2018-07-02: The Quest For 10,000 Geocaching Finds Day #1

So here we are once again for AwayWeGo's Geocaching Adventures Blog. Thank you for stopping by. I hope you have been enjoying my stories and the history I'm finding through Geocaching.

Some of you have asked me that I have in the title. Yes, I'm actually two years behind in my writing. But trying my best to catch up while working 55-60 hours a week at the same time. I even took 3 months off from caching at the beginning of this year to spend the time writing.

Now returning back to July 2, 2018, the 4th of July falls on a Wednesday and I have the whole week off from work. Unfortunately, my wife still has to work, so it'll be a "stay-cation." What to do, what to do? Hey I'll go Geocaching!

Actually I've been thinking about this for a while now. I've been approaching the big 10,000 geocaching finds milestone. So I have to make it a truly remarkable, fun and memorable geocache. And I think I've found the perfect one. But I have to get there first and that's my goal for this week.

Starting the day off in Killeen, Texas at #9910, I head over to Dunkin' for a caramel iced coffee and a bagel. Then I drive south towards Georgetown. There's several power runs down there where I can get the numbers quickly.

So I get started on the "Hero's of War" series (GC2RBR8) and the "CR-207" series (GC515FD) of geocaches. In the midst of those are some other miscellaneous geocaches that I've found and others I've hidden. The power runs are just roadside caches, so I'll focus the rest of my blog on the stories of the scattered caches.

First up is the Santa Rosa Church Cemetery (GC7T2VK). Also known as the San Jose Cemetery on the Williamson County Historical Society Map. With just over 100 interments, a maintained cemetery still in use today. Although the little gazebo has seen better days. I couldn't find much history other than it's located near the town of Andice which only maintains a population of around 25 or so since the 1970's. There wasn't a geocache here, but I couldn't let that continue. So I hid one myself outside the gazebo.

The next site of interest was the ghost town last known as Gabriel Mills, Texas. From the historical marker: "Samuel Mather settled here in 1849, building a gristmill on the North San Gabriel in 1852. John G. Stewart opened a store near the mill. A small log cabin was in use by 1854 for church, school and lodge meetings. A post office was established in 1858, Mather being postmaster. W. L. Brizendine owned the mill by 1865, adding a cotton gin. Known as Mather’s Mill, Brizendine Mill, or Gabriel Mills, the village thrived until Austin & Northwestern Railroad bypassed it (1881); then a decline began. The post office closed in 1905, and by the 1920's the town itself had disappeared."

About all that remain are a collection of cemeteries and a few old houses. The first cemetery I came to was also another Geocache find (GC1260A). Jonathan Bittick was born in North Carolina September 11, 1796, and his wife Jinsy (Butler) Bittick, born in Georgia on June 8, 1805. He moved their family from Antoine Township (Clark), AR to Teneha District, Coahuila and Texas in 1830 along with Jinsy's parents, George and Elizabeth Butler, and her sister and brother-in-law William and Polly Ashabranner.

In October 1835 he received a grant on the east bank of Teneha Bayou one half mile below Bittick and Alford mill. Another grant was in Shelby County on Ayish Bayou. Jonathan was a miller and fanner who owned land in several Texas counties. In 1853, the Bittick's moved here to the frontier in Williamson County. Jonathan died in Gabriel Mills September 22, 1869 and Jinsy died there February 6, 1872 and are buried here in the family cemetery.

Around the corner just a mile away is a collection of three smaller cemeteries all connected together, the Mather Family Cemetery, the Brizendine Cemetery, and the Mt Horeb Cemetery (GC7T37F, GC7T380). There wasn't a geocache here so I hid two here myself. Rather than go into the long detailed history of the families that first settled this area, I ask that you click on the GC# link to the cache page. There I've posted that history if you're interested.

Most of the cemeteries were well kept as you can see in the photo above. But there were parts of it that was a little overgrown with some weeds. And there were a few worn and weathered flags from a previous holiday that were laying in the grass. I picked those up to be properly disposed of.

The next few photos are some of the remaining buildings left in the area. The first looked to be still maintained, but the rest... well you can see.

Some of the locals checking me out while I was taking pics.

