A Flowery Blog Post

On the first day of spring, I headed to Camarillo with Albackore. We found a fun short list, and saw lots of flowers already in bloom. This is just a preview of floral color to come, as I plan to visit the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve this week.

Here’s some of what we found:
Lunch Break
Apologies to Mommyx4
Gym Not-so-Dandy
Home Sweet Home
Home Sweet Home
VCC Scouting
You’re Home Now !!
Airport Altoid
Evil Black Micro
Outlet M&M’s
Match This !
Lane Ends, Merge Left (a VK remnant)
Jethro’s Work Cache #2
Our Kiddie Cache # 5

and here’s some of what we saw:

I had fun taking the photos:

THEN, we found some fresh strawberries for sale that had just been picked from this local field:

Look at the size of these things!

They tasted wonderful, too. Here’s to more great caching and more great food surprises!

Geocaching in Glorious, Green Griffith Park

I love it when I can make a geeky alliterative title, and I love it when my pictures really speak for themselves. I headed out for a therapeutic hike with Albackore and f0t0m0m this week, and here’s a bit of what we saw.

There’s still snow on the mountains:

The sun’s angle still affords nice shady spots, even in midday:

The cache is less than 500′ away…. that way:

We managed to get there and find it:

Maybe I should take up golfing?

Nah… the views are much better up here!

One does not see signs like this very often:

Here’s what we found:
Calvin’s Crotch Reopens
May: a walk in the park
Return to Upper Beacon
April: A walk in the park.
March: A walk in the park.
July: A walk in the park.
Henry’s Trail
June: A walk in the park.
Water Tribe

May your geocaching also be glorious!

The Beauty and Mystery of Geocaching

One of the most compelling things about geocaching for me is just getting out into the scenery. I got to get out in to some different scenery this week, too, traveling about 30 miles north of Pleasanton, CA, to Brentwood, Antioch, Kingston, and Bethel Island with local cachers, David T, Fisherwoman, and DuckyLee. Here’s just a pictorial taste of the area:

On a clear day, you can see forever!

Farmer Brentwood

Magic Carpet (Princess #2)

Downtown Brentwood

Oakley Heritage Tree

GENTLEMEN START YOUR ENGINES !!

Welcome to the Delta

Mariner Cove

We didn’t find this one, even with a lifeline!
Legion of Honor

Later in the week, I hiked with f0t0m0m through Ahmanson Ranch, which encompasses a large valley just west of where I live. It’s a lush spring in Southern California after the wet winter we’ve had.

Another Ahmanson Bush

Lightning got this tree!
Hanging Out on the Trail

Finally, does anyone know what this critter is? I’ve never seen anything like it before! He popped up out of a hole and observed us.

That’s the mystery of the week.

Road Trip! Geocaching En Route to Pleasanton

I’ve been really overdue for a good road trip, and my performances this week in Pleasanton, just east of San Francisco, provided the best excuse to get in the car and go!

First things first: on my journeys north, I always visit the Templin TB Hotel:
The I-5 / Templin Hwy Travel Bug Hotel
to stop and swap. I left four TBs, and picked up one, a cute, springy travel companion!

I had a list prepared, but the first three caches I found were about 10 miles ahead of those, and near where I ended up having to fill my gas tank.
I C I-5 and 119
Taft Highway Travel Bug Hotel
I have GAS pains

The last one was a nice lamppost hide with a lovely view.

A bit further on, I found a set of three just north of Harris Ranch.
2 benchmarks and a cache (Harris Ranch Quadrangle)
Gusty Winds Ahead
Benchmark bonus cache (Harris Ranch Quad map)

Here’s one of the benchmarks mentioned:

Across the road was a field full of birds:

They were really noisy!

The next day, I had time for handful of caches near my hotel, mostly standard urban hides (aka lampposts), and the weather was spectacular!

LECBIH (dnf!)
Bart: Dublin Pleasanton Station
It’s Wafer Thin (somewhat sneaky!)
A "Prudent" Find (another dnf!)
Home Desperate
Nearly Postal #1

The day was capped off after dinner with a particularly rewarding find of a very cleverly camo’d cache hidden in plain sight (sort of) right near a big movie theater in an open-air shopping complex.
Movie Day

I should have time for more great caches up here before I head home.