Geocaching

Surprise!! I bet you didn't know that we love to geocache, did ya? Funny thing....we didn't know we liked it either!  If you aren't familiar with geocaching, it's basically using gps coordinates and a map that gets you close to a hidden cache, or small container hidden in the area. Then you look around till you find it, and if you find it, you sign the log and take a small item that is in it if you want, leave an item if you want, and re-hide it for the next person.The night we did the Super Moon hike, a young dude we had with us took off with Emma and her friend Isabella and they were finding hidden treasure all over Briones.  Em was hooked! And then Brian was hooked....he may have even come home one day from work and the first thing he may have said was, "Emma, lets go find a cache."  Off they go, until a police man stopped and asked them why they were on the Cal State East Bay campus digging in the bushes. Oops. I'll try this link...it gives you a peek at just how many there are out there in our area...every nook and cranny of our neighborhood, Mt. Diablo, Briones....even the Bart parking lot and Safeway parking lot...there are caches everywhere!

Once we got the app, we realized Mt. Diablo is basically a huge treasure map. Yep...I've been running right by hidden caches for years with no clue they were there.

We've had a few caching adventures this summer, here's a few pictures for you-

 There was one in that cistern.

 There's still one hidden under one of those rocks, weran out of energy and gave up.

 This one was kinda tricky, had to hop a fence behind some houses and all the dogs in the neighborhood were not happy with us.

 You'd never know there was anything hiding on this hill, would you?

 BART parking structure....

 I spent a day on Diablo w/our friend Kyle and the kids...this was the first of 9 (?? I think it was 9) finds.

Above they know they are close, just have to hunt around for a while and ....

 Score! Found it.

 Boy, this one was super frustrating...the map had us right on it, within zero ft...meaning we were standing right on it, but we could not find it anywhere.

 Another find...about now I'm getting a little antsy to make a find myself, but I didn't have the app on my phone, so I was pretty much along for the adventure....

 We had a bunch of prizes left over from Myles party, so that's what we were leaving in the caches.

 Sneaky mama...We were getting really close to one and I spotted a slight trail to a rock...so I took of at a sprint thinking it had to be more than just a rock and I was finally going to find a cache myself. Stinkin kids....take that, bah, ha, ha : )  Above is what I found, and below is what it looks like hidden.

 And this tree, goodness.  The clue was something about bbq and a tree.  If you know the Mt...you know that means a trip down BBQ Terrace....which is really not fun on a hot day. There is not one ounce of shade. There was a cache hanging in this tree...see it?? It took us a while.

 But we did find it!

 We spent some time around Rock City, and we did find one, although I have no pictures of it, it was near the Alien rock...and that's all I can tell you.  Myles scored a little race car from that one.  Kyle had made 5 caches, he's hiding them in these pictures.

I'm so glad Kyle introduced us to this whole geocaching thing. It is really fun to be at the store and hear "mom, there's one within 150 ft of us, it must be out behind the store, lets go find it".....and off we go.  I'm all for free, fun adventure!!  There are a few rules, and etiquette to follow, so if you are interested, take a minute to give the site linked to above a read....and then go have some fun!

Tomorrow

So tomorrow is day one of teeth work! The 4 teeth are getting cleaned (really, drilling out the decay and putting in temp fillings) to see if it's only 2, or if it's 3 that need root canals. The 4th needs a new crown.  Then we'll quickly move on to the root canals...then the 4 crowns. : )
Hopefully I remember non of this as I will be going in later today to pick up some meds, "Oral sedation"...that actually start tonight with a sleeping pill of sorts. Not sure exactly what it is yet...and then another pill in the morning, and another at the dental office.  Brian will have his hands full apparently as these pills may make you do things you don't know you are doing, and will not remember.  They specifically said to have all electronics such as computers and phones put out of reach/my knowledge. : )  Oh, they also said I'd be alert enough to tell them if I need to use the bathroom, but won't be able to get there on my own. Also, they said to wear pj's because I may not be aware enough to get ready in the morning tomorrow and will sleep all day Friday. Sounds like a blast. This could provide Brian with a few Kodak/blackmail moments.

I know he already knows how grateful we are, but I have to thank Dad again, for making all this work possible.  Yes we have insurance, but it will barely put a dent into all this work, and we definitely can not afford the type of work that needs to be done just to get my mouth to where it doesn't hurt. So, Dad, THANK YOU!!!!
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Running related part of the post - You all know I was able to get 2 runs in this week!  After almost a year off of any kind of solid running/training/regular running....they weren't as bad as I had anticipated them being! I was expecting my fastest miles to be in the 13's, which was actually average for me before this long break I've been on. So to see a 12xx the first run out, and two in the 11's the second run out...I was happy!!  Lots of work to be done, but I know to start slow and steady, so that's really my only plan. There are no races on the schedule currently, so I have time to rebuild at a safe/sane rate.

Brian signed me back up for my Jillian website that I loved dearly when I had it.  When I was at my fittest, leanest, most muscular, and felt the strongest...it was when I was using her workouts on her site, combined with my running.  Once I dropped the site, workouts became less frequent/regular, and there's been a downhill fitness slide for about 2 years  now. Or upward if we are talking weight.  So, I'm super stoked to be back at it workout wise. This is week 2, and I love it as much now as I did years ago.

School update - we had back to school night, got to see classrooms, meet teachers, and happily....was able to sign up for each and every opportunity to volunteer in Myles class room, and some in Sophie's, too!! Was also able to get signed up for working the school carnival, and lap-o-thon.  This year feels so much better already than last years!

Probably wont hear from me again till next week, so have a great weekend!!

Tarantula #2 of the Season

 Look at those dusty feet! Some of these are blurry because I'm trying to be brave and get quick, good shots. Some work, some don't. Also some are with my camera and some are with my phone.

Ignore my annoying voice.

2014 First Day of School!!

There's a treat for you at the end, so don't get bored half way through this!

Everything went great! All 3 were happy, Myles especially! His teacher is female, wore a cute dress and heels, and first thing she asked him was "You're Myles, right? Where's your boots?"  He's known for his cowboy boots/shorts combo.  His teacher looks (in the way she was dressed) like a few teachers from our old school that he really liked, so he was super happy.  He ended the day super happy, too, saying he was so glad he has a nice teacher!! Sophie liked her teacher more than she thought she would, her words were "she's actually not that bad." Emma came home, well, like Emma. Said the day was fine....and not much else.  Here's some pictures for you!

 And then I was off to my happy place!!! I hadn't been alone on the mt in months!!!

 I just popped out of the woods from a single track onto Donner trail and was happy to see this poor dead tarantula....it meant they were out and about and maybe I'd get to see one!

 And then, on a different trail, I saw this beauty!!

 And, another gift, I found a nice new feather for my Diablo feather collection - its the one in the far back against the wall that is parted on top.

And, here's your treat for staying with this post : )

When she turned and at me, I decided to put the camera down on the ground and move it with the strap so my hand wasn't as close : )