Next up down the road is at the Connell Cemetery (GC2H9Q6). Alabama native Sampson Connell Jr (b. 1822) came to Texas with his family in 1834. Sampson along side his father, Sampson Connell, Sr. and his brother David Cook Connell supposedly delivered the last load of supplies to the Alamo before it was attacked by the Mexican Army. Later the three fought side by side in the "Battle of San Jacinto". Following Texas winning its' independence from Mexico, Sampson Connell, Jr. received a land grant in Williamson County from the Texas Republic for his efforts and patriotism. On his headstone is the bronze plaque for "Citizen of the Republic of Texas, 1836-1846." There are 20 burials here beginning with Sampson Connell Jr in 1873, to the last burial in 1939.

The geocache container was rather interesting for a cemetery. It appears as though one of the bodies didn't have all the pieces parts buried with it!

The next geocache of interest is at the William-Buck Cemetery (GC3A1YR). From the historical marker: "Legend surrounds the first years of this burial ground. Local oral history relates that among the earliest graves are those of a slave called Willie Osborne and an unknown Indian. Members of the Stephens family, ambushed by Indians in 1854, are said to have been buried here in their wagon. The oldest marked grave is that of infant Polly Williams, interred in 1854, on land owned by W. W. Williams. A cemetery association was organized in the 1960's. Many honored veterans of Confederate and U.S. Armed Forces are interred here. Fifteen graves were moved from the Bullion Cemetery in the 1970's when Lake Georgetown was formed. There are over 250 burials here."

My last stop was at the Perry Cemetery. I didn't find the cache (GC2H9QW), but I did find a story. James Wesley and his brother John Montgomery Perry both were members of the Scout Co. D. 12th Division Texas Calvary during the Civil War. They first served in Texas, then they were sent to Arkansas where they took part in battles of Searcy's Lane, Cotton Plant, and Langee River. They then went to to Louisiana, where they fought in battles of Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, and Yellow Bayou. It was at Yellow Bayou that James was wounded in the right knee on May 16, 1863. He was in the hospital for some time, and then sent home on furlough. After his leg healed, he rejoined his unit, but was in no more battles. At the close of the war, the company disbanded at Falls County, TX.

That's enough for the day. Between the cemeteries and the power run, I've found 60 geocaches for today. But at 3 PM on a Texas July day it's pretty hot!

Now I'm at 9970 finds. Only 30 more to go! Do I make it tomorrow? Come back again and you'll see...

2018-05-12: Making The Deal For A New GeoJeep

Hey welcome back to the AwayWeGo Geocaching Adventures Blog. If you remember from last week, at the end of the day my GeoPrius blew the engine. So throughout this past week, I contacted four Jeep dealerships to start working on a replacement geomobile.

The first and closest dealer was right there in Fort Stockton, Texas, Ram Country Fort Stockton. They actually had exactly what I was looking for! A new white 2018 Jeep Wrangler JK 4-door Rubicon, fully loaded with navigation, heated seats, trailer hitch, remote start, and much more. Sadly though the only thing the salesman was interested in was getting me down there for a test drive.

Hello! I don't need to test drive it. It's a Jeep Wrangler, it's gonna have a rough ride, a lot of wind noise, and bad gas mileage. "What's your BEST selling price?" Salesman: "I'm sure we can get you the best price possible. How soon can you come down to discuss putting you in your new Jeep?" That's all he would say. He wouldn't give me any numbers. I don't have the time nor do I want to sit there in your dealership for hours on end to negotiate a deal. So I gave them a bad review on Google.

Next I called the Jeep dealer in Odessa, All American Chrysler Jeep Dodge, and got a hold of a sales guy willing to work with me over the phone. They had one there with everything I wanted just like Fort Stockton except it was bright red. Now if I were buying another Corvette, that would be perfect. But every other vehicle I prefer to have in white. It was still tempting.

This guy was working hard for me though. He even called Fort Stockton to see if they could make the trade and then sell it to me, but they refused. There was also another Jeep he thought I would like that was a couple of years old. The couple that was wanting to trade it in also had a motorhome so the Jeep was already equipped with the tow brackets. But they couldn't take in the motorhome. So that couple ended up going back to the RV dealer who bought back the motorhome and the Jeep.

Even though I didn't buy a Jeep from them, I left them a good review anyway because they put in a good effort. They just didn't have the right inventory.

