Tag Archives: California

My 1st visit to Joshua Tree, the 2nd Joshua in my life, then on to Phoenix

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Day 62:
Today I met Bluto, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
14,100 miles and counting.
I woke up in the middle of the desert at Red Canyon. This is where I spent most of my day yesterday, off roading, hiking through slot canyons, and finding a few geocaches. Once I finished that, I realized it was a perfect place to settle down and call home for the night.
I had a wonderful evening, got caught up on a few things since I had telephone service. I started out the morning slow, and even stopped for a sit down breakfast. Right next to that was a museum for general Patton. I looked at some really old army junk for a while. And I revisited a very strange abandoned town, Desert Center. That was my driving route to get to Joshua Tree, so I poked around there for a little longer this morning.
I took my time getting there, and finally made my way to a completely empty Joshua Tree National Park. Seems like wherever I go, nobody else wants to be there while I’m there. I didn’t know a whole lot about Joshua Tree, except that this is one of the favorite places for photographing the dark sky. So, I spent all the daylight hours driving around, getting to know the park, seeing what type of views faced south/southwest, and planned my overnight.
I did one hike, a nice roughly 5 mile round-trip out to a virtual geocache. Amazing hike. I did it at the height of the day, so it was warm, and the pictures were no good. But the walking and looking and learning was fun.
I had picked out 3 or 4 places I wanted to visit after the sun scrammed. I drove, walked and took pictures from 7pm-1am. It was fun, this is definitely a very unique place in the dark. The shadows casted by the sharp plant life is fascinating. Then I turned in to start all over again tomorrow!

Day 63:
14,300 miles and counting
Today I met Bernie, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
I woke up in the Jumbo Rocks Campground of Joshua Tree national Park.
Last night was great, I went to 4 or 5 different spots to take pictures of the night sky and the Milky Way. This place is unbelievably fascinating at night, all the features of sharp angles of the plants and trees create the most fantastic shadows.
I decided early in the day that I was gonna spend another day in Joshua Tree. For over 2 months I have pretty much only been go go go. Not a lot of places have I hung around to stretch out for a little while. I decided Joshua Tree was such a place. I started my morning by making some delicious eggs and bacon. It did not get stolen by a wild animal. Then I cleaned up and set about seeing all of the parts of this park that I could. I started the day at skull rock, because that’s very close to where I spent the evening. I climbed all over that guys face, I farted on his nose, then I crossed the street and walked around over there for a while. After that I head to hidden Valley, and first I walked up to the million dollar mine. One of a few old mines inside the park you can walk to. I believe the old abandon ruins were my favorite part of that hike. Anything abandoned or ruined, I always love. Especially those two old cars
Next, I went the other direction out to the dam. A dam in the middle of Joshua Tree National Park, in the middle of the desert. Yeah right, let me go see what this is all about. Holy crap! There’s a dam in the middle of Joshua Tree National Park, in the middle of the desert. There’s not a whole lot of water there, but there’s water, and green stuff, and algae, and shrimp living in that water. Thankfully I don’t go anywhere without my cocktail sauce. I’d give anything to be able to travel back and spend time with the guy that built that infrastructure.
Now is the time for me to take the long drive out towards Cottonwood and see what all the different attractions are along that road.
It was a wonderful drive out to Cottonwood. I knew at the end of the road, Cottonwood, I would be able to fill my freshwater, a big motivation to get there. I stopped many times along the road. I took a few pics, I found all the virtual and earthcaches, I hiked about 12 miles today in the desert. I think my face is sunburn, I forgot my hat, I loved the mine hike the best I think, I planned where I want to be for sunset and overnight to take pictures, and I maintained an overall shock and gratitude at why my life is so lucky.
Once at Cottonwood, that meant turn around and come back north for tonight’s planned activities, around the Cholla cactususesi. I hope to get there in time to make myself a nice dinner. I bought a steak and am saving it for a special occasion. I just checked, according to science today is a Tuesday, cause for celebration!
I got amazing pictures at night of the Cholla Cactus field, and I had to get naked and run back to my van in the middle of the night. That entire story can be read HERE.

