Showing posts with label plane. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plane. Show all posts

Sunday, March 17, 2024

2021-07: The Final Week of Our 5300 Mile Road Trip from Texas to Indiana to Florida and Back to Texas

In todays edition of the AwayWeGo's Adventures Blog, we're winding down these last few days of our 5300 mile road trip to purchase our motorhome. These last 2300 miles went by much faster than we would have gone in the past. Driving the big RV we stuck to the Interstates for the most part. I gotta learn how to route plan better so that we can still do some sightseeing and geocaching. We did stop to see a few things on some overnight stops. So climb onboard the big Eagle Bus and let's go for a ride...



After leaving the Cummins shop in Cincinnati, Ohio on Wednesday we jumped on I-75 and headed south. About an hour later getting through the Cincinnati traffic, I pulled into the I-75/I-71 Rest Area in Kentucky to park for the night. Thursday we drove nearly 400 miles into North Georgia and stayed the night in the I-75 Southbound Rest Area near Resaca, GA.

Friday is here and on the way down to Florida, I did stop at a rest area about halfway near Sycamore, GA to stretch my legs and grab a geocache (GC89X9V). We ended the day at a Cracker Barrel in St Augustine, FL along I-95. While there we had dinner with Candy's mother and brother.

On Saturday we drove down to Umatilla, Florida, where my mother lives, and stayed there two nights at the Olde Mill Stream RV Resort. This gave me a chance to spend time with my mother as well as see my two sons down in Orlando on Sunday. But alas it's never long enough time as we had to get back to Texas and back to work. I did manage to grab a geocache (GC46KYD) there in Umatilla before taking off.

Monday morning we said our goodbye's and drove 382 miles up to Troy, Alabama. We boondocked for the night in a Walmart parking lot. I did have some daylight left and drove over to the Bicentennial Park to grab a geocache (GC1C6D5) for Pike County and take these next few photos.









From there I drove the GeoJeep over to Crenshaw County. I stopped at the crossroads of US-331 and CR-50 at what seems to be an old abandoned gas station / country store. Nothing to buy anymore but I did find the geocache for the county (GC55ZNK).





Continuing north on US-331, there was another geocache stop that caught my interest. It had some recent DNF's so I didn't even bother looking for it. But I did want to stop for the photo opp. It was another Veterans Memorial (GC2W9EC) and I took the photo of the GeoJeep underneath the F-16 fighter jet you see at the top of this page. With more DNF's to follow the geocache was eventually archived, but I still added the GC link so you can find this memorial park.

And finally just one more quick geocache (GC5M26B) stop at a fireworks stand on the way back to the RV.

We noticed that the refrigerator had stopped working so I went into Walmart and bought a cooler and some ice. Most of our food went into it. Now I have to figure out where and when I can find a place to get it checked out.

Tuesday morning we left Troy, Alabama driving north on US-231 into Montgomery. There we turned west onto US-80. Arriving in Selma, Alabama, I stopped at a small Sunoco truck stop to fuel up. Not being very busy, we decided a good place to stop for a few while I took the GeoJeep to pickup some breakfast at Hardee's. This also gave me a chance to grab a geocache for Crenshaw County (GC5PYDF).

Continuing westbound on US-80, we eventually picked up I-20 westbound at the Mississippi state line. I eventually stopped again at a rest area in Scott County to stretch my legs and grab a geocache (GC7JVWB). With just over 500 miles of driving for the day, we finally made it to the Texas Welcome Center on I-20 and parked it for the night. I got out to stretch my legs and grabbed another geocache (GC6Z4ZB).

On Wednesday we arrived in Killeen, Texas where my Candy's daughter lives. It was the house my wife lived in for a few years before she started traveling with me. If you've been reading my blogs for a while, you might remember most of my blog posts were about the long drive on Sunday back from Killeen to a jobsite somewhere in Texas.

