2018-12-25: Christmas 2018 Road Trip from Texas to Florida and Back Again

Hello and welcome back to another entry of AwayWeGo's Geocaching Adventures. One of these days I might actually catch up in my writing to the present time. I'm starting to gain some ground. In this blog I take you back to our Christmas roadtrip in 2018. This year we decided to drive from Central Texas to Central Florida to spend Christmas with the family.

It's a 1200 mile drive to get there and since we're leaving out on the 22nd, we'll be spending way too much time on the boring I-10. We do make some detours in Louisiana to go geocaching and pick up some new counties. But the return trip however is when we stick to the backroads the majority of the time! So here's some of the highlights:

Our county first stop was in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana at the Old Mason Cemetery (GC1NR88) in a town called Abbeville. From the historical marker: "On this site was the first of our town's Masonic cemeteries and served Masons and Protestants alike. It has been virtually unused since 1905, although the latest tombstone reads 1954. The earliest recorded death was in 1868. A. G. Maxwell donated this land to Abbeville Lodge in 1869. The first master of the lodge, Dr. W. D. White was buried here as was several of his children. Restoration of the cemetery began in 1997 by dedicated volunteers under the auspices of the City of Abbeville, current owner of this sacred soil."

Continuing east on US-90, we stopped for a quick roadside geocache (GC1NKPH) in New Iberia to get the county of Iberia Parish. Then another cache (GC2KNG5) in the town of Franklin to claim a find in St Mary Parish. Also in St Mary Parish, I stopped for another geocache (GC2HH84) in the town of Amelia near this overpass which had all these vines growing up the columns.

Next on the list was a geocache for Terrebonne Parish in the town of Schriever, Louisiana. The Ducros Plantation (GC28MJ2) is a 12,600 square foot home dating back to 1802. Supposedly the Ducros House is haunted. It is not certain, but there is said to have been a young child who accidentally drowned in the adjacent well nearby as well as the house being home to the natural deaths of many of the previous occupants. The most common activity reported are unexplainable sounds. Foot steps heard in the main hall by the carpenters restoring the plantation and Richard himself has heard a strange dragging noise on the upper gallery. All reports have been during the day. No one has spent a night at Ducros since the early to mid 70's. From the vantage point of the public street I couldn't get a very good photo of the house.

The last geocache for this day in Louisiana was for the Lafourche Parish at the St Joseph Cemetery (GC2V8NJ). The first burial here is that of Marie Madeleine Gaudet (1732-1801). After a half-dozen burials, this cemetery was established in 1817 on the site of the original St Joseph Church, a mission of Assumption. The Calvary-Grotto Shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes, erected in 1883, still stands near the Menard Street entrance. Several historic graves are located here.

We drove all the way to Lake City, Florida the first day. Then on Christmas Eve down to Umatilla, just in time for a family get together. Later that night we checked into our hotel on Cocoa Beach, Florida. Christmas Day we awake to a beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean. After another day with family in Merritt Island, Florida, it was time to hit the road westbound and return to Texas.

We had more time to get back to Texas so we spent more time on the backroads geocaching and picking up new counties. A couple of stops on Wednesday the 26th in Alabama with one being this huge Live Oak tree (GC7BA7T). It can be found listed on the Alabama Forestry's list of Alabama's Famous & Historic Trees. This publication states this tree was a recognized meeting place when the town of Geneva was first settled. People gathered under this tree for meetings and information of the development of the area.  The Big Oak was measured by the Eastern Native Tree Society in 2009. Measurements recorded were, CBH-22'9", Height-69' and Spread-163.5' x 154.5' making it #94 on the listing. We arrived here after sunset and it was already getting dark. That made it difficult for us to get any decent pictures. Though you can see plenty of photos on the cache page.

