Category Archives: Geocaching

Geocaching

October 19, 2013 Tahlequah, Oklahoma

As we passed from Arkansas into Oklahoma, the difference in the terrain became very apparent. Instead of fertile farmlands with farms, silos and windmills, we now had large areas of open land with no signs of farming. Occasionally we saw cattle grazing in the fields. We passed through small towns with magnificent views since we could see for miles around.

We were a little concerned about our next destination, Cherokee Landing State Park outside of Tahlequah, because we had been unable to reach anyone by phone. A call to another Oklahoma state park assured us that Cherokee Landing was open, so we decided to take a chance. We arrived and were happy to see the park was open and about half full. We were delighted with our site, overlooking beautiful Lake Tenkiller, with a concrete pad, 50 amp service and water. Our first day here we decided to explore the town of Tahlequah and do some geocaching as that seems an excellent way to explore a new area. Our experience has been that geocaches often take you to places you would not ordinarily discover.

Tahlequah was founded in 1838 as the capital of the Cherokee Nation. It is also the home of Northeastern State University. One of the really neat things about the town is that all the signs are written in English as well as Cherokee. If the name sounds familiar to any of you, it is featured in the book, “Where the Red Fern Grows” by Wilson Rawls. It was also voted one of the Top 100 Best Small Towns in America.

Sequoyah, a Cherokee who created a syllabary which made it possible for the Cherokees to read and write.

All signs in the town are in English and Cherokee. Muskogee is another name for the Creeks, a Native American people from the southeast.

We also visited the site of the Cherokee nation capital building, built in 1867. On the front lawn of the building we found a mini Statue of Liberty, which was dedicated in 1950 by the Boy Scouts “as a pledge of everlasting fidelity and loyalty”. Throughout the town while geocaching we found several beautiful murals.

When we arrived back at our campsite Bill went outside the take some sunset pictures and came back in to tell me there was a bald eagle in a tree right across from our campsite. We went outside and watched him for quite awhile. It is not everyday that you get that close to a bald eagle!

The next day we went to the Cherokee Heritage Center which included a Cherokee National Museum, a Tsa-La-Gi Village, and a Cherokee Genealogy Library. Bill spent quite a few hours researching his Cherokee heritage, without much luck to his disappointment. We took a guided tour of the Tsa-La-Gi village which was quite interesting. Among many things we learned:

the village consisted of seven clans,
how they solved conflicts using stickball competitions which is similar to lacrosse,
how to make arrowheads and blowguns.

We learned that Cherokees were very resourceful in taking worthless items such as European smoothbore trade guns which they took apart and made into many items they could trade and use in their everyday lives. The Cherokee Museum contained many interesting exhibits, including a fascinating one on the Trail of Tears.

The museum is located at the site of the original Cherokee female seminary which was opened in 1851 and destroyed by fire in 1837. These three columns are all that remain of the original building.

This monument is dedicated to the Cherokees who lived before 1907. The top of the monument has the names of the 7 clans.

October 16, 2013 Bentonville, Arkansas

We awoke to the sound of rain, but luckily the rain stopped in time for us to pack up and head to Bentonville in northwest Arkansas to visit family. The over three hour drive took us over a mountain which included a tunnel

and some beautiful lake views. We stopped in Lowell, Arkansas at a Camping World to have our electric steps repaired and then headed to Bentonville, best known as the home of Sam Walton, founder of Walmart.

Our first day in Bentonville we went down on the square and toured the Sam Walton museum. This museum not only gives a biography of Sam Walton, but includes the story of the founding of Walmart.

Outside of the museum they had a replica of one of Sam Walton’s trucks. He was known to ride around Bentonville in his pick up truck.

Bill was happy to learn that Sam Walton was an Eagle Scout.

Later in the day we went to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art which was founded by Alice Walton, daughter of Sam Walton. It opened in November, 2011 and is a glass and wood design with pavilions around two creek fed ponds. The museum features American art from the Colonial period to contemporary art.

During our visit Aunt Shirley went geocaching with us for the first time. She was quite good at it and found several geocaches.

The next day we went to the Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in Bella Vista, right outside of Bentonville. It is such a beautiful, spiritual place and weddings and funerals are held there, as well as people who come just to meditate.

