Saturday
South Jersey. Got all the way down to Millville and Bridgeton. Then got rained on in Bridgeton and thoroughly soaked. Lost a pen and broke an umbrella but still found that Altoids tin. :) Don't feed the peacock.
Every cache needs a park! (New Jersey)
Small park in Maple Shade. Supposedly a 15-minute cache, as accounted for in the hints. Of course the park side of the street is a No Parking area so turning the car around and parking on the other side of the street is an additional two minutes.
A Maze'n Trek (New Jersey)
Small park in Cherry Hill. This is a field of weeds with some mowed paths. Yes, it looks like a maze although it's quite straightforward, really. And besides, you can always cut through the weeds.
Suburban Wilderness #2 (New Jersey)
Runnemede. No idea what this area is. A bunch of fields with mounds of dirt.
Lock,Crotch & Barrel (New Jersey)
Oaklyn Veterans Memorial Park in Oaklyn. Multistage key and lock cache. Good thing the second key was easier to find. Actually, I didn't bother with the first key. (Picture: cannon at the parking area)
Cold War Spy 1 (New Jersey)
Woodbury. Another multistage cache with an unusual setup. The first location is a microcache containing instructions for the next step, which is a virtual cache. I was surprised at everyone else's logs mentioning problems with this being a busy area. There was no one at either location when I went there.
Patchwork Orange (New Jersey)
Rails to trails in Elmer. This doesn't look like most rail trails though. It's just a narrow dirt trail that's a bit overgrown.
Wayout Elmer (New Jersey)
Rails to trails in Elmer, further in than the previous cache. This section is a broader trail but looks more like a sand road than a rail trail.
Inna Pickle... (New Jersey)
Parvin State Park in Elmer. Strangely hidden cache, as in not hidden at all. I picked it up with a bunch of people in the area fishing and they didn't seem to care. (Picture: bridge across the Muddy Run)
Dreaming Dragon Cache (New Jersey)
Lemmings Mill in Millville. In a WMA near a stream.
Green Dreamz (New Jersey)
Hankins Pond in Millville. Dash and grab, complicated only by one-way streets that all seem to be leaving the park. (Picture: view of the pond)
High Street Hi-Jinx (New Jersey)
Glasstown Arts District in Downtown Millville. Lots of art galleries in the area. Some restaurants and a theater too. I hear the restaurant near this cache has flying fish. Coordinates are somewhat off but the online logs pretty much gave away the location where the cache was hidden. Thank goodness for that.
Hard to Pin (New Jersey)
Bridgeton City Park and Zoo. By the time I got there, it was raining very heavily. Decided to go for the cache anyway. My umbrella broke so I was completely drenched in the rain. Persisted and found the cache. When I was done, a peacock came visiting in the parking lot. By the way, the straw lying on the trail is used animal bedding. How did I know? Well, it was wet and smelled exactly like that.
Sunday
A trip to Long Island that ended with a few caches in Patchogue. Those who do not appreciate Patchogue should know that there are more Long John Silver's restaurants there than in all of New Jersey, because... well, one is more than zero. :)
Came back to New Jersey and the car died at a gas station in Paramus. I think the alternator is bad. It's about time for that anyway as the last time this happened was four years ago. Pump attendant did a jump start so I could drive home. Going to get that fixed on Tuesday. Needless to say, I won't be going anywhere on Monday.
Chief Wantagh's Cache (New York)
Park area in Wantagh. More interesting than the cache was where I parked to access the area. The parking area was for a restored train depot and museum. (Pictures: train, the Wantagh post office, a very small operation)
TOB Cedar Beach (New York)
Cedar Beach in Mt. Sinai. This place wins for most expensive parking. $15! Take that, Hammonasset State Park! Nice beach though.
M&M-5 Mounds of Fun (New York)
Brookhaven State Park in Ridge. This park is undeveloped so there are no proper parking areas. People usually park at the school but I drove in via a dirt road frequently used by ATVers to get a bit closer to the cache.
M&M-4 Pine Trail Nature Preserve (New York)
Pine Trail Nature Preserve in Ridge. Very straightforward walk and cache. Most notable was the couple walking their kitten. I don't think I've ever seen anyone bring a cat to the park before.
WRR-2 St. George Manor (New York)
St. George Manor in Shirley. A manor by the beach. Quick in and out. I was surprised they had rabbits (domesticated, not wild) on the grounds.
Haunted Series Part II: The Hanging Tree (New York)
Swan River in Patchogue. Supposedly a witch was tried somewhere in the area and hung from that tree. There are no historical records to support that story though.
JMB-10 Hedges Creek (New York)
Hedges Creek in Patchogue. Multistage cache. I think it started as a No Hints cache but now it has hints for each stage, parking tips, and even a tip for how to get from the second stage to the final cache! (Picture: Hedges Creek)
