Lewies Blog

GPS: N 38° 37.293 W 077° 19.206

Way point: GCH9AJ

Today my wife, Angel, and I went out caching. This was my wifes first hunt and I was happy to bring her along. I knew the general area where we were going, but I didn’t know where the park was. We drove past it all the way to the end of the road. I turned on my GPS and asked Angel to take a look at it while we backtracked.

Angel would read off how far we were to the cache. As we arrived at the park, I could see how we missed it. You would only be able to see the sign for it comming from the other direction.

The park was empty and quiet. We walked slowly accross the bridges and fields. Angel would hold the GPS within her cloak so her hands wouldn’t get cold. I let her lead the way and she went rite up too it. She found the box and I pulled it out for her.

We went through all the little trinkets. Angel dumped them out and the bag started to fly away in the wind. I ran after it and caught it. I took a “thing” doll and left my Curious George pin from my last find. Angel took some coins from a foreign country and left her bracelet. There was also a cloth glove there that she took to keep one of her hands warm.

I didn’t see the travel bug that was supposed to be there, so Angel looked through the logs to see if anyone was here recently to take it. We didn’t see anyone who logged it.

A camera was included with this cache and we both took turns taking pictures of each other and returned the camera. We wrote little messages in the log book along with our names and the date. Everything was placed back into the container and left as we found it.

Along the way back, I picked up some garbage laying about in the park and put it into a garbage can. Angel looked over a bridge and wanted to make indian war paint out of rocks. I followed her down to the stream, hopping accross rocks and watched as she tried different stones. None of them worked when she rubbed them against bigger stones. We’ll have to try with other stones in another cache site.

We returned to the car for a nice ride home. This game is great showing us places near our home where we can go for outings other then GeoCaching. Angel even had an account made up for her to log where she went.

On my way back home from GeoCaching yesterday, I took a picture of a wall. I took it intentionally to have a submission for the cover gallery that is displayed on Coolstop.

Today, I received an email from Jenett thanking me and I saw that the image was now listed on Issue #2 (Walls).

Afternoon Shadows

I have recently begun the game/sport/adventure of GeoCaching. This is such an exciting game. Every time I get ready to go out the door, I boast that I’m going treasure hunting. At this moment, I am a little excited about going to my next cache. However, through my recent adventures, I have started to learn a few things that may help others starting out like me.

1. Bring a snack and/or a beverage. Some of these caches are a ways off and can take some time to get to. Depending on the terrain, your body can use up a lot of energy. Also, make sure to eat a meal before you start out, and probably wait thirty minutes as well.

2. Bring a compass. Although your GPS receiver may have a built in compass showing you the direction you are traveling and the way point location, it may run into problems when you slow down at your final destination. Using a compass to compare the two will help you know what direction you are truly facing.

3. Cell Phone. You never know if you are really going to need it. You might end up in trouble. You may take longer then expected. What ever the circumstances, a connection to the modern world can sometimes be a life saver.

4. Tell somebody. Let someone know where you are going and what you are doing. Give them your destination GPS coordinates, how long you expect to be gone, the general direction you will be heading, and/or a link to the web page. The primary reasoning is that if you are not back after a while and people start worrying where you are, you can save much heart ache by letting them know where you are, and where to look if you don’t show up.

5. Batteries. Need I say more? Even if you just replaced your batteries, make sure you always carry a second set. Without your GPS, you could be out of luck and lost.

6. Prepare for the season/location - bug spray, sunscreen, long johns, gloves, inflatable boat, snow mobile, etc. It is great to enjoy the nature, but let’s not go overboard and suffer from it either.

7. First Aid. You may run into rough territory, or a wild animal.

8. Machete. Some terrain may have much overgrown foliage that makes it impossible to get to the final destination. You may need to cut a path to get through. However, I would suggest for you to think twice before using it. You are cutting up nature. Look for a way around it first.

9. Proper storage (such as a Backpack) Use this to store all of your goodies, and make sure you use both straps on your arms. I’m walking around with a camera tripod case that has one strap and it keeps falling off when I have to move my arms about.

