The Saga Continues & Pictures of Salina 6/5/2010

Well we didn't do a thing today except sit around and wait to get our coach repaired. The repairman came about 9:15 and diagnosed the problem right away as a blown converter. How it blew and why still remains a mystery but we still feel it had to do with the campgrounds low voltage in those 5 sites. Well he had to go to Abilene, KS to pick up the part and luckily they had it. He was back and had us running again by noon. We plugged back in and turned the A/C on and it was fine except the voltage still seemed lower than we like to see it. So we went to the office and asked if they had a 50amp site we could move to (third time this weekend). They did so we moved and plugged back in and all seemed fine and the voltage was a lot higher than it was on the 2 previous sites. By the way the microwave and the weather radio both don't work anymore. The weather radio will work on batteries but not with the plug so it must have fried the plug. As far as the microwave I haven't taken it out to see if I can find a fuse or replace the cord. That's another day and I'm not sure if we are done with the KOA as yet. Well the day was shot so we watched TV till later in the afternoon and we did go out to dinner at a GREAT Italian restaurant here in Salina. It was Martinelli's Little Italy and the food was fantastic. In fact the lasagna was so good I brought an order home to have for dinner another night when Mom has her leftover spaghetti. Well the day ended a lot better than it started so alls well that ends well. Well until tomorrow we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick

Caching & Big Problems 6/4/2010

This morning we headed out caching early into the downtown Salina area. We found 15 caches and unfortunately they were all NRV caches. There were several in parks, an old mailbox post, a karate studio, in an old stump, on a bridge, at a downtown rest room, at the library, on a old sign near a broom manufacturer and several on trees in the woods. Then it was back to the coach for the afternoon, we thought. We had lunch and Mom did our logs and the TV started flickering and the sound of the A/C changed so I checked our volt meter and it was very very low. I went outside and looked at the electric box and I could smell it burning so I unplugged our cord and it was hotter than hell. I went to the office and told them and they moved us to a new site.....a pain in the butt in 95 degree heat. We moved got set up and the A/C and voltage were fine. We were sitting watching TV and all of a sudden there was a lound bang from the circuit breaker box and smoke and sparks shot out of it. I checked our volt meter again and it had gone way up as far as it could go. The breaker box seemed ok so I tried to flip the breaker on but all I got was flames from it. So everything went off as I pulled the plug again and looked out and one of the workers here was trying to fix the electric box we had just left without turning the electric off. Well you know how that went. They tried to get hold of a mobile repair man but couldn't until the next day at 9:00 am. Back to the office and this time there wasn't anything we could do as we had no electric so we asked to go to a motel and they graciously said ok and gave us 50.00 to pay for it. So off we went to Super 8 with our things. Well after 4 trips back and forth to the coach we had everything we needed for the night. So that's where we spent the night in an uncomfortable bed but at least we had A/C. We had lousy pizza and the dogs didn't eat hardly all so that was our rotten afternoon. So until tomorrow we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick

North To Salina, KS 6/3/2010

We packed up and left Wellington early today for our trip up I135 to Salina, KS. It was a lovely trip as the roads were great and no traffic jams. We got to the Salina KOA about noon, got set up, had lunch and went out to look for a few caches that were close to the campgrounds. We found 5 caches and then headed back to the coach for showers and dinner. Well that's about it for today so until tomorrow we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick

Caching in Oxford & Wellington, KS 6/2/2010

This morning we thought we would drive down to Oxford, KS about 13 miles from us seeing as we saw that there were some interesting and historical caches there. Our first cache wasn't anything spectacular as it was at the intersection of 2 roods behind a rock.

Next cache was a different story though. The cache was placed near one of Oxford's biggest "cold war" history sites, an ICBM launch site that was once a key piece to "nuclear deterrence". These missiles were manned by the 381st Missile Wing base at McConnell AFB.
The 381st Strategic Missile Wing was organized at McConnell AFB, Kansas on 1 March 1962. McConnell AFB spent a quarter century supporting 18 Titan II missile silos of the 381st Strategic Missile Wing that were planted in the surrounding region. The Air Force accepted the final silo on January 31, 1963. With the arrival of the Titan II missiles from the Martin plant near Denver, the 381st Strategic Missile Wing focused on bringing the weapons to alert status.
Operational readiness training for the missile crews took place mostly at Vandenberg AFB, California. The unit received its first Titan II ICBMs in January 1963. Its squadrons, the 532d Strategic Missile Squadron (ICBM-Titan) and 533d SMS (ICBM-Titan), became operational in December of the same year.
The wing was composed of two Strategic Missile Squadrons (the 532nd and the 533rd). These squadrons were each composed of nine ballistic launch complexes, each housing a Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. The Titan II being 105 feet long and 10 feet in diameter. The launch complex was about 150 feet deep and 50 feet in diameter including the twenty foot diameter launch tube which comprised its center.
The Titans were fully configured for immediate launch in a matter of two minutes. The launch sequence included a number of test and initiation functions as well as a 20 second door opening sequence. The Silo closure door weighed 780 tons and was locked down with hydraulicly operated locks, and raised on hydraulic jacks. The hydraulics also operated the radial motors that pulled the door open with 1.5 inch diameter steel cables (4 of them). Launch initiation was also accompanied with attenuation water which flowed 9000 gallons per minute for sound suppression and protection of the silo during the launch.
Launch crews were composed of four personnel. Two officers were responsible for launch initiation, while two enlisted crewmembers were responsible for equipment checkout, repair and readiness. All four crewmembers were together responsible for communications, and final responsibility for launch. With an average of eight alerts (duty shifts at the site) per month, a crewmember achieved 200 alerts in about two years.
On October 2, 1981, Deputy Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci ordered the inactivation of the Titan II weapon system. On August 8, 1986, the 381st Strategic Missile Wing became the second Titan II wing to be deactivated. The 381st was deactivated after providing twenty-plus years of strategic deterrence and winning numerous awards, including the SAC missile combat competition Blanchard Trophy in 1972, 1975, 1980, and 1983.
After we found the cache and talked to one of the local farmers who directed us to the actual site and told us where and where not to go we drove down to the site. There really wasn't anything there to see except a pile of dirt but we really didn't know what to expect.