I also had a call into All American CJD in San Angelo. They had some possibilities but nothing really filling all the option requirements that I was looking for. So there too was an inventory problem.

Checking several other dealer websites as well but nobody had the right Jeep I was looking for.

Another call that I had made was to Freedom Jeep in Killeen, Texas. They had a 2018 Jeep Wrangler JK Sahara 2-door. I actually like the 2-doors better, but I knew the 4-door would be more practical. But this one had the navigation, XM radio, heated seats, the right colors and all. The only thing it didn't have already on it was the tow hitch.

And best of all they could work with me over the phone. Especially since I was over 300 miles away! We made an agreement on the price. But when it came to financing their interest rate was a bit high. They said they can work with outside sources, so I called my credit union back in Florida and got a rate less than half what the dealer quoted. After letting the dealer know, their finance manager called me back the next day and said they could do it for 0.2% higher than the credit union. I figured it was close enough and agreed to complete the transaction there to save time. By now it was Thursday and they would have to wait to release the Jeep until they received payment from my credit union.

After work Friday, I caught a ride home from a co-worker who also lives in Killeen.

This morning my wife dropped me off at Freedom Jeep and they had my Jeep parked right there by the showroom. They had all the paperwork ready to go. I could have signed the papers and been on my way in less than 30 minutes. But remember it didn't have the trailer hitch option from the factory. So after I arrived they immediately sent it into the shop as I went into the finance office. They got a GREAT review on Google from me!

Now I have my new GeoJeep II. Now I just got to get some Travel Bug decals made for it.

The former GeoJeep I

So if you're ever in the market to buy a new/used car, there's a couple of things to remember as a buyer:

1) Research! Know what kind of car you want BEFORE you talk to the dealer. If you want a test drive, rent the car you're thinking about. You'll get a better idea if you like it or not versus driving it around the block.

2) Shop Online! Don't be constrained to the dealer nearest you. If you can get a better deal from a dealer over in the next town wouldn't it be worth it to take a longer drive? And don't worry about letting them know you're shopping around for the best deal.

3) Probably the most important thing of all: shop with your brain and NOT with your emotion! That's why the salesman want you there to drive, feel, and smell the car. They want you to fall in love with it and make it an emotional purchase. Then they have you hooked. But if you buy with your brain, you have the upper hand. And you have to be willing to walk away from the deal. Remember they want to sell you that vehicle. Work out the numbers and come up with an agreement before you even get there and you won't be wasting a whole day and into the night going back and forth.

Now to go places the GeoPrius couldn't get to!

2018-05-06: Geocaching Through Texas Cemeteries Then KABOOM! My Car Dies!

WOW! What a day! It was going good for the most part. But ended with a huge bang. Today's Geocaching Adventure was a 360+ mile drive from Killeen to Fort Stockton, Texas. So let's get started...

Just south of Killeen is a little town called Ding Dong. Now before your mind goes too far off the deep end, let me tell you the story as provided by the TexasEscapes.com website. Ding Dong is in Bell County but that's how it originated. Ding Dong was named for a Bell all right, but not Peter Hansborough Bell, the third governor of Texas and the man for whom Bell County is named.

According to historical accounts, the Bells in question were Zulis Bell and his nephew Bert Bell. In the early 1930's the two Bells bought and ran a country store on the Lampasas River about midway between Killeen and Florence, at a place then known as McBryde Crossing. The Bells hired a talented sign painter by the name of C.C. Hoover to paint the sign for their new store. It was suggested to Hoover: "Why don't you do something original with this sign. How about drawing two Bells with the name Zulis in one and Bert in the other. Then print 'Ding Dong' on the sign." After a while the little community around the store took on the name of Ding Dong.

Now I mentioned McBryde Crossing which brings me to my first geocache of the day. Mancel T. McBryde (1821-1896), who brought his family here from Georgia in the early 1860's, began this family cemetery (GC480KN) in 1885 upon the death of his wife, Jane W. Goar McBryde (1826-1885). A farmer and rancher, McBryde selected a site south of his family's home on which to bury his wife. The McBryde's had eight children, four of whom married into the Hoover family. McBryde and Hoover descendants are also interred here. The oldest McBryde family graves are enclosed in stone.

