More Geocaching

Last time we were telling you about our new hobby of Geocaching.  Well this past weekend Geocaching is about all that we have done.

First off, if you are reading this and Geocaching near our location in Indiana then you may not want to look at some of the below pictures, so as not to spoil any caches that you have not found yet.  

I will try not to give away too many details on where the caches are, but anyone who can put 2+2 together could figure out what caches I am talking about, so be warned.

Geocaching is a lot of fun and you can get some good physical and mental exercise from it.  We visited 11 sites this weekend and out of those we found 9 of the caches and came up empty for the other 2.  At one site we spent a good 3 hours looking, but never did find the cache.  Talk about getting a headache.

Today we worked on simple caches with a difficulty of no more than 2 (out of 5) so as to build up our confidence again.  It was a perfect day for being outside and getting some exercise.  I'm not going to say where we were, but the pictures may give it away.

A beautiful day walking outside today.

 Some of the caches are very tricky and hard to find.  The owners will camouflage their caches in ways you would never think or use containers that blend in perfectly with their surroundings.  One such container is below.  This one took me two days to find and was one of my favorite caches.

Cache camouflaged like a book.

Below is another cache hidden in a common pine tree on a trail near us.  This one took two tries to find due to the  Muggles that were there the first time.  It was raining the next day when I went back and so the Muggles were not as bad.

Geocache Spot.

This happened to be a micro cache which are usually only big enough to hold the cache log that you sign.  This one was not really too hard to find, but if you are dodging Muggles, it does not give you much time to be looking through the limbs of a tree.

Micro cache.

All in all we had a great weekend Geocaching and got plenty of exercise.  We also picked up a Travel Tag or Bug while hunting this weekend, which is also pretty neat.

Each Travel Tag or Bug has its own story and mission.  Some are to travel across America while others want to go overseas.  Some have very specific missions and so it is our responsibility to try and keep it on course.

This one's name is 'Anemone the Clown Fish Travel Tag' and he wants to travel to as many places as possible.  We help it along by taking it with us to all the caches we find and logging it online.  Once we find a suitable home for it, we will let it go so someone else can spend time with it.  Another request of its owner is to take as many pictures as possible of the places it visits. 

Our little pet (Travel But/Tag) that we picked up this weekend.

It was a great weekend to Geocache and I hope we can do it every weekend, even if it is just one.  With us heading south for the winter, we should have many opportunities to do so.

The LivelyRV Geocaching crew.  Ian, Ethan, Tia, Courtney, Avery, Misty, & Chloe.  Don is taking the picture.

The weather was wonderful with a perfect temperature and no wind or rain.  We did not have to worry too much about sunburn and the bugs were not out as bad.  Misty only had one friendly spider land on her arm but she did not receive it well.  All in all I would say it was a perfect day for Geocaching and doing something as a family.

Ethan, Ian, Avery, Courtney, & Tia posing in the sun.

 The below picture was one we had to take to satisfy a find for one of the EarthCaches we went to today.  This type of cache is more for educational purposes than finding a cache of goodies or signature log.  Today, the kids learned how towns know when the rivers are rising to flood stage, so they can plan evacuations properly, and they never even knew they were in class.

Courtney, Tia, Ian, Ethan, & Avery at the gauging station on the Wabash River. 

So, that was our weekend and a good one at that.  We are a little disappointed that we did not find all of the caches we set out to, but there is always tomorrow and with it we will have a new perspective, which should help improve our geosense.

God bless!

Don, Misty, & Kids.

Geocaching

For anyone who is looking for the answer to our LivelyRV Mystery Geocoin, you can go to the bottom of this blog for the answer, rather than figuring it out.   All I really wanted was for you to get on our blog.  Also, ONE starts with the word "Geocaching" below this paragraph.

Geocaching

While on our RV adventure, we have decided to also start Geocaching everywhere we visit.  Geocaching is where you look for containers that someone else has hidden. They post the coordinates on the website which you input into a GPS and then look for it.

We actually use an app on our iPhones that shows you all of the  caches in your area, which are more than what you would think.  Below is a screen shot of the caches in the Elkview, WV area which is eighteen.

