60 Years and still going strong

Carolyn pulled a fast one on us this year by traveling to Visalia the week of her birthday just to make sure that we couldn't have a surprise birthday party for her. But Tiffany and Edward made sure we celebrated it as soon as she returned. A birthday cake with a big 6 and 0 was arranged to minimize the possibility of setting off the fire alarm. And the grandsons presented one of their famous ballet performances for the occasion.

Redistricting - Mormon style

Unlike other churches where people pick the congregation or minister that appeals to them and vote with their feet as often as with their offerings, Mormons are assigned to specific congregations called wards. The assignment is almost always by virtue of residence location although some exceptions are made for young singles and people with a primary language which is not the predominant one in the the area.

This top-down assignment to wards has some interesting consequences such as sometimes splitting families and friends, forcing them to attend at different times and maybe different locations even if they live next door or across the street. It also calls for some judicious realignment of boundaries as church membership increases or decreases. As our ward bishop explained to us today, the programs of the church are most effective with certain membership numbers and our ward with 330 members and 145 regular attendees just isn't adequate for a full church program.

This afternoon, the stake president (leader over 10 wards in our area) presented the new boundaries for these wards after eliminating one of the wards and redistributing the members of this and the rest of the wards. From personal experience in another stake, I know that a lot of work, number crunching, and deliberation has gone on behind the scenes. But that effort will never be made public or debated further. The plan proposed by the stake president was put to a vote, unanimously approved by those affected (or ignored by those who disagree or don't care), and implemented immediately.

Judging from some of the pre-announcement rumors and meeting talks, there must have been some rough reactions to such redistricting here in the past. People do still vote with their feet even when they're officially assigned to a ward. And change is always challenging and often difficult. We're all anxious to see how it works out this time.

Siding Claims Center

I know, you can't get something for nothing and if someone approaches you with a scheme for doing such, usually the best reaction is to make sure he hasn't picked your pocket already and then run, not walk, away as fast as possible.

So I was a little surprised at myself for not hanging up the phone immediately when the caller identified himself as representing Siding Claims Center. He assured me it wasn't a sales call, of course, and then suggested that it would be in our mutual interest for me to listen to what he had to say. I guess it was the admission that this wasn't just for my benefit but also for his benefit that made me hesitate about hanging up. It seems like most salesmen don't want the customer to think that the salesman might actually benefit from a sale.

He then went on to explain that some makers of building siding used inferior products and misrepresented their quality. Home builders using these products unknowingly, built inferior houses. Apparently a class action suit claiming hundreds of millions of dollars damage was filed and was, in fact, decided in favor of the homeowners who were left "holding the bag" with these inferior exteriors.

Having had some personal experience with the quality of our siding, I was inclined to believe this guy but still skeptical about his offer of assistance. He explained that his company took care of all the claims paperwork and filing as well as any upfront money that might be required and, for that, expected 30% of the settlement. He provided me with names, web sites, lawsuit descriptions, and even a link to the Better Business Bureau. Still somewhat suspicious, I agreed to meet with their onsite inspector this morning to begin the process.

The inspector showed up on time and took less than 5 minutes to come to the conclusion that we just didn't have enough of the "right" kind of siding to file a complaint. We have enough inferior siding but it is the kind that was never held out to be anything other than what it was. I was impressed how this inspector could read the patterns of the various types of siding we have on our house and tell which manufacturer they each came from and when they were installed. He noted a couple of patch jobs on the front of our house that we hadn't even been aware of but can certainly see them now. He left his card in case we discovered some major problems in the next five years that aren't evident now and then he left.

The end result was that we didn't, in fact, get something for nothing unless you count an education about siding and knowledge that there are legitimate companies which really do want to help customers and expect to make money doing so.

A New Fry's in town

For all of you living in the Sacramento area (or planning on a visit in the near future) there is a new "toy store" a few miles from us. We recently got the notice in the mail of their grand opening so I decided it was worth a visit.

