2021-08-08: Road Trip from Texas to Colorado, Geocaching and Breaking Down Twice in Motorhome

Hello again everyone and welcome back to our AwayWeGo's Work Traveling and Geocaching Adventures Blog. Well it's road trip time! Our time in Texas was only a couple of weeks. Now I'm needed in Montana. WOHOO! It's been a long time since I was in Montana. So let's hook up the Jeep to the motorhome, hit the road, and see what we can discover.

So a couple days ago I was at work in Bonham, Texas. About noon on Thursday I received a phone call asking if I wanted to go on an adventure to Montana for a short task that should take only a week. WHY OF COURSE! Cool. So he'll let me know on Friday. About 10 AM on Friday he calls me back to say it's a go and can I be in Montana by Monday? I'll do my best. I tell my co-workers there in Bonham that I gotta go. By noon I'm hooked up to the motorhome and on the road.

About an hour or so into the drive westbound on US-82, I'm getting some noise on the back end of the motorhome. I turned on my emergency flashers, pulled over onto the shoulder and took a look. The rear airbags were deflated and the suspension was completely down causing some tire rub. Ughh!! Googled an RV shop who could take a look and the nearest was in Wichita Falls, TX. Not too far, but only able to go 20-30 mph, it was going to take a while.

The clock was ticking past and I was running out time to get there. I finally arrived but a mere 10 minutes too late. They were already closed. It was after 5 pm on a Friday. I guess I'll be sitting in their parking lot for the weekend until their mechanics return on Monday morning.

Saturday morning I started thinking about it and extended the rear jacks down to raise the rear of the motorhome. I slid underneath not really knowing what to look for. I took some photos of the air bags and suspension. There was a Freightliner shop about a block away that was open. I hopped into the Jeep to see if I can figure out a solution. Their shop was too busy to take in anything new but he looked at the pics and immediately saw the problem. The level adjustment rod was broken.

After a short discussion, I figured I could fix it myself. He sent me over to the parts department. The parts guy said there were two different ones. So I went back to the motorhome, removed the old one and brought it back. I bought the correct replacement and installed it. You can see from the combined photo below the broken part on the left and the new part on the right.

Living the RV life and traveling the country isn't always a dream vacation! However, we're back on the road headed north on US-287/385 into the Oklahoma panhandle and then Colorado.

I did get a call from the other surveyor I was to be meeting up with in Montana on Monday. He was leaving from a jobsite in Mohave, CA but got called back to the jobsite for another task before leaving. Then got sick and tested positive for Covid for the third time. Now he's in quarantine for two weeks. So we now have plenty of time to get there.

Since I have already completed my geocaching counties for Texas and Oklahoma, I didn't spend any time stopping for geocaches. We finished the day yesterday crossing into Colorado and parking for the night at an old truck stop in Springfield. Now that we're in Colorado with plenty of time to reach Montana, I can start picking up new counties for my geocaching map.

Today is Sunday and before hooking the GeoJeep back up to the motorhome, I drove over to the Springfield Cemetery to find a geocache for Baca County (GC1FBM8).

Driving north up the road into Prowers County, we made a roadside picnic area stop at Gobbler's Knob for an Earthcache (GC3HVX5) at these giant beehive looking rock formations. Unlike a traditional geocache, an earthcache doesn't have a container with a log sheet to sign. It's more of an educational geocache. You observe the geological area and have to answer some questions about it. Most are fairly easy but some are like taking a college course. I was never good in science and just answer as best I can.

Also in Powers County, we just had to make a slight detour for our next two geocaches (GC76E0, GC1Y6H5) at a historical site and a dark time in our nations history. After the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt ordered over 110,000 men, women, and children of Japanese descent to be rounded up and detained in what was basically a military style P.O.W. camp. Japanese-Americans, two-thirds of which were United States citizens, removed from their homes and incarcerated in these remote camps scattered throughout the country. Not a single one was ever convicted of espionage or sabotage.

