Weekend Wanderings

The GeoKids and I managed to escape a little bit here & there over the weekend.  Friday night, we managed to slip out and find a cache in the Monroe area prior to us picking up the traditional Friday Night Pizza.

Saturday, hubby and I were supposed to visit GeoTeen2.  We were not able to go up there the first Saturday he was there, so this would be our first visit in the 10 days or so he’s been there.  Unfortunately… we ran into heavy construction traffic on I-85.  It was massive gridlock!  An hour and 20 minutes into our trip, we were still a good 35 miles away.

Finally, I had to cave in and head for home once we got to the next exit.  We only had 45 minutes to make it to the YDC facility and even on a good traffic day, no way would we make it in time.  To say I was upset would be an understatement.  Hubby was really annoyed by my crying and level of upsettedness (<— new word, just invented! yay me!).  It was NOT a good trip at all, to say the least.  I felt HORRIBLE, because I’d PROMISED The Kid we’d be there Saturday…and of course, he had NO WAY of knowing why we failed to show up.  I did get to speak to him Sunday night and explain that we hadn’t abandoned him on purpose.   Hopefully, this Wednesday I’ll be able to make it to see him.  Next Saturday, we are NOT going because I’ve already RSVP’d to the Georgia Geocacher’s Association April Meeting, which is taking place at a state park I’ve never been to.   Because GeoTeen2 was in YDC this time LAST month, I’d missed the March meeting.  This YDC stuff is getting really old, and I’m not going to cancel pre-existing plans again.  Not that I don’t love GeoTeen2; just that I’m sick of the negative impact this jail stuff is having on my life (not to mention his).  He gets mail from us, and I’ll see him the following Saturday, but I’m just not cancelling any more plans.   I’m not going to put my entire life on a shelf while he’s in there.  It’s one thing if this was a random or one-time occurrance, but this is the THIRD time since NOVEMBER.  Nope… I’m way over it. Way.  Maybe, please God, he’ll get his head together this time and just do what he is supposed to do, and life will be good. Or not. But I can’t obsess over it or I will completely explode. Or implode. Either way, it won’t be pretty.  Pretty much hanging by a thread as it is so… yeah.

Sorry for the slide/rant there… at any rate, Saturday’s visit with GeoTeen2 did NOT happen.  We made it back home at 3:00 (keep in mind, we left home at *12:30*!!!!).   Being frustrated, upset, depressed and in dire need of sunshine and fresh-ish air, the little kids and I went for a quick geocaching run. 

I discovered a series of caches in Oxford, GA, that are not very far away.   The GeoKidz and I had to be home by 6:00, so we weren’t able to do very many.   We found two, and Did Not Find (“DNF”) one.  But we really enjoyed the search! I’ve never really “been” to Oxford before, other than just passing through.  It’s really a nice little town with a lovely paved walking path that we got to explore. 🙂  After we found our second cache (which, as usual, GeoKid1 found after I had stepped RIGHT OVER IT on my way to investigate “a suspicious pile of sticks”), we got back on the path and heard, “So, didja find it??” LOL  Yes, we finally bumped into fellow Geocachers on the trail!  Not only did we meet a cacher, we met “RustyG” and another fella whose name escapes me.  RustyG has a whole series of “Historical Georgia” geocaches. They are set in historical areas (duh… LOL) and are fabulous.  Earlier this year, the GeoKidz and I had spent an entire day doing nothing but that historical georgia series (I blogged about it, of course, LOL – I think it was back in February sometime).  So it was cool that out of all the random Geocachers in GA, we ran into him.  

Sunday was a gorgeous day for geocaching – 80 degrees and SUNNY! After church  (which was excellent, inspiring, and awesome as usual), we again ran out the door to escape and enjoy the good weather while we could. Kids + Outdoors = A Good Thing!  This time, we went to do some caches in Stone Mountain Park, one of my favorite places ever. 🙂  Unfortunately, I didn’t plan it out so well.  I had a hard time finding the general locations of some of them (where to park and whatnot, or where one was even located), not to mention the time I accidentally exited the park by mistake and got lost trying to get back in….D’oh!!) so we spent a good bit of time driving around. Less than fun. BUT the times we WERE out and about hunting caches was awesome!  We found two, DNF one.  The last one was located on one of the Nature Trails.  I’d never, ever been on the nature trails at Stone Mountain before, and neither had the kids.  They LOVED it!!!  I lost my GPS signal for quite a while as we searched for the last one, and then when I did get it back, it was very jumpy.  We searched all over for the darn thing, and did not find it anywhere.   The important thing is that we DID find our CAR again at the end of the day – LOL! 😀  Anyway, after unsuccessfully trying to find cache number three, we called it a day and went home. 

We didn’t find as many geocaches as I’d wanted, but the important thing is that we were OUTSIDE and really enjoyed the weather and the scenery. Can’t wait to go back!  My GeoKid1 also got her first tick during our adventure, which caused no shortage of screaming hysteria when it was discovered.  GET IT OFF ME DON’T TOUCH ME MAKE IT GO AWAY DON’T TOUCH ME IT WILL HURT IF YOU GET THE TICK OFF MAKE IT GO AWAY!!!!! etc.  Yes, I had remembered to bring the Deep Woods Off bug repllant with us. No, I did not remember to actually apply it.  #MomFail! On the bright side… you better believe none of us will forget it NEXT time!!!!

All in all, the weekend wasn’t *quite* what I’d hoped for, but overall, still a good one nonetheless. 🙂 The GeoKids were in charge of the camera both days, so a plethora of pictures will follow once I get them downloaded. 🙂

Have a fabulous week, y’all!