Candy's granddaughter is now home after her three week road trip with us around the country. And we are able to gather much of our clothes, dishes, and other items we still had stored there and load them into the motorhome. Now our new home-on-wheels feels more like our home.

I did find an RV repair place nearby in Harker Heights to finally get our refrigerator checked out. We boondocked in the parking lot of the old shopping center which they occupied the end of. While waiting, I did drive over to the Pleasant Hill Cemetery and grab a geocache (GC6G1Y5). It is one of the oldest cemeteries in Bell County and dates back to 1855.

Lone Star RV Service eventually was able to check out the refrigerator on Friday. Turned out to be a bad motherboard. Surprisingly there was a recall on it twenty years ago and it had never been completed on that unit. So it would be fixed for FREE! The downside was that it had to be ordered and take a few weeks. But they did show me how to temporarily get it working using a magnet to reset it.

After a few days of boondocking, we needed to dump the tanks and get fresh water. And being late in the afternoon, we decided to wait until morning to get back on the road. So we found an RV park over in Kempner.

Thirty minutes later and about a mile away from the Rocky River RV Resort, the engine temperature gauge on the dash starts to climb and the warning buzzer goes off just as I'm pulling in the entrance. I park in front of the office and steam is coming out the back of the motorhome and the Jeep is covered in engine coolant. The guy from the RV park and myself is looking it over but the Cummins diesel engine is just covered in coolant. He calls a diesel mechanic he knows and the guy is able to come first thing in the morning to check it out. I let it cool down a bit, do our check in, and drive over to our spot for the night.

The mechanic drove over from Waco Saturday morning and was able to diagnose that a freeze plug was leaking on the side of the head. He pulled out the bad plug and drove into town. A couple of auto parts stores later, he was only able to find one of those temporary rubber expandable plugs to install. But it works and that's what matters.

We stayed one more night there in Kempner. Sunday morning came and we finally got back on the road. We headed up I-35 northbound through Dallas and arrived in Bonham, Texas just in time to be back to work on Monday.

Three weeks and over 5300 miles later, this road trip adventure comes to an end. Here's a recap and links to the blog pages if you missed any of it:


To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course by clicking the "Follow" button to the right. And there's also my main website at AwayWeGo.US for the complete index of my traveling adventures going back to 2005. But also by using one or more of your favorite of these social media platforms: FacebookMeWeGabRedditTwitterGETTRInstagram, and TruthSocial. These all link directly to my profiles. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

Saturday, August 27, 2022

2021-03-04: Visiting the Less Touristy Sites in New Orleans

Hey Everyone! Welcome back to Day #2 of our 4,000+ mile roadtrip. Today we start off in New Orleans, Louisiana. Not the Mardi Gras, the bars, restaurants, and nightlife party, but the historical, less visited, peaceful attractions. So hop onboard and join us for a geocaching adventure...



We started the day with breakfast, a cache, and a new county at a Waffle House just down the street. We ordered a couple of breakfast bowls to-go. While they were cooking, I grabbed the geocache (GC8MND3) in the parking lot to fill in the blank for St. Charles Parish.

My next county cache was in Jefferson Parish. At the Veterans Memorial Century of Sentries Park, there was a multi-cache hidden here which I could not find the final stage (GC110R8). But it was still a worthy stop. There were many military display's such as the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk Vietnam War attack plane, a 1941 Plymouth Sedan Army staff car, a Vietnam River Patrol boat, a couple of cannons and a torpedo.







Now since I couldn't find that last geocache for the county, I settled on a quick parking lot LPC hide (GC77DYE).

In Orleans Parish, our next stop was the site of the Spanish Fort at Bayou St. John (GC8GC4J). The first small fort here was erected by the French in 1701, before the founding of the city of New Orleans, to protect the important trade route along Bayou St. John. After Louisiana passed to Spanish control, a larger brick fort was constructed at the site of the neglected old French fortification; this was known as San Juan del Bayou. Louisiana passed back to France and then to the hands of the United States. The fort was decommissioned in 1823.



