2019-07-14: Geocaching Through Texas Ghost Towns, Cemeteries, Abandoned Places and a Train Depot

Welcome back to another episode of my Sunday 300+ mile drive from Central to North Texas while Geocaching through ghost towns, cemeteries, abandoned places, and history. Oh, and a great "Santa Claus Bank Robbery" story too! The passenger seat of the GeoJeep is open so climb aboard and let's go for a backroads roadtrip!

My first stop was just down the road and a quick park and grab cache (GC288JF). Then another quick stop in the old downtown of Lampasas (GC23Z9K). Good thing it's a Sunday morning cause this one is probably harder during the week with activity of muggles around and about. Driving north on US-183, I stopped for two geocaches at the Goldthwaite City Park (GC7VARK, GCTPY1).

Next up was the ghost town of Democrat Community (GC333E9). From the historical marker: "Although settlement of this area dates to 1878, this graveyard was not established until the turn of the 20th century. The earliest documented grave is that of one-year-old Lee Ella Deen, daughter of W. F. and M. L. Deen, who died in November 1904. In February 1905, J. L. Chancellor deeded the surrounding three acres of land to the citizens of the Democrat and Rock Springs communities for use as a public burial ground. Among the early graves in the cemetery are those of a number of infants and children, victims of the influenza epidemic that raged worldwide in the early 20th century, and veterans of the Civil War, World War I and World War II. A reflection of area history, the cemetery remained in use at the turn of the 21st century."

The church across the road from the cemetery is used as a community center now by the few remaining residents of the Democrat and the Rock Springs Communities.

Driving further up into the town of Comanche, I arrived for my next geocache at the old train depot (GC6H0EC). Comanche was established in 1858, when Captain John Duncan offered the county 240 acres on Indian Creek as a site for a county seat. The commissioners' court accepted the donation, and Ransom Tuggle was authorized to lay out the townsite. T. J. Nabors built the first house. The new town replaced Cora as county seat in May 1859. The first courthouse was a "picket house"—a structure of logs cut and split on the ground, set vertically in a ditch, and covered with boards also made on the ground. The post office was established in 1860 and a newspaper, the Comanche Chief, began publication in 1873. The town, a supply base for Texas ranches during its early history, was incorporated in 1873.

By 1892 Comanche had 2,500 residents, the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway, a daily stage, and numerous businesses. By 1915 the population was 4,500, and the town was a flourishing farm-market center and transportation center. Over the years the population would fluctuate down to as few as 3,415 and back up to nearly 4,500 again.

This geocache was a 2-stage multi-cache. I obtained clues at the train depot to figure out the final coordinates of the cache container which was located at the town's Oakwood Cemetery. When Captain John Duncan this land to establish the county seat, he specified sufficient portions be set aside for a graveyard, churches, and schools. A cemetery of about 6.5 acres was established and named Oakwood for the impressive oak trees growing on the site. The earliest marked grave is that of one-year-old John Neely, who died in January 1861.

The one grave that caught my eye was of M.R. (Boss) Greene (10-14-1843 to 5-12-1877). He was a Deputy U.S. Marshall who pursued  Dee and James Bailey for passing counterfeit quarters in Comanche. After a 10-mile chase, he captured and disarmed the brothers. Catching Greene off guard because of an unruly horse, one prisoner took Greene's rifle and shot him. He returned fire with his hand gun but was fatally wounded in the exchange. The prisoners escaped only to be recaptured and hanged on a live oak tree here in the cemetery where Greene is buried.

The next geocache was at the Amity Cemetery (GC2YQ7R). From the historical marker here: When 14-year-old Charles Farley died in Feb. 1878, his parents buried him near their farmhouse, as this frontier locality had no cemetery at the time. Three months later Fannie Nichols (1875-78) died and was buried nearby. The Farleys then donated an acre of land as a community graveyard. The neighbors built an adjacent brush arbor for funerals and general gatherings. In the summer of 1878, Baptists organized a church, naming it Amity (friendship). Before erecting their own buildings, Baptists and Methodists held services in the brush arbor or at Amity School (1 mi. NW).

