Sun Setting on 2020

2020 was liked a deranged elevator - many highs and many lows. It was dizzying. 

☀️ Surpassed 10,000 geocache finds
☀️ Completed my 3,000 cache-a-day streak
☀️ Until the pandemic, I had 97 months of First-to-Finds
☀️ Enjoyed several adventures with ShelleyJean including Ohio geotours (Cornhenge!) and visits to Lake Erie Birding preserves
☀️ Created a Motown Adventure Lab and enjoyed over a dozen new AL's in Michigan & Ohio.
☀️ Earned each HQ souvenir including the Sun Sets souvenir below. 

It's amazing to see so many fabulous accomplishments. With the pandemic and then a series of losses & setbacks in the last few months, I forgot all the fun. But heading into 2021, things are already looking up starting with the 300+ caches being released on New Year's Day.

Wishing all our geocaching friends a safe and healthy new year!

The Crunching of the Leaves and the Collection of the Trash

 Ah, you know the sound. It's Fall and the leaves are underfoot. You don't mind walking several miles down a State Park road doing a little CITO'ing on s day like this!

Still recovering from the loss of PopLob, TaGeez and I needed to get outside. Lo! The Annual Belle Isle CITO! We had forgotten about it so on that Saturday we headed out to Michigan's 102nd state park. 

The weather was gorgeous, and we were shocked to discover the covered bridge was open to the public! No more sneaking through fences and hiding yourself in the tall weeds of the defunct golf course to reach this photogenic bridge - the fence was open and the trails were widened. In we went to... er.. clean (and take lots of pictures). You can see the Detroit Yacht Club through the portholes.

It was great fun doing the CITO with friends, grabbing a few caching and then tottling off to do a new Adventure Lab in Saline in a new cache-mobile, Addie Venture. 

Farewell to PopLob

                 You may have noticed...

 that the blog has been quiet of late.   

It's been a sad month since we lost PopLob.           

Scrapcat and PopLob

He was the head of  Team Free Range Lobsters

                   He was a vacation-time geocacher...

and he loved attending ice cream events.         

He was the Father of seven and grandfather of twelve.

Team Free Range Lobsters

But, most importantly, he was my travel buddy, my lifelong friend, and my Dad.

I miss you Dad,

❤️

International Geo-Dog Day!

Yesterday was International Dog Day, and Cacher TinyFlufferino attached this log photo to my Fantastic Ferndale cache — LOVE IT!

Our Amazing Adventure to Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge

 Off to another adventure last Saturday with TaGeez and ShelleyJean.

Geocaching has taken us to some extraordinary places, but, sometimes, extraordinary places give us an excuse to geocache!

I'm a huge follower of the National Parks/Forest system, and one day I spied an Instagram post for the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge appeared in my feed. Pelicans in Michigan?!?! How cool is that! 

So, connecting with ShelleyJean, we decided a Virtual Run was in order. Since completing the Michigan State Parks Centennial Geotour, we've been at a loss for a new challenge. Logging all the Virtuals in Michigan seemed enjoyable, and we decided on this trip through the thumb we would add High Favorites and a little Roadside Americana.

Have you been to the Shiawassee NWR? It's a hidden gem in Genesee County outside Saginaw.

Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1953 and contains 10,000 acres of marsh, bottomland hardwood forest, and grasslands. It was authorized by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission under the Migratory Bird Conservation Act “...for use as an inviolate sanctuary, or for any other management purpose, for migratory birds. 

Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge’s diverse habitats attract more than 270 species of migratory birds. Its four trails and seasonal 6.5 mile auto tour route, the Wildlife Drive, offer visitors an opportunity to see many of these birds as well as a variety of other wildlife. The Ferguson Bayou Trail and Wildlife Drive offer three wildlife observation decks, two with spotting scopes. 

 90-degree sunshiny weather, social distancing, and FREE! Perfect anecdote to the COVID-19 blues.

We saw herons, egrets, seagulls, ducks, Monarch Butterflies, turtles, geese, swans.. too many birds to tally.

Another great shot from SJ

Great shot by SJ

We also spied a very friendly bug!

SJ and her steady hand - beautiful!

And, lucky for us, Great White Pelicans!

Oh, we will be back again!

THE VIRTUALS!

Oh, yes. I forgot about those. Traveling around the thumb area, we had a hoot steering toward steers, posing near flagpoles, jostling giraffes, tromping across the Tridge, and staring at statues! Another glorious adventure visiting Michigan history and Roadside America!

Knox County Geotrail Geotoken

I forgot to share the Knox County Geotoken from completing the Knox County Park District's geotrail. I like the silver rewards, trending in Ohio, but I was a little disappointed it isn't trackable. I'm taking it to Things Remembered to have a coded added.

Fayette County Geotrail Geocoin

Received our trackable Geocoin from the Fayette County Ohio Historical Society Geotrail (GC6K48X ). The reverse shows a map of the county.

Nice reminder of a beautiful day roadtripping amongst Ohio cornfields.