Day 64:
Today I met Bronx, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
I sat on a cactus and ruined my night, and my shorts and underpants. I had to throw them away. Not what you are thinking, I was not pooping in a cactus patch. I was taking pictures in the middle of the night. I was extra careful where I walked, squatted, sat. One time I was not quite as careful. I was taking pictures from the ground, up, through a cactus, with the milky way in the background. I squatted once, a little too casually. I sprung up with a softball sized cactus piece deeply embedded in my left ass cheek. Through my shorts and underpants, and MANY quills in the rump. I was shocked. The pain was not terrible, thankfully. But I spent about 10 minutes getting the shorts, underpants, cactus sandwich pried away from my butt. That part hurt. There were some quivers I could not get out until I got back to my van and use tweezers. Speaking of that walk back to my van, I had to do it bottomless. I started my night jimmysellers and I ended it DonaldDucking.
I did not get up as early as I wanted today. I caught the sunrise, but not from the top of Mount Ryan, like I had hoped. Too much nighttime photography I guess. I think the biggest factor of not making it to the top of Mount Ryan this morning was the fact that I sat on a cactus in the middle of the night. I’m not sure how that reads, but I remember how it felt.
Now it’s on the Phoenix today where I will probably spend the next day or two at least. Currently I have an appointment to get new rear tires in Phoenix on Friday which is very exciting. There are also four or five 2000s around Phoenix. And plenty of high favorited geocaches, if I needed to kill time.
I will never understand why people don’t want to use the same place I’m using. I drove from the center of Joshua tree out the south entrance at Cottonwood. It’s about an hour. I passed two other cars the entire drive. Don’t people know this place is gorgeous? I prepared myself for the drive from Joshua Tree to Phoenix. It was a little uncomfortable on my left butt cheek but thankfully my van seat has nice padding. On my way to Phoenix I made sure to go out of my way to find a Multi and where I go.
When I got to Phoenix about mid-day it was raining. I am tempted to go up Diablo mountain first, but the rain had me deterred. I checked the forecast, looks like it was ending soon.
I knew this one was going to be quite a few hours round-trip, so I was anxious to get started and completed, and didn’t really want to wait for another day.
So, I started my walk in a light drizzle, hoping it would not get worse. Glad I decided to do the oldie today. It would’ve thrown a real monkey wrench in my schedule, of being nowhere at no specific time ever. I did a 6 1/2 mile loop, 2 hours and 20 minutes. I jogged everywhere that was downhill or flat-ish. It rained on me most of the time, and I came back soaked to the bone. But thankfully it’s Arizona and I was still hot somehow.
After finding the 2000 I went for dinner. I got seated right next to a fellow with a geocaching T-shirt on. I obnoxiously made it known I was also a geocacher. I treated myself to chicken parm calzone, whatever that is.

Here is a photo album I am updating regularly HERE.

