It's Official...I'm in withdrawl

I'm not generally one who complains about the weather.  I find weather pretty darn fascinating actually.  Being from SC, hot summers are simply what I know.  As I get older though, I swear our summers are becoming more brutal.  My mom tells me it was just as hot when I was a kid, but I'm not sure if I buy that.  I mean, we would ride our bikes, fish at the pond, pick blackberries all day, build forts, work in the garden and be outside until my mom rang the "come home" bell...all day, every day.  How on earth did we do it?  

This summer has been 95+ for weeks and weeks now. We've been in the 100's more consecutive days than I can remember.  Some days it's so hot, it hurts to breathe.  Therefore, we haven't spent much time outside, which has sharply impacted our geocaching.  I cruise the website and gaze at the descriptions wishing for the day that I can get back out there and find them!  I'm 100% in geocaching withdrawl.  

Those of you in fairer climates, we are jealous!  Once fall gets here, look out!  We'll be back on the trail with gusto!

Vacation Disappointment

If you read my other blog, Gastronomy (by a Wanna-be Chef), you already know that my cousin and his family were just here from Vietnam.  Thanks to one of my mom's most generous friends, we had a house at N. Myrtle Beach for a few days so we could get our kids together one more time before they all head back to Hanoi.  Not only is Charlotte's house an awesome set-up for a group, it's close to lots of stuff and is only a few blocks from the beach.  Thanks to their ultra-cool, mac-daddy golf cart, we can motor on down to the access point, complete with golf cart parking lot, and voila!  we're on the beach.

I use my iPhone w/geocaching app

One afternoon, I started checking out my geocaching app to see if there were any caches nearby.  What luck!  There was one in a small shopping center parking lot right around the corner.  I knew from the recent logs that a few people had logged frowny faces, but I was still optimistic that WE could find it.  So, my "cousin-in-law" Lisa and I loaded the kids up on the golf cart and went around the corner.  But, you can probably guess what happened...


We were at the right spot, of that I have no doubt.  But it was in a location right off the parking lot, highly visible and has clearly been muggled.  I hope the owner reads the field logs soon and replaces the cache.  But, the best part is that the kids all had fun looking.  My cousin was skeptical that they'd find any caches in Vietnam...surely no one there plays the game?  So, I simply plugged in the word Hanoi into my app then starting asking him, "So, do you know where the National Military Museum is?"  Uh huh.  "How about the Master Pagoda?"  Yes, I do.  "Well, what about "Cuc Phuong?"  Ok, he was getting the idea.  Those came from the first list of 10 that showed up.  So, hopefully, once they make it back home, they might remember geocaching and give it a shot.  I think it'd be pretty exciting caching in another country!

Jonesin' for a cache

I am itching to go caching, but it's been so blazin' hot around here.  I am really looking forward to the fall so we can go anytime we wish.  I've been entering the Geocaching.com and Geico sweepstakes, hoping to win one of the GPS units they are giving away.  And, of course, I'd love to find one of those trackable geckos that have been released.  I wonder if any have been found around here?

I am taking the little one to the beach for a few days this week, so maybe we can locate a few that benefit from an ocean breeze.  Cross your fingers for us and happy caching!