WARNING: Geocaching May Cause...

WARNING:  Geocaching may cause...

• extreme amounts of fun and excitement.
• you to think there's a cache behind/in every bush.
• dreams about potential hiding places.
• a desire to get out more and become much more active.
• an unquenchable desire for hiking.
• you to spend an unprecedented amount of time doing something that the whole family enjoys.
• you to start camping.
• a desire to become "technically savvy", especially when it concerns coordinates and a GPS.
• you to become addicted to photography.
• lots of daydreaming about geocaching while at work.
• you to plan vacations around geocaching.

**And finally, geocaching may cause you to have so much fun that you are willing to post articles like this.

I'm interested to know what you'd add to the list.

What Not to Do While Camping.

Camping is an opportunity to escape the cares of life and commune with nature.  Finding a release from the burdens of a career and the general demands of day to day city life is refreshing and necessary.  Wouldn't you agree?  With that being said, there are still things that we do while camping that suggest  we still worry about the life that we are trying to leave behind, even if for only a few days.  Things like taking a computer and checking email, checking your phone frequently for missed calls, taking a television set to the campsite, etc....

I'm curious as to what you think.  Does this sound like you?  Where do you draw the line?  What are some things that you just refuse to do while camping?  Do you know of any other habits that people just can't seem to leave behind for a few days of camping?

Dreaming About a Place North of Here

   

     I suppose it has been quite a while since my last post, but the reality is that I've simply lacked the inspiration to take the time and sit down to write.  Many things are to blame for this, most notably a difficult work schedule.  The way I wish I could live my life seems to have taken a back seat to the necessary way of life which involves a career and finances.  Hmmm...if only things were different!

     In spite of the inconveniences that besiege me, I can still dream.  Yes, I can still dream about those fast approaching days in which we will make a return trip to the North Georgia  mountains.  The days that are coming very soon...those days in which we will breathe a different kind of air, far removed from that which we breath here in the city!  I can dream of a different pace of life which is a bit more carefree to the concerns of the world, and much more focused on living life to the fullest.  There are happy places in these dreams of mine too...beautiful places!  Places such as Georgia State Parks, waterfalls, trains, horses, old courthouses, and great places to eat. Great scenery!  We've made great friends there too...friends that we look forward to seeing again and again.

     While I don't have much more to say except that I long for the days that will be here soon, an old Stephen Foster song about the Suwanee River recently reminded me that my mind often drifts off to a place way up yonder in the Georgia mountains!

     Such days as these, please come quickly.  Come quickly.

What's There To Do in a Georgia State Park? Lots!

 Having been born and raised in Georgia, it took me quite a few years to learn that as a child, I was deprived of a few things.  Now before you think this post will be one in which I go for an all out assault on the failings of my parents...think again.  In fact, I'm extremely grateful for their guidance and support.  Without them and their examples, I wouldn't be half the man, or father, that I am today!  No, as a father, I understand that there are many things that we shield, or deprive (depending on your perspective), our children from.  Most of these things are for their own good...their protection.  The gist of my post today is, and I say this with a bit of a chuckle, is that my parents deprived me of our wonderful Georgia State Parks!  Shame on them..LOL!  How dare they?!  Instead of chasing me around the Little League parks and the Midget Football fields, they could have taken me hiking, camping, or fishing!  In spite of working 60 hour weeks and raising two boys, couldn't they have found time for that?  Oh well, I'll just have to find it in my heart to forgive them for that slight oversight...I guess.

Okay, on a more serious note now....I have to admit that I'm amazed at how many times I've mentioned the fun that we have in our Georgia State Parks to friends and family only to get a somewhat puzzled look as a response.  It's as if they are wondering, "What's there to do in a Georgia State Park?"  Well...there are lots of things to do in our state parks!  Let's examine a few.  Shall we?

One of the first things, and perhaps the most simple thing to do in a Georgia State Park is to have a picnic.  Yes!  A picnic!  Have you had one lately?  Why not take your family out to a nearby state park and have a picnic.  While you are there, check out the lake, the campsites, and the trails....make a day of it.  How hard is it to pack a picnic anyway?  You'll find that all of our Georgia State Parks are very accommodating for picnics.  And talk about the atmosphere???  No stuffiness here, just the beauty of nature!