Like all the other Fry's Electronics stores I've been in, this one has a distinctive decor - trains. The theme is easily identified as you approach the front door, above which is what appears to be a runaway engine breaking through the cement and stucco. Very well done.

The effect continues inside when it appears you're walking along railroad tracks which take you to the various sections of the store.

And above the cashiers, heading toward the exit is the back part of the train that you saw coming into the store.

I would have taken more picture had a young, pimply-faced, nerd-looking man with a Fry's name tag not accosted me with a warning that picture taking is not allowed in the store. They must worry about industrial spies planning to copy their interior decorating ideas.

As far as the store goes, it appeared to be well laid out, aisles well labeled, and shelves well stocked. Some of the sales people seemed to go out of their way to not make eye contact or encourage customer questions but they did respond when asked. The store is too new to have much "personality" but I expect that will come. Like the rest of the chain, the biggest drawback appears to be their reliance on rebates for almost all their specials.

Speedy delivery

The last time I showed up to deliver Meals on Wheels, there was a surprise for me. Actually, it was personally for me but rather for all the drivers. Someone had decided that we should have a little more visibility in the community when we were delivering meals. Previously, we had a laminated paper sign that we could put in the front window or on the dashboard indicating our "official" status. Now we have one of those magnetic signs that can be easily placed on the side of the car at the beginning of our route and just as easily removed when we are done. Maybe it will make the police a little more forgiving if we double park to deliver a meal.

Just like a blind man

The blinds in our house are, for the most part, made by Hunter Douglass. They are the cellular type that provide insulation as well as privacy and they have given us good service considering that they are probably about as old as the house and several have had to be repaired. When I recently took an inventory of the blinds I counted 19, half of which had drawstrings that were inadequate or at least unsightly.

I tried to order parts from Hunter Douglass but they insisted on my sending them a description of the problem. They then sent, free of charge, the parts that I needed. An afternoon's work and our blind pulls are once again presentable - at least until the next one breaks.

Flushed with success

Recently we visited Richard and Natalie and while there admired their recently remodeled bathroom. They have done a marvelous job especially considering the tight space they had to work in.

One of the unusual features they have added was a hand-held bidet shower that attaches to the toilet water line and hangs by the side of the toilet tank for easy access. I admired it so much that Richard gave us one to take back to Sacramento. I'm not quite sure why they had an extra one except that they hope someday to add another bathroom to their place.

Although the package promises "easy installation" it was a little more complicated for us because of the integrated toilet supply valve and feed pipe that we had in our bathroom. And, of course, I picked up the wrong replacement the first time at Home Depot so I had to make another trip to get the right one.

But after that the installation went very smooth.


Once it was installed and everything was leak tested, there still remained the nagging question: How does one use a bidet? Although common in Europe, Japan, and much of South America, it is not common in the United States and isn't a part of our normal upbringing. Once again, the Internet to the rescue with WikiHow's How to Use a Bidet.

I still have it

In spite of my advancing age and arthritic hands I can still replace a sprinkler head without too much pain and anguish. It's always good to know I can still do some of the small repairs around the house even as I have to consider using others to help with (or do completely) some of the larger jobs.

Of course, in this case it also means I can still mow the head off a sprinkler.

San Luis Oblispo Trip - Day 6: Homecoming

Home, Sweet Home!! Much as we enjoy traveling to see new things, make new friends, visit with family, or just have an adventure, there is still great pleasure in coming back home and find all well and good there. Because we had had the mail and newspaper held, there wasn't even a pile of papers to paw through or mail to worry about. That will all have to wait until tomorrow.

The drive home was again uneventful, made almost painless by listening to a book on tape (a murder mystery by Nevada Barr). In fact, since there was only 10 minutes of the book left when we got home we were tempted to just drive around town for a while to finish it off. We did hit some very wet spots on the way back including a spot down by Coalinga where it was pouring so hard that passing trucks was really an act of faith. With wipers going full speed, we could still barely see the car in front of us and the truck we were passing.