A few hundred feet to the south is a tree lined dirt road which led to my next geocache and cemetery. ​Emily LeSeur Haynes Sharp (1824-1880) came to Texas from Alabama with her first husband, William Glenn Haynes. They settled in Harrison County, where they owned a large amount of land and operated a cotton gin. William Haynes died in 1849, and three years later Emily married Augustus V. Sharp (1810-1868).

The Sharp family moved to this area in 1859 and settled along the Lampasas River. When their six-year-old daughter, Sarah, died in 1864, she was buried on the family farm. Four years later Augustus Sharp died and was laid to rest next to his daughter. In 1879 Emily Sharp deeded three acres of land surrounding the graves to establish a community cemetery (GC68YMO).

The. G. W. Dockery family deeded another 1.9 acres for the Rock Creek Church of Christ which was established in 1882, and in 1905 the members built a sanctuary. Among the interments in the Sharp Cemetery are those of Sharp, Haynes, and Dockery Family members; veterans of several wars; and a number of infants and small children, many of the earliest graves are marked only with field stones, and some are surrounded by 19th-century rock fences.

Driving westbound on Highway 29, I was passing through the community of Mahomet and spotted a cemetery sign. I didn't see a geocache listed here but I had to go check it out anyway. The Mahomet Cemetery, with interments dating back to the 1850's, became a community graveyard for the Sycamore Springs and Mahomet rural communities. In 1909 J. W. Williams and J. W. and Nellie Greer deeded the cemetery property to the community of Mahomet. Among the hundreds of people buried here are many of the area's pioneer settlers and their descendants and veterans of wars ranging from the Mexican War (1846-1848) to the Vietnam War. Mahomet Cemetery remains active and is maintained by an association of descendants of people buried here.

Since there wasn't a geocache already hidden here, I decided to place one there myself. Checking out the headstones, I spotted a William Williams (1833-1884). With a name like that I had to hide the geocache near him (GC7PA3G).

A couple hundred feet down from the entrance to the cemetery is the Mount Horeb Lodge. Chartered January 21, 1854, they first met in a log schoolhouse. They erected their own lodge hall in 1856 on land given by Grand Master Sam Mather and B.K. Stewart. The first floor was used as a church and school. A fire in 1915 razed the hall. The lodge was rebuilt here in 1916 on land given by G.T. and W.J. Williams.

On the west side of Burnet, I came to the Post Mountain Cemetery (GC4EKFV). Burnet, Texas is known as the Bluebonnet Capital of Texas. Burnet was founded next to Fort Croghan in 1852, when Burnet County was established. The town was originally named Hamilton after John Hamilton, who owned a league and labor of land in the area. In August 1852 a post office named Burnet was established in Hamilton, and then In 1858 the name of the town was changed to Burnet.

Post Mountain Cemetery is the largest of four cemeteries maintained by the city. There are over 1200 interments here. Of the photos I took, this is the one that I found most interesting. The tall obelisk leaning against it's base.

Still driving west on Highway 29, I stopped for two quick roadside caches (GC777ET, GC658HJ) between Llano and Mason.

Before you get to Mason, there's a little town called Art, Texas. Even though it's population is less than two dozen, I don't think it's considered a ghost town as it has never reached 50 people. Though being that small there are still three cemeteries, but only one geocache. (GC1NVFV)

Heinrich Conrad Kothmann (1798-1881) and his wife Ilse Katherine Pahlmann (1810-1905) and their family sailed from Germany to Indianola, Texas in 1845. Among the first families to settle in Fredericksburg, the Kothmanns were issued a 640-acre land grant in Mason County in 1848. In 1856 they moved to Art and were among the first immigrant families in this area. A trained cabinetmaker and musician, Kothmann began ranching and acquired another 640-acre tract of land.

Located on their former homestead, the Kothmann Cemetery is all that remains of the original ranch site. Containing only five graves, all of Kothmann family members, the graveyard began with the burial of Heinrich Conrad Kothmann in 1881. His wife Ilse is buried beside him. Their son Karl, the first of their family born in Texas, is buried here along with his wife Katherine (Hoerster) Kothmann. A fifth unmarked grave is thought to be that of a grandchild.

Though most of the land was sold after Ilse's death in 1905, the family retained one acre including the cemetery property. The concrete wall and slab were constructed after 1937 to provide protection and ease in maintenance for the five graves. The family maintains the cemetery.

