Another Day of Caching in Panama City 2/29/2008

Well you could tell it was a Leap Year today as it was like the great beyond this morning. We left about 8:30 and drove into Panama City to do some more caching and boy the way they started out we should have headed for home in the first 45 minutes. We couldn't find the first 4 caches we looked for and this is a first for us. In all fairness though we think that the huge storm they had last week did affect some of the caches. Well at least things got better as we went along. Our first find was at the Panama City Pier Park Marina behind a lovely statue for 9/11. Besides the statue there was a bench for each of the airplanes lost in the terrorism made of the same material as the monument. You should also have seen some of the boats, or we guess we should say yachts, that were at the pier.
Then it was off to a cache located off a jogging trail in a small park, next it was on to the site of the St Andrew Bay Saltworks which was one of the largest producers of salt in the South. Between 1861 and 1865 they contributed to the Confederate cause by providing salt, fish and cattle for southern troops and citizens. A necessary preservative in those times, salt sold for as much as $50 a bushel, and was produced in wood-fired saltworks on the perimeter of the West Bay, East Bay, North Bay and Lake Powell. An estimated 2,500 men, primarily from FL, GA and Al were exempted from combat duty in order to labor in the saltworks. The salt was transported to Eufaula, AL and then on to Montgomery, for distribution throughout the Confederate states. Because of the importance of the St Andrew Bay Saltworks to the confederacy, acting Master W. R. Browne, commander of the U. S. S. Restless, was instructed to commence a series of assaults beginning in August 1862. In December 1863, additional Union attacks occurred, which Confederate home guards could not resist. The attacks resulted in the destruction of more than 290 saltworks, valued by Master Browne at more than $3,000,000. The St Andrew Bay Saltworks employees promptly rebuilt them, and they remained in operation until February 1865. The picture shown is an origianl salt pot used in the Civil War.
Then it was on down the road to the site of the St Andrew Skirmish. On this site on March 20, 1863, Confederate soldiers commanded by Captain Walter J. Robinson repelled a landing by by Union soldiers led by Acting Master James Folger of the of the blockading vessel U. S. S. Roebuck. The 11 man scouting party of Union sailors was seeking to locate a southern civilian vessel near the "Old Town" spring, when they were reportedly ordered to surrender by Captain Robinson. During the ensuing skirmish, several Union sailors were killed and wounded as they fled to there launch boat. Quarter, or safe passage, was requested by the remaining Union sailors to retrieve their dead or wounded. Total Union casualties were six dead and three wounded. Union sailors buried four of the deceased on nearby Hurricane Island, and a fifth sailor was interred by the Confederate soldiers. No casualties were recorded by the Confederate unit, which later became Company A of the 11th Florida Infantry Regiment. After the conclusion of the Civil War the Union sailors were removed to the national cemetery at Fort Barrancas.
Next we went to a small park with a cache next to a tennis court, then back into downtown and another cache in a part of the marina, next was a cache along the street behind palm trees, then on to a small park and a cache in a tree and last but not least a cache in a magnolia tree along a nature walk.
There was one cache we tried to do but couldn't find it and it was in a lovely small park in the middle of downtown called Oaks Bay park. They had a very rare four headed palm tree, the only one of its kind in the world. They also had a 250 year old oak tree called "The Old Sentry" and was standing during the war between the states as if a sentry standing guard over St Andrews Bay. Also in the park was another old salt kettle used by the confederacy during the war between the states to recover salt from the sea water.
We stopped and got a sandwich for lunch and headed back to the RV. Got back and ate, Mom did our cache logs and I took a shower. We watched tv till dinner and we ate and now are watching tv and I am doing the blog. Well time to say good night and we love all you guys.


Picture List:1-St Andrew Skirmish, 2-4-St Andrew Bay Saltworks Site, 5-Salt Kettle at the Oaks Bay Park, 6-Four Headed Palm in Oak Bay Park, 7-Carved Tree at the Marina, 8-A Boat at the Marina (how the poor live), 9-10-911 Memorial at the Pier Park Marina.

