It isn't much fun to go to the property unless you get to play with the "Big Toys"
Getting a little instruction
Did I just do that?
Dueling Tractors
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Property Update
My parents have been doing a lot of work lately on their property this year. Seems like my dad is up there most days of the week. Today I decided to go up to help. Troy and Angie came up for a while as well after they did some geocaching in Morgan (I think I may have started something) Here are a few picture of the property so far. They are working hard to level off the area for the cabin right now.
This is the view from the opposite hill looking down. They are making a lot of progress with it.
This morning we spent the first few hours trying to repair the digger. The track came off when my dad was helping our neighbor. It was no fun trying to fix it.
Friday, May 8, 2009
One Square Mile
At least I didn't title it Geocaching trip 6.
While looking for some fun caches to find, Angie and I found one titled "One Square Mile." It sounded interesting for a puzzle cache. Some of those puzzle caches are just too hard but how hard could it be to walk one square mile. We started out planning for the "adventure." For this cache you had to go to 4 different coordinates each 1 mile apart and find a number that would be used to obtain the coordinates for the actual cache. Other than walking what we thought would be 4 miles it didn't seem too hard.
Angie plugged in the coordinates to see how long it suggested it would take us to walk the square mile. That's when we got a little worried. According to the internet it would be over 5 miles to travel the 4 coordinates. That was probably the first thing to weaken our determination.
How can one square mile equal over 5 miles? We later decided that it was trying to make the route in the order she entered the coordinates and not in the order necessary to make a square mile.
We were a little relieved but started to realize just how far 4 miles really is. I started getting I/M's from Angie while I was at work emphasising just how far 4 miles is. "It is only 2.9 miles from my house to Troy's parent's house" etc. It wasn't very helpful, but I wasn't willing to give up on the idea.
After work I stopped to pick up Angie and we headed out for the first coordinates. Turns out the first coordinates were not far from the Frontrunner station in Farmington. We parked the car in an abandoned parking lot and set out to find the first number. It actually didn't take us long to find it. We wrote it down and that's when we starting thinking about the 2nd coordinates and just how far 4 miles would be. It didn't take us too long to decide that maybe we should drive a little closer to the 2nd coordinates to find a better parking spot than the parking lot of an abandoned building.
As the GPS beeped that we were getting close to the 2nd coordinates we started to realize just how far 1 mile was. We parked the car on the side of the road in a housing area. We walked about 200 feet or so to the coordinates and then found the second number. We wrote it down and then looked in the direction of the 3rd coordinates. Do we start walking or move the car? If we left the car where it was we would have to walk to the 3rd & 4th coordinates and then all the way back to the car. Didn't take long for us to head back to the car. Of course we were starting to laugh at the direction our thoughts were taking us.
By the time we reached the 3rd coordinates we had realized that by turning down the road we could see the number without even getting out of the car. Now we are laughing so hard we are glad no one else had come with us. We had gone from the idea of walking 4 miles to not getting out of the car. Oh well. We did have to actually get out of the car for the final number and even walk through a few bushes.
For the final cache it said we could park at the horse arena of the fairgrounds and follow the paved path. The area was total empty so, in following with the way we were thinking we drove quite a ways down the side of the path before we actually parked and got out of the car.
The cache was not the easiest to find. We had to tromp through bushes and trees and I even got attacked by barbed wire at one point. We did finally find the cache and signed the log. All in all it was quite an adventure.
Since the "one square mile" didn't take as long as we anticipated we decided to collect a few more caches in the Farmington area before we returned home.
According to our list there was one in the Frontrunner parking lot. We were right next to a sign that showed an arrow to the Frontrunner parking lot. The problem was that the arrow pointed to a construction site with just dirt roads. The dirt roads did seem to lead toward the parking lot. We sat for a minute trying to decide if we were really suppose to drive on the dirt road. We gave up and decided to attempt it from the other side before actually trying the dirt road.
We did find a paved entrance to the parking lot and easily found the cache. On our way out we noticed that the dirt road would not have gotten us to the parking lot. We would have run into a construction fence. Guess one thing went in our favor tonight.
Next we tried one titled "A nice little walk" It wasn't too hard to find the cache, however it was a bit painful to retrieve it. It was in a fir tree and had fallen to the ground so we had to crawl under the tree to reach it. I got poked a few times which sucked. Once we signed the log we had to replace the cache. That is were the problems began. We put the cache back where we thought it should go. As we checked the area we decided that we had changed the difficulty of the cache from a 1 1/2 to a (-1). You could easily see the cache if you walked down the sidewalk, even though you couldn't from where we stood on the sidewalk. It took a few more attempts and a little while for us to control the giggles, but we did replace the cache and moved on.