We did have two little unsettling things at the hotel. Our room was on the ground floor, at the end of the building closest to the parking lot. When we got back late last night, Carolyn noticed that the screen was ajar like someone had tried to remove it. The lights in our room had also been left on and we hadn't done that. We don't have a lot to steal except for two company owned laptop computers. At least we had had the foresight to "hide" them in the closet so they wouldn't be quite as tempting from the window or by people walking down the hall when the maid had the door propped open.

We approached the room cautiously. Everything seemed to be in place and the door locked appropriately. The room had been made up by the maid and none of our stuff seemed to be out of place. The computers were still in the closet. However, the window was unlatched. It also had been blocked so that it couldn't be opened more than 6 inches and that probably saved us. Makes one wonder if room convenience and accessibility are all that desirable.

The second unsettling thing was temporarily losing our laundry bag this morning. We had used a white garbage bag and we couldn't find it this morning. We were almost sure that the maid had thrown it away as garbage. Fortunately, we had hidden it away in the closet as well so we finally found it while we were packing to leave.

San Luis Oblispo Trip - Day 5

Well, actually this entry covers the last part of Day 4 and all of Day 5. It is being posted a day late and backdated to keep it in the proper order.

We get to Southern California much less frequent than we'd like so when we do come we try to fill in all the time with visits to family. At the same time, we realize that they have lives of their own and can't just drop everything to have a get together or even to spend an unplanned hour or two just to visit with us. But we certainly appreciate the time they can and do spend visiting.

Friday evening we kidnapped Jenny and took her to Baby's R Us to buy a crib and a mattress for the baby the she and Philip are expecting next month. Gavin is still growing like a healthy baby as far as anyone can tell. We hadn't unpacked our car so we couldn't actually take delivery of the crib until the next morning although we were able to squeeze the mattress in.

After dropping Jenny and her mattress back home, we spent some time with Lee and his kids. Perry showed us their current pet rats

while Libby spent time showing us her abilities on the computer.

The next morning, with an empty SUV, we picked up the crib then dropped in for a visit with Richard and Natalie.


Nathan and RJ had to demonstrate their unique climbing abilities on the door jam. Like little monkeys.

While Carolyn and Natalie took the crib and themselves to Jenny's baby shower, us boys had to fend for ourselves. Richard select Chik-Fil-A because they have such a nice play structure, something you really need for such active kids.

Carolyn picked me up after the baby shower so we could visit Staci and her mom Suzette and Suzette's new husband Ed Ludloff. While there, Lee came over with Libby. We visited with Staci while Lee, Staci, and Carolyn worked on pulling out horse tail plants from Staci's front flower beds.

We headed back to the ancestral home to see the work of Philip and Jonathan in pulling up the old dining room flooring and to visit more with Jessica, Jon, Philip, and Jenny.

We ended the day back where we had started at Richard and Natalie's where they had coordinated a family pot-luck supper. We managed to visit with everyone and although we never spend as much time as we'd like, we hope no one felt slighted. And although we enjoyed all the visiting, it was still nice to get back to our hotel.

San Luis Oblispo Trip - Day 4

We spent a leisurely morning having breakfast and saying goodbye to San Luis Obispo, not wanting to be away so late that we hit the Los Angeles afternoon traffic mess but still wanting to feel like we were on vacation. The trip was uneventful except that we hit some really wet spots where the rain seemed to be making up for lost time. As we entered Ventura County we realized that we were really close to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum so we decided to take a side trip over there.

I was prepared for a one-sided presentation of President Reagan's life and I wasn't disappointed. I mean, what's the value of having your own museum if you can't tell your story your own way. I'm sure there is good information for historians there but I wouldn't trust a scholarly piece where all the research was from the Presidential Library.

The place is amazingly large which I didn't understand until we got inside and found out that the former Air Force One (retired in 2001) is housed in the Museum. It was exciting to walk through the plane that had carried so many presidents (from Nixon to George W. Bush) so many places around the world and certainly interesting to see the recreated interior and get some idea of how this "traveling office" may have worked. With no shower and only minimal conference room space, it is easy to see why it needed to be replaced.