Originally, Art’s name was Plehweville, after Otto Plehwe. In 1886, he had purchased from J.A. Hoerster a one-year-old general store near the hill top Methodist Church. Plehwe thought the area needed a post office as well as a store and the government agreed. Postal officials even went with Plehwe’s suggested name, one the new post master thought had a nice ring to it: Plehweville. Unfortunately, letters to Plehweville, not an easy name to pronounce, spell or remember, often got lost. Many residents were not content with the name and neither was the government.

By 1920, Eli Dechart had taken over as store owner and post master of Plehweville. Like Plehwe, he envisioned a community named in his honor. But unlike Plehwe, Dechart had a more practical idea. He recommended the new name for the post office of Plehweville, Texas be Art, Texas – Art being the last three letters of Dechart. And so by government fiat, Plehweville was transformed into Art.

After passing through Mason continuing westbound, I arrived in Grit, Texas for my last geocache of the day. Settled by cotton farmers around 1889. When the time came to open a post office the town wanted to be named after General Frederick Funston, a Spanish American War Hero. Saddened to discover that Funston had already been so honored in Texas, the town settled on the more earthy name of Grit - said to be the texture of the local soil.

The post office opened in 1901, the first store opened around 1903, and the town had its first school building in 1908. The Baptist church met in the Grit school until it built its own building in 1924. Telephone service began around 1914 when the town had 30 people. It remained at 30 until the 1960's when 63 people lived in Grit. This number held into the mid 80's, but it has since declined back to the 1914 level of 30 citizens. The post office has since been discontinued, but Grit remains on state maps.

All that remains is the school building which the town uses for meetings and the Grit Cemetery (GC1JH0Q). One resident to note was that of John B. Berry. Forefathers resisting America's foes on many frontiers inspired John Bate Berry, who came to Texas from Kentucky in 1826. He fought (1835-36) in the Texas War for Independence and in the 1842 Mier Expedition to stop Mexican raids on the Republic of Texas. Captured, imprisoned, then freed in 1844, he scouted for the American army in 1846, during the Mexican War. Later he married, lived in this locality, and fought to make frontiers safe for settlement.

So after stopping at eight cemeteries today, I decided to continue straight on towards Fort Stockton. I still had to go grocery shopping and prepare for the coming work week. From Highway 29, I turned onto US-190 westbound in Menard. From there all the way to I-10 into Fort Stockton.

Just as I let off the accelerator preparing to exit the interstate, KABOOM!! The gas engine in the GeoPrius starts knocking, rattling and loses power. It's still running but I can only go about 10-15 MPH, and that's mostly because of the electric motors. Fortunately the place I'm staying is barely more than a mile from the exit. From the sounds of the engine, I'd say that it spun a rod bearing.

While not happy to have blown up the Prius, I am REALLY THANKFUL that it happened in Fort Stockton and NOT out in the middle of nowhere. Those long stretches of rural highways when I'm 30 miles to the nearest anything and no cell phone service!

Back here, well I make a couple of phone calls and arrange a ride to work in the morning. Overall I had a great weekend between yesterday and today. And finished it off with a BANG!

2018-02-04: Texas Ghost Towns, Cemetery, and Courthouses

Hello again and welcome to another 360+/- mile Sunday Geocaching drive from Killeen to Monahans, Texas. There are multiple routes to take and I will probably be taking most of them over the next few months as I find all the available geocaches. So I hope you'll come back to follow along as I visit a lot of ghost towns, cemeteries, Texas history, and just ordinary roadside geocaches. And just a reminder to like our new Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AwayWeGoUS to stay up to date with any new posts.

My first geocache (GC2C3WW) was just several miles away in Copperas Cove, the next town over. Since I'll be making this long drive every weekend for a while, I'm gonna try to grab a cache near to each end. This will help to increase one of my favorite stats: cache-to-cache distance. This stat measures the straight line distance from each found cache in the order that you found them. I started caching back in 2006. From 2007 through 2010, I was an over-the-road truck driver. Caching along the way, I racked up miles quickly that way. I currently have nearly half a million cache-to-cache distance miles. So let's continue rolling!

My next cache was called "Almost There" (GC363HY) located just off US-190 near Rochelle. A quick park-n-grab and I'm on my way.