From August 1942 to October 1945, more than 10,000 people passed through the gates, living behind barbed wire and under armed guard at the Granada Relocation Center, also known as Amache. At its peak, over 7,300 detainees from a variety of professional, vocational, and educational backgrounds now worked as farmers, staffing the camp hospital, and a limited amount of other tasks. All received a fraction of their former income. Some 2,000 children and teens attended camp schools. During its occupation, the Amache detention camp was the 10th largest community in Colorado.

The total land area of Camp Amache was 10,000 acres. Only 640 acres was used for residential, mess halls, and other buildings which you see in the map below. The rest was used for agricultural purposes, growing crops and food for the detainees and the military bases around the world. Camp Amache was the smallest of the ten total detention camps scattered around the United States.

During the three years in use, the War Relocation Authority recorded 107 deaths in the camp. Many of those who died were cremated and their ashes kept in urns by the family. Others were buried here. After the war and their release, all but nine of those buried were removed and reburied closer to home. Nearly one thousand young men and women who were initially detained here, went on to serve in the military during the war. Most were analysts and interpreters for Military Intelligence Service in the Pacific. The stone monument you see in the cemetery, erected in 1983, is to honor the 31 men who died in combat as well as those 107 who died at Camp Amache.

Camp Amache's residents, often referred to as internees and inmates, were under 24-hour guard by military police stationed in eight towers along the barbed wire fence. When authorities deemed that the detainees posed no threat, the guards were removed from the towers. Though they continued their post at the main entrance and patrolled the perimeter, watching over daily activities and religious ceremonies.

Averaging about 7,000 Japanese-Americans at any given time, living quarters were at bare minimum. The one-square mile residential area was comprised of 29 blocks, each containing up to 13 barracks buildings divided into 6 rooms each. A bare lightbulb, a closet with no door, coal-fired heater, unassembled canvas cots and rough wool blankets were the only furnishings that greeted internees. Imagine being taken from your own home without provocation, held prisoner without being charged with any crime, for three years, for no reason other than being of Japanese descent.

Families of seven or fewer were assigned to a single room measuring 20' x 24'. The end units, measuring 16' x 20', usually housed either 4 single men or two couples without children. For a semblance of privacy, they often hung a sheet if they had one. They found ways to personalize and improve their cramped and sparse living conditions. Homemade curtains provided minimal relief from the constant wind and pervasive dust, but none against the brutal winter cold or unbearable summer heat. Rarely discarded pieces of scrape wood would be made into a table, chair, or shelf.

Like I said in the beginning, it was a dark few years in our nations history when we could willing deny approximately 75,000 American citizens their Constitutional rights and imprison them without charge or due process. Today only the few marked graves, erected memorials, some original foundations, and reconstructed couple of buildings remain.

After an hour of driving around in this historic, yet somber 640 acres, it was time to get back on the road. There was no barbed wire fencing and no armed guards in the towers anymore. We had the freedom to drive away. But remember those who were unjustly held prisoner in this remote location in southeast Colorado.

Back in the motorhome and driving north on US-287, we make a geocaching stop for Kiowa County. In the small town of Eads was a community park with a big enough parking spot for the motorhome. After finding the nicely hidden and creative geocache (GC9C5DN), we check out the dozen historical information boards about life on the plains of eastern Colorado. Including this Kindred Spirits monument.

Continuing on into Cheyenne County, we pull into the little town of Kit Carson, Colorado. Just as we arrived, I noticed the temperature gauge climbing! I quickly pull over into this empty lot to check it out. Another freeze plug sprung a leak. Oh great. Small town with a population of 250 people. This isn't good.

Half a block away is a small rv park. I drove over and parked in the only spot available. While checking in a talking with the owner, he says there is a good mechanic in town that he will call in the morning. And if he's too busy, he'll call the mayor who used to be a diesel mechanic too. There's hope after all. Guess I'll find out tomorrow morning.

Well it's still early in the day. Since we're stuck here we might as well go exploring and geocaching.

