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Sunday, April 15, 2012

Caching in Hinton.

After 40 yrs of breathing in this great province this Albertan has some special spots in the province to visit. Well, JNP and the area east of the park are some of my favorite places to hike and explore. After I was 16 I was hiking, fishing and exploring on my own (on account I had my license) throughout the eastern slopes of the park, north to Switzer park, and all the way south on the trunk road past Banff. The forestry truck road running N&S, parallel to the park has sTuRgi sweat and tears all over it. Simply my favorite.

So it was a natural selection to head south west to JNP and Hinton area for our geoadventure get-away! That's why we got here.

Sunday am the breakfast bell was a bit later 8am this time, so we all got a sleep in. The morning air was brisk and certainly fresh. I just can't explain the feeling I get when you first walk out into clean, mountain air, with a tint of horse poop, GAWD I love that!! We all packed it downstairs to have breaky with the owners and other guests. Liam insisted the bell be rung....again! Then we eat.

Breakfast:
  • Bacon
  • Pancackes
  • Fruit
  • Coffe n Juice
Packed lunch for our Geoadventure as we knew we would not be back for lunch at the ranch! We hit the road by 10am to get a full day of cachin in, and another Geoadventure begins.

Today's Geocaches:

Solomons Creek  
Dawg Heaven  
Old Powerhouse 
Welcome to Bruele
Old Yellow
Police Stash#1
Kiddie Cache
Stop, Pop & Roll
Inushuck
Height of Heights 

A FULL day of navigation, p breaks, sunshine, fresh air, family and geocachin!!! 

The hi-light of the day was certainly "Dawg Heaven" - his cache will forever remain in the sTuRgi hard drive for a long time. The coordinates for this cache were very close to the BCR, but we decided to leave it till later in the morning when it warmed up a bit. Well, we planned that one right. After locating the access road, Daddy had to do some 4x4 maneuvers and a stellar park job on a tight trail, and ICE!!! The listing for this cache was very intriguing, and had momma and I thinking a bit. Boy were we right, what an interesting cache.


Dawg Heaven GCNQ3H - a geocache located on the far side of a "pet cemetery" = Dawg Heaven. It was a beautiful spot, but with an emotional tie, that definitely touched the sTuRgi. This was a place for pet owners to lay their pets who passed on rest. A quiet, secluded spot facing west, towards the mountains. Now this is the place I would like to rest, if given the chance. BEAUTIFUL!!!! We had to explain to the kids what the idea was behind the pet cemetery, and Liam took it to heart and shed a tear. Who know our Crystal kid would be so touched - ya we both knew before we got their Liam would be affected, and he was. We explained that when pets die, it's like loosing a family member, and that this place was a happy place for the passed on pets to enjoy their time in a better place. And that this special place meant alot to the mommy and daddies of these pets. Liam certainly understood, but it brought alot of sadness to his young heart. It was our job to ensure he understood the reason, and I think we did a great job...after of coarse we all cried!! Momma led us to the cache, signed the log book and then we trekked back to the limo. We stopped at every grave, saying the names of the critters and wishing them a great day! The kids may have heard about the circle of life today, and they may have understood it a bit, but Im glad we stopped at this cache. 

Liam was sad still, and he mentioned he didn't want Spriggsy to die and come here. So we explained that indeed someday Spriggs would pass away, and maybe we would bring him here, or create our own spot for him to rest, with a great view. A place we can visit him anytime, and he'll be left alone to enjoy his time. Liam liked that - and with that it was time to go. Definitely one of the best caches we have been too, and learned alot about life and death!!

After this cache it was time for some grub, so picnic time it was. We headed into Hinton for a break, fuel and finally a LIMO BATH!!! The balance of the afternoon was more cachin, a nap for the Bean and Jr. On our way home we hit the cache Height of Heights. This cache is loacted just outside Hinton, on Hwy 40 North towards Grande Cache. There is a subdivision for the richy rich, who don't want to live in Hinton, but close to the mountains, my opinion a great spot to live, much like the Zac, cept RICHER$$$$$$$$!!!!!!

This cache was a great location, great view, ez access and a family designed cache - our favorite when caching with the mini me's. So we thought what a great spot to drop our first Travel Bug - TCB. 

So we did, left our first Travel Bug behind, with directions and a mission to get it to Graceland, home of the King of Rock n Roll - ELVIS!!!!! 