A Quiet Day of Caching in Port St Joe and Mexico Beach 2/28/2008

Today we spent a quiet simple day starting out in Port St Joe which is about 10 miles from us. There was one cache there in a small park overlooking the ocean which had a beautiful view. We went to the Piggly Wiggly and got some groceries then drove around the town just seeing what we could find interesting. There really wasn't as much as there has been in the areas we have been in over the past few weeks. We saw a few older churches, the high school which must have some kind of athletes as they have had 21 state championships over the past 25 years. There football stadium was painted yellow/blue with huge PSJ painted on the seats. There was an older downtown area with a few old shops and a historic movie theater. Jetty Park on the waterfront was very lovely with a lot of very expensive boats. Port St Joe was called Florida's "Forgotten City" and was founded in the 1830's. We left there and traveled back to Mexico Beach and a cache located in a welcome sign, then a cache at an ice cream store, and 2 caches at beach accesses. The second one was at Dog Beach the only beach in Mexico Beach that allows dogs on the beach itself. We took Muffy and Raggs with us down to find the cache and they loved all the new smells. Then it was on back to the RV and lunch, Mom did the logs and I am looking for caches for tomorrow. Well it's time to eat dinner so I will say so long till tomorrow and we love you all.


Picture List:1-Port St Joe Beach, 2-Old Engine & Coal Car, 3-Street Hangings, 4-Historic Theater, 5&6-Jetty Park, 7-Port St Joe High School Football Stadium, 8&9-Old Church in Mexico Beach, 10-Dog Beach.

First Day of Caching in Panama City 2/27/2008

We decided to go to Panama City today to do some caching as the lady we met in Apalachicola, Lois, was coming down today and wanted to meet us at a cache to see if we could find it. Well anyway we left about 8:30 and got to the first cache about 9:00 which we couldn't find. Next it was on to a park and a cache hidden in a tree, then a cache on top of a stop sign, one on a power box on a telephone pole, where a short distance away inside a fenced in steel yard were about 50-60 goats, yeah we know very strange. Then it was on to the next cache in the woods and then to a small Memorial Park for one hidden in the bushes. We got done that cache and Lois called and said she was ready to meet us at this particular cache. It was put out on Dec. 4th and still hasn't been found yet and there have been at least 50 DNF logs posted and I'm sure many many more not posted. Well we looked for 2 1/2 hours and were joined by another cacher and nobody could find it. We finally said enough was enough and we were off back to the campgrounds. We got back about 3:00 and I showered and Mom wrote the logs and I am doing the last 2 days blog. We were just sitting here and all of a sudden there was a loud boom that shook the whole RV and rattled the dishes. Not sure what it was but we suspect it might have been a sonic boom. Well time for dinner and have to feed the 2 mutts. You all take care until tomorrow and we love you and miss you.

Picture List: This is a picture of our son Tim's 16U Girl's Hockey team who just won the Section 3 Championship.

On Our Way To Mexico Beach 2/26/2008

We got up in the morning and again they had a severe thunderstorm watch out for the Panhandle area so we watched the weather and it wasn't going to rain till sometime after noon. Seeing as we only had about 60 miles to drive to Mexico Beach we figured we would beat the storms and get there and get all set up before they happened. So we quickly packed up and were on the road by 9:30, well we figured wrong as the dopey weathermen were wrong again as usual. We drove right through the middle of the line of thunderstorms on our way to the campgrounds. Luckily the thunder and lightening weren't to bad but wind and rain were tough. Torrential rains and very high winds pushed us all over the road and it got kind of hairy a few times passing a car or truck going the other way, but we made it and by the time we got there the sun was out. We got all set up and ate lunch and I took a shower and we went out and took a look at what the town was like. When we got to the campgrounds we had a package waiting for us and when we opened it to our surprise it was a congratulations on your 1000th find geocoin that our very good friends Gina and Steve from MB had sent us along with a card signed by all our friends in the caching group in MB. What a lovely surprise it was a very lovely coin and we want to thank them so so much. Mexico Beach is very quiet, mostly beach houses with a few 3-4 story oceanfront places, a few small restaurants and shops and thats about all. We are right next to Tyndall Air Force base and they are a training base for the F-16 planes so we did hear a few going over during the afternoon. We got back and had dinner and watched tv and went to bed. Time to say till tomorrow and we love you all.

