I woke up around 6:00 this morning and booted up the computer to see if there were any new caches published. As my 8th grade history teacher, Mr. McKinley would say, "Well lookie lookie, the dog pooped a cookie." There was a new geocache published about 9 miles from home. I loaded up the GPS, grabbed some travel bugs, filled up my coffee mug and was on the road.
The roads in Temecula were empty this morning, however, the traffic lights were turning red just to spite me. I got through the phantom traffic and was quickly ascending the road that leads into the hills just West of town. As I was rounding one corner, two coyotes were just entering the bush after having just crossed ahead of me. I was thankful they were safely in the greenery and not tattooed to my bumper.
I pulled onto a side road and then off into the dirt just as my GPS beeped the announcement of my arrival to the cache area. The arrow on my Garmin Etrex Vista was pointing to a tree just off the road. It wasn't long before I had the small mint container in my hands. I opened the log to reveal an unsigned empty page. It was my first opportunity to put my new signature first to find log entry down on paper. "Hick@Heart was first to paint this blank canvas. FTF!!!" The FTF prize was a $1 casino chip from nearby Pechanga Casino. I think I'll make a travel bug out of it. There was also a geocoin that I picked up and I left a travel bug dog tag. This cache was just off of my favorite kind of road. The type of road that I don't know where it goes, but it looks like it would be really fun to go find out.
There were a couple of other caches up here that I needed to grab and I had another travel bug that I needed to drop off. I was soon thumbing through the contents of an ammo can named Pam's Betty Boop. I grabbed a couple of bugs from here to take down to San Diego geocaching next week. This cache boasted a spectacular view of the Temecula Valley. The sun had risen above the mountains to the East and the entire valley was awash in it's power. There were hot air balloons carrying passengers over Temecula's wine country and I felt like a giant peering down over a miniature city. I cold also see the 10,834 foot peak of Mount San Jacinto and the 11,499 foot peak of San Gorgonio. The fact that I have not climbed these mountains will not stay true for long as I am planning to summit San Jacinto later this year. I stayed and enjoyed the view and enjoyed the feeling of finally being HUGE!
From there, I moved to another cache that was a camouflage ammo can hiding in the bushes. I picked up another travel bug which turned out to be only half of a travel bug. I'll post about that as I get more information from the owner.
It was really nice to be out in the hills before the heat of the day. It's been in the 90's and a welcomed cool down is on it's way. I picked up four caches, a geocoin and 3 travel bugs. I love being out in nature. I guess the moniker "Hick@Heart" is pretty fitting.
San Jacinto on the left.
8 comments:
Nice going on the FTF. Great photos. You can't really tell how big that valley is until you have the perspective of those hot air balloons. Those are like real mountains aren't they?
The Northwoods Geocats
Congrats on the FTF! Great pics!
In the 90's?! Gawd, man, we don't get up that high in August! LOL!
Geocaching Online
All the way out there in the boonies like that and it was a mint container? Based upon the satellite images, it looks like an ammo can would have been perfect out there, unless the Google maps/pictures are old and that area is under development. Glad to see you had a good time and such a gorgeous day. Days like yesterday and today make me glad I live in California.
BTW, see my remarks on your comment to my last entry. There's a Bahamas Flag that could get you started down near Santee. Nearest cache to the flag is Say hi to Mary only .3 miles away from the flag.
Wow, sounds like a great day for you. Those pictures are nice. Good going!
One of these years, I'll actually have to get out and see California. Looks like a wonderful area where you were at.
HooHaa!
Another FTF? Lucky you, I ended not even caching yesterday, opted for raking and gardening(boring but required), so I still have to get number 200, maybe I'll wait for a FTF since I don't have one of those yet. And a mint container? Agree with webfoot. I can't stand when people place an itty bitty cache in the middle of nowhere.
a year and a half and still no FTF for me. Although, I don't really try. We have a couple of guys around town that make it almost impossible.
I love the photos. I miss the ourdoors.
Thanks for you coemment on my blogsite. I've only been geocaching since the beginning of the year and then only sometimes when I'm out hiking. It is a really fun hobby/sport and since I like hiking so much, it's a really good fit. You've got some really nice pictures posted. If you're ever interested in hiking for a cause, contact your local Leukemia and Lymphoma Society office and ask about Hike for Discovery or you can go to http://hikefordiscovery.org and put in your zip code and it will give you some information about your local chapter and their events. We are currently training for a trip to Yosemite in June and I went to the Grand Canyon last year in April. Awesome people and a really great time.
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