2015-06-26: Road Trip Day #7 Geocaching Kentucky and Tennessee

Hello again. We started out in Bowling Green, KY this morning and a few local Geocaches planned locally before hitting the road again. First up on the list was a web-cam cache at Western Kentucky University. These used to be a LOT harder to get because you had to have to coordinate your visit with somebody near a computer to take a screen shot while you're standing in view. Now with smartphones, you can do it yourself.

It was summertime and this was the only student we saw on campus.

There was another virtual on campus at a memorial plaque talking about the occupation of Bowling Green of the Confederate Army before leaving Kentucky. A few blocks away was the next earthcache at the Historic Railpark and Train Museum, formerly the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Depot. Built in 1925 replacing an older facility, the depot was made from local limestone.

One last historic virtual cache before leaving Bowling Green was the Riverview House at Hobson Grove Park. Construction began on this house in the late 1850's, halted by the Civil War, and finally completed in 1872.

Moving on down the road to Glasgow, KY was our next stop at this First Responders Memorial next to the Glasgow Fire Department.

From Glasgow heading SE on Hwy 90, we grabbed a quick cache at a cemetery and new county in a little town called Summer Shade. Then taking some back roads down to Tompkinsville, KY, we found Old Mulkey State Park. Located within this historic park is the Old Mulkey Church. The church was founded in 1773 by Philip Mulkey and the building constructed in 1804. Daniel Boone's sister, Hannah, and Revolutionary War soldiers are buried here in the graveyard.

Continuing through the backroads of Kentucky and into Tennessee, also Geocaching along the way, we come across "Odd Fellows Cemetery." Located in Baxter, TN, what's strange about this cemetery is a double headstone for Thomas J Stowers. I guess you can say he has a headstone and a footstone! Who's Thomas J Stowers you ask? Well he claims to be the sole survivor of General George Custers last stand on June 25, 1876.

After a few more standard caches and a 23 cache power trail along US-70, we finally got to do a little hiking in Walling, TN. Near the junction of the Caney Fork and Collins Rivers you'll find the Twin Falls and the down river trail. A great moderate trail along the banks of the river with some very scenic views. There were two caches here, one being down the trail. Again not a bad hike until you got to the last few hundred feet it went uphill by a water fall before finding the cache.

We ended the day in Hillsboro, TN. Our Geocaching total for the day is 38, add in some history, a hike, and spending time outdoors with a great lady makes for a fun adventurous day!

2015-06-25: Road Trip Day #6 Geocaching Ohio and Kentucky

Today began and ended with Corvettes. We started out this morning from Findlay, OH and headed over to the Cracker Barrel for some breakfast. In the parking lot was a row of Corvettes. And we finished the day down in Kentucky at the Corvette Museum. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

After eating we picked up a couple of caches there in Findlay, jumped onto I-75 southbound and a couple of new counties before getting off in Dayton, Ohio for a virtual cache and some history. Orville and Wilber Wright had a bicycle shop here in Dayton while designing their first powered aircraft. Outside the Engineers Club of Dayton is this memorial and full-sized version of that aircraft.

Our next stop down the road was in Sharonville, on the outskirts of Cincinnati at Sharon Woods Park. This beautiful park and waterfalls along Sharon Creek was the location of a virtual Geocache. If it not for Geocaching and someone setting up this virtual here, we would never have stopped to see it.

Also located within the Sharon Woods Park was this old neglected cemetery.

Leaving Ohio and driving into Kentucky, we detoured off of I-75 onto I-71 for a different route home. Also the opportunity to see new things and get caches in new counties. We drove I-71 into Louisville merging onto I-65 south down into and stopping in Bowling Green. Bowling Green is the home of the Corvette Museum and Factory. We didn't have time for a factory tour, but we did walk through the museum. While they have many Corvettes on display, I only took pictures of some of the experimental prototype cars. We also got to see the damaged rare Corvettes that were swallowed up in the sinkhole last year. 

Outside the museum is one of Geocaching's "Cache Across America" caches and of course we had to find it! That's it for today. Like I said it began and ended with Corvettes. See you tomorrow.

2015-06-24: Road Trip Day #5 Heading South Through Michigan to Ohio

This morning we awoke to a beautiful sunrise over Lake Huron, Michigan. But unfortunately that also means our vacations winding down and it's time to start heading south again.

Before leaving St Ignace, MI and driving back over the Mackinaw Bridge, we stop at St Anthony's Rock and get the answers needed to claim a find on this earthcache.

Across the bridge and into Mackinaw City where we find the coolest Starbucks we've ever seen. It's got a sort of log cabin theme going on.

