A Scavenger Hunt

 We participated in a Scavenger Hunt on Saturday for International Geocaching Day. Geocaching is 25 years old this year. The scavenger list had 25 items to find and document in 2 hours. Hubby and I teamed up with Bruce and Jo for the in-town adventure.

# 23-picture with a geocacher we did not know before today

#21-picture with a park sign

#24-tell someone about geocaching

(his dog was barking in the backyard while we were searching 

the pine tree for Bruce's geocache)

#25-picture with a sign with "25"

#16-picture with a non-bordering state license plate

#18-picture with a non-smart phone

Interesting side note to this one: We stopped at Falls Park to get several of the scavenger items. I happened to think about the Visitor's Office maybe having a land-line phone. As we trooped into the office, I asked the woman behind the counter if the office had a non-smart phone. She reached across the counter, grabbed my hands, and said my full name. I admitted she looked familiar, but I had no name to attach to the face. She was a former teacher in the Watertown School District! - small world

She also said we were the third group to ask about the phone! 

#11-picture with a pine cone

#8-Picture with a smiley

(smiley face on the wooden nickel)

#17-Picture with a flag from another country

#12-picture with a bird house

We completed 23 of the 25 tasks. We were quite pleased with our efforts. A team of 3 completed all 25 tasks!

Here are some photos from some of the other teams.

#17-flag from a different country

#14-picture of being stealthy

#14-picture of being stealthy

(two geocachers hiding behind the rocks)

#20-picture with a sweet treat

Photo quality did not count! But creativity did!

This was our virtual souvenir for the day! We also had fresh sweet corn furnished by geocachers. The temperature was near 90º, but a slight breeze helped make any time out of the AC bearable. It was a fun afternoon chasing geocache-themed items.

96th Birthday

 Friday, August 16th, my mother celebrated her 96th birthday. My brothers and I were there to help her celebrate the milestone. 

cupcakes and ice cream were served to the residents and staff

birthday cake was served with their evening meal

Mom has 4 remaining siblings: her older sister is 103,  a younger sister is 91. Her two brothers are 88 and 86.

Pi Day

 I am working backwards through the month of March. This post is from March 14, Pi Day, another geocaching big deal day. The day started with a Cache In - Trash Out event at the Apache Junction rodeo grounds which hosted a large event the weekend before, but strong winds for two days moved most of the trash out of the area and into New Mexico!

8:00 AM - donuts to feed the geocachers

not a large pile of trash bags and only about a fourth of the group

who participated

our geocaching reward for our clean-up efforts

We met Jon and Sherry for lunch (fish and chips at the Rusty Buckle) and ended lunch with apple pie for Pi Day.

bathroom signs for my collection

After lunch we did some geocaching with Jon & Sherry. We needed a special cache for the day and this was it. I did the mental work, Hubby and Sherry opened the container.

Our geocaching reward for the solving, finding and signing the Mystery Cache.

another cache and another Mystery Cache

This cache was a tribute to a geocaching friend, Don of the team cardon. The cache was placed by Tic Toc Turtle.

Every one of his caches has a turtle on it or in it. A tiny turtle was attached to the bison tube.

we will miss these geocaching friends!

not my photo, but seen somewhere in the AJ area on Pi Day by a caching friend

Superstition Mountain

St. Patrick's Day Tradition

 For a number of years we have attended a geocaching event in Fountain Hills at noon on St. Patrick's Day. The city of Fountain Hills adds green dye to the water that is pumped to the fountain for a fun display of shades of green.

11:16 AM the fountain is quiet

12:01.11 PM - Where's the green?

12:01.35 PM - Thar she blows!

getting ready for the second push of green

12:04 PM

The Fountain Turns Green  March 2022 Blog Post 

has all the details of the fountain's height

the event host and hostess

caching friends

some of the geocaching group

not many desert flowers this year

but this Redflower False Yucca had flower stems

the lake at Fountain Hills

(lady laying on a blanket on the right)

ducks at the lake

statues around the lake 

completed some geocaching with Sherry

1:00 PM

the fountain from the other side of the lake

the green water is only at the 12:00 PM spouting

we grabbed some lunch before leaving Fountain Hills

interesting decor in the bar and grill

the pistol was the door handle in the women's restroom

"Don't squat with your spurs on"

Irish Stew for lunch

a little eye candy in the restrooms

Sunday Morning in San Juan

 We arrived around 7:30 PM in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Saturday, January 25th. Other than checking into our hotel and enjoying a very delicious Italian meal at the restaurant next door, we did not see much of the city. I had planned a geocaching event for Sunday morning before we boarded the cruise ship, just in case we did NOT find a geocache during our short visit before and after the cruise.

I did find a geocache near our hotel and asked for some help from a former math teacher to make certain the solution was correct. (I had the wrong numbers. That's why I asked Mrs. G for some expert advice!) So at 9 on Sunday morning we headed for Central High School.

Central High School, also known as La Central or La Central High, is a school located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The 1925-built building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1987 and on the Puerto Rico Register of Historic Sites and Zones in 2000. It is a three-story, U-shaped building with Spanish Renaissance architecture. ~ Wikipedia

The campus is enclosed behind gates and a wire fence topped with razor wire, so getting to ground zero was not possible on Sunday morning. It is an active high school. 

Located across the street from the school campus is a performing arts center, so our walk was interesting with opportunities for photos, despite not getting a geocache. 

Performing Arts Center

 It features three main concert and theater halls for plays, ballet, operas and concerts. It opened in 1981.

the fountain display at the art center

sculpture at the fountain 

Our tour guide on the following Sunday morning shared why these women statues were nude. The native people, The Taíno, of Puerto Rico did not wear clothes when the Spaniards arrived on the island in 1509.

mural on the art center wall

sculpture on the grounds

another wall mural

chickens are all over the island

this flock was hanging out on the side lawn of the art center

a large mural advertisement along our walk

wall decor along our walk

This coffee and pastry shop was the place I chose to host the geocaching event. It was close to the hotel and not far from Central High School.

attendees at the geocaching event

the goal for Sunday morning