Friday in the Desert

Five of us went caching on Friday for a couple of VERY specific geocaches. I walked about 6 miles and was very beat by the end of the afternoon. We quit about 3:00 and the other three continued to cache for another hour. I found myself dozing off and on last night and went to bed at an earlier than usual time.

Hubby and I had met Janice at the geocaching event we attended in October. She is from TX. She flew to AZ on Thursday and is staying with her parents who are wintering in Yuma. Janice had asked if she could do a special geocache series with us when she came this weekend. We agreed, but told her she would have to ride in the back seat of the jeep. (Supposedly the jeep seats 4...if the other two are younger than 10!) Janice agreed knowing she would be climbing in and out of that two door jeep. (She is younger than the two of us.)

Another geocaching couple also wanted to do the special geocaching series with us. Jim & Cheri are from our winter resort.

The five of us coordinated plans and on Friday at 8:00 AM, we left town for the desert. (For the two of us, it was our 4th day in the jeep, in the desert, geocaching.) We drove about 30 miles to our starting point. (Many of you wonder what we get when we geocache. As Hubby says, "We get gas receipts.")

Our goal was to find and sign all 51 caches in the AZ State Star geo-art. Several of the others in our little group had trackers to count their steps or distance. I covered more than 5 miles, some of them did 7. (Geocaches must be 524'or more from the next nearest geocache. From the bottom right point of the star, through the center cache, to the diagonal cache just before the line of smileys, was 1.07 miles as the crow flies. One does not walk "as the crow flies" in the desert.)

There we are at the center of the star, signing the final log. We were wearing long sleeves because the containers were usually dropped in scratchy bushes. We wore long pants because of those same scratchy bushes. We were all very hot when we finished walking the desert sand.

The ammo can is the final container; most of the containers will pill bottles containing a piece of paper. So no, we really don't get anything physical when we geocache. It is like a basketball game. A basket scores points. The points are not something physical the team takes with them. There might be 'stuff' in the ammo can or in any cache, but it is usually worthless stuff. 

After the selfie, it was time for a lunch break.

We carry bag chairs in the jeep. Janice and Hubby took advantage of them. Jim and Cheri sat in her Liberty. I had the front of the jeep. It has a very nice bench bumper/fender, big enough for two bums. We were proud of our accomplishment, but we had more to do...

While completing the Star geo-art, we crossed paths with four other geocachers we knew. Annette is on the left. She and Howard were our caching partners in Nebraska in October when we completed the Nebraska State Star and other geo-arts. Kelly is in the center. The husbands were in another area. Cheri is on the right.

The Barry M. Goldwater Range is a training site for the Marines and Air Force. Someone mentioned this weekend that there is not much ground training at this range anymore. We did see Air Force planes throughout the week doing maneuvers.

The rocket launcher was just a mock-up. If it is no longer being used, it is looking to be in good condition for the harsh temperatures of the desert.


OK. Onto the next item on Friday's agenda...

The Heart had only 14 caches to find and sign...by walking to each one. Although it wasn't another 51 geocaches, the temp was now in the 80s, the breeze had left, and we all were hot and tired. As you can see, we did accomplish that goal. At this point, Hubby and I headed back to Yuma to rest and shower before heading to the evening event, Zany Exotic Flash Mob.

Our instruction were to wear an article of clothing or accessory that could be removed as in a strip tease, but to remember to keep it family friendly since we were doing the strip tease in the center of town.

This is what geocachers do when they get together in groups larger than 100!

Sadly, the dancers of a 'senior' age far out numbered the younger geocachers. Many geocachers are NOT seniors.

They, the younger ones, just knew better than to stand in the middle of the street and twirl their sweatshirt or hat, or wear a boa!

The Keystone cops made an appearance and an arrest.

The bonus to the Friday evening event was seeing the people we have met the last four years. While standing on the street we met Shirley and Will from Yankton. We got hugs and handshakes from the AZ cachers we know, but have not seen since our arrival. We went to dinner with friends, Don & Nancy, from CA. Sitting in the booth next to us was Janice from TX and her parents. 

More to come...