I can’t believe where this van and Geocaching bring me

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Day 61:
13,830 miles and counting.
Today is the day that my van re-proves how amazing she is. Getting me to the funnest spots imaginable, to play in the silliest places possible.
Also today I met a girl dog named Blue. Hands-down the coolest dog I’ve met on this trip. Even though she was a girl, I had to yell, “You’re my boy Blue!”
I woke up this morning in a big pull off near Phil’s memorial. I had a great afternoon playing there yesterday, until I ran out of daylight. I got an early start and wanted to head back north and east ultimately getting to Joshua tree. But I think I’m going to take a run at a 2001 geocache in Red Canyon. We’ll see how it goes. Boy, am I glad I did that! It is a geocache that has been around for 22 years, and only found (now) 50 times. Not bad.
Getting to the “trailhead” wasn’t so bad. Just time consuming, slow going. But thankfully my van has seen much much worse in the past couple months. It took two hours to drive from the interstate to the “trailhead”. Maybe 10-12 miles. I parked, got out, lifted my chin off the ground, because I was in absolute awe of where I was, how I got here, and my overall gratitude for this life I get to live.
While I was walking through the canyon, I saw tire tracks, and realized I could’ve driven a whole lot closer to GZ. But I was already changed into my hiking apparel. I drive my van in my underwear, so I had to put on some clothes and shoes. I have my pack, camera and water loaded up, so I figured it’s best that I use all the stuff that I brought.
I walked until I could not go any further using only my hands and feet. I looked at the satellite map, I walked “up” the wrong “stream”. There were 2 slot canyons going away from where I parked, I picked the incorrect one. Uggg, backtrack, and find where I should have went. The only thing the wrong way resulted in was more fun, adventure, and great pictures. After that it was smooth sailing. I walked right up to a 3 ½ year lonely geocache, signed the log, took a bunch of pictures, took some Pez and the disposable camera that were inside the ammunition box, and went on my merry way.
I thought for sure they were going to be making a movie about my last day of life, and call it something like 127 hours. Two hours of slow driving from the interstate, and about 90 minutes of desert walking, some light jogging.
After that, I still had several hours of daylight. I off roaded all around the 2001 hide, and found several other geocaches. I had a blast! I only got stuck once, first time of the trip as well. Thankfully it did not require anything more than 4WD rocking (and rolling).
Then I bopped a few miles down I-10 to a very interesting location for a geocache. A very interesting location in general, geocaching is just what brought me here. Thanks again. Desert Center, CA. Not sure how to describe it. It is like an intersection of abandoned, repurposed, and no longer used deserted desert infrastructure. A couple of multi’s and then back to where I spent the day, to spend the night. No problems finding plenty of places to spend the night in this area. Between forest land, desert, and abandoned towns, it’s dealers’ choice.
I did just that, stopped, shut down, showered, ate, slept. I think tomorrow might be finding out what Joshua Tree is all about, maybe for a couple days.

I started an album of this trip that I am updating regularly HERE.

Found it! Worth it!

I took a break, got comfy & pampered, but not for too long

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Day 58:
13,700 miles and counting.
Today I met Baxter, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
I woke up this Thursday morning at a rest area an hour north of San Diego. I have an 8am appointment to replace my front tires. I planned to get there and sleep at the tire store, but the opportunity to sleep an hour sooner last night presented itself. I have been so anxious for this tire change. The past week I have been riding with my butt cheeks clenched because of the vibration. Feels like enough to rattle everything loose. Thankfully, the front replacements made a world of difference. Time to do the rear now. After the replacement and alignment, I sat and pondered what to do next. I have decided to stick around San Diego for a couple days. I have not stopped much. I don’t know when this whole thing is going to end, so I always feel rushed, to make sure I am doing or accomplishing something. I got myself a nice room, on the beach for a couple days. I guess we will see what kind of trouble I can get into in San Diego.
Before stopping, I made a small list of geocaches in this area that look like they would give me a nice tour. I ended up at the San Diego Zoo, and spent quite a few hours without blinking an eye. After more sightseeing I made my way to the hotel. Nice place, Coronado Bay Beach, or something like that. Quite swanky, for a distinguished gentleman like myself. Once here, it was time for the pool, nap in the sun, shower off the last few days in a real shower, and relax for the evening. Not a super eventful day, and I hope that is an indication of the next couple.

Day 59:
I Today I met Archie, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
woke up in a fancy Coronado Bay Resort, after my first night here. I slept later than I could ever image, 8am. It was already gorgeous outside. That is what I have always been told about this part of the planet, perfect weather. 70 and sunny everyday, stay classy San Diego. I had a very nice breakfast and then decided to spend the day riding my bike. I biked south along the coast for about 6 miles. Then I turned around, and went north about the same. Total of probably 15 miles along the coast by bike today. It was glorious. I found a bunch of geocaches along the way. I also failed at quite a few. I’d rather keep the wind in my hair, over increasing my fake internet number by 1. I understand this must be the offseason here? I feel like I have this place to myself. Once again, lucky me. After some pool time and cleaning up, I will settle in for some real work in front of the computer for the remainder of the night. If you want, I can tell you how to balance accounts and juggle accounts payable. The check is in the mail.

