GEOCACHING--
And the beat goes on

There is a whopping difference between Ohio and Florida geocaching and much of that difference lies in the variety and complexity of the foliage, southern style.  Most everything in the sub-tropics is thick, and luscious like the jungle of growth surrounding Sue (above) along the intercoastal waterway.

If you look closely you will see the cache we have just found.  It is to the right of her, head-high.  See the little patch of green with two black lines through it.  That's a transparent plastic water bottle held in place by bungee cords.

In Ohio caches of this size are fairly common.  Down here, after a week of caching, this is the only one we have found of this size.  All others--all of them--have been of the micro variety, extremely small, and difficult to find in the always thick and often unpenetrable foliage and undergrowth.

This one also is now the new home of Sue's oldest travel bug.  It's our first local find that was large enough to hold it.

Travel Bugs are a delightful component of the hobby.  They are small items with a unique number attached.  This one looked like a friendship ring accompanied by a dog tag.  It was launched in Germany.  Each time someone finds it and moves it to another cache that movement also is logged on-line so its original owner can sit home and watch as it makes it's way around the world.

Another huge southern difference is the marvelous weather.  We've had temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s each day.  You hardly ever see luncheon photos like the one (right) in Ohio this time of year.  That's sunny, blue sky above and the Atlantic Ocean to the right.

We posed the lower photo as a small gift to our geocaching partners, Mark and Nancy Meinzer, currently stranded in Ohio.  It also shows a geocache we recently found; this one in a tiny tube lurking under the white sea-shell beside the riser on which she is sitting.

Hotel officials (where they stayed during last year's visit-background) confirmed their room is waiting with car arrangements included! 

Actually, I am surprised and grateful Sue remains my geocaching partner.  If you know Sue's life-long fear of snakes you will understand.

Yup, we were working our way down an overgrown path in the Oslo Road Conservation Area when she encountered a small black one of those critters.

She was in the locked car promptly, covering her 50 yard escape path in 3 seconds flat.

...and the beat goes on.