William H. Lindley (1840-1913) bought land south of the Farley Farm in 1885. When new surveys placed the cemetery on his land, Lindley deeded the burial ground to the public. Later his son-in-law, George Brown, gave an additional acre to be used if needed. A large tabernacle with permanent fixtures replaced the brush arbor and was used for funerals until 1938 or 1939, when it was severely damaged by a storm. Free-will donations have maintained the cemetery since 1951. A "First Sunday in June Singing" which Amity Baptist Church originated in 1897 now serves as an annual memorial day and homecoming. By 1978 Amity Cemetery has nearly 400 graves.

On the way to my next stop, and one of the things I like about driving the backroads, was this unexpected picturesque scene of the giant hay wheels sitting on this green pasture. Contrast with the blue sky and white clouds I just had to stop and capture the photo.

Up US-183 north of Rising Star, Texas was this abandoned building. I couldn't find out anything about it and couldn't decipher the name on the front. I also couldn't find the geocache on the side by the tree either (GC5M0MG). Looks like it may have been a store or gas station. Someone even suggested it looks like it could have been a post office. Got a lot of stuff stored inside now.

Also nearby is the Romney Lutheran Cemetery geocache (GC1HMM2). It's a small rural cemetery with less than 100 interments. The earliest known marker dates back to 1901. The town of Romney was established in 1880 when former West Virginian J.W. White arrived and named the community after his former hometown. The community was granted a post office in the early 1890s which remained open through 1931. Romney had always been an agricultural community, primarily cotton. At the turn of the 20th Century, it had most essential businesses as well as a school. A boll weevil infestation in 1914 curtailed growth although it limped along into the 1960s when it still had a gas station and two stores. The 1940 population was given as 40 residents. A slow decline drove this number down to a mere 12 by the 1980 census - where it has remained.

To the east of Romney was the Long Branch Church and Cemetery geocache (GC1KEEB). Formerly organized on July 16, 1885, the Long Branch Baptist Church held its first worship services in an old schoolhouse on land donated by R. B. Covington. The thirteen charter members were served by W. B. Cobb, the church's first minister, until August 1886. Missionary pastors continued to hold monthly services over the years. The congregation, which built its first sanctuary on this site in 1905-06, has provided significant service to the Long Branch Community and the surrounding area throughout its history. The cemetery has nearly 700 interments dating back to 1882.

Then there was also the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church and Cemetery (GC7G2XZ) near the town of Carbon. The few original charter members met in the old Pleasant Hill Schoolhouse in 1892 and organized the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. Although the first church structure, built in 1905, was destroyed by fire later that year, another was erected in 1906. A new structure was also built in 1945. Several pastors of this church have also held eminent positions at institutions of higher learning in the area. This congregation has remained active in community and mission programs. The cemetery has just over 300 interments and dates back to 1904.

Heading back towards US-183, near the intersection is a TXDOT sign which displays the distance back to the town of Carbon. There's also a geocache near the sign (GC12CTF). I'm glad someone at TXDOT has a sense of humor for the properly distanced placement as well as the geocacher picking this spot to hide a cache. Now I'm thirsting for a carbonated beverage!

My second to last stop of the day was another cemetery geocache in Cisco at the Oakland Cemetery (GC3M5V5). With over 7500 interments located in this cemetery dating back to the 1870's. There are two that I want to bring to your attention: Sheriff George Emory "Bit" Bedford and Deputy George W. Carmichael. They were mortally wounded during what was called the "Santa Claus Bank Robbery" of 1927. Around noon on December 23, 1927, four men dressed up at Santa and attempted to rob the First National Bank of Cisco, Texas. At the time it was one of Texas' most infamous crimes and led to the largest manhunt in state history.

Because of the numerous bank robberies that took place in the recent months, the Texas Bankers Association announced a $5,000 reward for anyone shooting a bank robber during the crime. So when a bystander managed to escape early during the robbery and shouted out into the streets to get the attention of law enforcement, that also attracted anyone and everyone with a gun to assist in taking down one of the four Santa's. There is more to this story, though a quick read, and I encourage you to click the link in the previous paragraph and read the entire account at the Texas State Historical website. You'll be glad that you did!