We hop in the GeoJeep and continue down the road. First stop a few miles away was this very small Colorado ghost town called Wild Horse. Town history from one of the two geocaches here (GC6RWXV): "A small detachment of U.S. Cavalry was assigned to protect the surveyors as they laid out the grade stakes for a new railway line. Early one morning in 1869, as the cavalry rounded a bend in the Big Sandy about twelve miles west of Kit Carson, they saw a band of several hundred wild horses around a water hole. The water supply was good so the troops decided to establish an outpost camp and call it the Wild Horse Station. From 1869 until 1906 Wild Horse was just a station."

The school building which still stands in Wild Horse was built in 1912. Between 1921 and 1923 the Wild Horse School was a branch of Cheyenne County High School and conducted classes for freshmen and sophomores.

"The boom was on and from 1906 to 1909 other buildings included a two block lumberyard and office, drug store, two restaurants, two livery barns, three saloons (one only lasted a few weeks) a hardware store, pool hall, two cream stations, a barber shop, newspaper building (The Wild Horse Times), a shoe shop, another grocery store and dry goods store, a depot of sorts (two box cars joined together), a warehouse, a butcher shop and the Alfalfa Valley Bank. Local promoters proclaimed Wild Horse to be the "best little town in the world." Soon after 1909, after automobiles began to displace the horse, one livery barn became a garage. Wild Horse reached a peak about 1910-1911 at which time Charles Collins bought the controlling interest in the bank and moved it to Kit Carson."

Then a series of fires hit the town. The warehouse burned; it was not replaced. A restaurant burned and then the butcher shop. Then came the big fire in 1917 which destroyed almost entirely the east portion of town which was the business section. Someone started a fire in a wood stove in the cream station and some time after midnight, the stove toppled over and flames engulfed the town. Water was in short supply in those days and the bucket brigade was no match for the fire. The destruction was complete; the value of the loss was nearly total."

"It was the beginning of the end for Wild Horse. Part of the town was rebuilt but the Depression and the "dirty thirties" followed soon after and like so many other small towns, Wild Horse lost its young folks to greener pastures."

The McIntire Cemetery (GC1Y3ZB), also known as the Wild Horse Cemetery, is a very small cemetery. There are only 66 internments here, the oldest from 1884 and another in 1887 while just a Calvary camp station. The rest are after 1908 when the town started growing. John McIntire was a large ranch owner who immigrated from Ireland. John died in November of 1931 at the age of 83 and is buried here.

Out on the western edge of Cheyenne County is another ghost town and another geocache (GC20AJE). Joseph O. Dostal, a Bohemian immigrant and veteran of the Civil War, came to Colorado in 1866 and established the J.O.D. Ranch to the west of Kit Carson, CO. The J.O.D. headquarters was located and the town of Aroya established in 1869 as a camp for the railroad workers near the new Kansas-Pacific Railroad which built a watering hole there.

Most of the original townsite was lost due to a fire. The current location was three miles east and selected due to being closer to a better water source. The businesses which survived the fire moved their buildings to the new location. As the town continued to grow, the smaller school house at the old site was left behind and a larger school house was built at the new townsite. That school building is still standing to and pictured below.

Over the years since the state highway bypassed the town, its businesses closed, the buildings were torn down, and the people moved away. Only the schoolhouse, the old gas station, and the store building remain standing.

Crossing over into Lincoln County for two more geocaches, the first was a quick rest area stop (GC1FBCZ).

Then about a half-mile south of US-287/US-40 down a county dirt road, is what remains of the ghost town of Clifford, Colorado. The geocache (GC1Y3RG) brought me to this small area containing the graves of three children. It is believed that they were children of railroad workers. Two sisters (4 yr old and infant) from 1893 and another infant girl from 1907.