10. Be aware of what you are capable of. This includes thinking ahead as well. My problems were crossing a stream in freezing weather and going down (and up) a very steep hill on my second cache adventure. This was some really stupid stuff that still has my back aching today.

11. Do not put 100 percent trust in the accuracy of your GPS device and that of the person who placed the cache. My device can get within thirty feet accuracy with good signals. Based on that logic, the cache could be sixty feet away from the coordinates if we are both off by thirty feet.

12. When you arrive at a location where you leave the road, log the way point in your GPS device, or write the coordinates down in a log book. This is one thing that I wish I had done on my second find. The only coordinate that I had to go back on was my house. This caused much time to be wasted going into unknown areas for over a mile.

13. Bring a log book of your own. You can log items such as:

Today I went on my third GeoCaching trip in the area. This one had a way point called GCJAV4 (N 38° 35.296 W 077° 18.068), also known as “Deep in the Hundred Acre Woods”.

I invited Angel and her sister along, but Angel was not feeling well. She really wanted to go and see what it was all about. She gave me two hair barrettes of hers and tied them together with a shiny red ribbon.

I set out on my little adventure and saw that it was taking me on Route 1 heading south (also known as Jefferson Davis Highway). The construction along both sides of the road made it a little hard to travel. My feet would sink into the soft dirt along the road.

I came up near a Burger King at River Ridge Blvd and turned left. I walked a ways until I arrived at the first coordinates where the cache web page told me to park. It was a little drive way that ended into the woods for future development of a residential section.

I put the new coordinates into my GPS device for the cache and walked on the path leading into the woods. I was getting close when I came to a tree that had fallen across the path. It wasn’t too bad and I was able to hop on top of it and make my way across.

I came to the area where the cache was supposed to be. I looked around and couldn’t find it. I walked up to a tree and figured it may be up in the branches where the trunk split, but it wasn’t there. I turned around and paused, taking a look at my environment. I then spotted a tree whose base was wide at the bottom and covered with leaves.

A small piece of white caught my eyes and I brushed the leaves away to find the cache. I signed the log book and placed Angels hair barrettes in the container. I was considering taking a compass key chain, but a Curious George pin called out to me. The back said “Custom Buttons at bumblebuttons.com“.

I wanted to wander on the trails further, but it was very cold and I needed to get back home. I took a few more pictures on the way:

All in all, I had a great time finding the cache. Driving to the suggested parking area would have made this find much quicker, but hey - I didn’t mind getting in the exercise.

The picture of the stone circle is near next to the hole in the
ground for which my sister and i dug this morning…. last night we
walked around the neighborhood.. tho when we came to the corner of
Carol and Donald Curtis we noted the cat was indeed still there… so
with the aid of a rubber glove and a plastic bag we collected the
rigor mortis feline and i proceeded to carry it with me for the
remainder of the walk… when we got home tho neither of us really
had an idea of what to do at the moment so we put the poor thing in
our trash can. This morning however as the sun began to rise on such a
bitter December day… we took of this cat to whom he belonged is
beyond us….. but we dug into the earth and placed within the body of
a cat we didn’t even know… yet we still cried…. i can only imagine
the sight to be seen on such a sunny winter morning with people such
as my sister and i digging holes in the back yard……well our
anonymous kitty has been laid to rest his grave marked by a stone. it
still tears me apart tho, to think that this was some ones loving pet
and yet it was let to lay dead in disgrace on the side of the
road… not a man nor woman would so much as even look upon it much
less weep for it…. maybe my sister and i are over emotional…
*without a doubt in some many circumstances…* however…. no one els
even had the decency to remove it from common observation… or may
be they just don’t care…..