Thursday the 27th found us in Mississippi. We picked up several new counties in Stone Co (GC7JGP7), Amite Co (GC311DZ), and Wilkinson Co (GCP29Z). The most interesting geocache of the day was found in Centreville, MS. A virtual cache called "One For The Road" (GCJA19), it is of an old Colt .38 Revolver imbedded into the road from the days of the Works Progress Administration was constructing the original road in the 1930's. Nobody knows the real story behind the gun but there are many tales told. The most common is of a man who found his wife with another man, shot them both, and tossed the evidence into the newly poured concrete. Then there's the bank robber, another a moonshiner, and even a war protester. But we'll probably never know the true story of the revolver in the road.

We ended the night at a hotel in Alexandria, Louisiana. After getting settled in the hotel I made a run for pizza to bring back for dinner. I passed by this place and saw the shapes in the darkness and knew we had to come back in the morning for a better look.

That begins Friday the 28th. On England Drive in Alexandria is this Memorial Park (GC3XCW6). The England Airpark was once England Airforce Base until is was closed during the Clinton administration. The A-10 Warthog was the primary fighter stationed at England, and it is prominently displayed in this awesome real life airplane display area. There are 5 aircraft here on display. This geocache also gets us the Rapides Parish as a new county.

Our next stop was in Grant Parish and a town called Colfax, Louisiana. Reading the historical markers around the courthouse, the first one of interest was about the fire water. The marker reads: "The Famous Burning Well of Colfax. Visitors to this spot were once greeted with a curious site, a burning well. In 1899 a driller named L.B. Hart completed an artesian well at 1103 feet. The water was salty, and it bubbled with gas. Hart struck a match near the flow and promptly got his beard singed when the bubbles ignited. During its lifetime the well ebbed or flowed in response to the levels of the nearby Red River. With the advent of each new eruption someone would light up this unusual landmark. Thousands of tourists remember Colfax by the image of its famous burning well. Ripley once featured it in his "Believe It Or Not" as a well that spewed both fire and water. During WWII visiting soldiers would write back home describing this local wonder. In 1959, a new courthouse displaced the towns old attraction. An artificial fountain with a gas flame was erected, but it could not possibly evoke the awe of visitors as the real one had once done."

Another marker describes a dark time in the towns history. "The Colfax Riot. On this site occurred the Colfax Riot in which three white men and 150 negroes were slain. This event on April 13, 1873 marked the end of carpetbag misrule in the south." At the cemetery, an obelisk there reads: "Erected to the memory of the heroes Stephen Decature Parish, James West Hadnot, Sidney Harris who fell in the Colfax Riot fighting for white supremacy April 13, 1873." I was actually surprised this was still standing considering the political climate of modern times (GC7962B).

After a few more stops we finally made it back home in Killeen, Texas. A weekend to rest up from the trip before heading back to work in South Texas. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the roadtrip! See you next time...

2017-07-05: Driving Back to West Texas Day 2: Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas

Welcome back to Day 2 of my road trip from Florida back to West Texas. Today begins in Evergreen, Alabama. After a good nights rest at the hotel and a quick hotel breakfast, it was time to hit the road again. I'm still following the backroads of US-84, trying to stay off the interstates as much as possible. At the same time Geocaching and sightseeing along the way.

My first stop was to get gas and a Geocache (GC2APKW) at the Love's Travel Stop for Conecuh County, Alabama. A quick fuel up and find and I was on my way.

The next county over was Monroe County and also the next cache. The Geocache was by a historical marker for Fort Claiborne (GC178A3). Built by General Ferdinand L. Claiborne during the Creek Indian War of 1813-1814 as a base for his invasion of the Alibamo country with the U. S. Regulators, Lower Tombigbee Militia, and friendly Choctaws. Claiborne's campaign culminated in the American victory over the Creeks at the Holy Ground. I was hoping to see something other than the sign, but nothing of the fort remains.

Moving on to Clarke County and a quick roadside cache stop (GC2MYZ7) to claim a find and to continue making good time.