Doing my research for the blog, I couldn't much on Clifford's history. Perhaps it was settled because of a nearby stage station called Mirage, which there is no trace of left. And then because of the three graves, maybe it was a railroad camp. There is the old schoolhouse pictured below still standing. And a supposedly haunted Montgomery Ward catalog house remaining. A couple of foundations, but nothing else remains. However...

... there could be some buried treasure hidden in the area! I found another site that tells a story of notorious gang of robbers on a crime spree in 1847 back in Sacramento, California. They then decided to lay low and made their way to eastern Colorado. By 1862, the gang were living a quiet life as farmers and ranchers.

But they still had the itch and joined together for one more big score: $100,000 in gold in the form of an Army payroll headed for Denver. (That's about $3.1 Million in today's dollars!) Well I'm gonna sum it up and say "Big Shootout, only 2 of the gang survived and got away with the gold." But it was buried out on the plains near Clifford. One clue was found years later in 1931 and another was found in 1934. I implore you to take 2 minutes to read "The Missing Treasure of Clifford, Colorado" by James M Deem. It's worth it to read, as Paul Harvey puts it, the rest of the story!

My final stop was just up the road in Hugo, Colorado. There was this restored Union-Pacific Railroad passenger depot, now used for community functions.

Also in Hugo is this Union-Pacific Railroad Roundhouse (GC1YA9Q). This is one of only three roundhouse buildings still in existence. A roundhouse is basically a semi-circular maintenance building. A circular turntable was located at the center of the radius on the side of the building. As the locomotive moved onto the turntable, it could then be rotated and aligned to the track which allowed the train to move into and out of the stall to be worked on.

Typically after a railroad closes and sells off its facilities, the new owner will often remodel the structure for its own use. In this instance though the only thing that changed was the removal of the roundhouse turntable. Now in the hands of Lincoln County, the Hugo Roundhouse was restored by the county and Roundhouse Preservation Inc about ten years ago.

Well that ends a crazy day. A DIY suspension repair to start the day. Driving from Texas to Colorado while geocaching and sightseeing. Then having another freeze plug coolant leak on the motorhome in a very rural small town. Hopefully we'll be able to get it repaired in the morning. Stay tuned...

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: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Twitter, GETTR, Instagram, and TruthSocial. These all link directly to my profiles. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

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: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Parlor, Twitter, RVillage, GETTR and Instagram. These all link directly to my profile. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

2019-03-08: A Packed Geocaching Roadtrip Returning from Minnesota to Texas: Day 2 in MN, SD, NE, and KS

Hey everyone! I'm glad you made it back to check in on our progress. If you're just joining us, I had a fly in / fly out business trip and turned it into a week long geocaching roadtrip! I recruited my friend and fellow geocacher CuteLittleFuzzyMonkey (CLFM) to go along for the ride. He also did the cache planning and route navigating for the trip.

To catch up to where we are now:

Day 1: Texas to Minnesota in TX & OK

Day 2: Texas to Minnesota in OK, KS, & MO

Day 3: Texas to Minnesota in NE, IA, & MN

Day 1: Minnesota to Texas still in MN

So today we started out in Saint Cloud, Minnesota. Checking out of the hotel at sunrise, our first stop was the parking lot to grab a simple LPC (GC62YJN).

Driving southbound, we stopped in Willmar, MN for our next cache to claim a find in Kandiyohi County. It was the Point Lake Travel Bug Hotel geocache (GCXZ87). This was one cache that I'm glad we're here in the winter with sub-freezing temperatures. While the geocache was hidden among the trees on the bank of the lake, the lake itself was frozen over with ice and snow! Being a Floridian / Texan, this was finally an opportunity to "walk on water." We took turns walking out onto the frozen lake and taking a photo.

Next up was a quick park & grab geocache (GC7AEPM) in Clara City, MN to claim a find in Chippewa County.

Then there was the Tri-State tri-corner virtual geocache (GC8809). Even though this monument sits on the corner of Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa, technically the coordinates are in South Dakota. This was my second tri-state cache in already this year! This one was much colder. Stepping out from the warm GeoJeep, I didn't feel like putting my heavy jacket back on. There was also a traditional cache placed there as well (GC41H35). So it was a 2fer location!