September 25, 2013 Oglesby, IL

After a great time visiting Chicago, we traveled to Starved Rock State Park, Illinois. It is a lovely park and we were happy with our level site. Since Labor Day, the campgrounds have been pretty deserted Monday thru Thursday, and this park was no exception. The park lies along the Illinois River and is known for its fascinating sandstone rock formations. There are 18 canyons in the park formed by glacial meltwater and stream erosion. The waterfalls in the canyons are dry this time of year with the best time to see the waterfalls being in the spring during the end of winter thaw. The area has been home to numerous Native American tribes. The Park gets its name, Starved Rock, from a Native American legend. In the 1760’s, Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa tribe was killed by a member of the Illiniwek tribe. During the ensuing battles to avenge the killing, a band of Illiniwek under siege, sought refuge on the top of a 125 foot sandstone bluff. The Ottawas surrounded the bluff and stayed there until the Illiniweks died of starvation, thus the name “Starving Rock”. In 1673 French explorers Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette passed through here on their way to Illinois from Mississippi. When the French claimed the region, including most of the Mississippi Valley, they built Fort Louis on top of Starved Rock during the winter of 1682-1683.

Chief Pontiac

Model of French Fort Louis in the Visitors Center

When we decided to come to this park we had no idea of the variety of fascinating things we would discover. When driving to the park we noticed a sign for a Scout Museum. Of course Eagle Scout Bill had to tour this museum. It gave a fascinating history of the Boy and Girl Scouts, and also housed a Civil War exhibit and an exhibit on the history of Ottawa County. The Scout Museum had a special geocache

We found these statues of Lincoln and Douglas while geocaching in an Ottawa city park.

and of course we had to hunt that down. We loved all the places the multi cache took us in the area.

Inside of the Scout Museum, Ottawa, Illinois

This man created the boy and girl scout movements that we know today.

William Dickson Boyce, who brought the Boy Scout movement to the United States.

Ernest Thompson Seton

Bill wore this a uniform like this in the 1960’s.

Badges honoring Boyce, founder of the Boy Scouts.

A memorial to William Dickson Boyce. We found this strange because it was in a cemetery but appeared to be more like a memorial than a grave marker, even though his daughters and sons are buried nearby.

The second day we hiked up to Starved Rock and did some more geocaches of the area. Starved Rock State Park has a lodge, and while geocaching in that area we discovered many trees that had been carved with eagles, Indians, and even a Boy Scout sign.

View of the dam on the Illinois River from the top of Starved Rock

Starved Rock

PLEASE don’t take my picture!

We had to climb MANY steps to get to the top of Starved Rock!

More eagles winter in Starved Rock than anywhere else in the lower 48 states.

This carving was dedicated to the Native American Indians. It was done by Peter “Wolf” Toth who carved and donated statues in every state. This donation is his 62nd carving.

Our time here went by too quickly and soon it was time to move on. We certainly did enjoy our time at Starved Rock State Park!

September 15, 2013 Baraboo, Wisconsin

We awoke to the sound of rain, never a good thing to hear on moving day! Luckily we were in no hurry since we had a short distance to travel that day. By the time we were ready to leave, the rain had eased up. We arrived at Devil’s Lake State Park in Baraboo, Wisconsin. This is supposed to be one of the most beautiful, biggest and most popular parks in the upper Midwest. It has 500 foot bluffs that look out over a 360 acre lake. The hiking ranges from easy trails to those that are very difficult.

We were somewhat disappointed in our campsite. The majority of the sites in the park are hilly and it was difficult to level the RV. We changed sites and still did not have a site in which we could completely level the coach. That rarely happens to us. We had heard about the flies in Michigan before we left Florida in June. We had been pleasantly surprised not to find the flies or mosquitoes to be much of a problem. That changed once we arrived here. The flies are horrible for some reason and we have to race in and out of the door to avoid them dashing inside.

One day we took a scenic drive through the park with 15 stops and a written commentary to follow.

It wasn’t the most scenic drive we have found in our travels so far, but we did find some ancient native mounds dating back over 1,000 years. These were done by a group of Native Americans called the Effigy Mound Builders. Not much is known about this group of Native Americans but it is thought they used the mounds for burial grounds, festivals and special rites. The name Devil’s Lake originally came from Native American names which translated to Spirit Lake, Holy Lake, Mystery Lake, or Sacred Lake. It was the Winnebago tribe that gave it the name which when translated means Devil’s Lake.

One mound is in the distance. Not as tall as we expected and easy to miss without the signs.

The majority of the parks we enjoy were built many years ago by a wonderful group called the CCCs…Civilian Conservation Corps. Devil’s Lake is no exception. From 1934 to 1941, during the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps operated a work camp for 200 young men at Devil’s Lake. Many of the trails, roads, picnic tables, signs, etc were thanks to them.

