Monday, July 23, 2012 - Geocaching from Sandy, Oregon to Mt. Hood area

While Geocaching in the forest near Mt. Hood, my daughter, Catherine, and I discovered a large mound about 5 ft. across and about 2 ft. high. The mound was covered with a burlap-like material. A very large rock weighed down the center of the mound. Smoke billowed up but there were no flames. 

Catherine was so determined to find the cache that she jumped over the mound a couple times. Finally we decided that the cache was a lost cause. And the more that we studied the mound the more we were convinced that it just didn't look right.

I dialed 911 and was transferred to the Forest Service.  I gave the description and coordinates of the mound to the FS. I marked a tree along the road with a Safeway plastic bag. It would have been great to have a marking ribbon as someone drove by later and removed the bag before the Forest Service got there!

We worked with the Forest Service by phone through the afternoon while we continued geocaching until they were able to get to the location and find the mound in the forest. It turned out that the mound was deliberately created to cause a forest fire.

Catherine and I had lunch at the Ice Axe Grill at Government Camp.  We found 16 caches and one waymark.   We drove to the Mt. Hood area via Hwy 26 so we decided to take Hwy 35 to Hood River.   We stopped at Panorama Viewpoint overlooking the Hood River Valley and Mt. Hood.  We crossed the Hood River bridge to White Salmon.

Catherine and I traveled west on Hwy 14 from White Salmon to Vancouver, WA.  We encountered two long coal trains heading west.  The second coal train was so long that we never reached the front of the train no matter how fast I drove.   Coal dust swirled off the top of the coal cars.  It was unbelievable.   When the coal train subject was brought up at the Friends of the Gorge picnic on Sunday I did not realize that the coal trains were already rolling.

Summer English Tea at Leach Botanical Garden

 This afternoon my daughter, Catherine, and I had Afternoon Tea at Leach Botanical Garden.  It was very nice.  We had a pot of Rose Tea.  The First Plate was a Scone with Jam and Devonshire Cream.  The Sandwich Plate was Chunky Hummus, Nutty Ginger Carrot, Cucumber Bites, Smoky Salmon and Creamy Turkey Cranberry with a side of summer orzo salad.  The Dessert Plate was Cheesecake, Lemon Curd Tartlet and Chocolate Island Treasure Cookie.  We drove a few blocks east to the Cedar Crossing Covered Bridge and then went for a long drive.  Back in Vancouver we stopped at the library to pick up a book and then stopped at the Video store to pick up a film.

Sandy, Oregon Geocoin Challenge 2012

My daughter, Catherine,  and I went geocaching in the Sandy Oregon area yesterday.  We found five required caches and five optional caches.  We purchased donuts mid-morning which we ate in the nearby park.  We picked up our Geocoins at the Sandy Chamber of Commerce.

We had Afternoon Tea at Chariteas.  I got a pot of Earl Grey and Catherine got Darjeeling.  I really prefer the Darjeeling.  We found five more caches and went on a very long drive in the countryside.   We stopped to hunt for a cache with a high difficulty rating and a fairly high terrain rating.  We found white bleached bones along the side of the road behind my car.  A little further down the hillside were more bones.  And then we found a skull behind a log.  It was definitely time to beat a retreat! 

Fallen Trees

We recently removed five trees in the back yard: two grand firs, two scotch pines and a norway spruce and the tall cedar tree in the front yard.  The neighbors on the corner removed three tall firs that towered over their house.  During a recent storm a bolt of lightning struck a tall fir at Hudsons Bay High just a mile west of our house, shattering it.  I was terrified that during a wind storm one of the trees would get struck by lightning or crash into the house.   It was definitely time to remove the trees. 

PUD removed the top of the five tall trees in the back yard to 10 ft. below the power line.  Two weeks later Frontier Tree Service removed the 75 ft. long and 8 ft. high mound of branches and logs left by PUD and cut down the rest of the trees in the back yard.  They removed the tall cedar tree on the last day.   It is great having the trees gone.

