13 October 2016 Autumn at Sunny Lake

At my new office in Aurora it sometimes seems I am located in a bad weather vortex. Strong storms and grey skies seem more common here the than usual overcast and rainy weather of Northeast Ohio. Sunsets on late nights at the office can be wonderful though and an opportunity to take a couple-mile, evening walk around Sunny Lake Park on a perfect evening can also be wonderful. I've learned to never be surprised at what nature offers here and to enjoy the scenery on my journeys. This evening, I was happy to see a great blue heron hunting for food along the shore and a cedar waxwing in a tree off the side of the trail.

11 October 2016 Walking for Work

I have worn a pedometer and averaged 10,000 steps a day for over ten years. Like last year, it won't happen this year. Between increased visits to Mexico, more flying for work and, most importantly, a new office at double the commuting time, I've gone from a steady walker to a binge walker. It seemed ironic I was participating in a work wellness program that required me to do what is increasingly more difficult to do because of work. This evening I made a stop at a local park on my way home. For as long as we have lived in our home, the park has seemed to exist for the insatiable desire of parents to watch their children play soccer. If there are no leagues, the fields are empty as is the majority of the park. Lost to most of the visitors is a quiet, scenic trail that winds around the outside of the park. I enjoyed a solitary walk this evening with the exception of a brief visit by a very wet lab who was clearly enjoying time in the stream.

10 October 2016 Cox Arboretum

It was time for the last drive of the trip from the Cincinnati area to home. We had to pick the dogs from camp and do little things like laundry before I headed back to the office the next day. Our geocaching was limited to couple parks with one of them being scenic Cox Arboretum in Dayton's Five Rivers Metroparks system. It was a perfect fall day to be out, but not the best time of the year to be visiting the park to see blooms. I would happily return again for a future visit.

9 October 2016 Mammoth Cave and Other Kentucky Adventures

Guthrie Kentucky loves their cows to wear pink glasses, their hay to be decorated and posting bad patriotic puns. ;)

We made a stop in Russellville for a couple virtual caches. We missed the Tobacco Heritage Festival by a day. Too bad, it would have been an interesting view of a different way of life. We were at least able to see the winners and losers in the tobacco contest. Much like judging hay at ag fairs near our home, I was clueless to why one leaf was better than another.

Our stop of the day and the trip was a visit to Mammouth Cave. Once we were in the park we made a brief detour to Sloan's Pond before heading to the cave tour.

It was my first visit and Ali's first since her youth. The sheer size is amazing. I was happy we were able to make a visit.

8 October 2016 Jonesboro and North

We spent the night in Jonesboro and made our first stop at Craighead Forest Park. The park was a perfect way to start the morning. The attractive park surrounds a lake and was first developed in 1937 as the Young Men's Civic Club. The City of Jonesboro has done well in keeping this park. We arrived while a race was in progress, but it seemed like an odd race. It turned out to be an event called the Gearhead Endurance Challenge. Basically, the event ran for twelve hours and participants were sent out every 30 minutes to run the 2.5 mile loop around the lake in the 30 minutes. If you weren't back in 30 minutes, you had to wait until the next 30 minute run while if you finished your 30 minutes early you could rest for the next start. It actually sounded interesting for everything but the part about doing this for twelve hours. We were happy to enjoy the trails, find a few caches, and even see a late butterfly.

The exercise stations at this park rock. These and the ones at Foundry Park in Monterrey are the best I have seen. They are much more involved than the typical par course units common in so many parks.

We walked about halfway around the park before it was time for us to turn and move on to our next destination. If I were in the area again, I would be happy to return to Craighead Forest.

We were off to Tennessee and the oldest active cache in the state from January 2001. This location was a big step up from Arkansas' oldest hide. We enjoyed a boardwalk journey and a quick trip to the oldest cache.

The real interesting area of this park was a walk into the cypress swamp for a cache hide. This area offered a few herons and nice views of the swamp. We were able to reach the water's edge and find the cache along with a few crayfish chimneys, a lot of cypress knees, and an old turtle shell.

I've enjoyed caching in Tennessee parks. Today's adventure was another positive visit. We hoped to stop at a state park with a mound near Jackson and a now closed company plant location, but travel made us too late for a visit. Maybe the plant will reopen some time in the future for a return to the area.

7 October 2016 Hello Arkansas

I had never been to Arkansas so this was a new experience. A colleague once stated if he were to move south it would be to Arkansas. My first impression made me wonder if that long ago comment was made in jest. The roadside welcome center included a first for me with overnight camping behind the center. The staff in the welcome center was super friendly so that was a big plus.

We added another state with benchmark finds in the small town of Siloam Springs.

My doubts of visiting Arkansas continued until we stopped at Hobbs State Park. I took few images and nothing memorable while trying to protect the camera from the ever-present dampness and rain, but I enjoyed our walk in the park. I would return to the state to explore more of the state parks.

For the most part of the day, I was mostly miserable. I wasn't careful on Monday, and we ate at a "Mexican" restaurant which was more bar than restaurant. We were late to dine and they didn't seem to care about food. It's a bad combination for me. By Friday, I was miserable from four days of food poisoning and exhausted. I'm sure I was lousy company on a long drive to reach our destination. We made a tourist stop at the War Eagle Mill in Rogers. It was relief for me to be able to stretch my aching body and the old mill was an interesting place to visit. We moved on from the mill and made a quiet find at a hidden cemetery.

Arkansas' oldest geocache will not go down as a favorite. The cache is hidden in the grassy area of a commercial parking lot. Sometimes old caches are just old.

6 October 2016 Last Evening in Tulsa

My local work was done and we were on our last evening in Tulsa before heading home. The short days and still unfound caches made a return to Chandler Park logical. This evening we headed off to what appears to be an abandoned section of the park. The pavement is crumbling with growth popping through while the area is dotted with old unused picnic pavilions and recreation areas. It's a bit melancholy.

These were once nice tennis courts...

Picnic table

Old picnic pavilion

This neglected area of the park also offers some nice rock faces and good views of the Tulsa skyline.

This evening, it was also home to a kestrel.

Our last stop was to hopefully avenge one of my previous dnf's. It was a high terrain cache in an out-of-the way location. Since Ali's a much better cacher, I thought the two of us might spot the find. It didn't happen.

Maybe I will finally spot it in 2017.