Continuing north a couple miles out of Cisco, I spotted a cemetery sign and had to investigate further. This small unkept cemetery was called Reagan Cemetery and according to the FindAGrave website contains 14 burials. Though I don't know why it called Reagan as there are no Reagans' buried here. Nor could I find any information about a town or community in the area called Reagan. The oldest is dated 1879. There wasn't a geocache here, so I hid one myself (GC8BNM4) to bring others to this forgotten cemetery.

So that was it for stopping. It was already after 5PM and I still had 100 miles of driving to go. Along with getting a bite to eat, going to the grocery store so I have lunch for work tomorrow, etc etc. Thanks for riding along and I hope you come back again for another geocaching adventure.

2017-02-26: FINALLY Geocaching Again Grabbing Some Caches in Hobbs, NM

WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK!!! That necessary evil keeps getting in the way of our fun hobby! For the past 2 months or more, I've had to work 6 days a week. Including drive time that's 70+ hours a week! That doesn't leave much time for Geocaching and sight seeing!

Browsing through the cache listings for events and other recent hides, I discovered a yet un-found cache up in Hobbs, NM that has been there a week. Knowing that it is difficult to get motivated in the morning when you only have one day to sleep in, I contacted a co-worker (Noerjr) to see if he wanted to go caching too. He agreed and now we have no excuses but to get going out the door.

Looking up other caches of interest in Hobbs and along the way there, I discovered another yet un-found cache between Seminole and Hobbs along US-62.

So we drove over to Odessa and met up with Noerjr at Starbucks. After grabbing a couple coffee's, we drove off heading up US-385. An hour later we were on US-62 westbound approaching the roadside picnic area and rest stop. Quickly finding the cache (GC70TG1) and the nice clean log sheet! WOHOO a FTF!! (First to Find)

Our next stop was at the Gateway Arch New Mexico Style (GC3A6RN)! Another quick roadside park and grab, but also a photo opp for the Welcome to New Mexico sign.

Then a couple miles later, we entered the town of Hobbs, NM. You know I think New Mexico must be called the "Big Sign" state! As we entered Hobbs, we were also greeted with another big sign. Here we found two caches "Flea Bag Inn" (GC48M83), a travel bug hotel cache, and the "Old Wood Windmill" cache (GC42QJ2). This also gave me the opportunity to finally drop off a Travel Bug which I've been holding since last November. I feel guilty for hanging on to it for so long, but haven't had the chance to place it in a cache.

Our next stop was for the newly placed "Gold Junction" cache (GC70VYV). A nicely hidden cache for another new cacher in the Hobbs area. I'm sometimes a little hesitant looking for a new cache placed by a cacher with few finds. (only 17 for this one) Sometimes the coordinates may be WAAAYYY off or the container not even there! But this one was a good hide. Well done Boogieman77!

Then up the road to a 6-stage Multi-Cache (GC1X8ZF) at the cemetery. This one was a lot of fun. Started at the front, then to the back, up near the front, you get the idea! Criss-crossing back and forth across the cemetery looking at graves to get hints to the next set of coords. Rated a difficulty of 5, but a fun cache.

Next was another Multi-Cache called "Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?" (GC3QKHK). Although the 10' chicken statue was no longer there, we did manage to find the egg at the end.

After some fun, it was time for some history. The next cache was called "Ye Old Slammer" (GC1WWNC). This was the Old City Jail from the 1930's. Couldn't see much as it was all boarded up. Too bad. They should make this into a museum or something.

One more cache in town before heading back and we made it a virtual cache (GC3DAE). Located at the old oil well from the 1920's celebrating SW New Mexico and the Permian Basin economy. There's also another historic feature here, but I can't say because that would give away the answer required to claim a find. And that would be cheating! HAHA!

Two more quick roadside park and grab caches on the way back to Odessa (GC24RE6, GC1YEFJ) and that was it for the day. It wasn't a big day for caching with a lot of sites, but it was a much needed break from WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK!! And had a great time with Noerjr who previously only had 1 find and ends his second caching day with 12! Way to go!!

Hopefully soon I'll be back to a 5-day work week and we'll be caching on a regular basis again! Until next time...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2016-08-21: Standing on the corner of Texas and New Mexico

Welcome back! Today we headed north up into New Mexico for a couple more First-to-Finds (FTF's) and a few other Geocaches along the way.