After a brief lunch at the Ronald Reagan Pub which sits in the shadow of Air Force One, Carolyn realized that she had a 4:00 hair appointment in Long Beach that we'd have to rush to be late for. So, once again braving the rainy skies we headed to Long Beach and the family side of our vacation.

San Luis Obispo Trip - Day 3

Carolyn had meetings this morning in Paso Robles so I just hung around the hotel until early afternoon when she returned. Of course that doesn't mean I really hung around the motel just that I didn't have wheels so my radius of exploration was limited. Fortunately there were three geocaches within a half mile of the hotel.

The first was across the street (now that is access!) at the veteran's memorial building - an old Japanese artillery piece from WWII.

The next was somewhere in the neighborhood of a footbridge across a lovely little creek. I can't say for sure because I never found it. And the third was just off a freeway on-ramp and easy to spot if you know what you're looking for. Another 2 of 3 geocaching day.

When Carolyn got back we both took a short nap then headed downtown for the "Farmer's Market". In San Luis Obispo this market is apparently held every Thursday evening from 5:30 pm on and includes food booths and school and community information booths in addition to the "farmers" booths. Today they were even exhibiting souped up tractors that are used in the tractor pull contests. Unfortunately, the weather put a bit of a wet blanket on the affair with a drizzle that started at 5:30 as well.

San Luis Obispo Trip - Day 2

As expected, I could barely get out of bed this morning. EVERYTHING ached. And what didn't ache, didn't work. Fortunately, Carolyn let me sleep in until 7:00. We showered, dressed, and dropped into the hotel's dining room for our free continental breakfast. It was really quite good with cold and hot cereals, bagels, toast, hard boiled eggs, juices of all sorts, fruit, yoghurt, and milk. Everything good and healthy.

Carolyn had me drop her off at the child care center where she would be working today. I guess someone else has agreed to bring her back to the hotel.

Since I was already out, I decided to try a couple of geocaches. Taking photos of interesting locations is a pretty good cover for geocaching. Although walking around with the GPS like you are dousing for water is pretty hard to cover up, no matter how many pictures you take (or pretend to take). The first three caches I tried to locate included one in a park,

the Amtrak station,

and a local office designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. I spotted 2 out of 3, missing the one at Amtrak.

When I returned to the hotel, I found that I had somehow lost the case/cover to my PDA/GPS. I hadn't used it during the whole morning since I had the PDA/GPS in my hand or mounted on the dashboard the whole time. I hoped I had just left it in the hotel room or dropped it in the car but no luck. It could have come off my belt anytime.

With no real hope of finding it, I drove off to retrace my steps. When I pulled up to the place I had parked for the last cache I found, there in the street was my PDA case intact, in one piece, just as I must have dropped it an hour before.

Of course, now that I was out again, I tried a couple more geocaches, this time finding 3 of 3, all local landmarks:



Bubble Gum Alley (an alley where thousands of people have stuck their chewed gum onto the brick walls as high as they could reach),

the Mission San Luis Obispo,

and the county courthouse. All in all a great day geocaching.

Carolyn returned from work in time for us to take a drive west to the ocean. We drove in the Los Osos State Park all the way to the heavily secured fence blocking the way to Diabalo Canyon nuclear power plant. Then we drove over to Morro Bay to visit the museum at Morro Bay State Park. Lovely sights all along the way although the wind was blowing so much we barely wanted to leave the car even to take pictures. Back in Los Osos we ate butternut squash ravioli at the delightful little Italian restaurant Jimmy Bumps Pasta House.

Another random event

Before I retired, one of the things that Carolyn and I had talked about was the possibility of my going along with her on some of the many trips she takes to central and southern California. But then I got so busy with volunteer work and part-time work at the Regional Center that we've just never tried out that possibility.

