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With very little planning and not much luggage Chad, my Dad and I set off for South Bend, Indiana.
Our mission: collect Mamaw and meet the newest member of the Berry family

Secondary mission: go to Irish Fest and see The Tossers rock out. (Kris, Rick & Vince had the same plan!)

From my vantage point the trip was not too bad. Hey when you are short you can stretch ALL the way out in the back seat. I think Chad disagreed since he drove the entire way.

Our first order of business after making it into Chicago was to go and see the “Bean” since it wasn’t finished the last time we were in town. Wow, what a difference 3 years makes!

All the seams had been smoothed out and the scaffolding removed. It was awesome, even with the million of small children that clogged the area. Oh sure, we really could have stayed there all day, taking pictures and just watching the world go by as it was reflected in the wondrous, shiny legume, but we felt the call to move along and take advantage of the great weather. So we headed off in the general direction of Navy Pier.

The Lake just amazes me. I have a hard time comprehending that it is a Lake. Looking out onto the horizon and there seems to be no end. And the water is amazingly clear. Ping has been to Chicago many times before but never had the chance to get his pic taken so we of course had to stop and do the tourist thing. Which left lots of people shaking their heads as we made our way through the city!

After a stop for a snack and refreshments at the Pier itself, we hailed a cab and waiting in rush hour traffic. Yep, we are smart. Kudos to our driver though, he worked hard to get us over to the Irish Fest and we arrived just as the gates were opening. And then there was booze. And delicious booze it was indeed. Although sadly we missed opportunities for free booze and food since we weren’t single and couldn’t participate in the Hooley. Drat! It was hot outside but nice and cool inside. Eventually after a harrowing hotel ordeal <Boo! Hiss! to the Millennium Knickerbocker>, Kris, Rick & Vince appeared. Nothing like driving from Morrisvale, WV to Chicago, IL in one fell swoop. But they made it with time to NOM and shop before The Tossers took over the place. The show was, of course, awesome. To say it rocked would be so cliche, but I can’t think of a better way to describe it! Best $8 event I’ve ever been to (yep, $8 in advance, how great is that? Oh sure, we had to stay over, but that’s part of vacation and Dad picked up the petroleum bill, so we are in good shape)

Day 2: Chicagoland

So when I didn’t think our trip to Chicago could get any better, it did. We’d been out and about geocaching and enjoying the gorgeous day, having some yummy Thai food and just being on vacation. As we neared our hotel I heard drums. Odd, but whatever. Then I noticed a crowd on the sidewalk very near our hotel. The crowd was clapping and dancing to the drum….even more odd. But wait! It gets totally better because in the middle of that crowd was a man on a white horse…I kid you not!   Those of you who know me, know that I love a) horses and b) shiny things. OMG, both together and in front of our hotel nearly caused me to self-combust on the spot! I took pictures, lots and lots and lots of pictures and was in the enviable position of being beside the door when the groom (it was a wedding from what I gathered) dismounted and was greeted by the bride’s family. And then I took more pictures of the horse!

After Chad talked me down from that experience we headed out to the Land of Geeks – aka Fry’s Electronics. This was dangerous territory for both of us, since I own lots and lots of gadgets which “require” lots and lots of accessories. And for Chad it was dangerous because…well it was a shop that sold bits and pieces of computers. I present, Chad in the land of Motherboards…. There was lots and lots of looking and examining and walking in circles, but in the end Chad left without purchasing a single thing. I, on the other hand…I got new toys! Who in the world would ever have thought I would have a phone that has 2 GB of storage or that so much stuff could fit on such a tiny piece of plastic. Chances of me losing that SD card? Extremely High.

Finally back in the land of Golden Domes and so forth, we took a trip to see the newest member of the Berry Clan. After all this time (just over 34 years) Mamaw is now a Great-Grandmother courtesy of my cousin Shelly. And truth be told, while The Tossers were awesome and it’s always fun to visit Chicagoland, we really came up to see Jackson and Shelly. He was doing the obligatory baby thing of sleeping when we arrived and woke up long enough to demonstrate how strong he is. Man, who would expect a month-old to nearly be able to fling himself off my lap? Uh, not me. But no worries, I wrestled him into submission.