This is the story of the grave at Spanish Fort. During the Spanish days, the Commandant of Fort St. John was Sancho Pablo. He had opened negotiations with the chief of a local Choctaw tribe, Waw-he-wawa (White Goose), who lived down the bayou with his daughter Owaissee (Bluebird). Sometimes Pablo visited the Indian camp and became acquainted with Bluebird as well.

One day, as the legend goes, Bluebird took her canoe down Bayou St. John to the lake. The choppy waters began to pound her canoe until it nearly capsized. Seeing this from the fort, Sancho Pablo ordered his men to prepare a boat at once to rescue her. When they reached her, Pablo personally lifted Bluebird into the Spanish boat to safety and escorted her home. Needless to say, Sancho Pablo and Bluebird fell in love with each other. Bluebird would paddle down the bayou again and again at night to meet with Sancho.

White Goose became suspicious, however, that his daughter was meeting with this Spaniard; and he became alarmed being strongly opposed to such a relationship. He secretly followed his daughter down the bayou one night and discovered that she was meeting with Pablo. White Goose therefore resolved to kill the Spaniard. On an ominously dark night, the Indian father traveled down the bayou in a canoe alone. As the canoe approached the fort in the pitch black night, Pablo believed the boat contained Bluebird coming to visit. Instead the Spaniard soon discovered it was Bluebird's father who came only for blood. White Goose killed Sancho Pablo on the spot.



Legend has it that Pablo's last words were of his eternal love for Bluebird. The soldiers in the fort soon were startled by the sounds of the struggle, but the Indian chief had disappeared. The Spanish soldiers buried the body of their leader on the grounds of the old Spanish Fort. Legend says that the Indian village relocated. Neither Bluebird nor White Goose was ever heard from again.
(https://allpoetry.com/poem/513738-Sancho-Pablo-And-Bluebird-by-Dreamweaver)

And then, not too far away, was the Milneburg Lighthouse (GC8GC4N). Originally called Port Pontchartrain Lighthouse until 1929. This now landlocked lighthouse was located at the end of Milneburg pier. The brick lighthouse was built in 1855 which replaced the original wooden one which was built in 1832. Milneburg was a small town on the lake shore that was absorbed by New Orleans. The area was connected to the city by Elysian Fields Avenue. In 1830 it was decided to build the region's first railway along the route. The Pontchartrain Rail-Road started steam locomotive which carried people and cargo along the 5 mile trip. The port boomed. Hotels, saloons, bath houses, and resorts were built around it. The importance of Milneburg in shipping declined in the late 19th century, but it remained an important resort. Between 1920s and 1930s new land was reclaimed by dreading the shallows of Lake Pontchartrain which brought the end of old Milneburg.



Unfortunately I didn't get the geocache that was there. It wasn't that I didn't find it, but I didn't get to look. From where I took this photo were two parking spots. We got out of the GeoJeep to walk over for a closer look and to find the cache. Almost immediately, up rolls a golf cart with a security guard telling us that we can't walk out to see the lighthouse because of covid. REALLY? If it were not for the security guard, I'd be able to look completely all around in every direction and NOT see a single person except for my wife and I. I'm pretty sure covid would NOT be an issue. Oh well, off to the next one.

We planned on visiting the most famous of the New Orleans cemeteries, Saint Lewis Cemetery Number 1. With famous permanent residents like voodoo priestess Marie Laveau (1801-1881), civil rights activist Homer Plessy (1862-1925) of the Plessy vs Ferguson Supreme Court case, and future resident and actor Nicholas Cage who already has a 9' tall pyramid placed for his tomb. But it was closed because of... you guessed it... covid.

So we went across the highway to the Metairie Cemetery where we found six of the more than a dozen geocaches hidden there. The Metairie Cemetery Association received its charter in May 1872. This large cemetery was built on a former racetrack, and the oval track shape is still there. Metairie was part of the Rural (Victorian) Cemetery Movement. It’s landscaped and features elements like lakes and wide roads connecting to footpaths. Interments of note include singer Louis Prima, 49 kings of Carnival, and numerous Louisiana state governors and NOLA mayors.