Finally, Carolyn said that if we're ever going to try it, this week would be ideal for her. I notified everyone at the library, Meals on Wheels, and the regional center that I'd be absent for this week although I did spend half of the usual time at the library this morning before Carolyn asked me to come home so we could take off.

I thought the plan was to drive to San Luis Obispo where she has responsibilities on Wednesday and Thursday. We have done that. However, we also stopped along the way (okay it was about 25 miles out of the way) at Pinnacles National Monument. We purchased the Senior Pass that I am now eligible for instead of paying the usual entrance fees. And we took Balcony Cliffs and Cave hike, a 2.5 mile "moderate" trail hike to some wonderful viewpoints and through a cave that was created when huge bolders fell from the mountains into the valley.

I accused Carolyn of creating a situation for me where I had to forget my pain and walking difficulties just to make it around the trail. But, of course, I didn't forget my pain, just postponed it until tonight when I really had to medicate myself in order to walk, sit, or even lie down.

Old hat, new hat

One of my favorite toy stores used to be Harbor Freight because they had so many interesting things there that, with sufficient rationalization, I just HAD to have. But then we managed to go there when the store was having a bad day - the store was disorganized and cluttered, the staff were in short supply and those who were there seemed aggravated at the customers. I decided I didn't need to take up their "precious" time any more.

But on a cold, rainy day recently we were in the market for a scrub board and thought maybe Harbor Freight might have one. They didn't. However, it was nice to see that something had changed. The store was neat and organized, the staff friendly and in good supply. The previous time must have just been a fluke.

We talked ourselves out of the three or four major items we could have purchased "for the house" but did walk out with this pre-Father's Day gift. The hat has a battery-powered LED light with three directional settings: up in the trees, straight ahead, ground about 20 feet ahead. This would have been great for camping so that you could see ahead and still have both hands to carry things instead of having to use one for a flashlight.

Anybody else out there think this would make a good Father's Day gift?

Data CD-R vs Music CD-R

We braved the rainstorms yesterday to have our traditional Polish hotdog at Costco and pick up some painkillers for my back. While there I remembered that we needed some blank CD's as our supply has been slowly dwindling through archiving of pictures and such. We found two types of CD-Rs for sale there at Costco - Music CD-Rs $16.95 for 75 disks and Data CD-Rs $19.99 for 100 disks. Since the Data CD-Rs were slightly cheaper, Carolyn asked the logical question: "What is the difference between the two?"

Knowing that music on CDs is just data, I thought I knew the answer and said there was no difference. However, a little research on the Internet (where there is never anything but the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth) convinced me that I wasn't completely correct.

Music CD-Rs have been formatted with a special code that allows them to be recorded on CD burners sold with or incorporated into home stereo systems. Many websites claimed that Music CD-Rs cost slightly more because they are subject to a recording media surcharge that goes to the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America. I wasn't able to find verification of this surcharge on the RIAA site but it sounds plausible. The extra cost could also be due to additional processing by the manufacturer to make the disk compatible with music CD recorders.

However, if one intends to use the CD-R with a CD or DVD burner that is sold as part of a computer, then it makes no difference which blank you use. The standard recommendation is to use a known brand with a reputable product.

Missing deposit

It had to happen sooner or later. You see, I used to do all my banking by mail and phone and now I do everything over the Internet or the drive-through ATM. So now, instead of mailing in what few checks I still get I prepare a deposit envelope for the ATM. My fear has been that that envelope will somehow get with the payment envelopes to be mailed and it will disappear into the mail system since it will have neither a stamp nor an address.

Well, this past week I prepared a deposit then promptly forgot about it. When I went to the ATM today to get some cash I remembered that deposit and wondered what I had done with it since I didn't remember ever depositing it in the ATM. I looked all over the computer room, my car, and any place I might have laid it. Not finding it, I walked down to pick up our mail. There was an envelope from the "Undeliverable Mail Unit" in West Sacramento. Inside was my deposit envelope along with an apology from the Post Office:

Dear Postal Customer,

The enclosed item was found loose in the mail and/or became damaged by our automated equipment. Please accept our apology for the damage your mail received while in our care.