We were able to collect 2 more by Farmington Pond with no problems at all before we called it a night. I haven't been to this pond for several years. I used to come fishing with my grandpa at this pond. It has changed alot. It's a nice little area. My grandpa would have loved it. We were watching some kids swinging out on a rope and landing in the pond. I couldn't believe they were doing that. It wasn't warm and we were wearing jackets. Oh well, you couldn't have got me to do it.
We managed to get a total of 5 caches for the night. Not too bad considering one involved a "4 mile" walk.
While looking for some fun caches to find, Angie and I found one titled "One Square Mile." It sounded interesting for a puzzle cache. Some of those puzzle caches are just too hard but how hard could it be to walk one square mile. We started out planning for the "adventure." For this cache you had to go to 4 different coordinates each 1 mile apart and find a number that would be used to obtain the coordinates for the actual cache. Other than walking what we thought would be 4 miles it didn't seem too hard.
Angie plugged in the coordinates to see how long it suggested it would take us to walk the square mile. That's when we got a little worried. According to the internet it would be over 5 miles to travel the 4 coordinates. That was probably the first thing to weaken our determination.
How can one square mile equal over 5 miles? We later decided that it was trying to make the route in the order she entered the coordinates and not in the order necessary to make a square mile.
We were a little relieved but started to realize just how far 4 miles really is. I started getting I/M's from Angie while I was at work emphasising just how far 4 miles is. "It is only 2.9 miles from my house to Troy's parent's house" etc. It wasn't very helpful, but I wasn't willing to give up on the idea.
After work I stopped to pick up Angie and we headed out for the first coordinates. Turns out the first coordinates were not far from the Frontrunner station in Farmington. We parked the car in an abandoned parking lot and set out to find the first number. It actually didn't take us long to find it. We wrote it down and that's when we starting thinking about the 2nd coordinates and just how far 4 miles would be. It didn't take us too long to decide that maybe we should drive a little closer to the 2nd coordinates to find a better parking spot than the parking lot of an abandoned building.
As the GPS beeped that we were getting close to the 2nd coordinates we started to realize just how far 1 mile was. We parked the car on the side of the road in a housing area. We walked about 200 feet or so to the coordinates and then found the second number. We wrote it down and then looked in the direction of the 3rd coordinates. Do we start walking or move the car? If we left the car where it was we would have to walk to the 3rd & 4th coordinates and then all the way back to the car. Didn't take long for us to head back to the car. Of course we were starting to laugh at the direction our thoughts were taking us.
By the time we reached the 3rd coordinates we had realized that by turning down the road we could see the number without even getting out of the car. Now we are laughing so hard we are glad no one else had come with us. We had gone from the idea of walking 4 miles to not getting out of the car. Oh well. We did have to actually get out of the car for the final number and even walk through a few bushes.
For the final cache it said we could park at the horse arena of the fairgrounds and follow the paved path. The area was total empty so, in following with the way we were thinking we drove quite a ways down the side of the path before we actually parked and got out of the car.
The cache was not the easiest to find. We had to tromp through bushes and trees and I even got attacked by barbed wire at one point. We did finally find the cache and signed the log. All in all it was quite an adventure.
Since the "one square mile" didn't take as long as we anticipated we decided to collect a few more caches in the Farmington area before we returned home.
According to our list there was one in the Frontrunner parking lot. We were right next to a sign that showed an arrow to the Frontrunner parking lot. The problem was that the arrow pointed to a construction site with just dirt roads. The dirt roads did seem to lead toward the parking lot. We sat for a minute trying to decide if we were really suppose to drive on the dirt road. We gave up and decided to attempt it from the other side before actually trying the dirt road.
We did find a paved entrance to the parking lot and easily found the cache. On our way out we noticed that the dirt road would not have gotten us to the parking lot. We would have run into a construction fence. Guess one thing went in our favor tonight.
Next we tried one titled "A nice little walk" It wasn't too hard to find the cache, however it was a bit painful to retrieve it. It was in a fir tree and had fallen to the ground so we had to crawl under the tree to reach it. I got poked a few times which sucked. Once we signed the log we had to replace the cache. That is were the problems began. We put the cache back where we thought it should go. As we checked the area we decided that we had changed the difficulty of the cache from a 1 1/2 to a (-1). You could easily see the cache if you walked down the sidewalk, even though you couldn't from where we stood on the sidewalk. It took a few more attempts and a little while for us to control the giggles, but we did replace the cache and moved on.
We were able to collect 2 more by Farmington Pond with no problems at all before we called it a night. I haven't been to this pond for several years. I used to come fishing with my grandpa at this pond. It has changed alot. It's a nice little area. My grandpa would have loved it. We were watching some kids swinging out on a rope and landing in the pond. I couldn't believe they were doing that. It wasn't warm and we were wearing jackets. Oh well, you couldn't have got me to do it.
