Hide In Plain Sight

I’ve been somewhat laid back and not going out much. It’s helping that the temperature is finally below 100, so afternoons are reasonably comfortable. Within 7.5 miles of my house there are over 300 caches that I haven’t found, so I don’t rally need to travel anywhere to go on a hunt.

There are certain events in one’s life where we remember exactly where we were and what we were doing. JFKs assassination, 9-11, the Challenger explosion, and of course the first Moon landing and subsequent first step taken by Neil Armstrong. In my case I had recently graduated from High School, and was getting ready to go off to college, glad that I wasn’t going in to the Army, and subsequently getting sent off to fight in Vietnam.

My parents, my father’s brother Ed, and I were at my parent’s house in NY watching the fuzzy images as they were broadcast. I had never experienced anything up to that point that made me more proud to be both an American and a member of the human race. I fully expected that we would soon have bases on the Moon, then Mars, and would continue to explore the solar system and beyond. Needless to say I was wrong.

Rest in Peace Neil. You will be remembered by millions of people who witnessed what you, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins did.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, –and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of –Wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air…
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

John Gillespie Magee, Jr

Sharon and I took a much needed vacation by ourselves over to Catalina Island. Spending most of our time in Avalon, we did manage to take a great hike, go on a zip line and generally relax. Additionally we picked up a number of geocaches and enjoyed ourselves immensely. The Island is very family friendly, has some wonderful places to eat, and is a great place to take a vacation.

Today I picked up number 1300. Combined with Friday the Thirteenth 2 days ago, this term has been floating around my brain. I have 151 days to get to 1500. Keep on caching.

Chuck was a local geocacher who died while out hunting. I didn’t know him but there were quite a few folks in the area who did. Very sad. Today a series of 9 caches in his memory were published and I was First to Find (FTF) for 2…should have been 3, but so it goes. I ran into two of my favorite geocachers whose hides are rather challenging – markj57 and radDad1. RIP Chuck. Your friends and family will miss you. Sorry we never got to meet.

With a nod to Charlie Sheen’s movie, went out early this AM to grab another half dozen in the Carefree area. At 8AM it was already 90 degrees. Welcome to July 2012 in the Valley of the Sun

Took Fergie out to the dog park in Fountain Hills and grabbed 3 quickies while in the area, and one more on the way home. I need a trip up North into higher elevations and escape the Valley heat.

Went out to Bartlett Lake to let Kellen fall into the water. Very hot day but that didn’t deter many families from coming out, having a cookout, and enjoying the cool water on a summer’s day. Found two caches and that was hit. Too hot to look for more.

Came up to visit my oldest friend and his wife. Rick and I go back to when we were kids. He’s a musician and played a gig at a great Chinese restaurant in NYC – Nancy Lee’s Pig Heaven – where we also hooked with with another friend who along with Rick was in a band with me as kids. My sister, brother-in-law and an old friend showed up last night and a splendid time was had by all. Grabbed a handful of caches to ad NJ to my state tally

Sharon and I took a 3.5 mile hike this morning and combined it with some geocaching in a very nice park not far from the house. MMRP is part of the Maricopa County Park System and permission was given to hide quite a few containers along some of the more popular trails. Our total today was 31 found – my second highest daily total. Camping, mountain biking, horseback riding and hiking are all activities which can be enjoyed in the park.