–
Usstan tlun l’ phlith nindel ssinssrigin dos lu’ l’ ssrigg’tul nindel
jivviimen dos

Well….yesterday when Lewie went for a walk in the local wooded aria……..
Well first he asked Myself and my sister Catlynn if we wanted to go…
at that moment we didn’t but not to long after that we did but he was
already long gone..I set out to find him being worried and all..
wishing i was with him.. but… when my sister and i came to one of
the first turning points in the road Catlynn noticed something dark
in the grass just aside the curb. being the day after Christmas we
stood there looking down at this poor yet peaceful dead cat.It had
belonged to some one as i retrieved a part of its collar. The bell
looking more mangled then the cat itself.. it was obvious the cat was
killed but a car… blood on the road remanence of a cat collar with
a bell on it….tho the bell did not jingle anymore…

Angel and I were invited to watch a movie with my sister in-law and her friend. We arrived at the theater and I still had my GPS device on me. I marked a way point and we had fun looking at how far we were from the car as we walked closer to the theater.

My sister in-laws friend paid for everyone’s tickets. I was humbled as I thought I was going to pay for Angel and myself. We got in line to get a bottle of water.

The cashier said they were out of the large water bottles at $3.75 and could only sell us the small ones at $3.25. I pointed to some water bottles in the back and asked him if we could buy them. Nope. I asked if he could just give us two small ones and charge the price of a large one. Nope. This guy wouldn’t budge.

We settled for just a small water. Angel asked him for a cup and he gave her a 7 ounce courtesy cup. She asked if she could have something bigger. Nope. Apparently, they charge by the cup, not by the drink. Angel tried to sneak a cup from an empty cash register and they raised there voice for her to put it back.

From there on, we moved on to the theater. The stadium seating was not populated much and we found some nice seats just above the entrance. We began watching the movie and I was getting into it. After an hour, Angel asked if I wanted to leave. Everyone was in favor of ditching the movie, so I went along with it.

Along the way home, the girls were just going at how unreal the movie was and the crazy things that the narrator would do. I explained that it was a children’s movie and that they were trying to give the story this ambiance on purpose.

I’ll just go ahead and see the video when it comes out. I’m not upset or anything. I’m just going along with the flow.

Angel took me for a little walk tonight. We walked along the road and came to a dead cat on the side of the road. Angel was talking quietly about the cat, his life, and where he came from. She didn’t know these things with fact. She is empathic to animals and her emotions.

I just stood there in the bitter wind, listening as she continued on. I was thinking in my head a few random things. It’s not really a poem, but if it is, then it’s a bad one, but here are a few things I thought and put them together.

You were living free,

Black as the night.

A car came by,

A torn bell collar lays near.

Silent, but not sleeping,

Your end is a beginning.

The spiral moves on …

We walked over to the police station hoping that they would know what to do or who we should call. No one was at the counter and I pressed the button for police assistance. A voice came over the speaker “Citizens please have a seat in the waiting room and an officer will be with you shortly”. I chuckled at how they addressed us as citizens. It just reminds me of those science fiction movies where everyone is a citizen, or a number. It is so impersonal to be called a citizen.

I sat down and Angel didn’t want to be there, so we left. She didn’t want the cat to just lay there. It is as if it is an insult to the cat if we just ignore it and don’t do anything. It was only eight thirty so we went to a nearby house and knocked on the door.

A boy came to the door and Angel asked if he had any cats. He said, “No”. We left the house and started walking home. Angel stopped along the way, torn up inside. I didn’t know what to do. I hate to admit it, but I just wanted to get out of the freezing cold and the wind.

We continued walking back home and then a friend of ours stopped in front of us and invited us into the car. We had expected him to come earlier in the night, but he hadn’t showed up.

When ever we visit the mall, we also visit a special shop keeper. This shop keeper has a history with us and our relationship. Before Angel and I had married, she wore a necklace from another friend of hers. I was there to help her get through some of the pain that he caused her.

We once got lost traveling around Alexandria and ended up at Fair Oaks mall. This special shop keeper was in there selling Jade jewelry and trinkets such as buddhas, dragons, and three headed frogs. I don’t know who picked it out, but a very beautiful, tiny green necklace was picked out. It was a ring of jade, with a silver leaf in the middle.

Our shop keeper put it around her neck and we were sold. This shop keeper was so nice that she wanted to give us a discount. While putting the one necklace on her, she took the other necklace off to clean it. Angel didn’t say anything, but I knew she was freaking out inside her head. The original necklace was very dear to her.