Choctaw County was the last along US-84 in Alabama and a county needed. I stopped at the Bladon Springs State Park for an Earthcache (GC3JAB8). The springs here, named after the original property owner, James Bladon, were first opened to the public as a therapeutic spa in 1838. Seven years later, state geologist and University of Alabama professor Richard T. Brumby and two colleagues from the University of Louisiana traveled to the springs to conduct a comprehensive analysis. Brumby reported his findings in a 27-page book, "An Analysis of the Bladon Springs," published in 1845. Following the report, the tourist trade increased so much that a resort was built, including a bowling alley, cabins, skating rink, and last but not least, a Georgian Revival hotel that could house 200. The resort is gone, but four springs remain, one of which is still covered by the gazebo from the resort days.

I gathered the information I needed for the earthcache and took a few pictures. There were two more caches in the park and I was tempted to take the short hike after them. But the road ahead was calling and I wanted to get some miles put behind me. So across the state line into Mississippi I went.

Wayne County was up first with a quick roadside cache (GC38PV9). After that was a quick Virtual Cache (GCE7A7) in Jones County. Continuing westbound on US-84, I skipped right through Covington County having already found a cache there. Then quick park and grab roadside caches in the remaining Mississippi counties of Jefferson Davis (GC388J0), Lawrence (GC1RNA2), Lincoln (GC35WGT), Franklin (GC35WGT), and Adams County (GCTV6P).

Crossing the state line into Louisiana, they have Parishes instead of counties. My first stop in Concordia Parish is the Delta Music Museum (GC1D5VZ) along the Blues Trail. Louisiana and Mississippi have long shared a close musical relationship. One of the most important musical paths was that between Natchez, MS and Ferriday, LA, where African American entrepreneur Will Haney operated Haney's Big House for several decades. In addition to major national acts the club featured local musicians including Ferriday's Leon "Pee Wee" Whittaker and Natchez's Hezekiah Early and Y. Z. Ealey. A young Jerry Lee Lewis often visited the club, soaking up the sounds of the blues.

I had arrived to the museum just as it was closing up. She watched and we chatted as I searched for and found the Geocache. After signing the log, we went inside and she gave me a quick tour of the museum.

Two more quick caches in LaSalle Parish (GC23AXN) and Natchitoches Parish (GC4XHMC) before arriving in Sabine Parish and a cemetery cache (GC2D9MA). Fender Cemetery has over 300 interments dating back to 1851. One of the spookier graves is of this red brick tomb that seems to have been elevated a few inches. Kinda makes you think that the undead comes crawling out at night searching for innocent victims to carry back to the underworld.

I crossed the Sabine River into Texas at sunset and got a spectacular view. Driving nearly 600 miles today, I've got around 450 miles to go. Can't wait to get home to see my Beautiful Sweet Wife!

2016-10-11: A Crazy Week, a Hurricane Wedding and a Drive Back to Texas

Welcome back! Wow what a week! We're so glad to be back in West Texas. We had gone to Florida for a wedding... OURS. But so did Hurricane Matthew.

After changes in venues a couple of times, uncertainties, and eventually the vendors having to cancel due to storm damage, the only certainty was the officiant. He was still able to make it wherever we ended up.

So we decided to just meet up at THE Starbucks in Orlando near Disney where we had our first date. Most of our family and friends had to stay behind and attend to issues brought about by the storm. But we still had a great group of family and friends show up to support us.

After a simple and casual ceremony reciting our "I Do's" on the Starbucks patio, we headed down the street to Carrabba's where most of the group joined us for dinner. It was good being able to catch up with our Florida friends. We thank everyone for joining us and one day in the future we'll renew our vows in the formal ceremony we had originally planned. Just not during hurricane season!

Already into the evening, we drove only a few hours to the north only as far as Ocala, FL to find a hotel for the night. The first one was booked with power company workers in town for hurricane repairs. The next one had a room available and we checked in.

Getting a late start on Sunday morning, we drove down the road to Bob Evans for a hot and hearty breakfast. After breakfast and a nearby cache (GC2ZX7A), we drove onto I-75 northbound and began our journey back to Texas. A couple hours later, we stopped at the last rest area on I-75 before turning onto I-10 for a quick and another cache (GC6RDEQ).