Just a couple of notable residents here: Thomas Milton Benson (1927-2018), who was the owner of the NFL's New Orleans Saints and the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans.


Josie Arlington was a New Orleans madam whose crypt was once believed to be haunted. It was rumored that the statue of the woman in front of the tomb would come to life and walk the cemetery grounds at night. It was later discovered that a street light reflecting off the tomb gave it a reddish glow, lending credence to the rumors of the haunting. Josie Arlington's body was later moved to an unknown location within the same cemetery.

Located in the center of the Metairie Cemetery is the Tomb of the Army of Northern Virginia. Dedicated on May 10, 1881, the monument was erected in memory to the men of the Division of the Army of Northern Virginia, who served and died in the Civil War. The monument, made of white granite, rises fifty feet above the ground with a statue of General Stonewall Jackson on top and the inscription: "ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, LOUISIANA DIVISION," and "FROM MANASSAS TO APPOMATTOX, 1861 TO 1865." Located within the hill below this monument, is a large chamber containing the vaults of many Confederate Officers.

Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, was the unrepentant highest ranking Confederate leader of the South. By the time his peaceful death occurred while visiting New Orleans, he was the symbol of the Lost Cause and the most revered man in the South. Eighteen months after his death and temporary burial in New Orleans Metairie Cemetery, Davis's widow, Varina, decided the final burial place was to be Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery, considered the National Cemetery of the Confederacy. 



His remains, were removed from the vault in New Orleans and placed on a flag-draped caisson escorted by honor guards composed of his old soldiers to Memorial Hall, where he lay in state. The next day, as thousands of people silently watched from the sidewalks and balconies, the caisson bore his body to a waiting funeral train. On the way, bonfires beside the tracks lit up ranks of Davis's old soldiers standing at attention beside stacked arms. In Richmond, Gray haired veterans escorted him to the Virginia statehouse where thousands filed past in respect before internment.

Jefferson Davis was the only Southern leader shackled in a dungeon and sacrificed as atonement for the sins of many. He refused to apply for a pardon because, he said, "I have not repented." In 1978, the United States Congress posthumously restored Davis's citizenship. 

Driving east into Saint Bernard Parish, we stop for my next county cache at Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery (GCA55A). Major General Andrew Jackson's troops were outnumbered and less experienced yet they defended and secured the port of New Orleans from British invasion on January 8, 1815. This victory at the Chalmette Plantation was the last major battle in the War of 1812. The American victory preserved U.S. claims to the Louisiana Purchase territory, prompted settlement in the Mississippi River Valley, made Jackson a national hero, and encouraged American pride and unity.

The construction of a monument honoring Andrew Jackson and his troops was the first step in recognizing the importance of the battlefield and saving it for future generations. In 1852 the Louisiana legislature appropriated funds to purchase land at the battlefield and build a monument there. The project was plagued with funding problems for decades and was finally completed in 1908. In 1939 Chalmette National Historical Park was created and the site became part of the National Park Service.



The destruction of their plantation during the Battle of New Orleans left the de Chalmet family in financial trouble. In 1817, brothers Hilaire and and Louis St. Amand bought the land. The St. Amands were prominent free people of color who already owned several plantations. In the early 1800's, it was not unusual for free people of color to own plantations and slaves in Louisiana. Actually according to the 1860 U.S. census, only 4% of southern whites owned slaves while 28% of freed blacks in New Orleans owned slaves.

The first owner of the Malus-Beauregard House was Madeleine Pannetier Malus, a widow who purchased land from the St. Amand brothers when they divided the land into small tracts in 1832. Malus built a French Colonial house in 1833 or 1834. After her death in 1835, Caroline Fabre Cantrelle bought the house and remolded it to the Greek Revival style it is currently. Its last private owner was Rene Beauregard, son of Confederate General P. T. Beauregard, who purchased it in 1880. The New Orleans Terminal Company then owned the property until 1949, when it became part of the Chalmette National Historical Park.