Another wonderful thing to do in a Georgia State Park is fishing!  Oh yes!  Catch a big one in one of Georgia's beautifully maintained lakes.  And if you're not sure where the hot spots are, be sure to talk to one of the friendly Rangers.  They will be more than happy to help you catch as many fish as you want.  Fishing from the bank or a boat is always a great thing to do in a Georgia State Park!

Have you ever been geocaching?  Well, it is a relatively new hobby that I've posted about often and you can do that in a our state parks too.  Built in to the fun of geocaching is the fact that you have to get out on the trails and into the woods to find the prize.  All the while that you are challenging your sleuthing skills, your getting great exercise!  How convenient?!  Yes, our Georgia State Parks are great friends with the Geocaching community.  Currently, over 42 of our parks have state sponsored caches in them.  So if you've never tried geocaching, why not make your first geocaching experience in a Georgia State Park?  For more information about geocaching, read some of my previous posts, or check out the website www.geocaching.com

Hiking is a great activity offered in Georgia's State Parks.  Many parks offer multiple trails with varying degrees of difficulties.  Whether you're out for a leisurely "nature trail" type of hike, or a more challenging "Bear Hair Gap Trail", you'll find your pleasure in our Georgia State Parks.

Take pictures...lots of pictures!  While our Georgia State Parks present some outstanding sightseeing opportunities from waterfalls to Indian Mounds to mountain tops, you should be prepared to capture some of those moments so that you can share them with others.  Much of what you'll see in our state parks are historical in context, so in addition to taking some spectacular photos, the sights themselves may even lead you to enjoy doing a bit of research to further enhance your trip.  Who knew you could learn so much in a Georgia State Park?!

Finally, I saved my most favorite thing to do in a Georgia State Park for last!  My most favorite, best, coolest (insert any other adjective that means "lots of enjoyment or fun" here) thing to do in a Georgia State Park is CAMPING!!!  I love to camp in our state parks!  And why not?  Have you seen some of our fantastic campgrounds?  The amenities are second to none and we have the best hosts in the world!  Everyone from the campground hosts to the volunteers that keep the parks clean...they are the best!  You're sure to have a pleasurable experience in one of our Georgia State Park campgrounds.  Personally, we prefer tent camping, but if you're into RV camping, you'll find ample hookups in our parks.  If you've never camped in one of our Georgia State Parks, you're missing out...just do it!

While there are many other things to do in our parks, this is my list, my unashamed solicitation to you for our Georgia State Parks and all that they have to offer.  The Life Outside My Door family loves our Georgia State Parks and we're sure that you will too.  Find one today!

For more information on Georgia State Parks, please visit their website by clicking here:  Georgia State Parks

Red Top Mountain State Park - Toughest Geocache of the Year for Life Outside My Door

Aggravated, irritated, and tired, I uttered to my son in the midst of a downpour "We're not leaving until we find it!"... And so begins the story of what I deem to be my most difficult geocache find of the year.

In recent posts throughout the year, I've written about many of our Georgia State Parks geocaching adventures.  (For those of you that are new to the blog, feel free to go back and read about some of our experiences, and if you'd like to learn more about the Georgia State Parks sponsored geocaches, click here:  Georgia State Parks GeoTour.   What I don't think I've shared with you, however, is which park we found to be most challenging.  Yet, even though Red Top Mountain State Park easily rates as our most difficult of the year (we've found 30 of 43), the challenge was mostly self-induced.  Nevertheless, after suffering through a bit of aggravation, irritation, ignorance, and an afternoon downpour, our fate was changed by a bit of technology from a smart phone and a lot of persistence.  In the end, we were awarded with that beautiful, oh so beautiful stamp!

The story goes like this...

We were on the second of a five day trip through 11 of our state parks. This would be the third park of our second day (we actually completed four on this day, before spending the night in Chattanooga, Tn.).  We had found the caches at Panola Mountain State Park and Sweetwater Creek State Park earlier in the day.  Our plan was to just keep pressing on and hit as many parks as we could each day, so we had hoped that we wouldn't get too bogged down at one place.  Red Top Mountain was not impressed!

For the sake of this post, here is the description of the cache:

Cache Description: You are looking for an ammo can located inside Red Top Mountain State Park. The hike to the cache is just under a mile one way. You can discover more than 15 miles of hiking trails in the park.