We process over 11 million pieces of mail each day and consistently meet our goal of delivering mail to customers timely and without incident. On occasion, however, a letter or package may become damaged during normal mail processing or due to equipment failure or human error. We appreciate your patience when this occurs.

We look forward to providing you with better service in the future.

Instead of asking me for postage due on something that was improperly mailed, the Postal Service assumed it was their fault and apologized. What a great example!

It's a real pain

Among my numerous personal complaints lately is a chronic pain in my lower back that is similar to what I've felt before after a day of working in the yard and having to lift lots of shovelfuls of dirt. It is aggravated by walking or standing and sometimes even by sitting. Because I had seen a neurologist lately regarding difficulty in walking, I emailed him about the back pain. His response, in no uncertain terms: Back pain is NOT a neurological problem.

At first I was puzzled because I thought neurons were involved in pain and surely neurologists deal with neurons. But on further study it appears that his statement had more to do with the division of duties between general practitioners and specialists. My pain neurons are behaving just fine, thank you, reporting pain like good little nerve cells should. Now, if they weren't working, then it would be a neurological problem.

Everyone's best guess at this point is that my arthritis (which has shown up in my hand x-rays and neck MRI) is probably causing most or all of my movement problems. Whether I can do anything more than stem the pain through medication is the next question.

First Class - Forever!!

Tired of the continual increase in postage rates? Want to put a stop to it? Now's your chance.

The U. S. Postal Service has announced that first class postage will increase by 2 cents for the first ounce starting May 14, 2007. But this could be the last postage increase you pay for - if you want. The "Forever" stamp went on sale today for $0.41 a piece (or $8.20 for a 20-pack) and these stamps can be used forever for first class postage. That means that if first class postage goes to $0.45 in 2009, you can still use the stamps you purchased for $0.41. The trick is to make sure you purchase enough stamps to last the rest of your life or however you wish to define "forever" because as soon as the postage rate increases, so does the price of "forever" stamps.

I suspect that when future postal rate increases are announced there will be a moratorium on "forever" stamps or there would be a run on the market for these stamps. Alternatively, the price of the stamps will increase concurrently with the rate increase announcement and before the actual implementation of the increase - sort of like they've done this year. Either way, I think the Postal Service should be congratulated for solving the problem of having to stock up on 1 and 2 cent stamps each time the rate changes.

As a side note, I think the inscription on the stamp makes a great national motto: USA, First Class - Forever!!

Book reviews for hire

Have I sold my soul to the devil? This past week, quite out of the blue, I got an email asking if I would read a book and post a review on my website (which I assume means here but could mean other websites I maintain elsewhere). For that service, I will get to keep the book in question.

This is actually the second time something like this has happened but the previous time it was an e-book and the contents were so politically messed up that I couldn't get past the first few pages let alone actually read the whole book for a review. I probably should have said something like that in the review but I just deleted the file from my computer and forgot the whole thing.

This time the book did arrive as promised, all 504 pages of it. Look for it to be reviewed on this very blog.

The Borderlands of Science

In "The Borderlands of Science" author Michael Shermer, one of the most prolific writers of modern popular science, explores the "fuzzy" borders of science. The borders are fuzzy because science doesn't advance in the straightforward, clean-cut manner that much of science history would like us to believe. Scientific advances are often "2 steps forward, 1 step back" or even more meandering. Theories and "facts" proven wrong might hang around and influence science for decades although generally their influence decreases until it disappears.

Shermer divides his book into the theories, people, and history - showing that in all areas this fuzziness shows itself. Generally it takes time for a theory to become differentiated from the prevailing thought or paradigm. Initially, it may be just a footnote about some anomaly in the data or a blip on the radar screen. Then it is a "special case" to be ignored or dealt with separately. Only after years might to overtake and supplant the original theory. On the other hand, like punctuated equilibrium, it may be relegated to just a minor refinement of the original theory.