Several more hours later and approaching Tallahassee, we exited the Interstate for another Geocaching break. There was a Virtual Cache (GCA632) there that I've had on my "watch list" for some time. It was about a road leading into a small housing development in an unincorporated part of the county. They residents got tired of getting the county to grade their street on a regular basis so they created their own solution. They used some recycled materials and no longer needed grading of their road. Now I can't tell you what they used or post a photo. If I did, that would give you the answer and you could just easily log a find of the cache without actually going there. A couple other caches on the way back to I-10 and we're good for another few hours.

It was Earthcache Day and we still needed to find one to receive our souvenir. This morning while eating breakfast, I was looking up easy earthcaches along the way that wouldn't take us too far from our route. The one I found was west of Tallahassee and to the south of I-10. The cache (GC1VABG) was located at the entrance to this dolomite mine and processing center. There was a large rock there that had impressions of fossils on it. So we stopped to check it out and got the required information needed to claim a find.

Two more caches later and we made our way down to Pensacola, FL for the night, just in time to enjoy a sunset at the marina.

This morning we awoke and headed over to the beach before getting back on the highway. We're not going to be seeing a beach in West Texas, so we needed to enjoy the moment. And of course, we needed to find a cache while here also. There were a lot to choose from, so I picked the one that had the most favorite points (GC316D0).

Leaving the beach and back to downtown Pensacola, we stopped at the Veterans Memorial Park for a Virtual Geocache (GC991D) and a Traditional Geocache (GC2ZYPM). There were a lot of statues and even a slightly smaller version of the Vietnam Wall.

We also took a walk through the old historic section of Pensacola looking at some of the historical houses and finding two more caches (GC32CKK, GC33PMH). There was much to see here, but we just didn't have the time. Pensacola is just gonna be another one of those places to add to the growing list of places to visit again.

We made our way back to I-10 westbound, but quickly got off at the next exit for gas, a quick McDonald's breakfast, and just one more Geocache. I wasn't planning on another cache, but saw this one on the phone just down the road from the gas station and knew we had to go for it. As much as Candy's loves animals, we drove a few blocks south of I-10 to this HUGE Pet Cemetery (GC2GZ7Y). I've seen a few pet cemeteries, but this one was the biggest!

OK, back on I-10 westbound and we've got to make up time! We spent all day Sunday and still in Florida. Now it's almost noon Monday and we're STILL in Florida! Candy has to be at work Wednesday morning and we still have over 1,000 miles to drive! So through Alabama, Mississippi, and into Louisiana. About halfway across Louisiana and halfway across the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge in the middle of the swamp, it was time for a break!

Although we've passed through here and stopped a few times before, this was actually the first time that the welcome center was open. Inside the welcome center we were able to find the answers to the Earthcache located here (GC26BZM). We looked around at the exhibits inside and the statues out back. I was even checking out this boat out back, but couldn't get it to float.

While inside the welcome center, I noticed this other guy wondering around looking at the displays as well. Maybe another cacher? Couldn't tell. As we were in the car getting ready to leave, I now see him heading for the cache out towards the picnic tables. Yep, he's a Geocacher. Heading towards the exit of the parking lot, I then noticed a parked motorhome with an H3 Hummer attached to the back. On the tailgate of the hummer I noticed the Geocaching logo with JMCz by the tracking number. Now I've seen that name of log sheets all over West Texas. This cacher has over 100,000 finds! I just had to stop and say hello. So I parked the car again and walked over to where he was looking for the cache. We introduced ourselves and spoke for a few minutes. Then he headed east and we continued west. It's always fun to meet a cacher on the hunt and this was the first time meeting one with that many caches!

We drove late into the evening finally reaching Texas. I wanted to at least get through Houston, so we would not have to worry about morning rush hour traffic. Finally we found a hotel and settled in Brookshire, TX. From here it was just 500 more miles to get home!

A quick breakfast at McDonald's and headed down the road for a few miles until this interesting stop and Geocache (GC3C5JR). Once long ago there used to be a small zoo and petting farm. Now it is overgrown, falling apart, and appears to be surrounded by oil wells and storage tanks. But this towering piece of the entry gate remains with a large gorilla up top.