Geocaches in the Elkview, WV area.

Some Geocaches are pretty easy to find while others make you work for them.  Some individuals will require you to solve a riddle to find the cache while others will hide the cache so well, you may have to look and look to find it.

If you are interested in all of the different types of caches go to http://www.geocaching.com/about/cache_types.aspx to read about them.

So far we have found five caches with one pending in the past two days.  Well two on the 10th of Oct and three today on the 13th.  I was sick on the 11th and 12th in bed, so could not go out yesterday evening.

The five that we had little to no trouble finding are Traditional Caches which had a difficulty level of 2.5 or less out of 5.  The one that is pending is a Mystery or Puzzle Cache which I could not figure out while on-site, which is rated a 3.5 for difficulty.  After coming back to the RV I sat down and I am pretty sure I broke the code, so will try again tomorrow.  It is sometimes hard to concentrate when you have six kids running around in an area where they need to be quite.

Tia, Chloe, Ian, Ethan, and Courtney at our Mystery Cache location.

Of course I'm not going to tell you where the locations are, because that is half the fun, finding them.  You use coordinates you put into a GPS that will take you to the cache's location, but if you use your smart phone, you can pretty much walk right to where the cache is, for Traditional Caches, but Mystery Caches are different and the GPS will only get you in the general area.

Avery at the Mystery Cache location. 

 Looking at the above pictures, you should be able to tell, pretty easily, what type of building we were in. One of the best things about Geocaching is that the caches are usually hidden at locations that would be of interest anyway.  I am finding that every place we went to either had a playground or something of interest that the kids and I both enjoyed.  

Tia, Ian, Chloe, Courtney, Avery, & Ethan posing with the bears.

You have to be very careful when Geocaching so that the Muggles do not see what you are doing though.  What is a Muggle you say?  Well for that you will have to go here and look it up or remember the term from Harry Potter.  They are everywhere and can really mess with a cache since they have not been educated in the rules for Geocaching.

Muggle area.

 Geocaching is definitely going to become another activity on our North American tour since it gives us another reason to explore the local area around us and also because it is fun.  Just in the two days we have done it, we have discovered six new interesting locations all within a ten mile radius.

The last location we went Geocaching in today.  We quit due to rain.

On another note, Misty is sick today with a 24/48 hour bug that she caught from me, who caught it from Tia, who caught it from Avery, who caught it from Chloe, who caught it from Courtney. 

Now the question is, when is Ethan and Ian going to catch it since we seem to be passing it around.  We are pretty sure we know where Courtney caught it, a couple weeks ago, but who knows, it is that time of the year.

Well that is it for now.  God bless and stay safe!

Thanks!
Don, Misty, & Kids.

Bug update............

It is now 1:30 am and Ethan just ran to the bathroom sick, so I guess he has the bug now too.  Seven down, one to go.

Geocoin Riddle Answer:
Geocaching is fun for muggles too.

All Aboard!

Last week we visited the National New York Central Railroad Museum (NYCRR) located in Elkhart, Indiana.  

The New York Central Railroad was at one time the second largest railroad in the United States being located in eleven states and two Canadian provinces with 11,000 route miles of track.

Elkhart is the home of the largest railroad freight classification yard east of the Mississippi, the Norfolk Southern Railway's Elkhart yard, which made it a natural location for the museum.

The museum's goal is to educate the public on the history of the vast New York Central System and its progression into the modern era.

Below is a picture of a General Motor's Electro-Motive Division (EMD) E8 Diesel-Electric Locomotive that is on display at the museum.  I will get into it more later on in the blog.

An EMD E8 Diesel-Electric Locomotive on display at the NYCRR Museum.

Below is a 1/12 scale working model of a L2A Mohawk steam engine which was built by Richard Stolzenfelds who was a locomotive engineer for the Santa Fe railroad.  He based the model off an actual New York Central (NYC) locomotive blueprints.  It is an amazing model which is very detailed.

A model of a L2A Mohawk steam engine.

Outside is the New York Central #3001, a L3A Mohawk steam engine which was purchased in 1940 to be used as a dual service steam locomotive to move both heavy freight and passenger cars.