Looking at the house from the front or the back and you get the impression of an ominous grand estate. In reality, when you look at it from the side, the house is only one room deep with only four rooms on each floor.



The Chalmette National Cemetery was established in 1864 as a burial place for Union soldiers who died in the Gulf area during the Civil War. It also served as a site for reburials of soldiers from battlefield cemeteries in the region. This plot of land was part of the battlefield during the Battle of New Orleans. Only four U.S. veterans of the War of 1812 are buried here. None of the British who died in the battle are buried in the cemetery.



Also located on four acres of the battlefield, is the Freedmen's Cemetery. It was established by the Freedmen's Bureau in 1867, when the bureau received permission to use a portion of the battlefield as a civilian burial ground. The property reverted to other ownership when the bureau was discontinued, and the cemetery gradually fell into ruins. All above ground traces disappeared before the start of the 1900's.

The National Park Service received stewardship of the cemeteries in 1933. There are over 15,000 individuals buried in the 17.5 acre cemetery. Veterans of all major American wars and conflicts are interred here. Of these 15,000, more than 6,700 are unknown. By 1945 all available burial sites were either taken or reserved and the cemetery was closed. It was re-opened briefly in the 1960's for burial of Vietnam Veterans.

There are two burials I wanted to bring to your attention. One is the oldest and belongs to Pvt Elkanah Anderson (1774-1815). Marched from Hickman County Tennessee, then fought and died at the Battle of New Orleans. Mortally wounded in battle on January 8, 1815, then died on January 14, 1815.

The other was Sarah Rosetta Wakeman (1843-1864). Civil War Union Soldier. The oldest child in a poor, large farming family in upstate New York, she left home at nineteen years of age and found she could make more money by dressing as a man and working as a coal handler on a canal boat. Upon learning she could make thirteen dollars a month as a soldier, she disguised herself as a man and enlisted on 30 August 1862 in Montgomery County, New York, as "Lyons Wakeman" in the 153rd New York Volunteer Infantry, Company G which shortly thereafter would be redesignated as Company H. She served until she died of dysentery after fighting in the Battle of Pleasant Hill in Louisiana. Details of her experiences are found in her letters compiled in a book entitled "An Uncommon Soldier" edited by Lauren Cook Burgess. Her total service in the U S Army covered more than one year and seven months.


And finally, our last stop in New Orleans was out of this world (GCB50B). This is the Michoud Assembly Facility for NASA where much of the United States Space Program began. The Saturn 5 booster stage that launched all of the moon missions as well as all of the External Tank for the Space Shuttles were built here. Currently portions of the Orion Capsule slated to take the first men to Mars is being built here.

There used to be two metal sculptures near this virtual geocache location. One is honoring STS 107 which was the Columbia Mission that was lost upon reentry over Texas. The other is dedicated to the Challenger Crew who made the ultimate sacrifice when the shuttle exploded shortly after launching off the coast of Florida.





So that was our tour of New Orleans. Probably NOT the typical sites that most visitors to the "Big Easy" see. Maybe next time when we have longer to stay we'll check out the downtown restaurants and go on a ghost tour or something normal like most tourists. See you next time.

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course by clicking the "Follow" button to the right. But also by using one or more of your favorite of these social media platforms: FacebookMeWeGabRedditParlorTwitterRVillageGETTRInstagram, and TruthSocial. These all link directly to my profiles. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

Friday, November 26, 2021

2020-06-04: More Geocaching Through the Backroads of Georgia Counties and a Confederate P.O.W. Camp

So on this second day of our roadtrip through the backroads of Georgia, on our way to North Carolina, we still didn't get very far. After nine hours we've barely gone 200 miles from where we started this morning. Also, we only managed to find 6 geocaches located in 4 new geocaching counties. However we did find a 20 year old geocache that was hidden way back in June 2000! There were a lot of cool historical sites on the agenda today. Let's go for a drive and do some sightseeing...