Now back on I-10 westbound. We did manage an early start today, so we had plenty of time to get home. We also wanted to grab some more caches on the way in order to pickup finds in ten new Texas counties. This time I just looked up the quick, simple, easy, usually boring park and grab caches just to save time. Most were right off the exit ramps so we could quickly get back on the Interstate and keep moving. The only one of interest was this cache (GC1M4Y2) which gave you a good view of this bridge. And then during a fuel stop, we passed by this rather large Texan where GeoDog Max began barking and growling.

As soon as we got home, we ordered a pizza and crashed! It was so good to be home after such a crazy week dealing with the Hurricane. But we did get to see family and friends. And most of all, we got to express our love for each other saying our vows at our first Starbucks!

2016-10-01/02: Road Trip to Florida; Cowboys Stadium, Cemetery, History, and Duck Dynasty

ROAD TRIP! On today's blog I'll be covering a two day road trip from West Texas to Florida. We hit the road early on the Saturday morning of October 1st. Having 1430 miles to drive in 2 days, add in fuel and food stops, and of course some Geocaching too, we've got a lot of driving ahead of us!

After leaving Monahans around 6:00 AM, a couple of hours later, we pulled into a McDonald's in Sweetwater for some McMuffins. And of course there just happened to be a Geocache (GC38PN6) there too so we had to find it as well. Within a few minutes, we were on the road again. Finally in Abeline we spot a Starbucks near the I-20 exit so we grabbed a couple coffees and another quick Geocache (GCWC1E).

Those first two Geocaches were unplanned and just happened to be nearby when making other stops. Hey, you can't NOT look for them when you're so close right?

But we did have some caches planned. When we got into Ft Worth, TX, we merged over onto I-30 eastbound and into Arlington. There we stopped for our first scheduled virtual Geocache (GC90F2). It was a beautiful statue of three horses surrounded by water fountains at this shopping center. We got the required info needed to claim the find and a few photos with GeoDog Max.

On our way to the next planned virtual cache, we passed by the Dallas Cowboys Stadium as well as the Texas Rangers Field. Well we just had to get a photo there too and grab the cache (GC15RDP) across the street!

Around the corner about a block away was a nice park and another planned virtual cache stop (GC7029). From there we got a good view of Cowboys Stadium. There were also these large Caelum Moor Stones around the park and a multi-stage Geocache (GC30RJB), from which after gathering information from the stones, we were able to find the final stage. The five freestanding granite sculptures weighing a total of 540 tons will enhance the environmental landscape along Johnson Creek in Arlington’s Entertainment District.

The stone monuments range in height from 8 to 30 feet. The Latin name “Caelum” is derived from a constellation in the southern skies known as the sculptor’s tool or chisel. “Moor” refers to the windswept landscapes of Scotland. The celtic names of each of the five groupings reflect the ancestry of the sculptor’s patron. Caelum Moor was commissioned in 1984 by Jane Mathes Kelton, CEO of the Kelton Mathes Development Corporation and heir of the Scottish-American television magnate, Curtis Mathes. According to the sculptor, Kelton wanted the artwork to serve as a centerpiece for a proposed business park development along I-20, reminiscent of the ancient sites of Scotland and England and reflecting of her family’s heritage. From 1986 to 1997, Caelum Moor was located at the headwaters of Johnson Creek along Interstate 20. In 1997, the sculpture was donated to the City and stored to make way for commercial development. Caelum Moor was once listed on the Smithsonian Institution’s National Registry of Art in Public Places. They were relocated to this park in 2009.