The coordinates listed above are for the parking lot of the Visitor Center at Red Top Mountain State Park. At this location you will have the option to either purchase an annual parking pass or pay the daily parking fee, unless of course you already have a valid annual parking pass. You may elect to pick up a map of the trails too.
After you have taken care of those tasks and you're ready to find the cache hike the Sweet Gum Trail. A short ways down the Sweet Gum Trail you will come to a fork. You will see two colored trail markings on the trees. Continue on following the green markings.

Follow this trail until you reach a paved path, now look to the left and you will spot the next part of the trail. After you cross the paved path, continue a short distance until you reach an old feeding area/small meadow or cleared area. Now start to look for the Campground direction signs.

When you've reached the second campground sign after the meadow, walk 173 feet at a heading of 245° and look for a small residential structure.

Count the number of vertical walls and add 1, call that Y. Now go on a heading of 2Y4° for 169 feet.

Here you will see a few 'rocks'. Look to a heading of 317° and walk 40 feet and you will see a boulder that is approximately 4 feet in diameter resting against a tree.

The cache will be 20 feet away on a heading of 270° from the boulder.

If you're not familiar with the compass feature on your GPS, you might want to bring a magnetic compass.

This cache is a "traditional" letterbox cache. You will find a ink pad and a unique stamp for this park that is used for stamping your passport. Please do not remove these items from the ammo can.

Enjoy your visit at the park and remember to re-hide the cache like or better than you found it and practice, "Leave No Trace." While visiting any Georgia State Park please remain on the marked trails as you make your way to find the ammo cans.

In order to try and shorten this rather lengthy post, I'll let you know that we reached the  "small residential structure" fairly easy (see underlined above), but that is where the difficulty arose.  I found that my first issue was that we/I was unfamiliar with the compass feature on my GPS.  Additionally, I had questions as to whether or not I was supposed to be turned and facing the "small residential structure", or was I supposed to be standing in front of it with it to my left...just as I had walked upon it.  

At this point, my son and I decided to use a bit of our "redneck orientation skills" and try and estimate the degrees that we were supposed to turn.  Both of us knew that there were 360 degrees on a compass, and we were fairly sure we were facing in the correct direction...fairly sure.  Besides, how hard could it be to find a 4 foot boulder resting against a tree?  The answer?  Very hard!  It was very hard due to the fact that there were hundreds of boulders/outcroppings to contend with!

The more we searched, the more frustrated I got!  It became clear to me that we were now searching for a needle in a haystack!  Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, a downpour ensued!  Not just any kind of downpour, but it was complete with plenty of thunder and lightening and we were far too deep to make our way out.  Thankfully, I had packed our ponchos in my backpack.  We simply pulled them out and waited out the short lived storm. 

 

 Notice the look of joy on Jacob's face as we wait out the storm!

The brief respite actually did me good.  It was during this time that I was able to get my emotions under control and calculate a new plan.  One part of that new plan consisted of me using my iPhone to download a digital compass app.  Once I did that, Jacob and I went back to the residential structure and started over.  Guess what?  For starters, we learned that we were originally off by a couple of hundred feet.  Secondly, once we got to the correct area, it was relatively easy to spot the 4 foot stone up against the tree.  This was definitely a "high-five" moment for us!  We located the ammo can, retrieved the stamp, and then proceeded to make our way back to the parking lot...mission accomplished!!

Click here to read more about the description of the geocache:  Red Top Mountain State Park.  Be sure to take time to read through some of the log entries too.  You'll get the idea that we weren't the only ones that thought this to be a tough, but rewarding cache find. 

Additional information:  During this trip, Jacob and I completed the Geochallenge at the following Georgia State Parks:  High Falls, Indian Springs, Panola Mountain, Sweetwater Creek, Red Top Mountain, James H. (Sloppy) Floyd, Cloudland Canyon, Fort Mountain, Amicalola Falls, Fort Yargo, and Hard Labor Creek.  We also enjoyed a bit of fishing at the beautiful Vogel State Park!

Please take the time to get out and enjoy our beautiful Georgia State Parks.  You'll be glad you did!

New Hobbies Add to the Excitement of a New Year!

As we close the book on 2012 and look to start fresh in 2013, I'd like to take time to reflect on a few "new" hobbies that garnered much of our attention in 2012.  In doing so, it is also with hope that these new hobbies will continue to play an integral part in our lives during 2013 and well beyond.

Geocaching.  While geocaching was not new to us in 2012, we were able to spend a lot of time honing our skills and enjoying this great hobby.  In particular, our geocaching exploits took us to some of Georgia's most beautiful state parks and we were rewarded with some special memories and family time that I consider priceless!  Geocaching is a great hobby, and it is one that we know we will want to continue enjoying for years to come.

