NOLA and the Gulf Coast Adventure - DAY 5

Day 5 - Time to head home

We awoke to a beautiful, sunny day on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. You can see the beautiful beach and water from our breakfast table. We really enjoyed our time at the Inn at Long Beach.

Time to head West and return to NOLA to catch our mid-afternoon flight. The further west we drove, the moodier the sky. We are sad to leave this peaceful stretch of shoreline.

Just as we reach Louisiana, we stop at the Louisiana Cache Odyssey cache. This was a fun one in historic downtown Slidell involving mailboxes. Signal had a good time, and we released a trackable heading to Phoenix.

Cache Odyssey - Louisiana GCB05R5

With just a few hours to kill, we toured several Louisiana historic cemeteries...

...spent some time enjoying a drive through City Park with its sculpture garden with its 1,000 YO oaks...

... before having lunch at Toups' Meatery. That was quite the culinary experience with the Boudin Balls, Cracklin, and the most exquisite Beer Battered Redfish sandwich.

Just as we entered the terminal in NOLA to catch our flight, the skies broke and rain came down. We are sad to see us go, too.

Nothing like 3 Slices of Pi!

Ah, spring must be around the corner when a plethora of events and puzzles pop up in our Inboxes! 

Yesterday was the Welcome to HNY26 Flash Tag Event on Pi Day up in Macomb Township. TaGeez and I had planned to go, and we were even more enthusiastic once we lost power at home. A warm restaurant with food? Check!

You could tell that others were excited for the chance of spring, too, as there was quite a turnout from all directions. Donuts, coffee, and Flashtags!

A Flashtag is a new type of custom trading token offered by Pathtags.com. It shares many characteristics with the original (OG) Pathtag but features key innovations in production and design. Flashtags are 23mm round and 2mm thick, maintaining the iron core and nickel plating for magnet compatibility. [They] are printed rather than enamel like traditional pathtags.

Like OG Pathtags, Flashtags are left as signature items by some geocachers and are fully integrated with the pathtags.com website for collection management and trading. [source]

Our score from the event

We liberally gave away our new one, too!

After the event, Paldog0603, released 15 puzzles that sent us scurrying into the cold. It was a lovely day to go for a walk along the river (and earning 3 Pi Day souvenirs!). All event puzzles found that day (including a bonus one from Ramblin' Rumble) earned attendees first to finds - nice!

Team TaCat ran into GeoPanda!

My 1,000th first-to-find!

TaGeez for the find!

MrandMrsMan

Truly, the best part of the day, however, were the many, many friends that came out of hibernation. See you at the next event!

✨Final totals for the day✨

17 smilies
16 first-to-finds (one being my 1,000th!)
7 Flashtags
3 new souvenirs 

3 miles walked
1 free trackable
1 HQ Treasure Collection completed

Colorado Adventure 1 - Mingo and Arikaree

Have you noticed I’ve been a little quiet lately? TaGeez and I were on an amazing adventure out west!

During our Jasmer trip to Indiana in June, TaGeez and I decided this year is the year for Mingo (GC30), the oldest active geocache in the world. We’ve been meaning to make this pilgrimage for years, but the “3 C’s” got in the way. Deemed safe to travel now by my oncologists, Steve and I decided this was the year.

But do we really want to spend 3 days driving out and driving back? Because as geocachers, it would take more than 3 days each way. Let's save some time and fly!

Well, no sense in flying into Denver and just return so we decided to make an entire adventure out of it! So, in mid September, we headed out.

TaGeez's first plane trip in DECADES

Day 1 - Sunday: Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska

Our first day was all about geocaching: landing at DIA, grabbing our rental car, visiting Mingo and a few other choice caches along the way.

Travel has changed! There were wonderful Adventure Labs and Virtuals at both DTW and DIA! We didn't get to enjoy the Conspiracy Theories as much as we hoped because when we landed in Denver it was chaos and construction! But we were able to grab it! Our first Colorado cache!

DIA Conspiracy Virtual GC88Z0M

After a trying experience at the Budget rental counter (long lines and a rental with a brake failure message), we were on the road, past the giant blue stallion outside DIA, and heading the Kansas & Mingo! 

Kansas Visitor Center

The 3-hour drive from Denver to Mingo was gorgeous! Miles and miles of amber fields reaching to the skyline. The rhythm of the road, my audiobook, and TaGeez's snoring in the passenger seat. It was a gloriously peaceful drive to Mingo. Surprisingly we were so busy enjoying it that we captured no photos of it - but no camera could capture the majesty and sheer immensity of it.  

We made it! And, of course, Signal sporting his new Colorado trackable had to pose first. If you look close, you will see one of our Mingo geocoins, too. Mingo didn't disappoint - it was exactly as described... a fence off a defunct park & ride with nothing for miles around! But we made it and had to pose with it!

Signal's TB is actually a dog tag from Amazon.
The vendor engraved my tracking code on it for free!

When in Mingo and nearby Colby, don't forget to grab the Mingo Virtual (marker missing), Adventure Lab and high-favorited caches.

Mingo Madness Gadget Cache GC8GDEW
almost drove us mad!

Geo-General Store GC5P98P

Grain Bin GCYC7A

You could tell the sun was already starting it's descent, but how could we head to Colorado Springs without detouring for another JASMER gem? Beautiful Arikaree GC31 is a May 2000 cache, too!