Our first stop was a little town about 20 miles north in Wink, Texas. Known for being the hometown of Roy Orbison from the age of 10. He started his first band while attending high school here. There was a historical marker there at an empty lot which we assumed the house once stood.

After reading the sign we drove to the nearby community park and our first cache (GC6QCTC). Another new Geocache placed by MedicoJoe and another FTF for us. This was a nice park and we walked the entire perimeter to take pictures of the Looney Tunes character statues on display. 

Our next stop was just on the outskirts of Wink. There along the roadside sits a historical marker for the Old Wink Cemetery (GC6QK7Z). The exact locations of the individual graves are not known. The Old Wink Cemetery is the burial site of 26 persons who died during the early days of the oil boom, 1926-1929. Shifting sands over the years have erased all vestige of the graves. According to the old timers in Wink, the cemetery is located in the Monument Draw. Although it is dry now, during the 1950s - 60s it was flooded with oil field runoff water and the area was under water for over 10 years. Several of the Wink residents remember fishing and hunting here. There are no current signs of the cemetery today. It is part of a local ranch.

As for the Geocache, we searched for about 15-20 minutes but came up empty. We found the rocks from the hint given, but no cache container. I believe it was too close to the historical marker and muggled by someone stopping to read the sign. (As a side note, we did find the cache two days later after the MedicoJoe replaced and moved further away from the sign. Another FTF!)

Continuing north for a few more miles, we reached the state line between Texas and New Mexico and our next cache (GC6QK3N). Another new cache placed by MedicoJoe and another FTF!

The next town was called Jal, NM and our next cache was at the Jal Cemetery (GC6QK3B). In the 1880s, several brothers brought a herd of cattle to Monument Draw, six miles southeast of the present city. The cattle were branded with the initials of the previous owner (John A.Lynch) and the cattle soon came to be called the JAL Cattle. The men who worked the herd referred to them as the Jal cowboys. In time the name became synonymous with the settlement itself. Though after finding the Geocache, a quick walk around the cemetery and we didn't notice any old graves so we didn't take any pictures. But we did get another FTF!

Closer into the center of town was a community park and another FTF (GC6QK43).

Driving SW on Hwy 205 a few miles to a town called Bennett, NM was our next Geocache (GC2H0NE). This next cache was a piece of history which goes to show how government usually makes matters worse and not better:

Here are the ruins of a whole way of life, apparently gone forever. This “camp” was started in the middle 1930’s when the natural gas boom sprouted out of the oil boom. In the 1940’s the pipeline system was finally becoming part of the infrastructure we know today, but even then you could drive from Jal to Odessa and beyond at night just by the light of the flares that were burning off the natural gas so they could pump the oil. Then the natural gas became valuable and furnaces, stoves and even “ice boxes” (refrigerators to you newbies) were powered by natural gas. 

El Paso Natural Gas Company Jal #1 plant was built to collect, treat, and pump natural gas all the way to California. To support the plant, houses were built for the employees and their families. An instant middle class was formed by the camps that sprouted all over the oil fields. Other companies like Phillips, Shell, and Texas-New Mexico quickly joined suit. Jal, New Mexico was then advertised as the “Gas Capitol of the World”. More natural gas flowed through these companies’ pipelines here than anywhere else in the world.

The plants were unique communities. Every employee had a house as a benefit of employment. Every house had indoor plumbing, free water, free electricity, free garbage collection, and of course, free natural gas! It was a Company Camp. The plants had to make their own electricity to run, and the camps benefited. The plants had to obtain their own water and the camps benefited. The houses were built and owned by the companies because the plants ran 24/7 and the workers were conveniently nearby working shifts. The kids that grew up in the camps virtually lived in a large family setting. Everybody knew everybody and lived in a homogeneous mix of mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters where we learned to get along. We still get along and call ourselves Camp Brats. 

Jal became sort of a Company Town, with many plants surrounding it and the Main Offices located there. The Company built a golf course. The Company built the Clinic and hired/attracted a doctor to come to Jal. Company ball teams were formed. 

The tax structure of the State, at the time, benefited Jal, New Mexico. The oil and gas royalties off the School Lands in the area went directly to the local schools. Jal had a great school and great teachers! Virtually every Camp Brat had at least an opportunity to go to a college or university, and most of us did. Life was good, life was great! What could go wrong? 