Day 60:
13,750 miles and counting.
Today I met Rosie, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
Today is the day I leave the swanky beach Coronado Bay Resort near San Diego. I got quite comfy after a couple of days of living like an important person. But it’s time to get back on the road. I’ve got some more tasks I need to complete, and I can’t imagine somethings not gonna make me come home soon. I have to pack the van back up, and get on the road. I plan to head straight for Phil’s Stash, the oldest geocache in California. It looks like a place I could spend an entire day, and I just might.
I thought I’d start out the day with some old and high favorited geocaches before I leave the coast altogether. I started by heading to the Border Park. A few weeks ago I was in the top left-hand corner of

That is Mexico

our continental country. Today I was in the bottom left-hand corner. I walked all the way up to the stop sign in the sand, the one that if you go past the sirens start blaring. I got to hear those sirens, thankfully not for any of my actions. I could see Mexico, through a fence. They were really living it up on the other side of the fence. It was bright colors, loud music, barbecues were going, people were enjoying the sun, sand and surf. Over here on our side of the fence, it felt more like a prison town. I talked to a guy who said when he was a kid they used to play volleyball over the border line fence. That’s awesome information to know, and hope for the future.

I feel safe

I was going to hang around San Diego a little longer, but it was a Saturday, the weather is always beautiful, and everything was packed. So, I just skedaddled away from the city. I need to plan my city visits, middle of the week, during business hours. I stopped at the market to refill the fridge. And it was on to Phil’s Stash. I got there late in the afternoon I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. But it looks like this is going to be where I spend the rest of my afternoon and evening hiking, and then hopefully also sleeping somewhere very nearby.
It was an amazing trail and terrain system that went on for more miles than the state I was born in. I could have easily spent days there. I stayed out walking until I got uncomfortable that I might have to walk back completely in the dark. The moon is going away again, and it is

I think this is a country border

darker. I did about a 5 mile loop around Phil‘s place, and found most of what I looked for. Took a couple hours and I finished just as the sun was setting for the day. That golden glow of the perfect time of day, my favorite most beautiful time of day. I had a little daylight to find a place to call home for the night. All went perfectly and I found a wonderful, quiet, dark place to rest very nearby. I was able to make camp right nearby, and a large flat open parking space. I got a great nights sleep, thanks for asking.

I started an album of this trip that I am updating regularly HERE.

I found my 10,000th Geocache, in California

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Day 56:
13,050 miles and counting.
Today I met Monkey, hands down the coolest dog I have met this trip. I then met a monkey named Doggie.
I woke up in a campground near San Luis Obispo. I arrived just before I ran out of daylight. I got set up for the night, made some lasagna in a bag dinner with lucky charms for dessert, and rested these weary bones. That was a luxury I haven’t had much this trip. I was able to take my time, make a nice breakfast, have a shower, and refill the freshwater in my van without the scowling looks up a bunch of corpses in a graveyard.
I visited Morro Bay and Morro Rock. Fascinating area undercover of fog. There sure are a lot of rock karens on the backside of Morro rock. My wife would have a field day there kicking things over.
From there I went to Pismo Beach, and visited Shell Beach. Bit of an overcast morning led to the overall ambience. I watched and photographed birds flying and pooping for quite a while. After taking in the coastline for an hour or so, it was time to keep moving south. I consulted my maps and it looked like Santa Barbara 1 is where I was to go next.
Going for the old geocache in Santa Barbara was a little more than I expected. I didn’t expect roads quite like that. I could’ve drove all the way, but I stopped a few miles short. I walked that last straightaway and the horseshoe shape of the trail. I did not imagine there would be roads and trails like this, so close to major metropolitan areas.
On the slow, snail pace back toward civilization, I stopped for some of the other hides along that road. I finally made my way back to civilization and head toward Santa Clarita to look for a Light Pole Cache. I sure am glad I did! This ended up being one of the funniest, most creative geocaches I have found this trip. From there it was time to head back off the grid, and look for a really old geocache puzzle in the desert. It was about 3 hours away, and I only had about 1 hour of daylight. I found some dirt roads behind a shopping plaza and turned in for the night, with the intentions of starting to drive before the sun.