Our first stop was a virtual geocache (GCGMJY) in Andersonville, Georgia. The Andersonville National Historic Site began as a stockade built about 18 months before the end of the Civil War to hold Union Army prisoners captured by Confederate soldiers. This location became the deadliest ground of the Civil War. Nearly 13,000 men died on these grounds.



Located deep behind Confederate lines, the 26.5-acre Camp Sumter (named for the south Georgia county it occupied) was designed for a maximum of 10,000 prisoners. At its most crowded, it held more than 32,000 men, many of them wounded and starving, in horrific conditions with rampant disease, contaminated water, and only minimal shelter from the blazing sun and the chilling winter rain. In the prison's 14 months of existence, some 52,000 Union prisoners arrived here; of those, 12,920 died and were buried in a cemetery created just outside the prison walls. Conditions were so bad here that the residents of the town of Americus, 10 miles to the south, often complained of the smell blowing in their direction.



The stockade was designed in this location with the theory that a small creek passing through the middle would provide fresh drinking water upstream as it entered at the higher elevation. The lower elevation would be used as a latrine downstream and flush sewage out as the water flow exited the camp. Inadvertently, the prison was designed for death. Stockade posts slowed the drainage, and during dry spells the creek was more of a stagnant swamp than flowing stream. Dysentery swept through the camp. Overcrowding soon fouled the water, and the sluggish current failed to wash sewage out of the prison. The stream's bacteria quickly became lethal.



Today, Andersonville National Historic Site comprises three distinct components: the former site of Camp Sumter military prison; the Andersonville National Cemetery, where veterans continue to be buried today; and the National Prisoner of War Museum, which opened in 1998, and serves as a memorial to all American prisoners of war.



The cemetery site serving Camp Sumter was established as Andersonville National Cemetery on July 26, 1865. By 1868, the cemetery held the remains of more than 13,800 Union soldiers whose bodies had been retrieved after their deaths in hospitals, battles, or prison camps throughout the region. Andersonville National Cemetery has been used continuously since its founding and currently averages over 150 burials a year. The cemetery and associated prison site became a unit of the National Park System in 1970.



These six graves were deliberately set apart among the others. These six prisoners were buried with dishonor. Only enlisted soldiers were held at Andersonville. With no Union officers to maintain order, life in the pen became anarchy. A gang known as the Raiders roamed the prison yard, bullying, robbing, and even murdering other prisoners. Eventually, with the blessing of Commandant Wirz, the prisoners formed a police squad called the Regulators and arrested the Raiders. Before their execution, the six Raider leaders were court-martialed by their peers. Confederates provided lumber for the gallows, which was erected near the prison's South Gate. The remaining Raiders were forced to run a gauntlet formed by their fellow prisoners.



After nearly 2 hours of wandering the grounds, looking at all the large state monuments and memorials, the stockade walls, displays and information boards, and just taking it all in, it was time to get back on the road.

From there we went to another historical virtual geocache (GCGVRY). The town of Americus, Georgia plays a part in aviation history. From the statue and historical marker at the Jimmy Carter Regional Airport: "The "Lone Eagle" first flew solo in early May, 1923 from Souther Field. Charles Lindbergh had come to Americus to purchase a surplus aircraft from the World War I training center. He chose a Curtiss JN4 "Jenny." He got the plane with a brand new OX-5 engine, a fresh coat of olive drab dope, and an extra 20 gallon fuel tank for $500. Lindbergh had less than 20 hours of instruction when he soloed. He practiced take-offs and landings for a week; then having filled up with 40 gallons of gas, he set course for Montgomery, Alabama, to start his barnstorming career. Four years later Lindbergh flew alone in "The Spirit of St Louis" from New York to Paris and into aviation history."



