I also found that the GPS cigarette lighter power adapter was broken. (I know this is hardly comparable to the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster, but does everything have to happen today?) Fortunately, I've been to CT enough times that I did not need to have the GPS on all the time in order to navigate. When I got back home, I found that the power adapter had only come loose and it worked once I put it back together. But that was after I'd purchased a new one (with a Trails Conference discount) so now I have two. I'll use the old one at home with the AC to 12 Volt DC adapter.
Just for fun, I left Chinese New Year red packets containing Where's George dollars at some caches. I happen to have a bunch of those. Although traditionally, I think I'm the one who's supposed to get them because I'm unmarried. :)
First stop was Cache as Cache can. It's in Westchester, not Connecticut, but I figured it was only a short diversion off I-287 so I went for it. True to the name of the park, the trail went through some marshland before reaching the LI Sound. Some interesting ruins at the cache site.
Went up the Merritt (Route 15) to Amalfi Adventure. A quick dash and grab although the icy field was slippery.
Katherine Ordway Preserve was actually a two-stage cache with the first stage involving getting information from a board somewhere in the park. More icy trails but I just had to be careful not to fall down.
Boothe Memorial Micro was an odd location. What kind of place has a windmill, a clock tower, a mini lighthouse and an antique gas pump? It was a micro cache but easier to find than I thought.
Quick trip up Route 8 to visit Freedom Is Not Free, a virtual in Shelton.
Then I went all the way South on Route 8 to I-95 to Shakespeare in the Park. Couldn't find it though. From reading logs that other cachers have written, perhaps it was deeper in the hole than I thought.
Then it was off to Muskrats at Mondo Pond, only a few exits further East on I-95. Didn't see any muskrats at all. I didn't think the trail was all that bad until I realize it was supposed to be a blazed trail and the only trail blaze I saw was near the cache!
East Rock Park, a virtual was the last stop. I could not drive all the way to the tower. There was a road but the gate was closed. So I parked as close as possible but at the bottom of the hill. Oi! The trail was a series of stone steps going all the way up. I parked next to the playground and there, I was solicited by a panhandler. Maybe. I just found it very hard to believe that he ran out of gas on a park road at a convenient pullout next to a playground. And besides, that was Connecticut. $2 doesn't buy much gas there! :)
Dinner was at a buffet restaurant in Milford.