Doing Chores and Getting Ready to Move 2/25/2008

Today was a getting things done around the RV and getting ready to move on tomorrow. Mom cleaned the inside and I worked on getting a little mildew off the awning that had collected recently before it got to bad. I also washed the car and took all the bugs and road tar off of it as it had gotten quite bad here in FL. After that we took a trip into Carrabelle part of the "forgotten coast" of Florida. We had to go to the Dollar Store and the IGA. Then we went to the Camp Gordan Johnston Museum which was a history of WW 2 and the training camp here close to Carrabelle which is now Lanark Village. This village was, during WW 2 a military base for upwards of 10,000 soldiers while they trained for amphibious landings. This camp trained over 250,000 men over the years for amphibious assaults. The camp was sold as homes after the war and is now a low income retirement community. The museum was quite interesting and we enjoyed seeing it. We then went to the town square where the local prisoners had just finished a new memorial park. They just finished over the weekend and had gotten it all sodded and sometime over the weekend vandals tore all the small statues off of their bases and took them to the beach. They did recover the statues and they are now back in place. We then did one last cache here that we didn't find on our original search and then back to the RV for dinner and an evening of tv. Well time to say till tomorrow and we miss you and love you.


Picture List:1-This is a picture of 3 crosses that someone has erected on a small island in the middle of the river, 2-The new memorial park that was just finished last weekend. The small statues in the foreground are the ones that the vandals tore off of there pedestals and took to the beach.

Last Day of Caching in Apalachicola2/24/2008

Well today will be the last day of caching in this area as after we find the 11 caches today we will have done all the caches in this area and Tuesday it's on to Mexico Beach. We left about 9:00 and stopped and washed the car first as it was filthy. The first cache was outside the oldest cemetery in Apalachicola, next was a cache outside of Chef Eddie's Magnolia Grill Restaurant, next was a cache behind the Red Rabbit Grocery Store (now Piggly Wiggly), then on to a cache outside a thrift shop, then one near a Happy Feet (penguin) Ice Machine, next was a cache located at The Crab Factory Restaurant that was destroyed by Hurricane Dennis. It really was a shame as we bet that it was a great place to eat. Next cache was hidden along side the road in a bush, next was a multi-cache where you found an ammo box which had the log in it and the log was locked, then you had a clue as to where the second stage was and that held the key to unlock the log so you could sign it. We did at first think the second stage was in a cemetery but then read the clue and we found it easily. Next was a cache hidden on a crossing gate of the now defunct Apalachicola Northern Railroad, then it was on to a 1/4 mile walk on a very lovely boardwalk back into the swamp for a cache hidden at the end, and the last cache was a nice walk in an old botanical garden, which I didn't do, as Mom wet on her own to find it as my leg was bothering me. Then we stopped at Subway and got a sandwich and went to the waterfront to eat it and then it was on back to the Rv and supper soon. Well time to say so long till tomorrow and we love and miss you all.


Picture List:1-Mom and her new friend, 2&3-A motel damaged by Hurricane Dennis in 2005, 4-Here's hoping this helps next time, 5-9-The Crab Factory Restaurant destroyed by Hurricane Dennis in 2005, 10-Apalachicola Bank Clock, 11-Two Friends, 12-Drinking Fountain.

A Day in Apalachicola 2/23/2008

After the deluge of last night and the pounding of the rain on the roof we finished our ark so we are ready now. We decided to take a ride into Apalachicola for the morning to look in some of the shops and see if there was anything we missed on our first couple of trips. We got there about 10:30 and started walking around looking in some of the quaint little gift shops and clothing stores. My my quite expensive especially the clothing stores. We did find an old time soda fountain and went in a yes it was just like walking into yesteryear with the sit down bar with the swivel stools and the ice cream freezers behind it. They had the old seltzer spritzers that they use to make sodas and it really was nice to see. Well we couldn't leave without having something so Mom had a strawberry ice cream soda and I had a chocolate milk shake and they both were delicious. After having those we walked around awhile and left to go back to the RV. For dinner we came back into Apalachicola for dinner at the Owl Cafe one of the top voted restaurants in Florida. We met Lois the young lady we met caching and had dinner with her. She is a full time reporter for the local Apalachicola, Eastpoint, Lanark newspaper and has her own exterminating business and teaches some classes at the local community college. She has a Masters and PHD from Virginia Tech and is a entomologist. She really filled us in on a lot of the local color and happenings and she knew everyone that came into the restaurant it seemed. I had great fried Apalachicola oysters and Mom had a great salad and soup combo. The oysters were simply scrumptious. She is such a nice person, very friendly and is a very hard worker, we don't know when she has time to cache but she does fit it all in very nicely. After dinner we went back to the RV and it was bedtime. Well time to say till tomorrow and we love and miss you all.

Picture List:1-3 Piddlers Alley a small shop along Main Stret with lots of artsy craftsy things, 4 Painting in a window in one of the shops, 5 Old washing machine being used as a planter, 6 Carving in front of the soda fountain, 7 & 8 the old time soda fountain.