Our next geocache and another virtual (GCFBF1) was along US-18 on the eastside of Canton, SD. There are three roadside historical markers concerning this area. The one the cache focuses on was about the Norwegian immigrants and skiing. Since I don't want to give away the answers, I'll tell you what one of the other historical markers says: The Hiawatha Asylum For Insane Indians.

"Receiving Congressional appropriations in 1899, the Hiawatha Asylum for Insane Indians was the second federal mental hospital and the first dedicated to American Indians. The first patient arrived in 1902, and through 1934, more than 370 patients –ages two to eighty, from fifty tribes nationwide – lived here. Patients did domestic and agricultural work onsite, were occasionally shown to paying visitors, and underwent treatment with methods later deemed outdated and dehumanizing. From 1929 to 1933, federal inspectors found intolerable conditions, inadequate staffing, several sane patients kept by force, and numerous other abuses. In 1933, John Collier, the newly appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs, ordered the asylum closed. G. J. Moen, with the Canton Chamber of Commerce, filed an injunction to keep the asylum open, but it was overturned in federal court. Many patients were discharged and those who still needed care were sent to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Washington, D.C. The major buildings used by the asylum have since been demolished. The Hiawatha Asylum cemetery, where at least 121 patients were buried in unmarked graves, is located between the 4th and 5th fairways of the Hiawatha Golf Club. In 1998, the cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Making our way down to Lincoln, Nebraska, our next two virtual geocaches (GCC963, GCB88C) were located at the Wyuka Cemetery. One cache was to recognize Albert Gordon MacRae (1921 – 1986) was an American actor, singer and radio / television host, who appeared in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma!

The other virtual was for an infamous 1950's serial killer. Inspiring the films "The Sadist" (1963), "Badlands" (1973), "Kalifornia" (1993), "Natural Born Killers" (1994), and "Starkweather" (2004). "A Case Study of Two Savages," a 1962 episode of the TV series Naked City, was also inspired by the Starkweather killings. More recently a "Criminal Minds" episode portrayed a newlywed killing spree very similar to the crimes of 19 year old Starkweather and his 14 year old girlfriend Fugate.

Also in Lincoln, NE was another virtual cache at the Lincoln Children's Zoo (GCGJQ1). The cache is highlights the Dakota Age Sandstone which is said to be 130 million years old.

South of Lincoln out in very rural Odell, NE is our next virtual geocache called "Oketo Cut Off" (GC8CCE). I'll give you much of the description from the historical marker without giving away the answers for the cache. During the 1860's, stagecoaches passed near here along the Oketo Cutoff. The cutoff diverged from the Ft Leavenworth to Ft Kearney Military Road northeast of Marysville, Kansas angled northwest to cross the Big Blue River near Oketo, KS and passed through the Otoe Indian Reservation just south of Odell. The cutoff rejoined the main trail between Steele City and Dillar, NE.

The stagecoach company owner, who had the government contract to carry mail and passengers from the Missouri River to California, ordered the cutoff laid out producing a shorter, better road and bypassing Marysville after the town refused to improve the Military Road. Although his coaches used the Oketo cutoff, freighters and other travelers continued to follow the Military Road which had been popular since the 1840's. After only a few months he abandoned the cutoff.

This metal sculpture was there along with the historical marker to recognize this historical trail. Kinda hard to see as it was already dark by the time we arrived.

Well it's late and it's dark out. However even if we wanted to call it a day and stop geocaching, we're out in the middle of nowhere and there's no hotel to be found anyway! So we keep going and have now dropped down into Kansas.

Just north of Concordia, KS, is our next target at the "Kansas POW Camp" virtual cache (GC4CAF). During World War II, 300,000 German Prisoners of War were interred in the United States. Three larger camps were located in Kansas, near Salina (Camp Phillips), at Fort Riley, and just outside Concordia, Kansas. Construction of Camp Concordia began in February, 1943 and the POW camp was turned over to the US Army on May 1, 1943. At its peak Camp Concordia had 4,027 Prisoners, over 800 soldiers and 179 civilian Employees.

