Jeff's R&R leave and Spring Break for Jen and Jacob overlapped last week. And we've been caching up a storm! We're up to 830 finds and we've set 82 caches!
Jeff got in on Friday night (3/12) and on Saturday (3/13) we found ourselves in Wichita for a bowling tournament. After Jacob surpassed his average by 33 points, we were out geocaching! We got 5 done on Saturday and then we found 33 on Sunday (3/14 Happy birthday, Pinipig!) We traveled here and there and all around Kansas. On gravel roads, on mud roads, on tar and everything in between.
The following Tuesday (3/16), we did not plan on caching. Honest. Really, we didn't plan on caching, but as soon as DA438's Gypsum series popped up, we were heading out the door hoping to grab some FTF's. We claimed 4 FTF's and worked on some of the 1900 series, then headed home. When we started logging in the finds, imagine our surprise when we discovered more newly published caches that had not been found! We quickly found a babysitter (thanks Mandy!) for Jacob and headed back out to try to find more Gypsum FTF's. We didn't claim any more FTF's that day, but did find a few more caches to bring our total for the day to 38 found caches. We traveled along miles of mud roads...our 4 wheel drive works great. I think we have 10 pounds of Gypsum Rd mud in our driveway!
We traveled to Iowa on Thursday (3/18) and stopped to do a few caches along the way. The Homestead National Monument outside of Beatrice, Nebraska has a few caches. It was a neat place to stop and learn some homesteading history. Jacob even became a Junior Park Ranger!
While in Iowa, we set a few caches. MillerTime4 found a few and claimed a few FTF's. And no, they didn't have an advantage since we're related!
That brings us to today...Monday (3/22.) Jacob went back to school while Jeff and Jen drove 182 miles geocaching in central Kansas. One of the coolest caches was an Earth Cache...Chase Artesian Well Site We drank some of the cool water that bubbled out of the well. After claiming the cache and the one nearby, we enjoyed our picnic lunch. Thanks to our spring snowstorm, Jeff was standing in some snow on the side of the road while the thermometer in the truck said 69*! Wow... It was so quiet out there...just the gurgle of the well. I don't know if I've ever been that far in the country, away from everything! What a great day...great company and great caching.
We've seen a lot of places in Kansas that most people haven't...or haven't noticed. Did you know Highway 50 between Strong City and Emporia is known as the Turkey Red Highway that celebrated the Wheat Centennial in 1974?? Well, now you do.
