Ending 2024 ~ Some Geocaching

 We ended 2024 by going geocaching with friends, Jon and Sherry. We had (and have, as there are more of them) geocaches by two area geocachers, abeNanna and CacheFamily on our radar. abeNanna are known for their geocaches often titled 'Rusting Away.' You guessed it; the caches usually involve a rusted piece of metal. CacheFamily, a family of 4, have recently started placing gadget and creative geocaches in the area.  Both cachers attended my October event sharing conversations and information. December 30th was the day we chose to follow-up on their suggestions.

four of us wiggled the wooden box until the lid separated from the box

the four cachers

another clever CacheFamily 3-D printed container

Sherry did not have to remove ALL the caps to find the log

another 3-D printed cute container

geocaching in Florence

Hubby and I have found most of the geocaches in the nearby community of Florence, but Jon and Sherry have not. We will need to return as there are several more to find and log.

Another new location for our friends was the Coolidge airport. It was a WWII training center for the 81st Airborne and has some remnants of the base.

the bathhouse

the swimming pool from the shallow end to the deeper end

stone/rock steps from the bathhouse up to the pool

foundations of base buildings, but not barracks

(the barracks have remnants of broken porcelain)

overgrown sidewalk between foundations

another CacheFamily 3-D printed geocache, this one on the base

another photo showing just how dry the desert is this year

This is the only original building from the WWII era. It has been renovated and is used by airport personnel.

The Coolidge airport is an active airport. It houses the air recuse vehicles for Pinal County. None of us knew the purpose of this aircraft.

another better view of the aircraft 

The Coolidge Airport is home to many small private aircraft, like this single engine, one seater plane.

another private plane anchored at the airport

There were several Sprint airplanes in various stages of dismantling on the other side of the airport. 

We visited this airport for geocaching on two previous occasions. The last time we were there we watched people jumping from airplanes while getting some geocaches in November 2016: Coolidge Airport

Our first visit was in March 2013: World War II Airports

Sherry getting a cache at the airport

We drove to Coolidge to complete the Adventure Lab set of caches by abeNanna and to find the bonus cache. Sherry, actually Jon, found the Rusting Away geocache at the Coolidge airport. We had found it in 2013.

One of the reasons besides enjoying the day with Jon and Sherry, was to earn this virtual souvenir to end 2024.

Road Trip to Florence

Hard to believe, but Sunday was our first excursions to Florence this season. It seems in years past we either drive to or drive through the community at least once or twice, but I guess Hubby's 35 EECP sessions may have had something to do with our fewer winter adventures.

We explored some of Florence's historic buildings on this trip, seeing and learning more about this neighboring community. Some buildings we had seen before and some were new to us, and worthy of more research.

Florence has a 1.5 mile self-guided walking tour highlighting 29 historic buildings. Information is here.  There is also a yearly celebration which includes visiting some of those historic buildings, the second Saturday in February. We are usually in Yuma that weekend, so have missed the event. My point being there is much more to Florence than geocaching and the Greek restaurant.

Assumption of theBlessed Mary Catholic Church

built/completed in 1912, replacing the 1884 building which 

burned down

statue in the gardens

near the Stations of the Cross

the front door and unique colored glass windows

the back of the church

Second Pinal County Courthouse

it replaced the first county courthouse in 1891

rocking chairs on the veranda of the 

Florence Visitors Center

Hubby doing some research

former home, now the newspaper office

The First Presbyterian Church

built in 1931, replacing the first structure

stained glass windows

church was founded in 1888 and is the second 

oldest Presbyterian Church in use in AZ

Florence High School

completed in 1916 and still in use today

desks and tables in the atrium area

and a yard with some African daisies

Area Geocaching

We spent some time geocaching in area communities: Queen Valley, Merrill Ranch & San Tan. In each area, we came across something new and interesting.

Queen Valley

Devil's Bathtub

or just a drinking hole for cattle

rock formations gave it its name

liked the reminder near the gate

beautiful wild flowers in someone's yard

these guys were still in the shade, they open in the sunshine

Norman Cache

our geocaching group here at CV recommended this cache

plastic skeleton among the rocks

and spiders

and a large rat next to the skull

well done cache

lonely railroad tracks

Florence & Merrill Ranch

railroad bridge

appropriate geo-hide along the railroad

little house in a stump

nice work by a geocacher

some desert flowers

San Tan

pet peacock?

hen

We also saw lots of goats, mules, horses (which we expected), a camel, and alpaca or llama which we didn't expect. The road was so narrow and traffic heavier than we thought it would be, so chances to take photos were nil. Sorry. The camel was such a surprise, we took the road twice to make certain I wasn't seeing things. Pretty cool.

another innovative cache hider

can you guess where the owner hide the cache?

Another fun geocaching adventure!