Camp Concordia had 304 buildings including a 177 bed hospital, fire department, warehouses, cold storage, and officers club, and barracks, mess halls & administrative buildings for both the German POWs and American soldiers. All of the prisoners at Camp Concordia were members of the German Army. Most were captured in Africa, and the first POWs came from Rommel's Afrika Korps. Only the enlisted POWs worked, most of them on farms, but some worked on the railroad or in the ice plant.

Camp Concordia officially closed on November 8, 1945. Many of the buildings were torn down and others were moved. Some are still serving as homes in Concordia. The only structures remaining at the original location are Guard Post 20, a ware house, some stone walls, the officers club, a few foundations, and the tower which once supported a 100,000 gallon water tank. A two story stone guard tower has been reconstructed and pictured below.

There was one more virtual geocache we got that night before calling it quits. It was for the "Boston Corbett Dugout" (GCFF36). Along this rural Kansas road you will find a small monument which has been erected as a historical marker near the location of a Dugout once owned by Boston Corbett. Boston Corbett was an Army Sergeant who was with a detachment of soldiers searching for John Wilkes Booth. When they caught up with Booth, Corbett was credited and later discharged from the Army for the shot that killed Booth. It seems that Corbett made a spectacular shot through a crack in some barn siding, however Corbett was discharged for failing to follow orders in the shooting.

After being discharged, Corbett homesteaded in Kansas and made this dugout his home for awhile. The eccentric man had a run in with the local sheriff (after showing some local children the business end of his pistol) and through some sympathetic friends he landed a job at the state capital. After an incident where he displayed his 38 at the capital he was sent to the state insane asylum, which he quickly escaped from. He made his way to a friends house and was last seen jumping a train. There is no record of what happened to him after that.

Now getting to and from this last geocache was an adventure of its own! This rural Kansas farmland dirt road was now slushy mud with the melting snow. We were in 4x4 mode for several miles slipping and sliding. It was pitch black with no lights anywhere in site on the horizon. We had limited cell phone service and running low on gas. All we could see was the path before us from the headlights. I was doing my best to stay down the center of the road cause I wasn't sure if under the clean snow on the sides was a ditch. I knew that for the most part, my tires were spinning faster than we were moving! Traction was coming and going at best. I just knew that as long as I was moving forward, I did NOT want to ease off the gas.

After about 20-30 minutes at a slow pace, we finally made it out to a paved road. Now we can finally stop worrying about get stranded out in the middle of nowhere! We made our way to US-24 and followed it to Clay Center, KS. There we finally found a gas station and was able to take a look at the Jeep. I thought it would be covered in mud more than it was. I guess being the wet slushed snow blew off the last 15 or miles.

Still no hotel worth staying at, we continued east over to Manhattan, Kansas. There we were able to find a decent place to finally call it a day about 11 PM, a LONGGGGGG DAY!

Come back tomorrow and see how far we get. Do we make it back home to Texas or not? What other sights to we bring to you? You'll just have to wait and see.

There are new ways to follow me. Follow the blog directly by using buttons on the right of your computer screen. Or through various social media platforms:  Facebook, MeWe, Parler, Gab, Twitter, Instagram, MAGAbook, and Reddit. Follow us on any or all of these platforms and whichever you choose, please leave your comments. We'd love to hear from you and it encourages us to continue sharing our adventures.

2016-03-06: Geocaching Through a Few Cemeteries and a POW Chapel

Today was a day to go Geocaching and to finish up some of the caches we had planned for yesterday but ran out of time. Candy was also sick with the cold, but didn't want to sit around the apartment. So we got a late start and will try to get as many as we can.

One of the unknown graves.