Over and through San Angelo, I take US-67 south (west). Taking one of the side roads for a short detour, I stopped for the "Don't Get Stuck" geocache (GC11J83). A fairly easy cache to find right along the road. But it hasn't been found in nearly 4 years! So it felt pretty good to have found a lonely cache and still in good shape.

Another side street geocache a few more miles down was the "Big Rock w/Bonus" geocache (GCMF26). This cache was first hidden way back in 2005, thirteen years ago! So the "Bonus" were the coordinates to a puzzle geocache just to the south. So after finding the "Big Rock", I found the puzzle cache called "Foster" (GCMF2D).

Getting back to US-67, but not very far, I arrived at "TGT: Tankersley" (GC15Y5B). Tankersley (Tankersly), also known as MacGrath, was named for Richard Franklin Tankersley, husband of Annie Ellen Allen Tankersley, one of the first white settlers on the Concho River in 1864 and donor of land for the townsite. A post office, established in 1910 as Tankersly, was discontinued in 1963. In 1914 the community had a population of forty, a general store, and two grocers. The local school had eighty-three pupils and three teachers in 1933. The population reached a high of seventy-five in 1946, when Tankersley had three businesses, but by 1953 the community had twenty residents and one business. In the 1980's a cemetery, the Tankersly–Twin Mountain school, the abandoned railroad station, and the West Texas Boys Ranch remained in the area. The estimated population of the community was twenty in 1990. No population estimates were available in 2000.

Close by to Tankersly was "TGT: Hughes" (GC15T5E). Hughes, between Spring Creek and the Middle Concho River in east central Irion County, was named after Duwain E. Hughes, on whose ranch the settlement was located. The Hughes community was receiving its mail from Tankersley in Tom Green County in the early 1950s; the townsite was not shown on later maps.

I didn't see anything to take a photo of near these two caches.

Crossing over into Irion County I arrived in the community of Sherwood. There are three caches here in town. The first geocache was at the Sherwood Cemetery (GC113GK). The oldest dated internment here is Infant Daughter Hodge in 1865. There are also several here that perished in the flood of 1882.

Next up was the beautiful former Sherwood Courthouse (GCM4G3). See photo at top of this page and below. The first permanent courthouse for Irion County, Texas, locally organized in 1889. Replaced temporary housing in several buildings. Site was gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ripley. Contractors Martin and Moody; stone was quarried nearby. Courthouse was used for dances, teachers institutes, community events, and the lawn for summer socials.

In a familiar case of death-by-railroad, Mertzon became the county seat in 1936 and this small town was finished. This was merely a technicality since Sherwood had all but been abandoned when the railroad by-passed it by two miles in 1910. The now privately owned courthouse is available for special events and festivals. The clock faces had painted hands. The hands reportedly indicate the moment of Abraham Lincoln's death.

After spending about 15-20 minutes of looking where there just weren't a whole lot of places to hide it, I did not find the cache. I do not like to, but I had to log a DNF on this geocache.

The last cache in town for me to find is another one of those "would never have seen if it weren't for geocaching" places! This dugout type home was once "The Old Scout House" (GC7DXBM). I couldn't find any information on it other than what's listed on the geocaching page that it was once a cub scout meeting house. Don't know any dates for it. But it does look like it would have been a cool place. After taking a lot of photos and looking into all the cracks and crevasses, I could not find a cache. Ughh! Two DNF's in a row! Not a good sign.

Continuing westbound on US-67, I arrive in the town of Rankin. Established in 1911, Rankin is the oldest town in Upton County and named after rancher F. E. Rankin. The first of two caches in town was "Sitting on a Hilltop" (GC2YC10). Located near the Rankin Park Building and gave you great views of the town.

Next on the north side of town was "Rodeo Kids" (GC3W3NM). Since 1952, the community of Rankin has annually hosted an all-Kid Rodeo. An event unique to the sport, which has it's roots in the American cattle industry. Ranching has been the backbone of the Rankin economy sine the town's establishment in 1911. Many of the cowboys and ranchers in Rankin participated in rodeos, while other individuals from outside the area came here roping events. The competitors often brought their children, many of whom practiced events and wanted an outlet for their skills.

