Tag Archives: Geocaching

Muggles!!

Many of my readers know that I’m into geocaching  and I’ve found over 1300 of them and have hid about 27 or so. The bane of geocachers are muggles. These are not non-Wizards. These are non-geocachers who stumble upon a cache and then take it. I don’t think they mean anything by it, they just don’t know about it. Some muggles instinctually know what it is and go ahead and sign the paper log and put the cache back like they found it.

So anyway if you hide a cache you also assume the responsibility for maintaining it which includes replacing or repairing it when it gets muggled or perhaps deleting the cache if it is a constant problem.

Strike a pose logs

I have two caches within walking distance of my home. I have been derelict in my duty maintaining one of them. “Strike a Pose” has had three “Did Not Find” logs (“DNF’s”) in the last several months and I should have known that something was up. The cache is hard to get to, but once in the general area a person should find it pretty quickly.

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So I had a container from a previous cache and I stopped at Walgreen’s and got a small notebook for people to log their finds.

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And I drove to the vacant lot close to the cache. It is in the middle of south Tulsa and is surrounded by apartment buildings, an Alzheimer’s care center (Where Heather says I’m headed to in the near future), gas stations, two strip malls, a car lube joint, and a McDonald’s and a country club. In other words a patch of woods that only geocachers and homeless people would be interested in.

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I tried to get into the way I did two years ago when I placed it but it was pretty much impenetrable because of thorns. Lots of thorns.

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So I backtracked and found another way in. As you can see the woods have been badly damaged by ice storms and such.

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My original hiding spot was gone also so I had to find another nearby and get new coordinates. You can see my new hidey  hole. I put a big ole rock (ole is a word in Oklahoma) and so it should be hid pretty well from muggles.

#geocaching #tulsa #vacantlot #sightsofgeocaching

And of course I had to stop and take an instagram shot. Are you on Instagram, are we following each other? If not check the sidebar. You follow me, I’ll follow you.  Deal? I’ll tell what I have found out on Instagram, there are lots and lots of talented photographers out there is what I have found out.

Strike a pose logs 2

 

So anyway, I got on Geocaching dot com and logged my maintenance and updated the coordinates.

What are you waiting for, got off your duff and go find it. Don’t live in Tulsa. Well we have an airport and roads headed here from all directions, and bus service if you know. You are on the do not fly list for some reason.

So that is the lesson in Muggles for today.

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Geocaching on a Sunday Afternoon

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The weather was warm and sunny on Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys are not playing until Monday night, Logan had a friend over, the lawn didn’t need mowing so I loaded up and ventured to Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center to hike their North Loop trail and see if I could find a geocache or two.

Oxley Nature Center North Woods Trail

I’ve hiked the trail several times over the years. I have never ever met anybody else. So I guess that it makes it my trail. Sunday was perfect, if a bit warm. What I loved was the that the wind was blowing quite hard but in the woods, on the ground, noting was stirring but the you could see and hear the tree tops going back and forth. I don’t know about you but that is about the sweetest music I could ever hear.

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I was in heaven out in the woods. It is how I recharge my batteries.

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The October light was awesome. The trees haven’t changed color but they are thinking about it. Everything is getting a little more pale.

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I found only one cache but you know, looking for caches is all the fun. I love geocachers, “OkieBeans”, “Barrel O’Monkeys” only bloggers get more creative with their handles. I looked for three caches. I found two actually but could only log one. The other one I could see it but I certainly wasn’t going to try and get it when I’m out their by myself.

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I rested a little bit, wondering why I didn’t bring any water on such a hot day. I didn’t figure that out but I did enjoy sitting on my personal bench on my personal trail. Oh, by the way, feel free to come out and hike my trails, nobody else seems to be.

You can see my various wanderings on my hike above. I parked my car and gathered up my stuff and headed down the trail and then realized that I didn’t spray myself with DEET. I thought all heck with it and then I remembered how miserable I am both with the chiggers and other creepy crawlers so then I went back. You can also see where I stop and try and find the geocaches and other times when I lose the trail and have to go figure out which way to go. Plus I stop for photography breaks and have been known just to stop and look around at what is going on around me.