Next we drove into the center of Oxford for a cache at the town gazebo. The town park had the original bell of the town of Oxford which was bought in 1871 and it was used for fire alerts and town meetings. There also was, of course, a gazebo and also a monument to veteran's.

Our next cache was at a small park that had a 1907 Avery Steam Tractor there. Avery Company was an American farm tractor builder, famed for its undermounted engine, in that the tractor more resembled a railroad engine in a farmer's field, than a conventional farm steam engine.
Robert Hanneman Avery went into the farm implement business after the Civil War. His company put out a large line of products, including steam engines beginning in 1891. The company started with a return flue style, and later went into the undermount style replete with pugnacious bulldog on the smokebox door. They experienced immediate success with farmers in central Illinois and their market grew nation-wide and overseas until their failure to innovate brought them down in the 1920s. They later manufactured trucks and then automobiles until succumbing to an agricultural crisis and later the Depression. Avery tractors are considered very rare and are highly prized among collectors today. A large model 40-80 built from 1913-1920 in premier condition can fetch over $100,000 at auction.

Next cache was in the Oxford Cemetery and it was placed in a stone garden near someone's husband's step-grandfather's marker. He was called "Shoe" because he was famous for his glowing white fancy dress shoes. We also saw several head stones dating back to the middle 1800's and also a head stone of the first white couple to homestead in Oxford and Sumner County and remained there till they died.

Next was a virtual cache near a "dancing cow" We had to go to the Dehy Alfalfa Co and find the dancing cow on top of a tank and then find the words "frisky cows eat" Dehy Alfalfa.

Next we were off to the Old Oxford Mill c1874 and completely restored flour and grist mill which has been restored and opened as a restaurant. The mill was put on the National Register of Historic Places back in 1982. I really couldn't find any kind of history on the mill so pictures will have to do.

Our last cache in Oxford was a multi-cache where we had to go to 2 sites and identify them and then go into the country to find the final cache container. Then we drove back to Wellington where we did 5 NRV caches and headed back to the coach for the afternoon after driving through the downtown area and taking a few pictures. Well that's about it from here in Wellington so until tomorrow we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick

On Our Way North To Wellington, KS 6/1/2010

We packed up this morning and started to head north to see if we could lose some of this stinkin heat. We got on I35 and started heading up through OK to KS. It was a smooth trip with only one bad section of road construction for about 10 miles. In fact the road for the most part was very good. We got to Wellington, KS about noon and got set up and had lunch. We are staying at the Wellington KOA which is under new ownership and they have made a ton of improvements. There is a new office, bathrooms and showers. They have improved the sites and built 3 new cabins. The sites are large with full hook-ups. There is no cable TV and we can't pick anything up with our antenna so we don't watch TV for 2 days and the wi-fi is iffy. After we had lunch we loaded a few caches into the GPS and took a ride into the city. We did 5 NRV caches on a very very hot afternoon. We just wanted to congratulate Erica on her Senior Ball and we are so glad she had a good time. I am posting the pictures that Melissa sent so everyone can see what a beautiful young lady she is and she will be off to college in the fall. Well that's about it for today so until tomorrow we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick

Memorial Day Caching Around the Campgrounds 5/31/2010

Well nothing but a lot of NRV caches today as we didn't want to drive to far as we will be leaving here tomorrow. We ended up doing 13 caches and as we said all of them were NRV. Three under light post skirts, one at Cracker Barrel, one at a western dance club, one at a Courtyard Marriott, one inside a drain pipe, one on an electric box, two in street drains, and three in trees in wooded areas. After we were done we hustled back to the coach to keep cool as it was going to be 90-92 again today. Because of the expected heat in the upcoming week or so it has changed our plans considerably. We have canceled all reservations to head through Texas into New Mexico and instead we are headed north up through Kansas and then west into Colorado and then up into Wyoming and then into South Dakota. It was forecast to be between 100-105 in Amarillo, TX on Fri, Sat and Sun and then 95-99 in Albuquerque, NM next week so we just aren't going to deal with those temperatures if we don't have to and we don't. Both those cities are supposed to have record breaking heat the same as OKC has had a few days while we were here. If we have to go to Alaska to find cool temperatures watch out because here we come. It just is no fun to cache and sightsee in those hot temps. Well that's about it for today from OKC so until tomorrow from Kansas we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick