So, I will not put any pictures on this blog and see if I can get it published. No luck, so here I am at 6AM getting this posted! It must be a matter of too many users on the system, since it is working fine this morning. I’m heading to Phoenix in this AM for some more geocaching and a visit to an old friend Nancy Speck. Actually, she is probably not as old as Vagabond!

It’s a Woman Thing

Yesterday, after getting my tooth fixed and finding a geocache in Mexico, I headed to Blythe CA. I parked across the street from Arda’s hotel, which just happened to be my favorite WiFi spot in Blythe at one of my optometrist’s clinic. I enjoyed a relaxing afternoon reading Harry Potter and waiting in the hotel lobby. Arda was in the third group of women coming in from their ride. In the first group, one of the women tripped on the disabled ramp coming in to the hotel and had to go to the hospital to get stitches. It seems that this was the second emergency trip on the ride already. Arda had gone 91 miles and just wanted to relax, so I went to the office to start on Wednesday’s geocache workup.

Today, Arda spent her time working on her journal for two days and getting together with the other women about where to go out to eat on their day off. I had suggested “Rosita’s” as a source of what I think are the best margaritas in the world. They are made with a specially blended “margarita wine” and I always make sure I get one when I am in Blythe. The group of 30 women on the “Woman Tour” seems to really be bonding and they really didn’t want any men along, so I spent the rest of my day doing more geocache workup and writing this blog.

Tomorrow I will be geocaching Arda’s trail of two cities (Salome & Wickenburg AZ) and end up at the SKP Park “North Ranch” in Congress. The caching is great in this nice warm weather. Yesterday was 85/53, and today was /54. Of course, tomorrow I am heading into mountains, so it will not be quite as warm.

Cache - Church - Cache - Blog

My goal is to hit 1000 caches found before finishing the trip to St Augustine. I also have several travel bugs with very specific missions that I am trying to help them accomplish. On the way to church I stopped at the old remains of the Butterfield Stage Stop here in Winterhaven CA and got one. After mass (and a very long sermon) I got two more and a travel bug. I returned to Yuma AZ to get my three days of blogging caught up and to get some of the cheap gas ($3.14) before I go into Mexico and up to Blythe CA tomorrow.

Vagabond Tom learns his limits. 3-8-2008

I parked free on the wide open desert in Felicity CA waiting for my Monday dentist visit to get a 58 year old gold inlay glued back in. While waiting, this is a good geocaching spot. The second cache was marked 4 (out of 5) for terrain, but I thought I would give it a try since it was a trail up the mountain. Well – about ¾ of the way I discovered that there was going to be another valley to cross and I was physically hurting already. So, sanity took over and I gave it up for younger geocachers to try. It was a good view though – even only ¾ of the way up. Here are some of the pictures along the trail.

And They're Off! Friday March 7, 2008

Woman Tours had a nice banquet last night. Today all the riders, family, and friends gathered to say their goodbyes and “Bon Voyages” at Dog Beach, which is on the Pacific Ocean. The riders put their back wheels in the water, had their pictures taken, and then they were off to St. Augustine. For a better account of their trip Arda’s webpage Journal, http://www.bike4cancer.com/ is your best resource. I took the easy way out and did the first three days of their trip by Chevrolet Express. I had a very successful day of geocaching, finding 15 caches in Alpine and Jacumba and trading 1 travel bug. After all of that hard work I thought I deserved a rest in the hot tub. There is a free public hot springs south of Holtville where the water comes out of the ground at about 108 degrees, feeding a shower and two hot tubs. I spent about an hour there and then proceeded to my campgrounds in Felicity CA (pop 2?). There is no WiFi connection here so this post will be made later this weekend when I go to church.