Without any fanfare, I present the link to the rest of THIS set of pictures. More posted shortly. Continue Reading »

The Cheat River has been the scene of many a glorious, pony mangling cache adventures. The harrowing tale of Project No. 2459 where the Mighty Vue was sorely tested and the “path” was a pixie deer trail. Or Down the Cheat, where sidekick and I cheated with the help of Aquacache and Jeep’d in nearly the entire way.

It was with a little trepidation, therefore, that I signed on for yet another adventure along that cagey river. My decision was in no way influenced by the following:

• I didn’t have to work the next day and so was free to spend quality time nursing my new (if any) injuries.
• It was the single day of sunshine promised all week.
• The cache had been DNF’d several times recently
• The cache owner was going to be there with a fresh ammo can

Meeting up with the cache owner and his squeaky Jeep, and knowing that Route 7 is a windy evil thing, I offered to drive. It was that or spend the entire journey with my head hung out the window trying not to barf on the AquaJeep.

First stop as we played, “Hey have you got this cache yet?” was Multi at the Mart by the very evil wvhunter. Stage 1, no problem. Parked right in front of it. Stage 2 seemed as if it would be no problem until I got there and realized that I was going to be giving blood for this cache. I poked, I prodded, I climbed the pile o’stuff and came up empty. “^%$###@@$#$%@!)(*&*&^” I thought to myself.

After trying remarkably hard not to maim myself, I was ready to call it a DNF from my perch atop the pile o’stuff, but Aquacache (who had in fact been FTF) and was better dressed to battle the pointy plants continued on until the wondrous sound of wood striking plastic was heard. And there was rejoicing.

Having bested one of the brothers, there was time for a very quick stop at Browns Park Cache, which I should have found ages ago. Forgoing the bug spray (because I’m dumb) I marched to the hide which was guarded by a million mosquitoes. Oh boy, no good came of that I can tell you. Beat a hasty retreat to the Mighty Vue and finally off to the parking for A Hike on the Cheat.

The river was running nice and fast, but not nearly high enough to have wiped out the cache. Glad I wasn’t around that day because it had clearly happened since not only was the original Can gone, the rock that had helped hold it in place had been moved a bit.

So, signed the log, popped in a horse shoe and hung out and waited while the cache owner tried to wedge the new (and smaller) ammo can in place. Let’s hope teh water doesn’t come back another time.

So that accomplished and with still plenty o’daylight left we headed back to the “scenic view of river” waypoint. Was hoping to see some kayakers in action on this trip, but no such luck. But since it was such a nice spot, we stopped and refueled – mmm, melted chocolate chip granola bar and mashed herb and cheese crackers. Now that’s good eatin’

So, in short. Nice hike. Nice hide. Beautiful scenery. Go do it now. Yes, now. Go. Hurry. Now.

We had a plan and we stuck to it, despite the deplorable forecast which was rain. No, make that thunderstorms. Oh pshaw…what’s a little water, right? Uhuh. No one ever claimed geocachers were an intelligent bunch, that’s for certain!

And so three northern MAGPI ventured down mighty I-79 – pbump, barayamal and myself (SSPG) to meet up with our southern brethren – Knight Who Says Ni & wvhunter74.

We launched our assault at Little Creek Park. With one success under our belt we were soon smacked in the face with two DNFs. And a storm. Did I mention the storm…

Continue Reading »

Summer Solstice.

It was dark and heavy clouds gathered in the sky

Ten brave souls arrived at the desolate church, hovering around and waiting…waiting…waiting…

Ahem! Pony Girl….you are in charge. Why does no one ever tell me these things? Having been properly apprised of my role as leader, I gave the “Let’s Go!” and off we headed to stage one. (we will not discuss that someone had already been poking around ahead of time and had already found stage 1).

The woods were filled with chaos of flashlights and headlamps and disembodied shouts. Thorns tore at our explosed flesh, attempting to impede our quest. Bravely we fumbled forward trying to forget the whipping trees and flashes of lightening that blinded us.

At long last and before the evil sky unleashed its vengence 60 Cent gave a victory shout and the prize was ours. Huddling beneath the canopy we shifted impatiently, fearful that the denziens of the woods would begin to pick us off one by one.

As the wind howled louder and the unmistable sound of rain echoed around us, we sounded the retreat and hastily made our way for the grave to pay our respects.

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