Sieche Hollow or Sica Hollow

We needed to do some geocaching on Tuesday to help fill out the month of April. We chose to head north to a little state park called Sica Hollow. I have never understood how s-i-c-a is pronounced see-chee, but that is how it is pronounced. It has been many, MANY years since we have visited the area. It is a popular place to visit in the fall to see the changing colors. There are a variety of deciduous trees, sumac, and a bubbling creek that meanders through the 20+ miles of trails. 

Our goal was two fold: collect some Letter Box geocaches AND beat the wood tick season doing it. We collected 44 caches and only 5 wood ticks. Success!

The weather was perfect for wandering through a wooded area - lots of sunshine and no wind. The mid 60º temps were perfect for the 7+ miles of trail trekking. There were lots of hills to climb and crossings of the meandering stream. We were two very tired people when we quit after six hours.

It was very interesting to see the park so early in the spring. My experience is of the colorful leaves in the fall. There were plenty of things to photograph while we walked the trails, climbed the hills and crossed the streams. It has been a LONG winter in SD. Spring is arriving slowly. Enjoy Sica Hollow in early spring...

Still not sure how, when or why the spelling changed

Sica Hollow

A little waterfall

The stream water was so clear

A rare bit of color in the landscape

These guys startled me

I was not expecting garter snakes along the stream

This one posed for me

There must have been a den as I counted 5 of varying sizes

I really enjoyed the sound of the bubbling creek

Someone thought this was clever

A large tractor tire swing

Rare small patches of very short mossy grass

A snow shelf still hanging around

On the north side of a stone bridge above the stream

And a little ice covered puddle

One of several stone bridges

A plant peeking through the fallen leaves

Some bright green shoots

Mushrooms on a fallen log

Deer tracks in the mud

Our Welcoming Committee

How fun to arrive at the home of our grandchildren and see Miss W standing on the couch and looking out the window, smiling and waving! The G'dog was barking and jumping around in happiness. McBe was in nap mode.

The first afternoon activity was coloring, then the lacing cards. Miss W wanted a photo of the two of them. 

Then she wanted to take a photo of her brother. Not bad for an almost 4 year old photographer!

So nice to be here, even if the weather is quite disgusting. Little hugs and kisses are warming our hearts.

Traveling (Geocaching) Across Nebraska

We are spending two nights in Nebraska before we get to South Dakota, not that the state is THAT big...it just has LOTS of geocaches. Tuesday was truly a Nebraska history lesson kind of day. Some things I knew, many I did not, some were REAL surprises and all were interesting. 

We traveled from McCook to Norfolk using very good and less traveled state highways. Most of them were roads we had not used before as we almost always drive through Nebraska going and coming on our winter and spring migration. 

Our first history lesson of the day.

I have no idea how many children attended the school

at any one time. 14x16 is small.

(We did not find the cache.)

(We were more successful on all the other stops.)

I am so hoping to find a POW camp

from WWII with buildings, photos, personal stories...

anything that is more than just the sign.

I believe there is one farther east in NE or possibly 

northern KS. We stopped in the community last spring,

but did not have the time to play tourist. I also believe WY 

is trying to recreate one of the POW Camps.

The information on the sign is very interesting.

Having heard a lecture this winter on the Orphan Train,

this stop was also of personal interest. Its history is

NOT related to the Orphan Train which was based in

New York City.

The Christian Orphan's Home in Holdrege was established

in 1889 by the Evangelical Free Church. 

Records show that

1,100 children lived, worked and attended school at the 

institution between 1889 and it's closing in 1954.

Although the building is unoccupied today, it is the 

focus of buildings on a campus for retirement living,

including independent, assisted, and full-term care

on the outskirts of the community.

Curt took some time to play with some toys.

He was looking for a special blue one.

He found it.

We knew the Oregon Trail passed through Nebraska.

We also had an idea of the info shared on the historical 

marker.

What really make me proud was the way the state 

proudly shared the information along

a 'lowly' state highway.

Cool.

Speaking of Kool...

This mural was on the wall of a chain restaurant 

in Hastings

Why?

 Kool-Aid started in Hastings NE

A very abbreviated history of Kool-Aid from Wikipedia

 More about Edwin Perkins 

and his significance to Hastings

And the final Nebraska history lesson for today

I stood on the corner looking in every direction for the 

Liederkranz and FINALLY the fluttering

banner got my attention.

It is NOT a small building.

Currently unoccupied, but still standing.

The building housing the POWs is not.

Grand Island, Nebraska

Lilacs

I was so excited to look out the window of the hotel in Logan NM Sunday evening and see the lilac flowers. We won't be seeing lilacs until at least mid May in South Dakota! I tried to take a photo, but the wind was blowing so hard, the flowers were just a blur. (Look at the previous post.)

So this morning (Monday) before we headed north, I quickly snapped a few photos of the same lilac bush.

What is that white stuff?

BRRRrrrrrr!

Yes. SNOW. 

Thankfully, not a lot, just enough 

to make driving on the roads this morning  interesting.

WINDY New Mexico

Sunday we traveled from western New Mexico to the eastern side, geocaching along the way. Our route took us through the middle of the state, with very few miles on Interstate. As we traveled farther to the east the wind picked up in speed and the temperatures dropped about 25 degrees in an hour. A cold front moved in. 

We cached in some interesting places, again. Some cemeteries, a couple of natural wonders, and what I consider as the typical New Mexico sightings are featured in the photos below.

No sheep sightings in the area now

A row of white metal crosses

Interesting cross headstones

Prevalent Catholic community in Magnalena

And large Mexican/Spanish population in the area

Interesting to think we were 4 miles above mountain peaks at this point

and about 100 miles east, the salt flats lakes were 150' below sea level

Registered Polled LongHorns

Looking for caches on the ground, along the fence packed with

tumbleweeds

 Tumbleweed packed fence line hiding geocaches

Trains. Many, MANY trains seen in western & central NM

I liked the color of this photo

the white grass, the dark hill, the outline of a mountain

range, the cloud covered sky, AND

the red trailer on the flatbed train car

Another cemetery

This one in Willard

Unique headstones

In black & white

In color

I liked the tree 

It is still winter in this part of NM

No green anywhere

The second natural wonder, Blue Hole

A spring fed pool

A scuba diving training center

Water temp about 63º

About 10 people playing in the pool this afternoon

Stone and rock walls surrounding the hole

Very pretty blue water in the hole

But clear water in the channel coming from the pool

Interesting

Lilac bushes at the hotel

But the wind was SO STRONG, this was the result of me 

holding the branch while taking a photo

A trucker told us he thought the winds were 50 mph

not gusting, but constant