In honor of the young men who helped build the park

Interesting tidbits about Devil’s Lake include the fact that the Ringling Brothers once owned a lakehouse here and elephants bathed in Devil’s Lake. Ulysses S Grant and Abraham Lincoln’s wife also visited Devil’s Lake.

Tuesday we drove 15 miles to Reedsburg to ride our bikes on the 400 Wisconsin Trail, a former railroad track that has been converted to a beautiful bike trail. The trail opened in 1993 and was named after the Chicago-Northwestern passenger train that at one time traveled the 400 miles between Chicago and Minneapolis/St Paul in 400 minutes. As we rode along the trail we had pastures with farmland and cattle on one side and the Baraboo River on the other. We pretty much had the trail to ourselves and found 28 geocaches.

A view of the bike path

A very pretty mural on the side of a building near the entrance to the bike trail which commemorates the bike trail

September 6, 2013 Racine and Milwaukee, Wisconsin

We would liked to have stayed longer in Hartford and checked with the rangers to see if we could extend our stay at Pike Kettle Moraine State Forest. But, alas, there were no spots available for the weekend. We decided to take our chances and venture closer to Milwaukee in search of a campsite for the weekend. We lucked out and found a great spot in Cliffside Park in the small town of Racine, outside of Milwaukee. We settled in for a 5 day stay, giving us plenty of time to explore Milwaukee.

On Sunday we drove down to Waukegan, Illinois to do to church with Bill’s Aunt Emily. After church we all went to lunch and then Aunt Emily gave us a tour of Waukegan. We certainly enjoyed our time with her!

Monday we ventured into Milwaukee to visit the Harley Davidson-Museum. It is the 110th anniversary of the founding of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company in Milwaukee during the Industrial Revolution. They had on display in chronological progression the many motorcycles spanning 110 years, including the oldest Harley-Davidson in existence….Serial Number 1. They had interactive displays of how engines work, and the company’s contribution to the war efforts of two World Wars. We chuckled as we watched movie clips of Hollywood’s best motorcycle comments, and I had the thrill of sitting on my very first Harley! And yes, we found a geocache right outside the entrance to the museum.

Entranceway of museum

Oldest Harley-Davidson in the world, Serial #1

1945 World War 2

Never knew there was a mail carrier motorcycle

For my Virginia family and friends

Rhinestone motorcycle

My very own Evil Knievel

Ready to roll….goodbye RV, hello world!

My first time on a Harley

Bill looks great on a motorcycle…think I will get him a black leather jacket and some boots for Christmas

Let’s go!

Statue in the small park outside the museum where we found a geocache

After the Harley museum we moved on to Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers. We were glad to see there was no home game so we were free to wander around and take pictures. There is a TGIF restaurant inside the park, so we were able to sit in the restaurant and look out over the ball field, while watching the Redskin game on a TV!

Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers

The view of the field from a TGIF restaurant inside the park where we had dinner and watched the Redskins play on TV.

Tuesday we drove back into Milwaukee where Bill’s friend John gave us a personal tour of the Master Lock manufacturing factory where he works. We learned all about the process of how key and combination locks are made.

Our time in Milwaukee has certainly been hot with daytime highs in the low to mid 90’s. We look forward to more fall like temperatures soon!

August 29, 3013 Kewaunee, Wisconsin

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We left Green Bay and made the short drive to Kewaunee which is a city on Lake Michigan which will be our base camp for 3 days of exploring the Door Peninsula. The northern half of the peninsula is an island.

Saturday we drove up to Sturgeon Bay passing through apple and cherry orchards, and farmland filled with silos on one side, and the beautiful coastline of Lake Michigan on the other. It truly was an amazing contrast so close together. We did some geocaching and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. After a thunderstorm overnight and some morning clouds, the afternoon weather was perfect…not too hot and not too cold…just right!

This sign seemed to be on almost every street corner in Kewaunee

Beautiful farmland with silos, windmills, and cows grazing in the fields.

Wisconsin known for their dairyland

We found this little off the beaten path one lane road that took us from the farmland to the lakeshore in a matter of minutes.

We found this swing in a little park looking out over Lake Michigan.

Lake Michigan

Bill and Diane looking out over Lake Michigan. In case you are wondering, Bill used the timer on his camera to take the pictures of us on the swing!