Our first stop was at Springlake Cemetery (GCMV7E), the only remains of the Springlake ghost town. Well maybe not a ghost town per say. The whole town just moved. This burial ground served the original residents of the Springlake community. The area was opened for settlement in 1908 by the George C. Wright Land Company. It was named for the nearby Springlake Ranch. D.B. Shiflet donated the first two acres for the cemetery. The first burial took place in 1909. Of the 356 known graves, five are unmarked. The community of Springlake was relocated in 1935, 4.75 miles southeast. The town once had a hotel, supply store, school and post office. But only the cemetery remains at the original site. As for the cache, well it must have relocated also. It hasn't been found in almost two years.

A few caches later and we arrived at the next Geocache of interest (GC38T16). The old Waggners Grocery Store located on US-385. Located just south of Dimmitt, TX, I could not find any history of the grocery store or when it closed down. But this is what remains today. 

A few miles up the road is this long and almost forgotten Flagg Cemetery (GC4XKVM). I couldn't find any other history on this cemetery other than what's on the monument. Used between 1920-30 and the cache page states that a local farmer mows it every once in a while. Most of the graves are marked with just a cross without any name. There's only two headstones with names and dates.

Several more caches later and we made it up to Hereford, TX. There was the location of our next historically significant cache (GC1GNK4). According to the Texas State Historical Association's Handbook of Texas Online, during World War II, Hereford became the site of a prisoner of war camp named the Hereford Internment Area or Camp Hereford. Covering a section of land, the camp was constructed in July 1942 at a cost of two million dollars. Italian prisoners occupied the site from April 1943 to January 1946. The first American Military Police unit arrived in 1943. Italian captives arrived in April of that same year. The prisoners were brought to Hereford by train and marched the approximately 4 miles to the camp. The first prisoners were escorted by guards who had no ammunition since it had not arrived yet. By September of 1943, the camp contained 5,000 prisoners. The openness of the flat high plains of Texas served as a deterrent to escape since escapees would be easily spotted. However, one escapee named Luigi Montalbetti traveled 300 miles toward Mexico before he was recaptured by the Texas Border Patrol.

The maximum-security policy was soon replaced by a policy of maximum utilization, and enlisted men were hired out to work on local farms at a rate of ten cents an hour. The officers, however, were incarcerated in separate compounds and not required to work. The mutual regard that developed between the prisoners and their captors was shown at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Umbarger Texas. There, seven Italian officers and two enlisted men made wood carvings, painted murals, and installed stained-glass windows, donating their labors in the spirit of Christian brotherhood. Parishioners reciprocated by providing them with bountiful meals. Each night the Italians smuggled the surplus back into the officers' compound, which was under a retaliatory starvation order from April through December 1945.

In late summer 1945, as the Nons (non-collaborators) recognized that the war was wrapping up and they would soon be leaving, they began to think of the five prisoners who had died while at Camp Hereford. What would become of these men after the war? They almost certainly would be forgotten in the otherwise unmarked area east of the camp designated as the cemetery. They concluded that a memorial was needed, both to mark the gravesites and to serve as remembrance of their deceased friends. Using scavenged bricks, broken glass, surplus materials, and a few purchased supplies, they built a small chapel in just a couple of weeks, complete with an altar, double French doors, stained-glass windows, and a marble-like concrete surface. They dedicated it with a plaque honoring the five men. The men were eventually re-interred at Fort Reno, OK. in 1947.

Rapid repatriation began with the end of the war, and in January 1946 the last 4,000 prisoners boarded special troop trains for their return to Italy. The camp was placed on the surplus list on February 1, 1946. All that remains today is a water tower, swimming pool and the memorial chapel constructed by the POWs. A 13-by-13-foot plaster-over-brick chapel, now vandalized, memorializes the five POWs who died in the camp.

After nine Geocaching finds and two DNF's, we headed back to Lubbock. Probably the best stop today was the POW chapel. If you like to travel and learn about history, Geocaching is definitely the game to play. Where do we go to next?