Geo Chillin’

Nice view of the small lake at Fearrington Village, near Chapel Hill, NC

It was a cold weekend for geocaching, though — thankfully — a tad less bitter than last weekend. On Saturday, I headed after the second of friend Rhodorooter’s (a.k.a. Dave’s) fairly extensive multi caches in Mayodan, NC, just down the highway a few miles. This one — tbbiker 10K Tribute Multi Cache (GC9KVF9) — pays tribute to friend tbbiker (a.k.a. Todd) and takes the hunter to five locations around town, several at local cemeteries, which I always find enjoyable. The calculations necessary to acquire the coordinates to each stage are kind of a pain in the ass, especially when you’re shivering, but that’s fairly typical of this rightly evil cache owner. In the end, I solved the puzzles, made the find, and earned a smiley. That’s what it’s all about anyway.

This morning, Three Old Farts — Old Diefenbaker (a.k.a. Scott), Old Rob (a.k.a. Old Rob), and Old Rodan (old me) — set out for Fearrington Village by way of Chapel Hill. Our primary target was an Adventure Lab cache called Gardens & Green Spaces of Fearrington Village, which took us to five different locations around Fearrington. A lovely little area this is, with some attractive residential areas, numerous shops, and a handful of dining establishments. Our gang had visited Fearrington a few years ago to snag the caches there at the time, so it was nice to have some newer ones to go after. We got in considerable walking, which was good thing, since we ended up having big honking burgers for lunch at a pub called Town Hall, a short distance up the road from the village. Big honking good burgers, I might add.

Coming up, I’ll be looking at my last full week of work at The Mailbox, which I expect to be bittersweet. Beyond that, a lot of unknowns, but the one thing I’m certain of is that I will not be bored.

A bit of ice atop the stream that flows through the village

Big bugs

Feels Like Michigan

But no. It's still the South, just mighty cold, with a fair bit of snow. Actually, when Ms. B. and I were in Michigan last week, NC and VA got hit with a much bigger snowstorm than we got up north. Happily, home was spared any damage or power outages, unlike many others in the area. Since we got back, amid the fairly busy work and writing schedules, I've managed to fit in at least a bit of geocaching, which has been most welcome since it's about the only meaningful outdoor exercise I've been able to get.

Yesterday, I headed to Mayodan, for a five-stage multi-cache at Farris Memorial Park, which I had apparently visited while caching a few years back, but I have very little memory of the experience. Clearly, I am much older now. It was freaking freezing out there, with a bitter wind; not very different from my caching experiences in Michigan last week. Fortunately, at each stage of the multi I was able to take photos of the necessary clues and solve each puzzle in the relatively warm car. The final stage was a pretty good ways out in the woods, but at least amid the trees, the wind wasn't so fierce. I rather enjoyed the hike out and back.

Today, the No-Dead-Weight Irregulars — friend Diefenbaker (a.k.a. Scott), friend Fishdownthestair (a.k.a. Natalie), and I — headed down to China Grove, just this side of Charlotte, for a day of it, mostly at Lake Corriher. Once again, the temperature started out Michigan-like, but at least it warmed up a bit over the course of the day. We put in a good many miles on the trails, then headed into downtown China Grove for lunch (No Way José's Mexican Restaurant, where I et some killer street tacos), an Adventure Lab cache, and a few other assorted hides. All in all, a very fine couple of days of it — marred only by a particularly obnoxious health issue that keeps cropping in my old age. It doesn't thrill me.

Anyhoo, that's that for that, so until next time.

The No-Dead-Weight Irregulars: Old Rodan, Not-So-Old Natalie, Very Old Diefenbaker

View down the trail from the high ground at Lake Corriher

Heading across the inlet at Lake Corriher