We managed to get a total of 5 caches for the night. Not too bad considering one involved a "4 mile" walk.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
2 for $10
I think we are starting to make it a habit. 2 for $10 admission on Tuesdays at the Syracuse movie theater. It's a fairly new theater and I don't think many people remember it's there. The seats are in excellent condition, not broken or stained yet. There is never a line for concessions and I've never been to a movie yet where more than 20 seats were sold.
Tonight we went to see Wolverine. I liked it - I have always like the comic theme movies. There was a few things about the movie that bothered me however. For example, I never knew Wolverine had an older brother with mutant abilities as well. That fact actually bugged me throughout the movie and the whole ride home until I could google it and find my answers.
I won't spoil it for anyone (not that a fact like that would bug anyone but me) but I will say that his older brother was in the Xmen movie and it doesn't mention that he is a relative in the that movie. I did guess right as to who the brother is in the Xmen movie.
I really liked the character Gambit. He didn't have a large role in this movie but it looks like he will be back. While surfing the net I found where the actor who plays Gambit has signed a 3 movie deal, so he should be appearing in the next 2 movies. I didn't know it was a trilogy but that is what they claim. Should be interesting.
Next week we plan to see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.
Tonight we went to see Wolverine. I liked it - I have always like the comic theme movies. There was a few things about the movie that bothered me however. For example, I never knew Wolverine had an older brother with mutant abilities as well. That fact actually bugged me throughout the movie and the whole ride home until I could google it and find my answers.
I won't spoil it for anyone (not that a fact like that would bug anyone but me) but I will say that his older brother was in the Xmen movie and it doesn't mention that he is a relative in the that movie. I did guess right as to who the brother is in the Xmen movie.
I really liked the character Gambit. He didn't have a large role in this movie but it looks like he will be back. While surfing the net I found where the actor who plays Gambit has signed a 3 movie deal, so he should be appearing in the next 2 movies. I didn't know it was a trilogy but that is what they claim. Should be interesting.
Next week we plan to see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Geocaching Trip 5
I suppose I need to come up with better titles for my entries. I'll work on that.
Sun May 3rd
Today we decided to try and find a few more caches. I finished with church at Noon and we ended up leaving around 1:30. We started out in Clearfield city today. Just randomly picked a cache and then mapped the others nearby. I was not impressed by the caches we found in Clearfield. We had a lot of trouble finding some and will have to go back on another day to make another attempt to find them. I don't know if it was the clouds or what, but we were having more difficulty that usual with the GPS satellites.
The caches that we did find seemed to be in desperate need of repair. Most of the logs were too wet to even sign. A few of them were in high "Muggle" areas and we were unable to search thoroughly. We definitely need to try the area again some day. We did run into some fellow geocachers for the first time on this trip.
I did think of a few more items to add to our geocache gear. Hand Sanitizer and air freshener. A few of the caches in this city were supposed (we couldn't find them before the stench chased us away) to be in areas that smelled horrible. I'm wondering if it would be too tacky to include those pine tree scented car fresheners to wear around our necks while caching in these areas.
Angie suggested bio suits as well. It is definitely something I will consider in the future.
We did finally end up with 8 caches by the end of the day and discovered a nice fishing pond that I never knew existed in Clearfield.
The cache located by the pond was a clever hide.
GC1MR3K Hidden Fishin Hole for anyone that is interested.
I think the highlight of the day however was when I dropped my car keys. Of course I couldn't just drop them on the ground like a normal person. Noooo, I had to drop them on top of a storm drain grate. I was luckier than normal. The way the keys landed they managed to straddle the bar. After my slight heart attack I was able to calm down enough to hold my breathe and carefully pick them up. I was so scared that I would touch them and send them off balance down into the water. Needless to say I've learned to put my keys into my pocket before I leave the car now.
Sun May 3rd
Today we decided to try and find a few more caches. I finished with church at Noon and we ended up leaving around 1:30. We started out in Clearfield city today. Just randomly picked a cache and then mapped the others nearby. I was not impressed by the caches we found in Clearfield. We had a lot of trouble finding some and will have to go back on another day to make another attempt to find them. I don't know if it was the clouds or what, but we were having more difficulty that usual with the GPS satellites.
The caches that we did find seemed to be in desperate need of repair. Most of the logs were too wet to even sign. A few of them were in high "Muggle" areas and we were unable to search thoroughly. We definitely need to try the area again some day. We did run into some fellow geocachers for the first time on this trip.
I did think of a few more items to add to our geocache gear. Hand Sanitizer and air freshener. A few of the caches in this city were supposed (we couldn't find them before the stench chased us away) to be in areas that smelled horrible. I'm wondering if it would be too tacky to include those pine tree scented car fresheners to wear around our necks while caching in these areas.
Angie suggested bio suits as well. It is definitely something I will consider in the future.