 

It's funny about this trip. Each day we had one main goal and one side adventure planned. Funny how the side adventures were in many ways more memorable and enjoyable than the main one. 

Take Arikaree, for instance. Located 1.5 hours northwest of Mingo and just a few miles south of the Nebraska border. Take I-70 to a scenic road, which turned into a sketchy dirt road the further north you go. Before you reach Arikaree (we still have no idea how to pronounce this), you must pass through the Arikaree Breaks. Now, I'm not big into Earth Caches, but this place left an impression (literally and figuratively). 

The Arikaree Breaks are a finalist for the 8 Wonders of Kansas because the deep canyons make this a distinct and scenically dramatic part of Kansas! The Arikaree Breaks are a rugged landscape of canyons that have formed in a type of windblown silt called loess. [Kansas Sampler]

The Arikaree Breaks are located on the extreme northern edge of Cheyenne County just a few miles east from the Land & Sky Scenic Byway. The stunning views of the gullies and rock formations are comprised of loess rocks which are a mixture of wind deposits from sand, silt, and clay. The breaks are 36 miles long and approximately two to three miles wide but mostly reside on private land. [Kansas Tourism]

Again, no camera could do this place justice.

Arikaree Breaks GC2RNXB

Arikaree GC31

We spent a lot of time appreciating Arikaree, but the sun is setting and Nebraska is just a few miles north. We had to take the opportunity to grab another state souvenir.

Nebraska Keeper of the Cache

Texas Trail Canyon Cache GC1X9DZ

Ok, cacti is a thing? I almost stepped on it!

Now the sun is truly kissing the horizon, and we still have HOURS of driving to Colorado Springs. Although beautiful, we had several opportunities to test our bravery. Try driving for hours, in the dark, along unfamiliar country roads with NO houses in between in a strange rental car. Bumps! Animal eyes flashing in the headlights. Miles and miles and miles of emptiness and darkness with almost no phone connectivity. 

After 3 hours in the air and 12 hours on the road, we pulled into Colorado Springs in the darkness. Little did we know what morning had in store for us!

3 state souvenirs!

Michigan Waterways Adventure - Lighting the Way

 

Labor Day weekend found the Super Sexy Trio (Scrapcat - ShelleyJean- TaGeez) on US 23 again! WOW! Can you believe it? Our first trip together was on US23 over Labor Day, too. We were out to complete several more Adventure Labs in the Michigan DNR Adventure Lab series.

First stop, though, was one of the weirdest stops in Michigan - a roadside collection of mini-chapels to stop-and-pray! We prayed we'd find the cache there, and we did!

Do You Believe? GC7TB6A

So, this is called the Michigan Waterways Adventure Lab - but THIS tour, from Presque Isle to Mackinaw to Muskegon, was LOVE our lighthouses! Look how amazing these are! Adventure Lab stops, Virtuals, and traditional caches.

Presque Isle Light Station

Old Presque Isle Lighthouse

The Range Light

After Presque Isle, we turned in towards Cheboygan to Mackinaw. The weather was with us!

Forty Mile Point Lighthouse

Crib Light - Cheboygan

Crib Light - Cheboygan

As we headed to Mackinaw and then our overnight stop in Manistee, we detoured to Cross in the Woods to find my parents' new paver and complete the new Virtual cache. My heart was full seeing their names - with the second anniversary of Dad's passing coming up. Truly surprised to find them outside the Saint Peregrine's chapel - patron saint of Cancer patients.

Cross in the Woods - Indian River

Is there anything more grand than the bridge? What is your earliest memory of it? I think it was visiting with my Dad and my brother Jim's family. It never gets old.

Mackinaw Bridge

TaGeez - Scrapcat - ShelleyJean

After a restful night in Manistee, we headed to Arcadia in the first leg of the next Waterways AL. One day we will return to experience their nature preserve.

Did you know that Michigan has giant sequoias? Michigan's Champion Sequoiadendron giganteum Virtual shares the tale of 6 of these giants transplanted to Lake Bluff. Visit to take pictures, walk the preserve, totter along the edge for another Adventure Lab, and, oh yes! Grab a final cache!

Michigan Champion Giant Sequoia GC9P53A

Lake Bluff Bird Sanctuary GC7886T

Back on the trail for more Adventure Lab stops and LIGHTHOUSES!

Manistee Lighthouse

Oh, and a random cache to two...

Not Your Typical Lock-n-Lock GC7YJ93

This was a bit of a first for us. Finishing early but not willing to end this beautiful night, we followed the Manistee Riverwalk to complete several connecting adventure labs along the boardwalk. Beautiful night for a stroll.

Manistee Riverwalk

The next morning we headed to one of my newly-favorite lighthouse in Michigan - Petit Pointe. Isn't the brickwork beautiful? 

Petite Pointe Au Sable Lighthouse

We almost didn't complete the 3 targeted waterway adventure labs because the sign was missing at one in Muskegon - luckily a message to the MiGO FB page helped us to wrap that up!

3 Waterway Adventure Labs completed

8 Adventure Labs including 3 Waterways

18 geocaches including 5 Virtuals

2 Great Lakes and many fabulous lighthouses!

3 really good friends!