Anyway, a great Sunday afternoon that the Cowboys didn’t get a chance to ruin.

Linking with Our World Tuesday

Turkey Mountain – Still Saying No to the Mall

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Since the controversy erupted about Simon Properties‘ plans to put an 800,000 square foot outlet mall on Turkey Mountain you would think that all there is on Turkey Mountain is trails. Goodness knows there are trails on Turkey Mountain.

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There are big wide trails and there are very faint, barely used, tracks through the grass and brush and everything in between.

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The trails are used by runners, walkers, hikers, bikers, and even a few unicyclers. There is a lot more than trails on Turkey Mountain. Yep.

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There are petroglyphs. I had heard about them and it took me a while to find but I finally found them.

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Some say they were made by the vikings way back when or the Celts. Who knows. I think such things are a lot more interesting than anything I have found in an outlet mall.

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What do you think?

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I’ll tell you something else that goes on up on the mountain. Logan and I went up there to check our geocache in an area called Rock City. We found a several guys up there with their radio controlled jeeps negotiating the rocks. It was pretty darned interesting watching them maneuver their cars around the various obstacles.

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Now that beats the pants off an outlet mall any day. Well guess what. I’m not really sure but if that mall goes in I am thinking that Rock City will be part of the mall. Yep, the best you can hope for is a Nike discount store. Buy two get a third half off is my motto.

Rock City Collage 2

Do you know what else goes on up there. Geocaching and geocaching is all about families and being outside and adventure.  Kiss that goodbye also.

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And you know something else, geocaching is all about whimsy and serendipity. You won’t find any elves doors at the mall. Not one you could afford anyway. This one is free. It is on a pretty darn steep slope. Find the cache with one hand and hold for dear life with other is the method I recommend.

Oklahoma Rock

Know what else? How about an Oklahoma Rock? It is probably safe from the bulldozers, for now at least. You know how it is, haters have to hate, and developers have to develop. It’s in the Bible somewhere. I think.

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The thing about Turkey Mountain is that is not a real wilderness. It has old abandoned farms, cisterns, fields, and lots of oilfield. I think it used to be kind of an outlaw kind of place that is slowly going back to nature. If only we would let it.

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There are lots of ghosts up on the mountain. You can almost see them at certain times late in the evening when almost everbody has gone home. There is an air of mystery about it.

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Anyway Turkey Mountain is unique. A wilderness within sight of downtown. It is important to keep it that way. An outlet mall can go anywhere. If you think we need one of course. We’ve been doing fine without is my opinion. Here is a little more information on the matter.

And here is a Online Petition opposing the location of the mall. Check it out.

And here is some information about the George Kaiser Family Foundation regarding their property on Turkey Mountain. They own 139 acres and pledge not to develop it. Lots of people thought that the acquisition happendd this week and that the mall is prevented. Actually, if I understand correctly, they have owned the property for some time. I guess that I have a little take on their announcement. I see it as a head nod to Simon to go ahead and send the bulldozers in, we won’t oppose you. I guess I’m a little cynical maybe. The Foundation has been really good to Tulsa They are a great supporter of the Turkey Mountain but I detect a note of surrender in their announcement.  The foundation is putting together a mammoth park project on the River Parks called A Gathering Place for Tulsa. It will cost over $300 million and will be wonderful. Check out the Link.

And here is the City Council and Tulsa Mayor web sites. Drop’em a line. Let them know how you feel.

Other Resources

Trail Zombie’s Post concerning the environmental impact.

The Tulsa Voice article referenced in Trail Zombie’s Post

New Facebook Page – Forgotten Malls of Tulsa reminding us that all malls have a lifecycle and it doesn’t last very long.

Blog Post by Bob Doucette on zoning and land use