Next door at the South Georgia Technical College was our next cache (GC17V02). The land on which the college now sits was once a training facility for WWI and WWII pilots. This is also the where Charles Lindbergh trained and had his first solo flight. It was converted to a college in the late 1940's. This was one of the airplanes located on the campus grounds.



Over in Crawford County in the town of Knoxville, Georgia more history was to be found. My next two geocaches were located by the old courthouse (GC6C5C, GC3DFJG). Crawford County was created by Acts of the Legislature on Dec 9 & 23, 1822, and is named for William H. Crawford, a Georgia statesman. This building served as the county courthouse from 1823 until a new one was constructed in 2001.



Most everyone has heard of Route 66, the Lincoln Highway, and many other historic highways which played a role in the expansion of this country. US-80/GA-22 passing through town was once known as the Federal Wire Road. This highway, created by an Act of Congress in 1810, entered the state at Augusta, passing through Warrenton, Sparta, Milledgeville, Macon and Knoxville to Coweta Town (now called Columbus). It was formally known as the Stage Coach Road. A telegraph line, the first that connected New Orleans with Washington D.C., was erected in 1848. The wires paralleled this road between Columbus and Macon giving to this section of the old highway the name of the Federal Wire Road. This telegraph line was also the first one to be erected in the state of Georgia.

Knoxville also played a role in Texas history. It was here that Joanne Troutman gave to a company of Georgia soldiers commanded by Col. William Ward on their way to fight for the Independence of Texas, a Lone Star Flag. It was carried to Goliad where James Fannin Jr raised it as the Texas National Flag.

One more that I want to mention... Alexis de Tocqueville, the 25 year old French aristocrat and author of Democracy in America, visited this area during his 1831-1832 tour of America.

Over in Jones County we stop at a park for short hike to our next geocache (GC229DF). The first iron foundry in Georgia was established here by Samuel Griswold, who came from Connecticut, settling in Clinton in 1820. He also manufactured about 1,000 cotton gins a year and ran a steam sawmill and grist mill. Moving to Griswoldville in 1849 to be on the railroad his mansion and factories were burned by Sherman in 1864 when he was making pistols and ammunition for the Confederacy. He died in 1867. Daniel Pratt of Temple, NH, later designer of the Alabama capitol, was at one time Griswold's partner.


Moving right along we made a quick roadside stop for a quick cache in Jasper County (GC5RKVD).

Looping around Atlanta to the northeast side, we arrive at our final geocache of the day. This is one that has been on my bucket list for a long time. Beaver Cache (GC1D) was hidden way back in June 2000 and is the 8th oldest active geocache in the world. I had been close to it many times before, but either didn't have the time or just forgot all about it. That completes one more of my Year 2000 calendar. All that's left now is July and August.



So that was Day 2 of our Florida to North Carolina roadtrip. Like I said at the beginning, we saw a lot but didn't get very far.

On Day 3 it was just driving straight through the rest of the way where we reached our destination at the Lake Norman Motorcoach Resort. For the next few months here working at this project, this will be home:


Come back soon as we will be exploring the backroads of North Carolina and completing the last 7 NC Counties while we're here.

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course. But also by using you favorite of these social media platforms: FacebookMeWeGabRedditParlorTwitterRVillageGETTR and Instagram. These all link directly to my profile. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

Thursday, November 12, 2020

2019-03-02: A Packed Geocaching Road Trip from Texas to Minnesota and Back! Busy Day #1 TX & OK

Hey Everybody! Welcome back to another of my adventures. This road trip adventure is brought to you by the company I work for. You ever have to take a business trip to corporate headquarters for a training meeting or something. The company wants to fly you in, pays for the hotel, and fly you back home. A long way to go, but you don't get to see anything.

Since I was between projects and had the free time, I asked if I could drive up and get reimbursed for the gas and hotels instead of them paying for airfare. And the answer was YES! Sounds like a road trip to me! So I start planning a route and looking up geocaches from Killeen, Texas to Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I also thought it would be fun to go along with another geocacher. So I inquired of another former Floridian cacher who's now living in Austin called "CuteLittleFuzzyMonkey", or CLFM for short. We've tried caching together before but just could never get our schedules to line up. He got back to me in a couple of days and said the timing works out perfect so it was a go!