Scientists are people. Shermer shows how they can be very rigorous in certain aspects of their thinking but way outside the borders of science in other areas. Newton is a great example with his ideas of alchemy and spiritualism. Wallace, co-discoverer of evolution through natural selection was also convinced of the "fact" of spiritualism and seances.

And finally, scientific history is often less scientific than the science it tells about. Myths about scientists and their great talent or discoveries that are "too good to be true" show us that we can never be complacent about accepting everything we read - even in science journals.

Although almost all the examples in the book were known to me, I enjoyed the way Shermer put it all together. A good read.

Getting to the root of the matter

Having my teeth cleaned has never been one of my favorite activities. The setting and pain involved usually have me imagining that I have somehow been captured by forces of evil who are hell bent on making me suffer for not flossing regularly. Sharp steel instruments and noisy sucking tubes are thrust into my mouth until I gag when I'm not wincing and vice versa.

I can't really report that my most recent teeth cleaning at our new dental office was pleasant. It wasn't. But it certainly went better than other sessions I have had. For one thing, George, the hygienist, kept up a running commentary on what he was doing, making me feel that I was somehow part of the team, not just the specimen under the knife. For another, George used a state-of-the-art ultrasound pick to scrape away much of the plaque around the base of my teeth. And lastly, he was quick. I was out of the office in half the time I've usually had to spend in the chair.

But my gums are still unhappy.

Placerville geocaching

As I've mentioned before on this blog, one of my hobbies in Geocaching. However, it is not something that I find nearly as fun as a solitary activity as when I can do it with Carolyn or the kids and grandkids. Also, it is not something that is easy to do on the spur of the moment - when we have 15 extra minutes or when we're miles from home and our computer. There are ways to download the minimum necessary info to a portable computer or even a cell phone but I find I need as much information as necessary and that requires a regular Internet hookup and a printer.

Anyway, until a week ago it had been almost a year since we went geocaching. So it was with little optimism that I printed out some cache information sheets last Friday for caches around the Camp Nauvoo area. I really didn't think we'd get around to actually looking for any caches.

As it turned out, Carolyn and I had just enough energy left after Camp Nauvoo to drop in on 3 caches in the neighborhood and managed to find all three.

By far the most interesting was the one placed at Smith's Flats cemetery.

This cache represents my idea of a perfect cache: an interesting site that is either historical or unusual, a bit of mystery or puzzle but not enough to make the find impossible, and a "hidden in plain sight" type of cache.

This unusual label on the cache container was just icing on the cake. I wonder where one orders such a switch?

Camp Nauvoo

It's hard to believe but we've lived in this area for almost 6 years before participating in an official event at the Camp Nauvoo church camp. This lovely spot of land was purchased by the LDS Church in the 1960's. After some upgrading and thousands of hours of volunteer labor, the place now serves 3 Stakes for their church camp needs. It is used for fathers and sons campouts, annual girls camps, family camps, and this weekend for the La Sierra Ward campout.

Somehow Carolyn got tapped for the Friday evening fireside activities or we probably wouldn't have made it there this year either. But having accepted, she also managed to convince me and Edward and Tiffany and their boys to attend as well. Edward and his family pitched a tent and actually slept there Friday evening. I drew the line at sleeping on the ground. As it would be extremely difficult to get a trailer into the camp, let alone an RV, we drove 35 miles back home.

The fireside was a big hit. Carolyn had painstakingly put together song sheets with well-known campfire songs that selected families were asked to lead the group in singing. She also asked two of her sisters-in-law to share games that we had played at Baldwin Family camps - a newlywed type game and a team spelling game. It was past bedtime and time for peach cobbler before we even realized it.

However, we did make it back out again this morning to participate in the traditional games such as the sack race, the pancake toss, the egg toss, and the 3-legged race. We also watched Tim and Jake participate in the Easter Egg hunt with the other Primary children.

After the formal activities and while the rest of us were breaking camp and packing the cars, some of the kids enjoyed playing in the creek under the watchful eyes of their parents.