Our main reason for stopping here was to get Tombstone (GC62), a multi-cache and the oldest Geocache in Texas! Hidden on September 26, 2000, this cache also fills another empty spot on my Jasmer calendar. It's had over 1500 finds since then. It's placed in Doug Russell Park and is three stages. The last two stages are near the location of the Berachah Home and Cemetery. We walked over to the first stage easy, got the info we needed for the final north coordinates. Then we walked over to stage two and got the needed info for the final west coordinates. That's where my problem began. After frustratingly searching for 30 minutes (Candy and GeoDog Max had long been back to the car with the a/c on) for the supposedly easy final stage, I finally decided to recheck my coordinates. Well the north coordinates didn't save correctly in my phone and therefore I was searching in the wrong place! Once I put the correct coordinates in and began searching the correct location, I found it within minutes. YAY!!

The Berachah Rescue Society was organized at Waco in 1894 by the Rev. J. T. Upchurch for the protection of homeless girls and unwed mothers. Nine years later he opened the Berachah Industrial Home at this site. Ten buildings were located here including a print shop for publication of the "Purity Journal." The cemetery which contains more than eighty graves, was first used in 1904 for the burial of Eunice Williams, one of the residents. The home closed in 1935, but the site was used until 1942 as an orphanage run by Upchurch's daughter Allie Mae and her husband Frank Wiese. Most of the graves here are marked without names or dates. Many more just have a first name and year died.

Finally back to I-20 heading east. We spent a couple of hours in the Arlington area and now we have to make up some time. So no more stops until we needed another gas stop in East Texas. And of course while the gas is pumping I checked my phone and there was a cache there too (GC4EE5P). A quick find and back on the road. It was soon getting dark and we drove over halfway into Louisiana.

As it turned out the hotel we stayed in was located in West Monroe, LA. And just around the corner was the Duck Commander Headquarters! The location of the Duck Dynasty TV show is filmed here. So before heading down the highway, we had to stop by for a few photos.

We didn't stop much on Sunday because we still had over 760 miles to go. But we stop just before the Mississippi River at Grant's Canal for another virtual Geocache (GCGDM2). During the summer of 1862, the Union's first attempt to bypass the Confederate Army at Vicksburg by digging a canal across DeSoto Peninsula failed. By January 1863, the Union had reoccupied the Louisiana shore opposite Vicksburg. Gen Ulysses S. Grant ordered work on the canal resumed. The canal was to be 60 feet wide, 1 1/2 miles long, and deep enough to float any vessel on the river. Ground was broken on January 30, black work gangs assisted by fatigue details from the Union Army began to work. Later, steam pumps and dredge boats were employed. To stop the work, the Confederates placed several big guns on the shore opposite the canal's exit but the work progressed. On March 7, the upper dam gave way, flooding the entire peninsula. Grant's Canal had failed. After gathering the information we needed to qualify for the cache find, we continued eastbound.

After about 3 1/2 hours later on US-98 in South Mississippi, it was time for a break to stretch our legs a bit. I looked up some caches ahead of us and found a cemetery just off the road with three caches (GC445DQ, GC445DV, GC445DP). 

There was a gas and food stop along the way, but nothing to write about. We arrived in St Augustine, FL about 9:30 PM. A long day of driving. Sleep was soon thereafter!

2015-12-12: Road Trip 870 Miles, 6 Geocaches, 5 States, 1 Day!

What a long day! I had some business to take care of back in Florida. I had two goals for the 870 mile drive back: do it one day and find at least one Geocache in each of the 5 states within the one day. My previous record was only Geocaching 3 states in one day. For those of you in the north east, that's not a big deal. But the states are bigger in the rest of the country and take longer to drive across.

So I left Jasper, Texas around 5 AM this morning heading east on US-190. Somewhere between Newton and the Louisiana state line was an old rest area with my first cache stop. Supposed to be an easy park and grab cache, but it is still dark out which makes it harder sometimes. But the flashlight found it quickly and I was on my way again!

Crossing the state line, I turned onto Hwy 110 in Merryville over to Longville. There I turned south onto US-171 down into Lake Charles. Right before getting onto I-10 eastbound, there's a WalMart where I stopped for a quick parking lot cache, bathroom break, and a bag of mini-donuts to eat along the way.

Now was the long, boring I-10 drive! To pass the time on these long drives, I like listening to audiobooks. Today I started listening to Patriot Games by Tom Clancy.