We did finally end up with 8 caches by the end of the day and discovered a nice fishing pond that I never knew existed in Clearfield.
The cache located by the pond was a clever hide.
GC1MR3K Hidden Fishin Hole for anyone that is interested.
I think the highlight of the day however was when I dropped my car keys. Of course I couldn't just drop them on the ground like a normal person. Noooo, I had to drop them on top of a storm drain grate. I was luckier than normal. The way the keys landed they managed to straddle the bar. After my slight heart attack I was able to calm down enough to hold my breathe and carefully pick them up. I was so scared that I would touch them and send them off balance down into the water. Needless to say I've learned to put my keys into my pocket before I leave the car now.
Bravo Broadway
Last week I was able to get 4 tickets to the Utah Symphony for tonights performance of Bravo Broadway. I brought Angie, My mom and her cousin Paula. We decided to make it a girls night. We had really good seats on the 1st tier. (I've never sat in the tiers before) The performance we went to was part of the Pops series. It was conducted by Jerry Steichen, the new principal pops conductor for the Utah Symphony.
I have always enjoyed the Pops series. This show Bravo Broadway was all Broadway music. They had 3 guest performers that have all performed in various Broadway musicals. They played selections from several Broadway shows including Candide, Hello Dolly, My Fair Lady, Guys & Dolls, Beauty & the Beast, Chicaco, Ragtime, West Side Story, Jersey Boys, Wicked and Phantom of the Opera. It was a really good Performance.
We even had a chance to see President Monson. He was attending the Symphony too. He was seated right across from us on the opposite side of the tier. He had a small crowd of people there with him including his wife. He sort of blended in to the crowd. I didn't notice him until they welcomed him to the performance.
I am in the mood to see a good Broadway show now. Maybe I'll have to consider a Las Vegas trip soon. They are currently showing The Lion King and Jersey Boys there right now.
I have always enjoyed the Pops series. This show Bravo Broadway was all Broadway music. They had 3 guest performers that have all performed in various Broadway musicals. They played selections from several Broadway shows including Candide, Hello Dolly, My Fair Lady, Guys & Dolls, Beauty & the Beast, Chicaco, Ragtime, West Side Story, Jersey Boys, Wicked and Phantom of the Opera. It was a really good Performance.
We even had a chance to see President Monson. He was attending the Symphony too. He was seated right across from us on the opposite side of the tier. He had a small crowd of people there with him including his wife. He sort of blended in to the crowd. I didn't notice him until they welcomed him to the performance.
I am in the mood to see a good Broadway show now. Maybe I'll have to consider a Las Vegas trip soon. They are currently showing The Lion King and Jersey Boys there right now.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Geocaching Trip 4
Sat. May 2
Once again the weather does not want to cooperate with us. We had planned to get an early start and hunt for geocaches all day. I woke up to a downpour. We ended up giving it a few hours to let up. We left around 1 and actually got lucky with the rain. The rain had stopped by the time we reached the first location. We researched caches in Centerville to search for today. We had an awesome day of hunting. We ended up finding 15 out of 17. We definately needed it after Thursday's experience.
Troy even picked up a Travel Bug to move to another location. Angie and I weren't really excited about that. The travel bug he picked up was called Casper's Ghost. Casper was a Weimeraner/Pit Bull mix dog that died. The dog's owners put a cylinder of his ashes with the travel bug with the mission to help their Casper see the world. I think Angie is hoping he will drop off the travel bug and remove the dog ashes from her house ASAP.
If anyone else reading this does geocaching I recommend the following caches. Out of the 15 we found today I liked these the best. GC16K08 B.E.R.R - Centerville; GC1C9HN Chicken Coop Cache; GC159WQ "O" Holy Cache and GC1EDXH Little Eaglet's Hideaway.
Once again the weather does not want to cooperate with us. We had planned to get an early start and hunt for geocaches all day. I woke up to a downpour. We ended up giving it a few hours to let up. We left around 1 and actually got lucky with the rain. The rain had stopped by the time we reached the first location. We researched caches in Centerville to search for today. We had an awesome day of hunting. We ended up finding 15 out of 17. We definately needed it after Thursday's experience.
Troy even picked up a Travel Bug to move to another location. Angie and I weren't really excited about that. The travel bug he picked up was called Casper's Ghost. Casper was a Weimeraner/Pit Bull mix dog that died. The dog's owners put a cylinder of his ashes with the travel bug with the mission to help their Casper see the world. I think Angie is hoping he will drop off the travel bug and remove the dog ashes from her house ASAP.
If anyone else reading this does geocaching I recommend the following caches. Out of the 15 we found today I liked these the best. GC16K08 B.E.R.R - Centerville; GC1C9HN Chicken Coop Cache; GC159WQ "O" Holy Cache and GC1EDXH Little Eaglet's Hideaway.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)