In 1952, professional roper Walton Poage, along with his son and his son's friend, enlisted help from residents in Rankin in creating an all-kid rodeo. The community came together to support the idea and the first all-kid rodeo was held that year in two go-rounds of calf roping, ribbon roping, goat roping, steer riding, and a barrel race and boot scramble. The entry fee for each event was $1.00 and prizes were donated by local businesses and residents. By the next year, the Upton county 4-H club began to sponsor the rodeo. The event grew in popularity, and in 1954, approximately 1,500 to 2,000 individuals attended each night of the event.

Since its inception, the all-kid rodeo has been held every year. It brings commerce into Rankin, drawing in visitors and competitors, many of whom later became members of the professional rodeo cowboys association. It was the first rodeo contest for many boys and girls, and helped them get a start in the sport. Today, the all-kid rodeo continues to be a unique tradition promoting the ranching and family spirit of the Rankin community.

That's all for today. I take the final leg home to Monahans where I can grab a bite to eat and relax. Until next week...

2018-01-28: Two First-to-Finds and a Beautiful Sunset

Hello and welcome back to AwayWeGo's Geocaching Adventures blog. Not a very long one today. Today begins the first of many days to come of caching solo. So I guess you could say "Away I Go's" blog. My job continues back in West Texas. Candy is finished traveling and training other DOR's because her new facility in Killeen finally opened and she starts work there tomorrow. That's why we had been making trips to Killeen the past few months because we started renting a house there in preparation for this moment. So today it's just me driving back the 300+ miles on Sundays to Monahans for my work week.

My first Geocaching stop was in Lampasas behind the Walmart. Most Walmart parking lot caches are micro containers underneath one of the lampskirts. This geocache (GC3HAYF) however was a regular sized container up on a hill behind the store. That made it easier not to have to worry about muggles watching you. A quick find and off I go.

It wasn't long before I remembered that there were two NEW geocaches published last week back near Monahans. So I looked them up and they STILL had not yet been found. First-to-Find opportunities await! I forget about all the other geocaches that I'm now bypassing and head west.

Arriving in Penwell, off of I-20 on the west side of Odessa, it's pretty much a ghost town now compared to what it once was. But there is this drag strip south of the highway where they still race cars in season. Right now there nothing going on so it was easier to find the geocache. I found the "Thunder Road" (GC7HKBE) cache quickly and signed the top of the blank logsheet at 5:44 PM for a FTF!

I jump back on I-20 and continue west. Passing through Monahans and just on the west outside of town is a community called Pyote. The "I'll Fly Away" geocache (GC7HG53) was at the cemetery that I mentioned briefly with a couple photos in a blog post back in December. So instead of me coming back to hide my own cache, WestTexasAnnieOakley beat me to it. But that's OK with me because now I get a FTF at 6:20 PM!

Perfect timing to watch a beautiful sunset and have a train come by as well for a few extra great photo opportunities! Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave your comments or share this blog with your friends. Look us up and follow us on Facebook too! See you next time!

Looking Westbound

Looking Eastbound

2017-12-27: Surprise Road Trip Killeen, Texas to Baltimore, Maryland Day 1

My Wife has a Big Heart and I Love Her Very Much! She's always willing to put others needs before her own. Being a therapist in a nursing home facility is almost like being in the medical profession. Wait, it is a medical profession. What I mean is that the only holidays she gets off is when it falls on the weekend. Fortunately this year, she is between facilities. The new Director has taken over where she was in West Texas but the new facility in Killeen hasn't opened yet. That's why her company has been using her to train others.

My job has shut down for a week and a half for the Christmas / New Years holidays. So we had the entire time off together. NOT SO FAST! She got a call begging her to help at a facility in Midland to cover on Monday, Christmas Day as well as Tuesday the 26th. Her big heart and willingness to help says OK. We'll still have a whole week at the house in Killeen for a vacation.

So yesterday we decided I would take her to work in Midland and drop her off before going back to the apartment in Monahans. There I would finish packing, load up the dogs, pick her back up after a few hours, and continue east towards Killeen. NOT SO FAST!! Just before I picked her up, her boss called to say they're sending her to Baltimore for two weeks to train some more directors there. Oh, and her flight leaves in a few hours! So back to Monahans, repack with scrubs for work, and back to the airport in Midland. I guess it's just me and the dogs for the next week.