Trip to Guler Cave

I purchased a Garmin Nuvi 2555LMT this noon at Walmart.  Best Buy refused to match the price and said that Walmart opened the Garmin Nuvi cases and removed items so they could sell it cheaper.  Hogwash!

I drove to Hood River, Oregon on I-84.  I stopped in Cascade Locks, Oregon where I had a large chocolate and vanilla swirl ice cream cone which melted faster than I could eat it.   I searched for a granite erratic on the summit of Van Horn Butte in Hood River that had been deposited during the Missoula Ice Age Floods.  I was not able to find the erratic. 

I drove across the Columbia River on the Hood River Toll Bridge to Trout Lake, Washington and Guler Ice Cave.   Someone took my photo with my camera at the entrance to the Guler Ice Cave.  I walked down the flight of stairs into the ice cave.  I stood on the bottom step to take several photos. 

I was not prepared to explore the ice cave as visitors should wear warm clothing, shoes with a good tread, head protection, and carry two sources of light.  Walking poles would be a good idea also.  I had the walking poles but not the rest of the gear.  Back in Trout Lake I had a very late lunch at the Historic Trout Lake County Inn (1904).

I drove back to Vancouver via Hwy 14.  About five miles east of Prindle a large black pickup truck had flipped on its side in the eastbound lane.  Its tires were against the guard rail.  Looked very strange.  Several people had stopped to help direct traffic.   I got home about 8:15pm.  Really enjoyable day.

Sunday, July 1, 2012 - Long Days Journey back to Portland, Oregon

I got up early the next morning and packed my large suitcase.  I drove the Jeep to Avis Rental at the New Haven Train Station.  I was stopped by the police when I cut him off in a traffic circle.  After he ordered me back in the Jeep, ordered me to roll down the window and checked my driver's license,  I asked the police officer if I could follow him to the train station so he gave me a police escort part way and showed me where to go the rest of the way.  I turned the Jeep in to Avis and caught a taxi back to the hotel.  I finished packing.  Christopher and I went down to the lobby to catch the GO Airport Shuttle at 9:45am back to LaGuardia.

We had lunch at Centerplace with a view of the runway.  We went to our gate.  We had several hours until boarding.  Christopher did his homework and I read a book that I purchased at Hudson News - John Grisham's "Confession".  The plane was delayed another hour.  And we had to change gates.  We did not take off until 4:45pm.  We got some drink/snacks at Starbucks at the Chicago Terminal.  We took off on time for a four hour flight to Portland International Airport.  Catherine met us at the terminal and we dropped Christopher off at his apartment.   It was good to be back in cool, drizzly weather and back to my own bed.  It was an interesting trip but there's no place like home!

Saturday, June 30, 2012 - Exploring east along Hwy 1/Hwy 95 and then back on Hwy 95

We got up early and took a taxi to Avis Car Rental at Union Train Station.  I rented a black Liberty Jeep with tinted windows and Texas plates.  We headed east on Hwy 1 along the coast.  I photographed the New Haven Lighthouse Old Tower (Benchmark LX6368) and Southwest Ledge Lighthouse (Benchmark LX6370) about 9:00am.  We saw the First Congregational Church of East Haven, also known as the Old Stone Church (1774).   

We had breakfast at McDonald's in Branford CT.  I had a bacon egg cheese biscuit meal with orange juice.  I am not sure what Christopher had for breakfast.

We stopped at the Henry Whitfield House (1639)  in Guilford CT.   The house, with its massive stone walls, also served as a fort.  It was one of four stone houses that served to protect the community.  It is the oldest house in Connecticut and the oldest stone house in New England.

We stopped at Samson Rock in Madison CT.  A huge boulder sat on top of a rock outcropping.  The legend of Samson Rock was inscribed on a bronze plaque.  It is believed that Samson Rock is an erratic placed there by a glacier during the last Ice Age.

We did not find the Bridge Benchmark (LX0071).  It had been destroyed.  However we did find the cache at The Singing Bridge (GC1CHZ4) about 12:15pm.  As the vehicles crossed over the open steel deck the tires sang. 