Because we had quickly come up through Ohio and Michigan to get to Mackinaw, going southbound we're taking out time and Geocaching in new counties and looking for caches of interest. Several caches later and we came across this creative travel bug hotel that resembles a bird house with a side door.

Continuing southbound and a few more Geocaches later was this virtual cache in Roscommon, MI at the Michigan State Firefighters Memorial.

Another virtual Geocache and historical site further south, was the Michigan Central Freighthouse built in 1878 in the town of Ypsilanti.

Just a few miles from there was another virtual cache and statue of early explorer Rene Robert Cavelier Sieur De La Salle.

The last cache to highlight today was a cemetery cache in Toledo Memorial Park. A virtual Geocache for Mildred Wirt Benson, the author of the Nancy Drew Detective series of books.

For day #5 of our road trip, we ended up with 15 traditional caches, 6 virtual caches, and one earthcache for a total of 22 Geocaches. Our day ended in Findlay, Ohio. I wonder what's in store for tomorrow.

2015-06-23: Road Trip Day #4 Geocaching and Hiking Around Mackinaw Island

Wow, what a great day! We work up to a surprisingly cold morning. Being from Florida, we were NOT prepared for that. I mean it's June right. We didn't bring any jackets, so that was first on our agenda!

We knew a big day was ahead so it was an early start and all the stores downtown were still closed. Luckily when we arrived at ferry dock, they had a gift shop there with plenty of jackets and sweaters to choose from!

When you're used to seeing cars on the streets, Mackinaw Island was a strange place to visit. Since 1898, all motorized vehicles are prohibited except snow mobiles during winter and emergency vehicles. Walking through the downtown area kinda reminded me of walking through Main Street at Disney World.

OK, first stop was a little breakfast cafe for some food followed by a Starbucks. Then it was time for some sightseeing, hiking, and Geocaching! Our first cache was just a block off the main road on Market Street. It was an easy cache disguised as a birdhouse. I grabbed the log sheet and ... wait... DARN! I forgot our stamp in the car back on the mainland. No problem, I'll use the old fashion p... Oh wait, I forgot the pen back in the car! It's a good thing we didn't go very far! Back to the shops and I find a store to buy a pen and some extra batteries for the GPS just in case. We go back to sign the log and move on the next one.

Next was a hill climb. As you walk away from the shoreline, the elevation increases. A nice little workout for a cache and a good view of the harbor.

From there the plan was to hike the 8 mile perimeter around the island and grab as many caches as we could. I had every cache on the Island saved into my phone, but only the perimeter caches saved into my GPS. Back down the hill we went.

The next cache of interest is an earthcache for Dwightwood Springs named after Dwight Hulbert Wood, the son of Edwin O. Wood of Flint, MI. In 1909 he donated money towards the springs in memory of his son.

From the springs, you take a hike up some stairs 100 feet almost straight up to get to the Arch Rock, and another earthcache. It was an incredible view from up there.

Before heading back down the stairs to the perimeter road, we followed a hiking trail through the woods to grab another geocache up there.

Several caches later and about the same time, both of our phone batteries died. So no more photos from us. Luckily, I did program the remaining perimeter caches into the GPS.

In total we hiked about 9 miles and managed to find 52 geocaches. We didn't get to see everything we wanted to see. One day we'll be back to stay longer. Maybe if we're lucky enough we'll stay at the famous Grand Hotel.

By the end of the day, the skies had cleared and we enjoyed the relaxing view from our hotel.

2015-06-22: Road Trip Day #3 Moving Quickly Through Ohio and Michigan.

So today is Monday and we started out just barely into Ohio. We enjoy our stops Geocaching and sightseeing, but it does slow down progress. So we wanted to arrive in Mackinaw today, giving us a full day on the Island tomorrow and still enough time not to have to rush getting back to Florida. Plus the weather was a little overcast with some off and on rain showers.

So after checking out of the hotel this morning, we grabbed a few nearby caches before jumping back onto I-75 northbound. We drove straight through Ohio and into Michigan. Two quick caches at a gas stop in Brighton, MI and a stop up in Hartland, MI to grab this virtual cache at the Hartland Music Hall, formerly the Hartland First Congregational Church built in 1858.

One more rest area break and a geocache in lower Michigan before crossing the huge Mackinaw Bridge to Upper Michigan.

We checked into Quality Inn Lakeside in St Ignace, MI overlooking Lake Huron and had this great view! The weather is supposed to clear up by tomorrow. Hopefully so because we're heading over to Mackinaw Island for some sightseeing.