Tag: Indiana

92 County Geocaching Adventure

Just got back from a 2-day adventure with my son in Southern Indiana collecting Geocaches in 2o new counties. The goal is to visit all 92 Indiana Counties and log a Geocache in each one. After this trip we only have 16 counties left to complete the challenge. We were hoping to complete the challenge this year but we’re not going to make it.

Only 16 more counties to go after this trip!

It took quite a lot of planning for this 2-day trip. With so much ground to cover we needed to be as efficient as we could be but still have some fun. After a lot of research I identified 20 Geocaches that had multiple “Favorite Points” as voted on by other Cachers. This usually means a Geocache is something special and not just a 35mm film container (or pill bottle) in a bush. I was hoping that by choosing favorited caches we would have more fun and my 15-year old son would stay interested in our goal.

The Plan…

Of course when the day came we had rainy (but WARM) weather. We ended up with Rain on day-1 and a cold front in the afternoon of day-2. Considering this was between Christmas and New Years I was really happy with the overall 50-degree conditions.

Below is a gallery of the photos taken during the trip. We had a great time and are already planning to get the remaining counties in the next few weeks (if the weather cooperates!).

  • Waiting to be found…
  • Nano container in the belly of a big fake grasshopper
  • Feeling lucky in the middle of an oilfield in SW Indiana
  • Gil Hodges mural Petersburg Indiana
  • Half way through day one & already needs a wash!
  • Last one for the day, at least it was easy to find.
Evansville Sunset
  • Day-2 started with a wooden chicken in a tree
  • One of many State Parks we discovered.
  • Just a T-Rex holding a matchstick container in a tree
Fire Tower!
West Baden Christmas Tree
  • We drove on a lot of fun roads this trip
  • Another park
  • Quarry near Bedford
  • Final Cache and a Chinese Coin headstone.

Saturday Morning Rides

I’ve set the alarm nice and early these past few Saturday mornings and getting some miles in on the Road Bike.  The weather last weekend was 100% humidity and super foggy around Geist Reservoir.  Lucky for me there are some great paths to use and avoid the vehicular traffic in the area.

Yesterday morning was about as good as it gets.  68-degrees, light wind, sunshine.  It made for a great 30-mile loop through Carmel, touching Noblesville at 146th St. and back to Fishers via 96th St.  The Flowing Well Park is always a nice place to stop for a snack and top off the water bottles.  I’d love to know how many visitors this place gets a year.  I’ve never been there alone. There are always people filling up dozens of water jugs at all hours of the day and night.

 

While riding along the River Trail in Carmel I had to stop and take a picture of how the trees line the trail and make for a nice shady stretch.  As usual traffic was light and riding on the streets posed no problems.

If there’s a path along a road and it’s in decent shape I’ll happily ride it.  Unfortunately a lot of the paths in Hamilton County are starting to deteriorate to the point where it’s dangerous to ride a stiff road bike with skinny tires on them.  The road normally offers a smoother surface and when everyone follows the rules (cyclists included) can be safe for everyone.

It’s nice to see that 99% of the drivers out there give you the legal right-of-way (3-foot minimum) when passing.  I think the “Share the Road” signs help remind people that cyclists are allowed to be on the roadway the same a cars and trucks.  The only exception I’ve witnessed this year has been pickup trucks on country roads and soccer moms that pass a little too close in their mini vans.  Not much you can to about a close truck pass in the middle of nowhere.  Hand gestures could result in a confrontation where the cyclist is at a distinct disadvantage.

When riding the back roads I’m more concerned about dogs than anything else.  They can come out of nowhere and if they have any size to them can outrun a cyclist who is caught off guard.  Normally they are more bark than bite but I’ve had a few close calls over the years.

Right now I’m 300-miles into my 1000-mile goal for 2018.  I’m looking forward to passing the 1k mark and setting an even higher goal for 2019 (2k?).  I have a cycling trip this summer in Northern Ohio that should produce some fun photos, I’m looking forward to it!

It’s HOT Outside So It’s Time for a Blog Update!

This is one of the first weekends this summer I’ve spent the majority of my time inside.  Between the cycling, kayaking and fishing it’s been a wonderfully busy summer and it passed by quickly.  So here we are during the first weekend of FALL and the temps are in the 90’s.  I thought I’d share some updates about what’s been going on.

I found a box of Pearl Sugar in the pantry the other day & decided to break out the waffle iron for another round of Liege Waffles.  I wrote about these back in 2011 and they are worth the effort.  My only caution is they will gum up your waffle iron with caramelized sugar.  Cleanup is best done after things have cooled down so the hardened sugar can be chipped off.