Well on the remaining four hour drive to Killeen, I was feeling sad and depressed about our vacation vanishing. But then it hit me! I got a whole week! I'll stay the night in Killeen, but continue driving to Baltimore and surprise my Sweet Wife! I can get there and back in a week easy. So last night I called the hotel she was staying at to see if they allow small dogs but they said no. There was one nearby that did though. But I'll deal with that when I get there.

I also started looking at the route to get there and back. Can't do a road trip without getting a few Geocaches. Especially in the counties I still needed. So this morning I woke up early with excitement, grabbed the dogs, and out the door I went!

My first stop was Italy! Well Italy, TX that is. Nearly 2 hours and just over a hundred miles, I figured this virtual cache right off of I-35E would be a good place to walk the dogs too. Unique Italian Architecture (GCC25B) can be viewed from the Interstate while passing by, but then you can't see all the unique buildings. This is a warehouse made to look like a caterpillar, but the company makes dome shaped houses. There's a whole domed house neighborhood right here too. After a few pics and the dogs taking care of business, back on the road again!

Another two hours and another 120 miles later, I stopped for another quick cache (GC26HV9) right off the exit on I-30 in Sulphur Springs, Texas. This got me a new county, Hopkins County, and the dogs got to do their business as well.

Just 40 miles east on I-30 was Morris County and another quick highway exit cache (GC384YY).

My last Texas stop for today was just 24 miles later in Bowie County at the New Boston Cemetery (GC15NGJ). New Boston was established in 1877 as the result of the railroad being built just four miles to the north of Old Boston in 1876. Didn't spend a lot of time here. Gotta keep moving.

Welcome to Arkansas! Thirty miles later I pull into the Arkansas Welcome Center to grab a cache for Miller County (GC27RNF).

Ten miles later a quick exit park and grab cache (GC4KKN3) near a roadside memorial for three accident fatalities and one for Hempstead County.

Twenty-seven miles after that and I arrive in Nevada County, Arkansas for my next needed county. I chose this cache called The Battle of Gum Grove (GC18ZWR) because it was close to the exit and it had a Civil War history. Officially known as the Battle of Prairie D'Ane (French for Donkey Meadow), it was an open prairie 20 square miles surrounded by dense forest. Having taken place April 9-13, 1864, it was part of the Camden Expedition launched by Union Forces to drive the Confederates down into Texas, which it was unsuccessful in doing so. The cache was placed near an abandoned railroad overpass of I-30 which overlooked the battlefield prairie. Not really much to see related to the battle.

But what I did take a liking to and another reason why I like Geocaching, is finding the old abandoned railroad overpass. I took several different photos and I think I liked these two best and couldn't decide which one to share with you. So I decided to share them both.

OK, after the dogs and I have checked out the bridge enough, I load them back into the car and we hit the road again.

Compared to these previous short drives, this next one was a long 72 miles down the road. I arrived in Saline County in a town called Benton, Arkansas. The cache itself was fairly easy to find, but it was a Challenge Cache. A Challenge Cache is one that has requirements beyond finding it and signing the logsheet. This particular one is called "5 State in a Day Challenge" (GC5FB8A). I think you can guess as to the requirement needed. Well I met that requirement back nearly two years ago on another road trip: "870 Miles, 6 Geocaches, 5 States, 1 Day", when I found a cache in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida all in the same day.

Twenty miles up the road and I'm now in Pulaski County and Little Rock, Arkansas. There's several good Challenge Caches here that I qualify for, but being pressed for time I had to choose just one. I ended up picking the Arkansas Bakers Dozen Challenge cache (GC395QZ) because I also needed its Difficulty/Terrain rating. It had a D/T rating of 5/2.5 of which I used to have a blank space on my grid. To understand the Bakers Dozen requirements, click on the GC# link and there's a detailed breakdown on the requirements.

Another short 20 miles later and I arrive for a quick exit cache (GC7G6CG) in Lonoke County.

I drove another 50 miles before calling it a night and checking into a hotel in Brinkley, Arkansas. A total of 538 miles today with plenty more to go. My wife still has no clue I'm coming. When we talked on the phone a little while ago, I was somewhere down in South Texas geocaching and picking up the needed caches down there. Gonna be a big surprise in Baltimore! Be sure to check back in tomorrow for more...