There have been many rumors that this steam engine was to be rebuilt and used as a tourist attraction operating twelve months out of the year.  

Many train enthusiasts would love this to happen, but I think that politics and the high cost of rebuilding has put this idea to bed.

NYC #3001 L3A Mohawk Steam Engine.

The NYC #3001 is a very impressive steam engine to be next to with its massive wheels.  The Mohawk class of steam locomotive had four small wheels in front, eight driving or powered wheels in the middle, and two small wheels following the driving wheels (4-8-2) which were first used on Central's Mohawk Division in the state of New York.

Avery, Courtney, Tia, Chloe, Ethan, & Ian posing in front of NYC #3001's massive wheels.

The museum also houses an impressive O gauge model railroad layout that the kids really enjoyed.  Sooner or later all of the O gauge model trains in the museum are rotated onto it so that there are always different type of engines and cars on the track.

Control room for the O gauge model railroad tracks in the museum.

I'm not sure whether or not the crashed plane is a representation of a true event, but I thought it was a really neat detail of the model railroad track they had.

A model crashed bi-plane on the model railroad.

 After touring the inside of the museum, you can go outside and actually board a EMD E8 Diesel-Electric Locomotive that is on display.


Front view of the EMD E8 Diesel-Electric Locomotive on display at the museum.

The EMD E8 Diesel-Electric Locomotive has a diesel engine which runs the on-board generators that power the electric motors that actually drive the wheels.  Most people think it is the diesel engine that drives the wheels.  So in essence, it is an electric train that carries its own power plant.

  

Specification sheet for the EMD E8 Locomotive.

A view of the NYC #3001 through the windshield while inside the cab of the E8 locomotive.

View of NYC #3001.

Below is a picture of the inside cab where the engineer would drive the train engine. 

Engineer / Operator controls inside the cab of the E8 locomotive.

Here is one of the massive pistons that is in the two-stroke diesel V-12 engine for the E8 locomotive. 



One of the pistons out of the V-12 diesel engine in the EMD E8.

Below you can see the size of the piston (just above and to the right of Tia's head) compared to Ethan and Tia.  I had a picture with Misty next to the piston, which was a better comparison, but the expression on her face was less than flattering, so I had to crop the picture above.

Ethan & Tia next to the piston out of the V-12 diesel engine.

Also on display was a Pennsylvania Railroad K-4 Pacific steam engine made entirely out of 421,250 toothpicks built by Terry Woodling of Warsaw.


Toothpick Pennsylvania Railroad K-4 Pacific.

The model took seven years to build with its completion in 1991.

Side view of the Toothpick Pennsylvania Railroad K-4 Pacific.

The 1/6 scale model also has moving parts that include the brakes, side rods, wheels,  and windows.

Close up details for the Toothpick Pennsylvania Railroad K-4 Pacific.

The museum also has plenty of hands on displays such as the miniature tracks that you could stake down.

Ethan and Ian testing their hammering skills while Mother watches closely.

Throughout the entire museum there were train bells that could be rung such as this one that came off of NYC #3001.

Ethan ringing the bell off of the NYC #3001.

I guess the scenes of chasing someone across the roof of any of these trains was not possible since the below warning was stenciled on the wall at both ends of this caboose.

And the doctor said, "No more employees jumping on the bed!" or in this case, the roof.

Just one of the cabooses that was part of the rolling stock at the museum.

Ian, Tia, and Courtney inspecting one of the cabooses at the museum.

The interior is a little rough, but if you use your imagination, you can see that this would have been a good place to take a load off and relax after a hard days work on the railroad.

It would also make a great hunting camp with a little tender loving care and about $2,000.00.

The old caboose ain't what it used to be.

This is what you get when your three year old thinks he is going to go on a train ride, but then discovers that he is not going on a train ride because we missed the last available train for the day.

Avery's reaction after learning that we were not going to go on a train ride today.

All in all we had a very interesting time at the museum and for the most part, everyone enjoyed themselves, including Avery.  He soon got over his disappointment and is moving on with his life.