It is still there as of today 15Apr12, but we hope it starts it's mission soon. I am apprehensive that it will make it, but hey it's worth a try!. I took my TCB silver ring and attached it to the TB via a key chain ring. Hope it holds, Hope it makes it to Graceland. So far no-one has visited this cache since our visit, but it's a great spot and I hope the TB gets picked up soon!!!

Back to the BCR for din din, and R&R! Then the journey home in the am.




Saturday, April 14, 2012

Geocaching & eBay

For those who know me well, know I am a eBay freak. I am always on eBay looking for that one special "trick" dodad that no-one else has!!

Check these out!! Someone better buy me these!! hint hint!!


GPS

Global Positioning System. 


The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based satellite navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. It is maintained by the United States government and is freely accessible by anyone with a GPS receiver.


So basically the sTuRgi play an on-line game, using billions of dollars of equipment to find treasures hidden in the world, by common folk!! AWESOME!!!! 


Tools:








And probably the most important.


Friday, April 13, 2012

Jasper Part II ~ Early am - but NO rush!

Up and at it by 08:30am and not packed... at all! It's early morning in Jasper, a bit of a bite in the fresh mountain air. We are all stuffed FULL from last nights BuffaloFEAST!! But M&D need some joe to go, so Mc W's (aka A&W) bacon&eggers and java in a cup was in order.


10:15 first cache loaded "Majestic Pyramid" - GC2BT11 A great GC to warm up the body and get some fresh mountain air thru the blood streams. An easy cache to find at Pyramid Lake, a spot D sTuRgi knows very well. The kids were lead by Mommy sTuRgi and in no time we had our first cache of the day!  We signed the log, snapped a few pictures and loaded up! Next stop - our first Earthcache!


"Pyramid Lake" GC7QA65P  This cache is 597.8kms SW of Anzac and was our first ever EC - what a day to GC!! We followed the trail from the P/L (parking lot) stopping to read all the information posted on signs about the area, making mental notes for the final questions we had written down and studied before we got there. As we reached GZ, I noted we were approximately 1.8kms away from the limo!


It was warming up nicely, plus this great stomp in the fresh mountain air, with all the cylinders pumping the blood in every one's bodies! At GZ we answered all the questions complete and double checked. Wahoooo our first EC!! Well done sTuRgi!! What an awesome morning with the family - we missed Spriggsy, but we managed! Now we had a surprise, time to meet up with AJ & UM at Marmot Basin!

MB is the best mountain ski resort in JNP! Honest! We head up to parking lot #4 for tailgate party c/w BBQ smokies, bunz, beers and what~knots! What a great day for skiing and being in the mountains!! It was great to see Habby, Brad and James skiing with Jaclynn and Matthew. We caught up, talked about Mexico and the rest of the day! We hugged and bid a fair well and backed out of our "tight" spot - no worries Daddy had driving in reverse dialed right in!!

Next Stop GC2BT0R a quick grab and go for Daddy, but I forgot a writing stick and Momma had to be radioed in for help! Back in the Limo and off to the BCR for some peace, quiet, family, R&R, and GCing!!! 

The BCR has changed a bit, but still no TV, no phones, no traffic - just fresh air (including horse poop). Once the mini me's were settled, cleaned and advised of the rules, it was off to dinner with the owners and other guests. It was a small gathering with quick introductions and time to chow - ring the bell Liam bellows!! he liked that!

Dinner:
  • Meatloaf (Meat & Veggie)
  • Salad
  • Pasta n sauce
  • Cake & Ice Cream for dessert
A short walk around and it was bed time for everyone, we were pooped. Had the fresh air down it's job? Indeed! Bubsy built his own bed on the floor - rather comfy looking to boot. The kids watched a quick movie on the laptop (our only vice) and it only lasted 5 minutes and they were out. M&D - well we enjoyed some down time! Ask the neighbours!

The breakfast bell was to be rung by 07:30am, so the alarm went off at 07:00 so we could be ready and on time. We managed to wake all the kids, get dressed and organized to be on-time.

Breakfast:
  • Bacon
  • Omelet (basic)
  • Coffee
  • Juice n fruit
On the road by 10:00am, loaded and packed for a day of geocaching in some of Alberta's finest country east of the Rockies! NO RUSH to get anywhere, but an impressive list of GC's to complete!!

Much more to come!

Limo needs a bath.....baaaaad!!

On the STOMP!

Reading & Learning.

Tailgate party @ Marmot Basin.

Tailgate party @ Marmot Basin.

P break.

Daddy solo cache!


Cheez!