The “Government” is what went wrong. Local, State and Federal government intervention went wrong. Free houses? Can’t have that, there aren’t any taxes paid. Free water? Can’t have that, there aren’t any taxes paid and it is just not fair to everybody else, so they said. Same for the electricity, the utility companies just weren’t getting their cut. State school land taxes were shifted to the general fund and Jal lost most of its school funding to the northern population centers of the state. 

By the 1970’s our way of life was falling apart. By the 1980’s the camps were being broken up and the houses torn down and/or moved away, lock, stock and barrel. What you see left here 20 to 30 years later is government’s handiwork.

Continuing north again going through town we came to our next Geocache which was a multi-cache (GCJ77H). It also brought us to this huge work of art. "The Trail Ahead" was sculpted by local artist Brian Norwood and dedicated in September of 2000. The statues consists of seventeen metal silhouettes stretching for approximately 400 feet. The largest measures over twenty feet tall! They honor the ranching heritage of Jal, New Mexico.

Circling back around towards the south and back towards home, we come to our next cache (GC2AB0) and the corner of New Mexico and Texas. The COMPROMISE OF 1850. The results of the Mexican War (1846–48) brought Texas into serious conflict with the national government over the state's claim to a large portion of New Mexico. The claim was based on efforts by the Republic of Texas, beginning in 1836, to expand far beyond the traditional boundaries of Spanish and Mexican Texas to encompass all of the land extending the entire length of the Rio Grande. Efforts to occupy the New Mexican portion of this territory during the years of the republic came to naught.

After numerous unsuccessful attempts to resolve the issue, Senator James A. Pierce of Maryland introduced a bill that offered Texas $10 million in exchange for ceding to the national government all land north and west of a boundary beginning at the 100th meridian where it intersects the parallel of 36°30', then running west along that parallel to the 103d meridian, south to the 32d parallel, and from that point west to the Rio Grande. The bill had the support of the Texas delegation and of moderate leaders in both the North and South. Holders of bonds representing the debt of the Republic of Texas lobbied hard for the bill, for it specified that part of the financial settlement be used to pay those obligations. The measure passed both houses of Congress in the late summer of 1850 and was signed by President Fillmore.

This square marks the corner that divides the two states. While I'm standing on the New Mexico side, Candy is standing in nearby Texas! Maybe not as cool as Four Corners, but still cool.

Our last Geocache of the day (GC69XEN) was at the Sand Hills. Mapped by U. S. Government, 1849, for gold seekers and settlers. Known earlier to Indians and many Spanish explorers. A 100-mile belt of sand in Winkler and 4 other Texas counties and in New Mexico. Width varies from 3 to 20 miles; outer dunes are held by dwarf oaks. Water at 2' depth supports willows, cottonwoods, and a plum thicket. (The plums gave food to early settlers.) Many dunes more than 70' high. Heavy, shifting sands a natural barrier to travel. Campsite and game reservation for Indians. Now part of expansive cattle ranges and rich oil fields. Being from Florida when we saw this much sand it usually had a large body of water on the other side.

So that was today's Geocaching Adventure. We hope you've enjoyed it and maybe learned something new. Perhaps it has also inspired you to get out and explore the area around you.

2016-08-13: A Walk in the Park and Some Geocaching FTF's!

Mission GC Souvenir

Today was a short day in comparison to our other Geocaching Adventures. We only had one goal in mind for today. We had to find a Multi-Cache in order to receive a Souvenir in the Mission GC task. A Multi-Cache is a traditional Geocache that has more than one stage. Typically went you arrive at the posted coordinates you'd find clues that would give you the coordinates to the next stage until you find the final cache container. So I looked up the nearest Multi-Cache that we have not yet found which was over in Odessa and we set out to find it.

So as we were getting ready to leave Monahans this morning, we get an email notification from Geocaching that a new geocache was published 21 miles to the north of us in Kermit, TX. A detour was made heading north to Kermit to try and get First-To-Find (FTF) on the new cache.

We arrived in Kermit to the "downtown" area and the former Bud's TV shop. According to the cache page description, Bud's TV used to be a video rental store as well as selling TV's, VCR's, and the hot new DVD players back in the day. We looked around for about 15-20 minutes before finally giving up. I don't like DNF's on a cache, especially on a FTF.