I hope you enjoyed this weeks blog and found something of interest.  If you are ever in Elkhart, IN and have a chance, make sure you visit the museum.  It is worth it.

Until the next time, may you and all you love be blessed and watched over by the Lord.

Thanks!

Don, Misty, & Kids.

Post It

I guess it is time for me to do another post so you will not forget about us and know we are still doing OK.  Some weeks we do very little of interest so it makes it hard to post about anything.  Other times I have plenty to write about, but just do not feel like doing it, for some reason or another.

Some days run smooth with me working out of the RV and Misty doing the kids schooling.  Then, other days run rough and it seems no matter what we try, nothing works out properly.

Yesterday Tia decided she was not going to do her reading, or any school work for that matter, and would just sit and cry.  All she wanted to do was either go outside or stay in and play with her Barbie.  It finally took Misty putting what little toys we have in the RV into a storage container and threatening to take them out and give to Goodwill or some other charity, for Tia to start to do her work.

The other day we were at Graber Farms, an organic farm, visiting and Tia found a kitten that she took quite a fancy to.   Needless to say, leaving the kitten behind crushed Tia so much that we had to  listen to her cry for approximately 25 minutes. 

Ian, Courtney, Avery, & Tia petting a kitten at Graber Farms.

Tia is not the only one who gives us fits, but she has taken her fair share here lately.

Another item that makes it hard to post at times is the Wi-Fi that is available.  The best scenario is using Wi-Fi at the park rather than my Verizon wireless card which only allows 10GB of data a month.  It is not uncommon for me to go over my data limit when I have to rely only upon my wireless card.  

The problem with most RV parks' Wi-Fi though is that there is not enough bandwidth and it gets really slow, especially in the evenings when everyone gets on the Internet.

Then there is the wireless card, that limits you on how much you can download.  Some people have unlimited accounts due to being grandfathered, but they still get you by throttling once you hit a certain point such as 5 or 10 GB.

But enough about the woes of posting while living in an RV.  These are just excuses that I have to justify why I do not post everyday or on a set schedule.

Today is another beautiful day that we are lucky to have.  The temperature of the air is cool, but the Sun is so warm.  As long as the Sun is shinning on you, you are not cold.

Looking out the front window of the RV on a beautiful day.

Last Saturday we went to the Nappanee Apple Festival in Nappanee, Indiana which claims to be one of the largest festivals in the state.

I can not vouch for the largest claim, but I can tell you that if you buy 2 corn dogs, two onion rings, and 2 Philly cheese subs the total is $34.00, which was more than I feel it was worth.  

Carmel apples were $4.00 while a large bag of cotton candy was $7.00, not to mention the $2.00 bottle of water.  It could be worse and I guess it still was not as expensive as some amusement parks, but when you are buying for eight, the expenses really add up quickly.

Misty, Chloe, Ethan, Ian, Avery, Courtney, Tia, & Adam the Apple.

Carrying on the tradition of visiting  places featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives, we visited our second dive, the South Side Soda Shop & Diner located in Goshen, Indiana, this past weekend.  

We were a little disappointed in the food and atmosphere which made us wonder if the quality was less than when Guy made his visit.   I guess the true test of a restaurant is whether or not you would eat there again, and in the case of this one, we probably would not.  Who knows, someone else may think it is the best place on Earth to eat.

Courtney, Ethan, Tia, Chloe, Don, & Misty (In reflection) at South Side Soda Shop.

A shot of South Side Soda Shop & Diner from Franklin Street.

There are still plenty of sites to see and things to visit upon our few remaining weekends in Indiana.  Such as Fall Festivals scheduled throughout Sept and Oct.

Another neat thing that happened this past week was us being asked to pose for a pool shot for the KOA campground we are staying at.  They wanted a good looking family for the photo, but since we were the only family around, they ended up asking us.  I'm kidding of course.

So here in about a month myself, Ethan, Courtney, Tia, Ian, & Avery will be on this KOA's website posing by the pool.  Misty was not in the shot due to being sick in bed and Chloe was taking a nap.  Once I get a link to the add, I will be sure to post it to the blog.

That's it for this time around, so may God bless you, your family and friends.