Today was the day to hit the road and CLFM drove up to Killeen from Austin to meet me at my house. We both have GeoJeeps, but I prefer to drive so we took mine. Since he's got all the caches picked out and navigating, it only makes since for him to be in the passenger seat anyway right! Plus he's officially still on the clock and has to answer work related texts and emails too. So... AwayWeGo...

Our first stop was a puzzle cache up in Dallas. Puzzle geocaches are usually not at the posted coordinates. I hate puzzles because I'm not good at solving them. Fortunately CLFM is a puzzle master and has hidden many of them himself. Plus this one was called "Infinite Monkey Theorem" (GC3BT76) so we just had to find this one! I took one look at the puzzle and had no clue. But he solved it and we found the cache.

Next up was a virtual cache. A virtual geocache has no physical container. There are requirements like answering questions or taking a selfie at the given location. This is the original Pegasus (GC7B9NE) that once rotated 450 feet high above Dallas atop the Renaissance Revival Magnolia Building. The 40' tall flying red horse rotated on the 50' tall oil derrick above the 29 story building for the offices of the Magnolia Oil Company, which later was acquired by the Mobil Oil Company, from 1934 through 1999. This original sign was packed away in storage and replaced with a new sign. Found in 2012 and restored, it was moved to it's new location and lit up once again in 2015 at this Omni Dallas Hotel location.

Our last stop in downtown Dallas was another virtual geocache at this 30' eyeball (GC7B77Z). Created by artist Tony Tasset in 2007 for a temporary display in Chicago. After time in storage and a stop in St Louis, the Joule Hotel in Dallas purchased it in 2013 to anchor its sculpture garden. It certainly is an eye catcher! (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)


Continuing on our way north, our next stop was at the Oakland Cemetery for two geocaches in Marshall County, Oklahoma (GC57HYM, GC5NHBK).

Then over to Johnston County for another virtual geocache at a veterans memorial park (GCGDCQ). The park is dedicated to the residents of Tishomingo who gave their lives in the various wars. One of the displays included this Blue Angels fighter jet.


A quick stop at the McAlister Cemetery gave us a cache in Carter County (GC2B84E). Sadly though, it also gave me a pain in my back! OUCH!! I've picked up heavy objects, bend the knees, don't bend the knees, no problem. This is the second time I've reached for a micro cache and just send a huge pain shooting through my lower back. The first one was leaning over a guard rail and reaching in for the cache. This time I see the cache, just reach into the bush, and almost drop to my knees in pain. Not the way I want to start this road trip.

Continuing north on I-35, we stop at a rest area to use the facilities and grab a cache for Murray County, Oklahoma (GC6TRPJ). Ugh... getting in and out of the Jeep is painful. It's not bad while I'm sitting. The heated seats help.

Now it's time for another virtual geocache. You know the best thing about geocaching is that you find some of the strangest things. In Cleveland County, we found some Bug Art (GCF12E). Someone actually took this full sized VW Beetle and added some legs to make it look like a bug for a great roadside attraction.


Some quick roadside caches (GC7ZGMJ, GC1VN87) and another puzzle cache (GC5EX03). And then there's this virtual cache for the Oklahoma City Air Force Memorial (GCF69C).


And this virtual cache at the Oklahoma City Memorial (GC4772). I wish we had time to look around further but we have a long road ahead and a lot of geocaches to find. Plus my back was killing me still.


After seven more geocaches, we ended the night in Perry, Oklahoma. I thought it would finally be good to lay down and stretch my back out. Wishful thinking. My back was so  tight I could barely move. I crawled into bed but I couldn't even take my shoes off. I couldn't take my jacket off. I couldn't move at all. Eventually I did manage to get some sleep but not much. Maybe an hour or so. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Sunday, October 25, 2020

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...