Halloween and Goat Heads!

Halloween and Goat Heads, two things that can be very scary indeed. Life at the marina is going well, the weather has cooled off and day by day we see boat owners removing their boats from the water before the harbor ices over. We have had a nice mix of family time and adventure time throughout the week. Last Friday we went Trick or Treating with the kids. Our children Jessica and Forrest only live about 25 minutes apart so everyone was able to get together for the event. Dylan dressed up at a Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtle, Lily dressed up as a pumpkin and Kendall, well, she dressed up like an adorable 7 month little girl. Lily’s costume was actually the same one that Forrest had worn when he was her age some 25 years ago! It was really cool to walk the neighborhood with everyone and watching the kids run from door to door. After about an hour the kids had had enough and with buckets full we headed back to Jessica’s to review the bounty!

Jessica inspected the buckets for safety removing any sketchy looking candy and choke hazards then Barb and I then inspected each of the buckets removing a couple of choice items for ourselves! On the way home that night Barb reminisced about how she and her younger brother “Shorty” would go out and get pillow cases full of candy and come home, and spend hours trading with each other for their favorites while her dad snuck in and took what he wanted. Both Shorty and her Dad passed away several years ago and it is nice to have happy memories like these that bring a smile.

On a wagon ride

Lily and Dylan ready to go!

Lily in the 25 year old pumpkin

 

What’s with the Goat Heads you ask? Being Halloween, you are probably picturing Zombie-like bloody heads with bulging eyes. Not quite, but these Goat Heads are equally as scary. Also known as stickers, prickers, thorns…….usually with an appropriate adjective in front of them, Goat Heads are everywhere! When we take Daisy for a walk she is on three legs more often than not, and at least once a night I manage to find on while walking barefoot in the trailer. Would you believe Barb just laughs when she sees me swearing, hopping around on one foot?!?!?! I think she is planting them strategically throughout the trailer!

We finally got the bikes out the other day as there were a few of geocaches within a couple of miles that was wanted to find. We had not ridden our bikes for a couple of months so I got them off the carrier, oiled the chains, topped off the air and away we went! We went to the furthest one first which was about 2 miles from the trailer and found it without issue. The next one was on our way back and we had to go off road a bit but found that one pretty easily as well. Once we got back to the bike trail our tires are covered with…… that’s right….Goat Heads! I start plucking them off the back tire and I start hearing psssssss…..Oh man! We jump on our bikes and book it back to the rig before the tire goes totally flat. Shortly after we get back I have two flat tires and Barb has one! Come to find out that most cyclists in this area have self-sealing tires filled with Slime or a similar liquid.

The infamous Goat Heads!

On another geocaching adventure we hiked up to some local hot springs called Fifth Water Hotsprings (see latest video here). The trailhead is about 45 minutes from our trailer. The scenery on the way to the trailhead is worth the drive along and only gets better once you start walking. Barb and I had underdressed as the start of the trail was along a stream between two ridges where the sun does not hit. There was frost on the ground and we were off to a chilly start. The trail is a couple miles long and works its way uphill along the river. We were starting to warm up from our walk and the river valley opened up allowing the sun to warm the ground. Now were we were perfectly dressed!

Beautiful scenery and waterfalls around every bend

 

 

 

 

Barb had downloaded 6 geocaches that were allegedly on the trail to the hot springs so we searched for those along the way too. The first two we could not find, either they were not there or the cacher who hid them did a very good job. We plugged in the coordinates for the next one and the notes said it was on a large rock. As we got close we started looking for a large rock….. what the heck…. There are rocks everywhere how do we differentiate this particular rock from the rest? As we rounded a bend, there in front of us next to the trail was a large rock! Well, I think I was call it a huge freak'en rock about 10’ tall! We walked around the rock trying to figure out how to get up there and did not see an easy route. After walking around it a couple times we said screw it and decided to go onto the next one.

The next one was called “Treed by a Moose” After entering the coordinates we headed up the trail. The coordinates led us to the base of a large cedar tree and we walked the area looking for the cache. The GPS said we were with a few feet of it and nothing….we would spread out our search but the GPS said we were getting further away and kept leading us back to the same spot. That is when we thought of the name and a light bulb went off and we started looking up! No…..who are the people hiding these? They must be part monkey! Being part monkey myself, up the tree I went and sure enough, there it was! (see video)

A short time later we arrived at the hot springs. There is about 3-4 different pools that are created by “hot springs” bubbling up from the ground and someone had built rock walls creating several pool areas where you can soak for a while. The water was a blueish/green color and was really beautiful.  Rumor had it the higher up the trail you went the hotter the springs got so we decided to head up a bit further and see how hot they got. We rounded another bend and whoa!!! Here is a naked guy standing in the next pool (again, see video!). I guess now we are overdressed! He unbashfully stands there and talks to us as we walk by. We check out the area and decide that maybe we will soak in one of the vacant ones down the trail. We head back to the first pool, get our suits on, lay out our lunch on a flat rock next to the pool and get it to have lunch and relax. We were there about 15 minutes enjoying the view, the hot water, our lunch and guess who comes walking down the trail? Yup, naked guy! So much for the view and our appetite! He walks by, finds a sunny area and sits down on a rock sunning himself…..really! After a while, he moves out of sight to another sunny area out of sight from us. We thought this might be a good time for us pack up and head back down the trail again. About 100 yards down the trail, there he is again, on a rock above the trail in the sun! By this time we are laughing our @sses off with our latest stalker!

Notice the color of the water

Barb relaxing in a pool

On the way back we were enjoying the downhill walk, taking pictures of the scenery and waterfalls until we come upon…..no, not him again! Our other nemesis, the big rock. We walk around it again and there is just no way we can get up there. Until I say “I have an idea”. I explain the idea to Barb and she says “No way!” After a little prodding, she gets on my shoulders, I stand on a log next to the rock then she stands on my shoulders and success, she is on the rock! Guess what? No cache! Unbelievable! Barb gets down the same way she gets up (see…..yup, the video!)

"The Rock"

We make it back to the truck, drive back to the trailer and prepare dinner. As we are eating and reminiscing about the day, the hike, the waterfalls, the geocaches but what image do you think is burned into our memories forever????? Ugh!