27 July 2016 Lawrence and Gallia Counties

It's considered an achievement to find caches in all the counties in a state. We have already found caches in all counties of four states. It seemed time to actually find caches in all the counties in our "home" state. Lawrence and Gallia Counties were the only ones we had missed during our twelve years of geocaching. We were staying in Ironton which is the Lawrence county seat so finding a cache in Lawrence was an easy task. We were happy to start our morning at the local library in Ironton. The geocache final was in the geneology room. Ali has done much of her family's ancestory with many courthouse visits over the years, but Lawrence offered a chance for her to explore the history of a part of the family which settled in southern Ohio. The staff member who pointed her towards a few valuable resources was friendly and clearly loved her work in the department.

I amused myself with the discovery of an amazing book locating veterans' graves. If I had time, I would start the project to record and post on-line images of the grave markers of veterans of all wars by their service and the grave coordinates with the hope that future historians, geneologists, and descendants could use the information as a resource. With some luck, I will have the time to begin. Each year many grave markers are weathered to the point of unreadable or damaged. It would be great to use the technology available to bring this together.

This trip had the most butterflies since we traveled through Pennsylvania Counties for vacation in 2008.

We often pass by roadside hides when traveling. They are often the worst of geocaching, but we were intrigued by a roadside regular. It turned out to be a fun adventure hidden in a rock face.

The cache was nicely hidden in this crevice.

It wouldn't be a visit along the Ohio River without a visit to one of the locks. This is Lock #10 also know as the Robert C Byrd Locks.

I don't think of being on a river to sail, but this sailboat docked at someone's home on the West Virginia side looked like a great way to be on the water.

We made a stop at Mound Hill Cemetery to find a multi-stage cache which shared the history within the cemetery. It was a fun journey at a picturesque location.

It's not often when there is an admiral

and a major general in the same small-town cemetery.

You also don't see many memorials to people who lost their lives on the Titanic.

I spotted my first GEM pump the day prior at Confidence Cemetery. That pump had its cowl removed and the chain assembly had been stripped. Mound Hill had a GEM pump in working condition. The pumps had been made in Blue Ash, Ohio. They company appears to be out of business, but a hardware supply company called Lehman's still provides parts and now makes a replacement model. The hand crank pump is much different from the piston pumps I remember from Cleveland Metroparks and old rest areas of youth. There are still a few of those in place and functional at rural cemeteries and a few of the old remaining roadside rest stops. These crank pumps were a new sighting.

Our last stop was at a county park called Raccoon Creek. We enjoyed a brief walk on the trails and a stop by a small pond to spot a frog along the shore.