:. 2017 ROUNDUP .:
2017 was indeed a year of ups and downs, which meant adventure was always around the corner for us.
In January, we met up with our dear friends from Canada at Disneyland, California. The trip was a little bitter sweet as the husband had been diagnosed with ALS only a month before. This was to be their super awesome family trip together and we were blessed to be invited to join in.
The drive to California was difficult for our little one, TNT_Lando. We found out that about three hours is his limit for being seated in a car. That meant that after passing through Las Vegas and getting to the middle of nowhere, he was in full cry mode. Luckily there were a few rest stops along the way where we could take a break.
Out of curiosity, I downloaded the geocaching app on my phone. I had never used it before so wanted to see if there was any geocaches around and also if the app would actually lead me to the right place. Sure enough, it worked like a charm and sold me on using a cell phone to cache... though the GPS is still better for going places where service doesn't exist.
Disneyland was full of fun and excitement. This was TNT_Lando first time and even though he was so young he had a blast. We were surprised to find several virtual caches and even an Earthcache! After a week of adventure, we said our goodbyes and made the long journey home.In February, TNT_Lando turned one year old. He had a Sherlock Holmes cake with all of his big cousins which he proceeded to chase around in his walker.
In March, we headed back to the great white north to visit our friends and so TNT_Lando could meet his Grandpaw and Uncle. It was a quick trip, but well worth the adventure. The Canadian weather even behaved, only a foot of snow and deep freeze temperatures. It was nice to see family and friends again and also visit some of our favorite restaurants, eat Costco poutine and check out our favorite hangout... the library. Library cache was still in great shape. The flight home was during the day so looking out the window was a highlight for our weary little traveler.In April, the Southern Utah weather melted the snow and got us outside a lot more. Easter was particularly exciting as we had our annual Easter Egg hunt. All the kids participated and had a ball finding the candy.
Later on that week, Tatterhood and the rest of the family went over to Lehman Caves in Great Basin National Park. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go due to the crazy workload I was experiencing. They had a great time and I was promised we'd be able to go in the future.At the end of the week we decided to travel to Las Vegas to bid Tatterhood's sister farewell as she was returning back home with her family. We all stayed at the Mandalay Bay and took a day to enjoy the hotel pools. It was extremely hot that day. My feet literally burned on the paths between the pools. Luckily we rented a cabana for the day, which helped keep us out of the crazy temperatures. My poor Canadian blood evaporated quite a bit that day.
In July, we had a rainy day where we decided to drive up the mountain to see if we could get above the rain and perhaps see what Cedar Breaks looked like with all the lightning flashing around. The drive was well worth it as we got some fantastic views of the storm below. There was a nearby Earthcache as well which we took the opportunity to discover.
Later on in July, I was able to cash in on the promise to go to Great Basin National Park and see Lehman Caves. The caves were amazing and the fact you can walk through them was even more amazing. It was like real life Minecraft. After the epic tour, we drove to the top of the mountain and scouted out some spots to camp. We will definitely be coming back in the future. 
Throughout the area there were a number of Geocaches and we made sure to grab a few of them on the way home. One was at the side of the road and ranked high on the creepy scale. Obviously someone around this place has a unique sense of humor. It did make for some memorable caches.
In August, I mentioned that I was curious to see what Beryl was like. Tatterhood suggested that we go out there so I could see for myself. It was an interesting drive and at our first cache stop I realized how “out in the middle of nowhere” it truly was. Regardless, we found a few nearby Geocaches. There were a few sneaky ones and one by an abandoned home. I was glad it was an easy find as I felt like we were being watched. It didn't help that the sun was setting. After making the find we quickly headed home.
Last year we set a personal caching streak record, so for 2017 we decided to make another go at it. There were quite a few cool caches that we found during the new streak. We found several over at the Mountain Meadow Massacre site and were able to explore the area in more depth. We also found a few on the mountain behind Walmart which provided a glorious sunset overlook view of the newly constructed Cedar City Temple. TNT_Lando loved digging through the various contents of the caches searching for toy cars.
We also took a drive out to the Browse Ranger Station where we discovered a giant Sequoia tree. It was amazing to see how huge it was. There was also a cache in the vicinity and we went hunting for it. It was pretty difficult to find and we almost had to give up, however at the last minute we were able to make the find based purely on instinct and geo-sense. The off-road adventure was fantastic and provided some golden photo ops.
As for our personal cache find streak, we managed to beat it and have 15 days be our new record. For us that was amazing. Maybe next year we’ll try to break it again. We will have to wait and see.
Finally at the end of August, I found a way to use my GeoSnippits Travel Bug patch. For a while I had search for a way to quickly holster my GPS and grab out a pencil, then on a trip to the local thrift store, I discovered an old camera case that would do the trick. Using my kindergarten sewing skills and a little glue, I mounted the patch to my new holster and can now track my miles from cache to cache. I named the travel patch after one of my old archived James Bond themed caches; One Cache is Not Enough.
In September, we aimed our sights high on a cache that would gain us a new record for the highest cache we have ever found. It was located at the top of Brian Head Peak which surprisingly enough, you can drive up to. The cache location offered grand views of the landscape below and proved to be a wonderful, nearby adventure.
Next we travelled south to the Pink Coral Sand Dunes. There we discovered some more caches and also ventured out onto the top of one of the large dunes. On the way to the dunes, rain had threatened to dampen our adventure but in the end it helped solidify the sand enough to get the stroller near the top of the dunes. Ultimately, the sand won and we had to abandon the stroller in order to carry on. TNT_Lando marveled at the giant sandbox that he was in and we played around in the nice cool sand for quite a while.
The week after the Sand Dune adventure, we were invited to join Joe Teton and Anyatoo on one of their tours in Bryce Canyon. It was a rainy weekend and we were all recovering from illnesses, however the trip was pleasant. There were a number of caches around town that we went out to find. One of them was Joe Teton’s cache that I had eyed for years but never had an opportunity to go after. It was a fun mini excursion and it was nice to spend time with Joe and Anya.
We also celebrated Tatterhood’s birthday by renting a boat at Sand Hollow and going tubing. There was an alternative motive as well. A month earlier we noticed a cache go live on the island st Sand Hollow. No one had gone for it yet, so naturally we decided to maneuver the pontoon boat to the island and snag the First to Find. It was quite the feet and well worth it. The rest of the day was fun in the sun and water with all the family.
In October we once again headed back up to Canada to visit our ALS friend. He had started to decline severely and we felt this would be the last time seeing him. The trip was nice and TNT_Lando once again got to see his Grandpaw and Uncle.
At the end of the month, we attended the Cedar City Temple open house and marvelled at the finished project. It was a neat experience as I had had the opportunity to work on the construction staking and surveying of the the parking lot and grounds.
November marked the passing of our friend in Canada. We took flight one final time this year to attend his funeral and to lay him to rest. It was a somber experience and a quick turn around. We managed to be there and back over the Thanksgiving weekend.
November marked the passing of our friend in Canada. We took flight one final time this year to attend his funeral and to lay him to rest. It was a somber experience and a quick turn around. We managed to be there and back over the Thanksgiving weekend.
December passed relatively quietly with our focus being more on playing board games with family and hanging out. So much so we completely forgot to get the last cache of the year souvenir. Oh well, next year is a new year and adventure always awaits.
Hope you all had a wonderful 2017 and are geared up for new travels and adventures in 2018. Life is what you make it, so make it a journey worth remembering.
To the Adventure!
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