So we leave empty handed and drive east towards Odessa. Our first stop in Odessa was the Starbucks of course! Then over to Memorial Park and the Buffalo Wallow Multi-Cache (GC4CQA1). A buffalo wallow or bison wallow is a natural topographical depression in the flat prairie land that holds rain water and runoff. Originally this would have served as a temporary watering hole for wildlife, including the American bison. This particular wallow grew rather large due to the number of bison in the area. Plus with the construction of Odessa and this becoming the water runoff location, it's now a scenic lake. There's also numerous statues around the lake which made for a nice walk on a beautiful day! We saw lots of ducks and turtles too. Plus finding two other traditional caches around the lake was a bonus. (GC2MW9G, GC4DBMC)

As we were leaving Odessa and headed back to Monahans, the phone beeped again and three more new caches were published back in Kermit! So we took the long way home again. The first cache we came to was called Barry's Lease (GC6Q514). It was another new cache published by a new Geocacher "MedicoJoe." We searched for a few minutes and was coming up empty. So I began expanding the search area. I finally found it about 140' away! I also found a nice clean logsheet where we signed the top for a FTF! WOHOO!!

At that time we see an ambulance pull up and the CO steps out of the vehicle. We had a good chat and he explained that he realized the coordinates were off and he was getting a more accurate reading. He also said he corrected the coordinates for the Bud's TV cache also.

We made two more stops and two more FTF's at GC6Q4W6 and GC6Q51D before heading back over to Bud's TV for another look. With the updated coordinates, we found the cache quickly for a total of FOUR FTF's on the day! Thanks MedicoJoe for placing these new caches.

That's it for today. Like I said, not a big adventure for today but a beautiful walk in the park with a beautiful girl and some FTF's. See ya next time.

2015-08-29: Conquering the Urban Jungle Fear Factor with Friends

This weekend was another big adventure day with the Geocaching gang. Our challenge for today was to conquer the Urban Jungle/Fear Factor, a D5/T5 rated cache right in the heart of the city of Ocala.

Because it was a 2 hour drive from home, Candy and I decided to drive up yesterday and do some local Geocaching. Then stay the night so we wouldn't have to wake up so early. We picked up 28 caches yesterday with the Southern Fried power run series along with a couple of others mixed in.

Then this morning we met up with fellow cachers: clark boys, Daykinator, FL-Geo-Trekker, saylorboys+mom, TeamFelixG, and TeamReedica. The rendezvous point was in an office parking lot, the coordinates for Stage 1 of a 7 Stage adventure. The best way I can describe the Urban Jungle/Fear Factor cache is like walking down into a long neglected football stadium, overgrown with oak trees, palms, ferns, and other plant life. Mix in some rocks, holes, and a cave and place it behind a WalMart and you have the Urban Jungle.

Some background story from the cache owner was that this was once a quarry long ago. After the miners closed shop and left, the city eventually took it over and made it into a park with picnic tables, nature trails, etc. Then that went unfunded, neglected, and overgrown. Homeless people come and go. And at one point a troubled high school boy was kicked out of his home and he slept in the cave while going to school. All I know is that once you hike down into it, you completely forget you are behind a WalMart or anywhere near civilization!

OK, back to caching... I think the entire place was only 400' or so across, so finding 7 stages to a multi-puzzle cache it seemed as though we did a lot of criss-crossing back and forth. I don't believe the terrain was all that challenging, especially after the bushwhacking hike of a couple weeks ago. Although there was a tree climb involved at one stage and a rock slide climb at the final. The difficulty of the hunt was actually finding the caches as they were hidden very well.

The old steps from when this was a park

This stage near the cave and the final were probably the hardest to find!

After 20 minutes of looking for the final stage, our mission was accomplished. We overcame and conquered the Urban Jungle, and our Fear was NOT a Factor! It was another great adventure and just one more reason we like Geocaching! Because those hundreds or thousands of muggles (non-cachers) who may shop at the Wally World to the north, they never know this place even exists. Now, where to next?

(Thanks to TeamReedica for taking the photos.

I hope you don't mind me using them because I forgot to take some.)