We drove north to ride the Essex Steam Train into the heart of the scenic Connecticut River Valley for ten miles.  I purchased our tickets at the historic 1892 Essex Station.  Christopher purchased some items in the gift shop including an old fashioned pocket watch with chain.  We ate lunch at the train depot cafe.  At 2:00pm we rode in open car on the Essex Steam Train pulled by Locomotive 3025 through a picturesque countryside of meadows, farms, and a millpond.  I saw Gillette Castle (1914-1919) on the hillside.   Several hikers traveled by an earlier train to Hadlyme flagstop, where they disembarked and rode the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry across the Connecticut River.  They hiked 3/8-miles to Gillette Castle and back.  We stopped to pick up them up on our return trip back to Essex.  It sounded like fun.  If we had time it would have been fun also to ride the triple-deck Mississippi style riverboat for an 1 1/2-hour cruise along the Connecticut River to see the lush scenery and historic sites, such as Gillette Castle and the Goodspeed Opera House.

We headed south to Fort Saybrook Virtual Geocache (GCD048) at 4:00pm.  We read the signboard to learn  the history and get the answers to the Virtual questions.  Christopher wandered around the site of the Valley Railroad Roundabout.  Saybrook was the lifelong residence of the late actress Katherine Hepburn.

We traveled  one mile southeast to the Saybrook Lighthouse (Benchmark: LX5808).  I took several photographs from the car as this was private property.  We drove six miles east to CT History - Thomas Lee House (GC19T4Y) in the Niantic section of East Lyme, CT.  Constructed between 1660 and 1664, it is one of the oldest wood frame houses in Connecticut still in its primitive state.  Today the house is a historic house museum operated by the East Lyme Historical Society, and furnished as it would have been in the 18th century.  We did not find the cache.  It had been missing for some time.

We traveled east for 14 1/2 miles on Hwy 95, stopping at the Jerome Hoxie Scenic Overlook.  I photographed the Mystic Municipal Tank and the Mystic Seaport Lighthouse a mile and half to the south.  Christopher found a cache (GC23GEP).   There were three Waymarks at this location.

At 6:30pm, we visited the Stonington Cemetery, a 22 acre burial ground where I photographed a very ornate Gothic style chapel (Waymark).  We traveled into Stonington where I photographed the Stonington Historical Marker (Waymark).  We explored the 1650 Wequetequock Burial Ground, the oldest cemetery in Stonington located on the east side of Wequetequock Cove.  I photographed the large four sided monument dedicated to the founders of Stonington: Chesebrough, Minor, Palmer and Stanton who are buried in this cemetery.   We tried to locate William and Anna Chesebrough's grave but were unsuccessful.   Christopher is a descendant of the Chesebroughs of Stonington, CT.  His paternal grandmother was Pruda M. Chesebro Wilson.   The 1650 Wequetequock Burial Ground had not been Waymarked so I did.

We drove several miles northeast to a graveyard near Exeter where we found the gravestone and crypt of Mercy Lena Brown, the Rhode Island Vampire.  Mercy has the distinction of being the last of the North American vampires - at least in the traditional sense.  She was only 19 years old when she died of consumption on January 17, 1892.  She was laid to rest in an above ground crypt in Chestnut Hill Cemetery, because in January the ground was too frozen to dig a grave.  Her mother, Mary, had died in December 1883; her sister, Mary Olive, died seven months later; and now her brother, Edwin, was also dying.  In mid March 1892 Mercy's  father, and some of his friends and family removed her heart, burned on a nearby rock and the ashes fed in a drink to Edwin hoping the vampire spell would be broken.   It failed to save Edwin who died two months later of consumption.

I had never seen fireflies so it was a real treat to watch them beside the crypt.

The sun had set and it was getting too dark to do anymore geocaching/waymarking/benchmarking.  We headed the 90 miles or so back to New Haven and Pepe's Pizza.  We got there 13 minutes before closing. They not only let us order but we were allowed to eat our dinner at one of the booths. A small mozzarella, sausage and pepperoni pizza fed us both with three slices left over for a late night snack.  I also had a salad - the best I have ever eaten. I took photos of several of the photographs.  Back at the OMNI Hotel parking garage, we cleaned out the Jeep.