Camping/Hiking.  Geocaching in our Georgia State Parks and other outdoor locations is the primary reason that our love for the outdoors blossomed.  Since many of our searches included hiking trails, we couldn't help but become enamored with such natural beauty.  The more we participated; the more we desired to be outside.  Additionally, those desires eventually led us into a great love of camping.  What better way to experience the great outdoors than by camping?!  We found our camping trip to Vogel State Park to be our most memorable.

 "The Mountain Shack" is the favorite photo that I took in 2012.

Photography.  As our time together in the outdoors increased, I did my best to capture those moments on my simple "point and shoot" camera.  With so many photographic opportunities, my passion soon grew.  I began to not only photograph my family, but I started to become more and more aware of the many other opportunities that our travels afforded us.  Mountains, wildlife, boats, bridges, and many other subjects found their way to my lens.  I have learned not to be hesitant with the amount of pictures I take, especially since I have a digital camera.  I simply take as many as I can, and then I download them to my laptop and delete the ones I do not wish to keep.  I share many of those photos on our Facebook site.

So here's to looking forward to a great 2013!  I hope that you will find as much joy in searching as you do in the discovery!

Home Defense: Are You Prepared? (Part 1)

Over the past couple of years, I have made a plan to make sure that my family is prepared for various situations.  Not only situations of the disastrous kind, but any other situation that one might routinely find themselves in.  With that in mind, I've started to look more and more closely at what could possibly occur, and if so, are we prepared to handle it.  Perhaps you've done the same.  If not, you should take the time to do.

In this post, I'll try and present some scenarios to get you thinking.  I'll also post, where applicable, what we've done to try and prepare ourselves for the scenarios listed.  Feel free to make additional comments and suggestions.  Remember, this post is not designed to be all comprehensive, rather, it is designed to get you thinking about being more prepared for what may come.

Home Security.  Last Christmas Eve, my family and I were spending time away from home when we received an unexpected call.  The call came from someone that we had entrusted to watch over our house while we were away.  Sadly, we were informed that a break-in had occurred at our residence, and some of our possessions had been stolen.  Thankfully, our home wasn't ransacked, and only a few items were taken.  Afterwards, I did a thorough review of my home and made some necessary changes to make a repeat quite a bit more difficult, if not impossible.  Listed below are a few of the steps that we took.

1. Changed all deadbolts.  Each of our doors have deadbolt locks on them.  We purchased and installed deadbolts that require a key from both sides.  Since two of our doors have glass in them, we didn't want someone being able to smash the glass and reach in and turn the deadbolt.  Additionally, if someone breaks in now, they will most likely have to exit from the window in which they entered.  We do not leave keys laying around.
2. Cut shrubs that hid outside windows from view.  I'll admit that as I surveyed the front of my house, I was surprised by the brazenness that someone displayed while entering through a front window.  Certainly, a passerby could have spotted the criminal entering my home.  I noted that a large Azalea bush in the middle of my yard, coupled with another overgrown Azalea near the window, provided ample stealth for the would be robber.  I commenced to cutting the bushes back considerably, and I installed an inexpensive, battery operated motion light on the corner of my house where the break in occurred.  
3. After speaking to the detective that was assigned to our case, he informed me that our type of windows were susceptible to easy break-ins.  With a simple credit card, or thin sheet metal, the latch on the bottom of the window could be jarred, thus allowing easy entry.  Our solution to this problem was window braces.  In fact, I have now installed window braces on all of our windows, and they are secured in the tracks.  Additionally, I added some low cost window locks that fit in the tracks, and we've installed some inexpensive window alarms.
4. We don't alert anyone of our leaving anymore.  Forget telling everyone of Facebook or Twitter!
5. Lastly, we have decided to protect ourselves from future break-ins, if they should occur while we are home, by purchasing firearms.  Though we have made this decision, we are also trained in how to use them and consider ourselves to be very safe.  Each of our weapons are readily accessible while we are home, and locked while we are away.  Also, there are no small children in my home, so that is not a worry of ours.

So there you have part one of this multi-post series.  Obviously, this is a basic list of steps that we've taken for home security purposes.  Perhaps you've considered all of them; maybe not.  Again, please feel free to make any other suggestions or comments.