On Saturday we drove farther up the Door peninsula through the small towns of Whitefish Point, Jacksonport, Bailey’s Harbor, Ellison Bay, and Sister Bay. Sister Bay was clogged with traffic and small touristy shops even more complicated by Labor Day weekend events. We hurried through town and were very happy when we were once again on the rustic roads that wound through the countryside and along the lakeshore. Once again we saw beautiful scenery, noticing the windmills that seem to be very popular in this area of Wisconsin. We enjoyed visiting Whitefish Dunes State Park, as well as Cave Point County Park next door. Then we went to Newport State Park which is Wisconsin’s only designated wilderness park. Next we went to Northport, where we found one of the most interesting places we visited that day, Porte des Mortes, a French word meaning Door of Death, or Death’s Door, which is a strait linking Lake Michigan and Green Bay. It is said that the strait is littered with shipwrecks. Some say it has more shipwrecks than any other section of fresh water in the world. The strait is very narrow and shoals extend far from shore. The winds on the Great Lakes are often very unpredictable and change unexpectedly and rapidly. Door County is named for this narrow strait. During our visit to Michigan and Wisconsin we were told several times that kayaking on the Great Lakes should be left to the very experienced due to the unpredictability of the weather and wind.

We were very hungry by the time we worked our way back down to Sister Bay, and even though it was crowded with people we decided to stop here for dinner since it seemed to be the only place within miles with restaurants of any kind. The restaurant was hopping inside as much as the streets outside. One group of revelers was especially loud, to the point of hurting my ears due to their close promimity. Luckily within 15 minutes they paid their bar tab and continued on their way.

Rock Cave County Park

Rock Cave County Park looking south at shoreline of jagged cliffs

We have noticed along the lakeshores in Michigan and Wisconsin, there are often rocks in very interesting formations piled up by beach goers.

Death’s Door

Ellison Bluff State Natural Area….what a view 200 feet above the shoreline!

Sunday we spent doing laundry, grocery shopping, checking the tires and RV for the next day’s move, and making tentative plans for the next 3 months of travel.

August 23 Ashland, Wisconsin

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Sadly we left Michigan this morning. Our time in Michigan was wonderful and it certainly exceeded our expectations in beauty! The weather for the most part was cooler than expected but that was fine with us. The vicious mosquitoes and black flies we had heard so much about were not nearly as bad as we feared. Perhaps it was due to the cool weather.

We arrived in the quaint town of Ashland, Wisconsin and was immediately taken with its beauty. We found a campsite overlooking Lake Superior in Kreher City Park.

There are two streets in Ashland that caught our attention during our visit. Lakeshore Drive which takes you along Lake Superior with some breathtaking views of the lake. The other street is Main Street where we found 11 huge murals painted on several building for 8 blocks along the street. The first mural was done eleven years ago by Wisconsin artists Kelly Meredith and Sue Martinsen as part of the state’s sesquicentennial celebration. This then became part of a long term project to bring art, history and tourism to Ashland. Yes, these are murals painted on buildings! Take a look!

Lumberjack Mural depicts the men and women of Ash;and’s lumber era

Waitress mural

Storefront mural…a compilation of Ashland storefronts from the early 1900’s

Veterans Mural in honor of all the Ashland men and women who served our country in wars and conflicts

Lighthouse Mural depicting 3 lighthouses within Apostle islands off of the coast of Ashland on Lake Superior

Asaph Whittlesey Mural depicts Ashland National Bank, 1892

Ore Dock Mural, the dock was built in 1916 and extended in 1924. It was 1800 feet long and at the time was the largest concrete dock in the world

Historical Ellis Avene Mural features Northland College, Wheeler Hall; the old Ashland high school; and the Knight Hotel

On Sunday we decided to make the 30 mile drive to Copper Falls State Park to do some hiking and see the waterfalls. The forecast of 95 degree weather concerned, but did not deter us. A brief history of the park is that thousands of cubic miles of lava oozed from deep fissures where Lake Superior now lies. The lava spread in all directions, building horizontal layers that reached thicknesses up to 60,000 feet. There was so much lava, the earth’s crust sagged and formed the basin of Lake Superior. Evidence of the lava can be seen in the park today. The Bad River and its tributary the Tylers Fork flow through a gorge and drop over several waterfalls. Copper was mined by Native Americans and then later by European settlers. The park has done an excellent job of creating walkways with many, many steps that takes us around a trail where we can view the waterfalls. It was a great experience, but it was REALLY hot!

August 18, 2013 Marenisco, Michigan

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Today had us leaving the northermost point of Michigan and heading south to Lake Gogebic State Park. This very small state park struck us as being more like a county park than a state park. We found a nice shady spot overlooking beautiful Lake Gogebic.