We are Building an Ark After Last Night 2/22/2008

Rain, rain, rain and more rain. We have never seen it rain so hard as it did last night . It started about 9:00 pm and must have lasted till about 10:30. It rained so hard you couldn't see out the windows of the RV. Talk about monsoons, well that must have been one. There was some thunder and lightening which wasn't to bad and there was no wind at all, which was good. We got off early this morning to go get my MRI and it took about 1 hour to do it so we didn't get out of the doctors until 11:00. We went and did a cache located in a small patch of woods and then it was on to WalMart for a cache and grocery shopping. Next it was on to a cache hidden in a stop sign and then one near a bunch of old old junk cars called Mr. Harvey's collection.
Then it was on to Wakulla Spring and an Earthcache located there. Wakulla Springs is one the single, largest spring systems in the world with an average of 250 million gallons of water flowing from its giant cave system to form a 9 mile long river that reaches the Gulf of Mexico. Archaeological finds at the spring, including early stone blades and Clovis spear points show evidence of humans using the spring an estimated 12,000 years ago. Fossilized remains of mastodon and other prehistoric animals demonstrate that the spring attracted plentiful game for early nomadic people. The Alalachee Indians lived in the Panhandle area in the 1500's. In 1656 The Spanish built missions in Tallahassee to bring the indians under Spanish control. In the 1700's the missions were attacked by the English colonists driving the Spanish and Apalachee Indians from the Tallahassee area. 8000 BC - 1000 AD humans became les nomadic and settled in the Wakulla Springs area. In 1528 Panfilo de Narvaez explored the area for gold and after finding none was driven from the area by the Apalachee Indians and he and most of his men perished. In the 1850's word spread about Wakulla Springs through the newspapers that described a magical spot in the woods where water gushed forth from the ground and the remains of mastodons could be seen in the spring basin. Before and after the Civil War Wakulla changed hands several times. In the 1900's it was opened to the public and many naturalists were drawn to the springs. In 1931 George Christie coordinated a major recovery of mastodon bones and turned the find into a public relations event. In 1937 the Wakulla Lodge opened and it was rumored to cost $75,000 and was built in a Mediterranean Revival style and burned soon after that and was rebuilt in 1943. In 1941 scenes from several Tarzan movies were filmed at the springs. In 1953 several scenes from the movie The Creature from the Black Lagoon were filmed here. In 1966 it was named a National Natural Landmark. In 1973 on April 11th the peak water flow of 1.23 billions gallons was recorded for a single day. In 1976 some scenes from Airport '77 were filmed there. In 1993 Wakulla Springs was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1998 members of the Global Underwater Explorers established a new world record for underwater cave penetrations by pushing nearly 3 1/2 miles beyond the entrance to Wakulla's cave. There many many more interesting facts regarding this site all to detailed to mention. Wakulla Springs is home to many animals and birds including alligators manatees, limpkins, purple gallinules, moorhen, green heron, black crowned night heron, white ibis, anhinga, ospreys, suwannee cooter and white tailed deer. If your interested in the website it is www.floridasprings.org/exploration/featured/wakulla/ and click on the Interactive Spring feature link. Click on exploring Wakulla and the best section is the virtual cave dive.
Well time to feed the puppies and again a severe thunderstorm watch is out for this evening and it looks like there is a strong line of thunderstorms on its way and they are saying up to 5" of rain so maybe we better get going on that ark. Going to eat dinner after and then see if we can get some sleep tonight, if the weather radio will cooperate, as we are going into Apalachicola caching tomorrow and then meet a girl we met through caching for dinner at one of the local restaurants. Well until tomorrow we love you all and are thinking of you all the time.


All pictures are of Wakulla Springs...1-Front Sign, 2-Lodge, 3-Pavillion, 4-Springs, Boat dock & Dive platform.

Another Day, Another Dollar and Another Tornado Watch 2/21/2008

We didn't do to much today as the doctor told me I should rest my leg for awhile so I figured that today would be a good day as it was supposed to rain all day and night. I made my appointment for the MRI which is tomorrow at 9:30. We hung around looking up future campgrounds in Alabama and Mississippi. We did go and get 1 cache here in Carrabelle that had been disabled and was replaced so we went and got that. That was about it till after we ate dinner and then the fun began again. A tornado watch for the area so we sat here and watched the Weather Channel and listened to the weather radio blast the watches and warnings in our area. We did post some pictures of the eclipse we took last night. Well time for bed and hope we survive the night. We miss and love you all.