I watched closely and alert to Angel as the shopkeeper got out a cloth and cleaning solution to clean up the chain. She then promptly showed Angel her results with a shiny necklace. I’m thinking here that Angel was still shocked - she is a very distinguished person, and it wasn’t just “dirt” that was wiped away. I don’t know how to explain further of what I am saying, other then the essence of her friend was no longer with her.

A year or two had passed. Angel and I were now married. The jade from Angels necklace had fallen off a while back while she was sleeping. I had searched the internet and many stores for jade. I continued to come up with nothing. One day, while I was at Potomac Mills, I had found a booth with many items that were similar.

“I remember you!”, she would say. “Where have you been? How are you doing?”. Wow, I was a little impressed. I had carried a picture of the jade necklace with me and showed it to her and told her my problem in locating the necklace. She explained that her grandfather makes the necklaces and that only she is authorized to sell Jade.

She didn’t have any more necklaces there that looked like the picture, but she would send a request to her grand father for me. I wrote my name and phone number on the paper along with my email and left it with her.

I spent the next six months to a year checking up on her every two to four weeks to see if she had received the necklace yet. Finally, one day, she had the necklace and I was delighted. She was amazed at my determination to make my wife happy. The necklace is very special not only to my wife, but also to me. It’s a symbol of our love.

Angel we delighted to receive the necklace and couldn’t believe my story. She has since gotten to know the lady at The Jade Dragon as very good friends and stops by every time we go to the mall for something. She always gives us a discount and Angel has a hard time saying no when she receives a complementary gift on the side.

Once, Angel tried to give her a shawl as a gift and it back-fired on her, because the lady still gave angel a gift in return. I usually hear her words of encouragement to live a simple life. Little does she know how complex my life is.

I usually stand there and smile as Angel and her carry on and catch up. I’ll look over at the little buddhas and dragons and such, just wondering where they will end up. I actually have many buddhas of different sizes in my room. I like them because they are so happy. I don’t know much about the culture around them though.

Angel wanted to get her eyes checked and get a new pair of shoes. We headed on over to the super wal-mart. We walked in together and I started to walk over to the eye exam area, but she stopped and started looking around. She then called my name and I said that I was rite there. From there on out, she wouldn’t let go of me. We made it to the eye doctor area and found out that the eye doctor wouldn’t be in until noon tomorrow. We headed back to the shoes but couldn’t find anything interesting.

Angel asked if I knew where another shoe store was and I suggested the mall. We drove over and she was kind of nervous about all the people that would be there. We parked the car a considerable distance away from the mall due to limited parking and walked in the cold wind. A really large breeze came at us when we got up near the mall entrance. I figured that there must be a vacuum sucking the air down the side of the walls at us.

We went in and found a map and looked for some shoe stores. They actually had an entire section labeled with shoes and a long list of stores. Angel just wanted to go and start walking since it appeared that there were so many stores. We walked beside each other, and sometimes she would lead in her adventures. She would just look in some stores and immediately reject them. Others, she would walk in and it appears that she would just get a bad vibe from the environment. I guess Feng Shui plays a big part of this.

She found a pair of cool boots in one store that would come up to her knees, but her legs were a little too large. It’s too bad, because they did look good, but I want her to be happy and comfortable in what ever she picks out.

We headed over to JC penny’s. The store was humongous and I was afraid we would spend a lot of time just hunting for where shoes might be. I immediately asked someone at the front where shoes were, and he gave us a few instructions. We walked through the narrow isles and looked around. I realized they had numbers on them and wanted to just slap myself silly for not realizing it. Come on - it’s a shoe store! Of course they would have numbers.

I went to the aisle with her size and started picking through black shoes that might be her style. I found a pair that were her and she seemed to take to them really well. We couldn’t find a seat and to avoid the crowd, we left the shoe department and sat on the floor across the way.

She got the shoes on and was afraid they may not fit rite. They were all laced up too tight and she had to loosen them to get them on. She walked around and liked them. I noticed that they had little feet on the bottom showing you how to dance as part of the gripping pattern. She wanted to keep the shoes on but decided against it and put on her other shoes. We went up, paid for the shoes, and then left.