The first day we discovered a leak in the tire stems of the tires on our tow dolly. Lake Gogebic is in a pretty isolated part of Michigan, so we had to spend the day driving 30 miles into Bessemer to get the stems repaired at a small combination Firestone tire and service station. We drove around the town while the work was being done and then drove back to the park. Just goes to show you this lifestyle is not all a walk in the park!

The next two days we drove to Porcupine State Park to do some hiking. We fell in love with this park about 45 minutes from our campground and actually drove there twice to do some hiking. They also introduced us to a new form of geocaching called “letterboxing” and we enjoyed doing that both days. We were both very impressed with this well kept, user friendly park that had wonderful steps around falls and different scenic areas, with numerous benches to rest while hiking. The waterfalls were very nice, but we had definitely been spoiled by the splendor of Tahquamenon Falls.

Lake of the Clouds

View from Lake of the Clouds

Another new trail we hiked on!

Never saw a bear but we had a whistle and were on guard

one of 3 falls

Very nice suspension bridge that took us over to a little peninsula, almost like an island

View from the top of the tower

Steps, steps and more steps, doesn’t even include all the steps we climbed to get to the tower.

Typical walkways found in the park…they really did a wonderful job of buidling walkways and stairways.

August 13, 2013 Copper Harbor, Michigan

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Still marveling about the marvels of Picture Rocks and the surrounding area, we made the drive to the remote area of Copper Harbor, Michigan where we stayed at Fort Wilkins State Park.

We toured Fort Wilkins which was actually a Fort established in the early 1840’s when a copper rush took place in the area and the government was concerned about possible unrest and violence in the area. The fort was only open for a couple years before the copper rush faded. Today they have buildings showing military life during that time and some limited re-inactments.

We decided to do some geocaching since that seems to be the way to see out of the way breathtaking sights. We rode along Lakeshore Road and the highlight of the day was a drive up Brockman Mountain. The sights were breathtaking and the geocaches for the most part easy.

It was windy as you can tell by my hair!

Bill finding a geocache on top of Brockman Mountain.

Joshua’s Falls

Fresh blueberries were abundant in the woods and forests of Michigan. August is prime blueberry picking time in Michigan and when they have their blueberry festivals.

Copper Harbor was beautiful, though a little less remote and isolated than we expected and a bit touristy. We found the end of US 41 which goes from Michigan to Miami. Bill has now been at both ends!

August 8, 2013 Marquette, Michigan

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On the way to our next stop in Marquette, Michigan we decided to stop at Oswald’s Bear Ranch near Newberry. They rescue bear cubs from around the United States and give them a place to safely grow up and live. It is against the law in Michigan to breed and buy black bears.

As we drove toward Marquette, we couldn’t help but notice the breathtaking views of Lake Superior. We pulled into a private campground and were directed to a campsite overlooking Lake Superior. We were hesitate to take the site because of the traffic noise, but the view won out over any hesitations. We noticed immediately the campground was not at all as advertised on their website. The website depiction must have been from 10+ years ago, but we had prepaid for reservations and again, the view won us over.

We came to realize that first night that the water had a very strange smell….much like iron and some such minerals. The water continued to be a source of concern during our stay, but we had several water filters on the coach and used a Brita water pitcher, but still we were uneasy.

Now for the GREAT part of our time near Marquette. The highlight of our time here was without a doubt the ferry ride to view the cliffs of Picture Rocks. There are 15 miles of sandstone cliffs which are up to 200 feet above lake level. The colors are caused by large amounts of mineral in the rocks. The water evaporates leaving streaks of colors. The red color comes from iron, pink and green from copper, yellow and brown from limonite, and black and white from manganese. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words….

Another day we decided to go to Presque Isle Park, a beautiful peninsula that juts out into Lake Superior, to do some sightseeing and geocaching. We found this to be a great park with some interesting and challenging geocaches, as well as some gorgeous views!

Through the Eyes of the Selphs

Bill and Diane's travel notes and pictures

Category Archives: Geocaching

October 19, 2013 Tahlequah, Oklahoma

October 16, 2013 Bentonville, Arkansas

September 25, 2013 Oglesby, IL

September 15, 2013 Baraboo, Wisconsin

September 6, 2013 Racine and Milwaukee, Wisconsin

August 29, 3013 Kewaunee, Wisconsin

August 23 Ashland, Wisconsin

August 18, 2013 Marenisco, Michigan

August 13, 2013 Copper Harbor, Michigan

August 8, 2013 Marquette, Michigan