Thanks!
Don, Misty, & Kids.

Huggy Bear

Last month we had to put the RV in service to get some warranty work on items that either quit working or broke in one way or another.  No big deal as anyone who has ever owned a RV will know that a house on wheels has many components and sooner or later, they all need repaired or at least maintained.

For some repairs, like loose stitching on our dinette seats, there had to be an appointment made with the furniture manufacture in order to sew it back up.  So we had to stay close to minimize the miles waiting for the repairs along with waiting for a new DVD player for one of the bunk beds.

Busted stitching on our dinette seat.

Here lately we have been staying close to Decatur, IN, where Fleetwood has its service department, so that we can get anything and everything fixed on the coach while it is still under warranty.

So we are limited to how far we travel as we wait for parts to come in and such.  This past month we stayed at Huggy Bear Campground in Middle Point, OH which was about twenty eight miles from Decatur. 

It was a very nice campground with two pools and two fishing lakes, one of which you could swim in too.  We did not really visit a lot of area attractions other than Solomon Farms, an organic farmer's market in Fort Wayne, IN, and the Allen County Museum. I'm not really sure why, but we just did not have the drive this past month.  I think it has to do with us being tied to an area by events out of our control.

The lake we camped next to at Huggy Bear Campground.  Notice the full moon and its reflection.

We were parked on the second lake at Huggy Bear which is about three years old, so the fish where not that big, even though we still had fun and did catch some nice bluegill.

The other side of the lake we stayed on with a nice sunset.

Here is a closeup of the moon reflecting on the lake we were camping on.  We pretty much had our section of the lake to ourselves since there were never a lot of people fishing it.  During the weekends, the campground was pretty much full of campers, but would become a ghost town during the week.

Full moon reflecting on the lake.

Like I said earlier, there were no trophies in the lake, or at least none that we caught, but we had a lot of fun fishing.  Courtney ended up being the one who caught the most while Ian probably caught the largest bass.

Here is a bass I caught on one of our fishing days.  The RV was only about thirty yards from the edge of the water, so we would fish just about everyday.  I would have the poles lined up on a picnic table behind the RV and would grab one, go cast a few times, and if the fish were biting would fish for a while and if the fish did not bite, would put the poles up and find something else to do.

One of the bass I caught while fishing at Huggy Bear.

Ian did not catch a lot of fish but I would say his bass was the largest one caught.  As you can tell from the picture, he was a little bit scared to hold his catch.

Ian and his bass he caught.

Below is one of the bluegills we caught at the lake.  This one was one of the largest we caught with just a few that were bigger.  There were plenty of smaller ones too, and catching any size fish is always better than none at all.

One of the many bluegill we caught on the lake.

Courtney out fished us all in both bass and bluegill.  She just seems to have a natural knack for fishing and has that golden touch.  She also got pretty good at putting night crawlers on her hook by herself.  After a while they need to learn how to do it so that I'm not always having to do it for them.  With four to five kids fishing, if I have to bait all their hooks all the time, I do not get to fish at all.

They all still need to learn to take the fish off the hooks, but at least getting them to bait their own hooks is a start.

Courtney with one of her many fish caught.

I cannot remember if Tia caught any bass, but here is a shot with one of the bluegills she caught.  All of the kids, with the exception of Chloe, caught some type of fish to include Avery.  When Avery caught his first fish, he reeled it into the bank and upon first glance threw his pole down and ran away.  Later on he got over that fear and would get the fish on the bank.

Tia with a bluegill she caught.

I do not think Ethan was all too happy with Courtney catching more than him, but he will just have to deal with it and either get better or learn to accept it.  He also caught a good many fish and had a good time, which is what it is all about.

Ethan releasing one of his bass he caught.

Of course every fish we caught was released back into the lake to be caught again.  Luckily, even though we caught most of them on worms, only a few swallowed the hook which made us have to cut the line so they could be released without killing them.  So no fish that we caught were killed.

Huggy Bear Campground was fun and we had a good time, but now it is time to move to a new location, which I will blog about at  a later time.

God bless and may you and yours be safe.

Don, Misty, & Kids.