Sasquatch Joins a Book Club, Autobots Roll Out, & Other Caches

Scott shining his flashlight into a chimney where,
just maybe, that geocache is hiding

Last night, friend and regular geocaching partner, Scott (a.k.a. Diefenbaker), drove up from Asheboro, NC, so we could make a geocaching trip to Roanoke today. Scott and his wife, Jane, will be moving to the coast soon, so it's about to become a bit more difficult to get together than it has for past 15 or so years. I hope we'll have at least another chance before they take off more or less for good.

As the sun set last night, we sat out on the front porch and drank a little bourbon. Then we went to Wild Magnolia for dinner and drank a little bourbon. Afterward, I took him to a nearby cache so he could hunt it (and, of course, he found it). From there, we hit the ABC store to buy a little bourbon. Then we came back home and drank a little bourbon (this rather inexplicably became the theme last night; don't ask us how).

 

Much to our surprise, Mr. Moose, usually the shyest of the three cats, came out and started begging Scott for attention, which, of course, he got. Moose has had some medical issues over the past few months, but he definitely seems to be on the upswing. He sure didn't have any problem getting treats last night.

 

We retired reasonably late and got up pretty damned early this morning. We hit the road, stopped for coffee and danishes, and made it to Roanoke in about an hour. Our first target was just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, but that section of it was inexplicably closed (there's certainly no snow or ice left out there; it was 85 freaking degrees today, gack). So we switched it up and went after a couple of nice multi-caches not too far away. The final stage of one called "Sasquatch Joins a Bookclub" was at the local library, inside a Bigfoot-themed book, and as one might guess, it turned out to be one of the day's favorites.

Autobots Roll Out!

We had several favorites today, which was nice. So many newer hides are of the simple, park & grab variety, which is great for padding one's numbers, but generally pretty boring. Today, we ended up hiking well over six miles in some pretty rugged terrain, and now I'm kinda tired and sore. But it's a good tired and sore.

 

Another favorite was called "Autobots Roll Out," which was had a 4 out of 5 difficulty rating. The host was a 15-foot tall Optimus Prime sculpture made out of auto parts. And yes, the cache was somewhere on/in it. I've always said it's just as fine to be lucky as good, and that proved very true here. After only a couple of minutes, I happened to notice a certain something that looked a little off, and... YES!... it was the cache.

 

We found a decent lunch at Mission BBQ, where we had eaten the last time we were in Roanoke. Afterward, we went to seek a couple of more. However, our sole disappointment for the day was a cache hidden in a multilevel parking garage, which can often make for an entertaining hunt. However, in this case, we followed every clue as best we could, hunted for an hour, and still came up empty. Definitely NOT a favorite, though a future attempt to avenge it is not out of the question.

 

Then it was back home, and Scott returned to Asheboro. Mercy, it was a great day, and I really hope he and I can work in at least one more outing before the distance between us becomes too great.

 

Till whenever.

What do you suppose that strange man is looking for in there?!

A little fountain in the middle of the woods

L: Scott makes friends with Moose; R: Scott makes friends with a ceramic bird with a cache in it

Expressions 2025

Brugger isn't holding up her framed artwork in the photo at left, which is how it struck me after I took the picture. She's actually holding a wine glass in that hand (imagine that, heh heh).

Ms. B. regularly features nature in her mixed-media art, which usually includes flowers, mushrooms, insects, snails, fish, and other flora and fauna. Our local art center—Piedmont Arts—which she recently joined, presents a major art exhibition every year called "Expressions." She entered two pieces, which are pictured here. The show opened last night with a well-attended reception at the art center, complete with free hors d'oeuvres and spirits.

 

Also present was artist and longtime friend, Charles Hill, whom I've known since elementary school. I've posted examples of his work on my blog in the past (some of which you may see here and also here, with his paintings of "The House of Caviness" and "Black Tooth Pond," which inspired my novel...wait for it...The House at Black Tooth Pond). He's had some serious health problems lately, but he's doing better, and I was very glad to see him and his work at the show last night.

 

Back in the early 1980s, after I graduated college with a Bachelor of Fine Art degree, I was an active member of Piedmont Arts, where I frequently exhibited and taught classes. I don't do much in the way of fine art anymore, that's for sure, but I very much enjoy revisiting my artistic roots at Piedmont Arts. And I'm sure Ms. B. will do plenty more exhibiting. The Expressions exhibit will be up for a month, I believe, so if you're local, you should stop in and check out some truly excellent art!

Social Animals?

Dragon Glass Winery's mascot

Ms. Brugger and I may not be committed homebodies, but socialites we are definitely not. We occasionally go out and about to interact with other members of the human species, but rarely for lengthy periods and almost never without a few days' recovery time. Okay, I exaggerate, but we both lean far closer to the introverted than the extroverted end of the scale. So I dunno what the hell happened this past week. We ventured into the land of the living with frightful enthusiasm, looking damn-near respectable, and behaving like mere minor-league sociopaths. Wot?

There's a new brewery open in town — Renewal Brewing — which Ms. B. and I visited on opening night a couple of weeks ago, and we decided to give it another go this past Thursday with my longest existing childhood friend, Ms. Gretchen. Renewal's brewpub currently occupies the building's basement (known as the "speakeasy"), and the owner soon plans to open a restaurant on the main floor as well as a rooftop bar. It's a great spot, with appealing ambiance, excellent service, and some tasty brews. After sampling a variety of Renewal's offerings, Ms. B., Ms. G., and I headed to dinner at Wild Magnolia restaurant, which has been around for several years, with decent food and atmosphere. And an enjoyable evening this turned out to be.

Old dude, Ms. B., and friend Gretchen at Renewal Brewing in Uptown Martinsville

Saturday, we loaded up with picnic goodies and sallied forth to Gioia dell'Amore Winery (formerly Autumn Creek), where we met friends Joe and Suzy, enjoyed a serious picnic lunch, and drank some decent NC wine (no, "decent NC wine" is not always an oxymoron). Afterward, on a whim, we looked at the map to see if there might be any wineries other than the ones we knew about relatively nearby and discovered one called Dragon Glass Winery, which makes only sweet wines. Ms. B. and I rarely — okay, call it never — go for sweet wine, but since this was a second destination and an attractive location, we figured we could call it dessert. Here, neither of us could finish more than a glass because when I say this wine is "sweet," we're talking "cloying." Still, we enjoyed our experiences at both locations. A damned good day.

Sunday, The No-Dead-Weight Irregulars — this time consisting of friend Scott (a.k.a. Diefenbaker), friend Natalie (a.k.a. Fishdownthestair), and an old dude — gathered again for a Sunday outing and landed ourselves near Chapel Hill, NC, at a place I don't really know what to call. There's Fearrington, Farrington, and Ferrington, all clustered right there, and where one ends and another begins, I've got no fucking idea. Anyway, there are gamelands full of geocaches there, and we hiked after a bunch. The heat was hot, the hiking tough, and the bugs plentiful (including a bunch of ticks, the lousy little bloodfuckers), but we found some mighty cool caches. Sadly, several of the "Halloween" series we sought appeared to be missing, but assuming the cache owners put out replacements, the location will probably be good for another outing.

For lunch, we settled on the nearby Town Hall Burger & Beer, where we've eaten on numerous other caching outings. Damned good dead critter here — lamb for me, and cow for my compadres.

This week is shaping up to be kinda busy as well. Perhaps we'll survive it yet again with flying colors. Woot.

"Hobbit Hole" cache — open wide!

L: big bony spider; R: little bony dude

Bony bat!

Not a geocache, but a very large millicritter