After spending a lot of time riding the Monon trail these past few months I decided to mount my little GoPro Session to the handle bars and start recording some of the ridiculous stuff  seem to  encounter every ride.  I’ll post some video after my next ride.

On the Podcast front I’ve discovered several new ones this summer.  The ones I found to be the most entertaining are:

Twenty Thousand Hertz – Dallas Taylor does an amazing job bringing you “the stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds”.  My favorite episode so far is the story behind the NBC chimes.

Week in the Knees – Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, the guy who lived on MacDonalds for a month, is back with a weekly recap of the news you might not have head about.

Countdown – Detailed stories about 10 of the most incredible space missions during the race to the moon 50-years ago.  Lots of NASA audio recordings and interviews make it a very well produced podcast from Time Magazine.

After driving near this place for years I finally stopped in the little town of Brookville Indiana and checked out the amazing Brookville Reservoir.  We spent several weekends this summer kayaking and fishing this place and absolutely love it.

Brookville has a great tail water below the dam that’s stocked with rainbow and brown trout.  When the conditions are right it’s an awesome place to fly fish.  The reservoir itself has a lot of bass and other native Indiana species.  We’ve had success fishing from the bank and from the kayaks.  Since it’s only a 90-minute drive from home it’s an easy place to go for a day trip.

I’m looking forward to more beautiful weather this fall.  I need a few more weekends on the water and bike before packing everything up for the winter!

…To be continued

How To: Getting Personal Documents on Your Kindle

If you have a Kindle this is a must read…  The Gadgeteer, one of my favorite tech blogs, has a great writeup on how to get just about any document on your Kindle.

Incidentally, The Gadgeteer, founded by Julie Strietelmeier,  is based out of Columbus, Indiana.  Not exactly a place were you’d expect one of the big tech blogs to be located!

There are several ways to convert and transfer documents to the Kindle.  Some methods are free and other cost a few pennies per MB.  Either way you do it if you want the most convenient way to transport and access documents while traveling the Kindle is definitely the way to go.

Blogs I’m Following (Part 2) – Food

OK, this list is going to be tough.  The Food category of my RSS feeds is comprised of 42 of the 199 sites I follow.  I just can’t get enough of the food sites.  From recipes to reviews there’s a little bit of everything in here.  I’m going to list my “top 10” in no particular order.  Several of these links are local to the Indiana/Indianapolis area.  I love hearing about new places to try around town.

The Amateur Gourmet – One of the things I love about this site is the ever changing header image (think Google).  This guy has written a book (that I need to read) and has a really good mix of news, humor and recipes.

Would I Buy It Again? – These guys have introduced me to new places to try in and around Indy and warned me of ones to stay away from.  Great concept & the articles are short and to the point.

Indianapolis Restaurant Scene – This site always has great imagery that goes along with very well written posts.  Definitely one to refer to often for restaurants around the Indianapolis area.

All tenderloins, all the time – This one is funny.  Rick and I have known each other for years (through my old website) but have never actually met (we seriously need to fix that).  I love the focus on reviewing just one thing, the humble tenderloin (an Indiana classic) and reviewing it very well.

Indianapolis Amy – Amy has a great mix of recipes and reviews as well as seasonal posts and observations. Amy always covers several subjects with each post and its always a great read.

Serious Eats – This is a national blog with several interconnected sites (like A Hamburger Today).  Lots of good information & updated very frequently.

Chez Pim – I was attracted to Pim’s site from the photography alone.  She’s been posting “Food Porn” for years and sometimes you feel like you’re in the kitchen with her.  Pim has been on several food shows and has a line of food products she’s developed.

Food Obsessed in the Midwest – Another new Indy food blog that’s caught my attention.

Indulge In Indy – This site focuses on locally owned restaurants and products produced by Indiana businesses.

Epicurious.com: New Recipes – I used to get all of my recipes from Food Network, but not anymore. Epicurious has it all & then some. The newsletters are always a great read and the site covers just about everything in the culinary world. I’ve fixed many impromptu meals after seeing an article on this site.

Bonus Link:
Food Network Humor – I had to throw this on in here for good measure.  It’s not always safe for work (or the kids) but it can be VERY entertaining. I just hope the FN Stars take it all with a grain of salt (pun intended) as its usually all good fun.

Do you have a favorite food blog that you can’t live without?  Tell us about it in the comments section.

Part 3 will wrap up the series with some of the more unusual blogs that are on my list (No, LOLCats will not be on the list).  Part 1 of this series can be found here.