One more Geocaching stop in Louisiana to grab a new county in West Baton Rouge. The first one I looked for was at visitor center and supposed to be a quick find. However with their Christmas decorations up for display, they removed the cache until January. They said so in their full description, but they didn't disable the cache itself. Well guess who didn't read the full description! I did log a note on their cache page telling my disappointment and that they needed to disable the cache so that we don't waste our time getting off the interstate to go look for it. Which they did later in the day.

So after wasting 15-20 minutes there, I looked up another cache a mile down the road and went to find it. I stopped and 5 minutes later, I'm trying to figure out how to get back on the highway.

Halfway across Mississippi, I exited I-10 for another quick WalMart parking lot cache and state #3.

Crossing over into Alabama, I get off at exit #4 to grab a quick cache for state #4 in a T/A Travel Center parking lot.

Once into Florida, I stopped again at the rest area near Crestview for a cache in state #5! YAY! Mission accomplished! Well one goal down anyway. I still had about 300 miles or so to go. From there it was non-stop all the way down to my mothers house in Umatilla, Florida. Umatilla is a small town about an hour north of Orlando.

Now I can stretch out, relax, and get some sleep!

2015-11-28: Geocaching Through History and the TX/LA Gulf Coast

For today's Geocaching adventure, we drove down to the most south east point along the Texas and Louisiana state lines. There were a couple of virtual geocaches we wanted to find. So we headed on out down US-69 towards our destination.

Upon arriving in Port Arthur, we saw an IHOP and decided to stop for some breakfast. As we were seated at our table, I opened the Geocaching app on my phone to see what was around.  Lo and behold there was a cache just 127 feet from our table! Right there in the parking lot! So of course that was our first cache find for the day.

After leaving IHOP, we drove on down to Sabine Pass Battleground State Park. This site is where Lt. Richard (Dick) Dowling and a single company of Confederate artillerymen stood their ground and defeated a Federal naval force that attempted to land troops here to begin the invasion of Texas. Though ordered to spike their cannons and abandon their posts by their commanders, Dowling and the mostly Irish cannoneers forced the surrender of the entire Federal force being quite surprised to be defeated by such a small group of determined men.

We walked around the park looking at all the monuments, statues, and plaques learning about the history of what had happened here those many years ago.  We gathered the information we needed to claim a find on the virtual cache as well as finding two other traditional caches there.

There was another virtual cache far down at the tip of Sabine Pass, but the road going down to it was full of pot holes. Some of those pot holes were pretty deep and I just wasn't comfortable trying to maneuver the GeoPrius all the way down. I managed to get within one mile, but decided not to go further. We'll have to return another day when we feel like walking down there.

But on the way down and back we saw many oil rig platforms along the Sabine Pass Channel, I assume being repaired for maintenance. These things are huge! Something else we Floridians don't ever get to see are these tall chimneys at the oil refineries with flames burning at the top. These are pretty cool to see at night too! We also caught sight of a huge oil tanker ship headed back out to sea. I assume that with the direction it was headed and riding high on the water, that it had already unloaded it cargo of crude oil. 

We then drove back north to Port Arthur picking up Hwy 82 to cross over the Channel over to the other side. Eventually crossing over into Louisiana, we continued to stay on Gulf Beach Highway until we got right along side the Gulf Coast. There we stopped and took a walk along the beach and gathered the required information to claim a find for an earthcache.

This was also a good chance to let our GeoDog Max out for a walk. Though I get the impression he wasn't too impressed with the whole idea. He has the expression on his face as if he was saying: "There's no trees, no bushes, no fire hydrants... it's just a giant litter box for cats! What am I supposed to do here?"

Starting to head north now to pick up I-10 and head back to Beaumont, we picked up a few more Geocaches along the way. But the mosquitoes were ferocious! We even passed up a hike here at the Creole Nature Trail because of them.  

It was another fun filled day with history, nature, seeing where oil and gasoline is made, and just spending time together. Where are we going tomorrow? Not sure. You'll just have to come back and see.