12 April 2009 A DNF in Frohring Meadows







We stopped by here for a walk in the woods and a multi hunt. We had found the first cache hidden here last year. The one this year has had only our friend Chris as a finder so far, and it took him a couple hours. It's a three-mile loop through the park plus four stages of a multi. We knew we would be here for a while, but didn't expect to leave with a dnf. This is a tough cache. We got the first two stages and left two for later. While spending a looooong time looking for stage 2, I saw an interesting looking downed tree with the cells below. While we were taking a blind look or two for the final, Ali found a glass dump. These were fairly common at old farms. This one is fairly large, but except for the amber Clorox bottles with the Clorox name in the bottle, the bottles weren't overly interesting.

The woods were at the almost stage with wildflowers. We found lots of things almost open but the spice bush below was as near as an open blossom as we found. The great things about a dnf in the woods is you get to spend time in the woods and you get to return for another look.

11 April 2009 Sheldon Marsh and Walking the Beach


This egret was successful in its hunt.

Kinda looks like the Lake Erie Sea Monster...








Our final destination for the day was Sheldon Marsh. We try to stop by once every spring. Today we stretched our visit by walking the length of the beach. We were surprised to not see any turtles at our favorite spot by the pond. It seems to be a theme this spring at Eagle Creek, Sheldon Marsh, and South Chagrin... no turtles. :-(

We were treated to the usual fare of egrets, red-wing blackbirds, and ducks. Our bonuses today were a hawk perched on a utility pole on the trail and an eagle near the point. I think we all got our feet wet in the rollers. Sunshine and Lake Erie doesn't get much better than this.

11 April 2009 Erie County Wildflowers

10 April 2009 A Rainy Afternoon in Bedford Reservation

9 April 2009 Tinkers Creek

6 April 2009 Winter's Last?

5 April 2009 Caching Euclid Creek

4 April 2009 Cleveland Metroparks







We both thought the weather was going to be rainy for the weekend so we stayed in Ohio. I guess we were wrong. ;-) Our mission was two Cleveland Metroparks Caches in their visitor centers. We got those, but stopped in the middle to grab a couple of caches in an office park. While in the office park, I spotted this really large bird's nest. A moment later, Ali spotted the hawk using the nest.

3 April 2009 Power Authority Observation Deck






The last time I was here was a wonderful spring day in 2007. Three of us played tourist that day and played with every toy at the power authority visitor center. Today I was here for business. After my meeting, I stopped on the observation deck for these photos. I didn't realize this was the best weather of the day. Thankfully, the observation deck overhang provided great protection from the rain. I tried to send an e-mail to Ali with the web cam at the center, but it wasn't working today :-(.

The last time we were here, we cached the gorge and found all caches in the gorge except three. Ali said it's time to come back and finish the finds so sometime this spring or summer we will get to once more play tourist.

2 April 2009 Cambria Town Park




There is a new(er) cache in this new park. I wanted to go somewhere else besides Bond Lake this evening so I stopped here on the way to the hotel. As I pulled into the park, I noticed something that looked like birds in a long, shallow pond off too the right of the drive. My brain didn't really register that they were tundra swan probably migrating. Rather than stopping and grabbing the camera, I blissfully drove on while looking at them. Only as they took off and left the pond did I realize what they were. Oops, no pictures for me.

The park is more of a nature area which is great for me. There are multiple small viewing platforms that lead into the wetlands area. The spring peepers were in full chorus this evening. As were the western chorus frogs. I actually learned what they were and what sound they make by reading the information sign near the park's gazebo. Caching and listening to frogs makes for a nice evening.

This is my first attempt at adding video. I've done it more for the sounds than the image. We'll see how it works out.

1 April 2009 Lake Erie at Sunset

I was on my way to Niagara Falls for work for a few days and stopped to cache for a bit along a nice rail trail. I was at a friend's cache signing the log and was treated to the back-and-forth calls of a pair of barred owls. After leaving the trail and seeing the beginnings of a grand sunset from the road, I drove to a nearby vineyard with a view of Lake Erie and took a few images as the sun went down. For the first time, I actually saw the green flash as the sun dropped below the horizon. No luck with a photo though.

31 March 2009 Mall Rat









I've always been a mall rat. From high school and hanging out with friends in the game room at Parmatown Mall to walking the malls in twenty-plus years of solitary business travel, I've seen more than I can count. During the winter, walking the local malls with Ali helps me get past a season of little light and coldness. While I've traveled, malls, geocaching, and a few wonderful friends have helped me keep my sanity in a quiet world of being alone. This evening, Ali and I stopped by Beachwood Place for some steps and time together before I was once again on the road. The mall had creative displays in each wing to stress that there are so many hurting in this rough economic time and to encourage giving to the local food banks and hunger centers. It's a good idea for all of us who can give to remember those of us who need.

29 March 2009 Eagle Creek Nature Preserve






We were a little early for turtles and most of the spring wildflowers. We also had to dodge the raindrops on the way out of the preserve, but it was a quiet, pleasant spring day.

28 March 2009 Caching Columbiana

Lusk's Lock

Trotter Lookout

Beaver Creek State Forest

North Fork of Little Beaver Creek

TK's Lookout

Ted's Lookout

We spent the day in Columbiana County. This is always a favorite place for us. We hiked Beaver Creek State Park many times before we were married. We tried for a long time to buy property here and hoped not so many years ago to have a chance to move here. Those times are past, but we still return often to hike the beautiful land around Beaver Creek. Besides that, Ali's ancestors were early settlers in the area and lost a lot of money of a really poor idea to build a canal through the area.

Today we started at Lusk's Lock in Beaver Creek State Park and ended up with a long walk through Beaver Creek State Forest. We saw the first spring beauty near Lusk's Lock and big clumps of hepatica leaves.

The State Forest walk took us from lookout to lookout with a cache near each lookout. The lookout's each had a wooden sign attached to a tree naming the lookout. We both thought Ted's was the better of the two in the state forest.

27 March 2009 Peepers and Woodcocks