I believe this is my 10000th geocache find

Day 57:
13,400 miles and counting.
Today I met Barksey, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
I woke up predawn on a little dirt patch, behind a shopping plaza near Palmdale California. I had about a 2 hour drive to my first stop this morning. The middle of the desert, near Barstow.
Apparently today I will find my 10,000th geocache, according to the Internet. So far, the internet has never been wrong in my experience. I thought my 10,000 find would be somewhere close to home, and I had something special planned for it. It was also not supposed to be until well in the future from now. But this road trip I’m on to seems to keep going and going and going, with no end in sight, and no one at home forcing me to return. So, my numbers have continued to accumulate way faster than I ever expected. I had to spend a few minutes and put some thought into the 10,000, because I could not just have it be a random one. Also, these damn adventure labs have really screwed up keeping track of upcoming milestones. So, I believe the mine offset from the year 2000 in California will be my 10,000th find. California’s first and oldest Geocache puzzle(I think). That’s a fantastic one. It was an awesome puzzle dating back forever, had to be one of the original offset puzzles, and I personally put in a lot of homework to make this one as easy as it was for me. I’m excited for the milestone.
After that adventure first thing in the morning, I proceeded to the Calico Ghost Town near Barstow California. This kind of stuff fascinates me to no end, I wandered around for sometime. I felt like they opened this whole place today just for me. I don’t know why it happens to me but when I end up places there’s usually only a few other people at most at the tourist spots. Lucky me?
After the ghost town I was going to head back to the ocean once again. On my drive west I saw a sign for San Dimas. So, I obviously went to the San Dimas high school because San Dimas high school football rules. Took some great photos of me and my van in a high school parking lot. Please nobody tell anyone about this.
Then it was on to La Brea tar pits to find out what happened there. Mystery solved, stupid animals, watch where you’re walking. Next out to the Santa Monica area and the Santa Monica pier where I wandered around aimlessly for several hours. That tends to happen to me when I get out of my element, and into a city. But it’s always fun, and I always have geocaches to navigate by. I love that people feel passionate about their towns enough to bring me to the best spots.
The Santa Monica beaches are about as foreign as another planet to me, and from where I grew up. So unbelievably fascinating and fun. I could have watched those people perform on the rings, and acrobatics all day! I can’t believe places like this exist, and I am finding out at 67 years young. To end the evening I continued south along the coast, ultimately navigating to San Diego. I did not make it there this evening.

I started an album of this trip that I am updating regularly HERE.

I guess I didn’t take good notes these days, but I did get thrown out of Pebble Beach

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Day 53:
12,500 miles and counting.
Today I met Quincy, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
Saturday I was finally able to leave the residence inn in Sacramento. I’m going to head for a few of the high favorited geocaches and other unfinished Geocaching business around here. Then I’m going to finally make it to Yuba City. And then back out to the coast, hopefully finishing the day by Monterey.
I finished up everything I wanted to accomplish around Sacramento by late morning and I’m finally heading up to Yuba City now. I have danced around, and circled around, Yuba City for what feels like a month now. I have been within an hour so many times, and put off swinging through there, but today is finally the day. Between broken windows and broke down vans, Yuba City has just been put on the back burner for too long.
After that I routed to some unfinished business, hunting for Jeremiah’s Gold. I came away with the prize this time! If you care about that entire sage, you can read that here: www.jimmysellers.com/jeremiah
It was another fantastic hike, a hike so nice I did it twice. It was at Morgan Territory Preserve near San Fran.
At some point I could not drive any longer and I stopped to sleep.

Day 54:
Today I met Petey, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
I woke up at a rest area on I-5. It’s where I ran out of energy and daylight yesterday on my way to the coast. My next destination is Monterey which is about two hours from where I started.
Finally, this trip is back on track…for now!
My day started with a 10 mile walk around Monterey. I started around the lover’s leap area. I parked and started walking. I walked across the peninsula, and then took the coastline all the way back. I walked a giant, sideways, letter D. It was breathtaking the entire way. I followed a trail of geocaches, and other natural wonders worth looking at. After that, I went for a sit down dinner. I wanted seafood, and this is the place. I had a wonderful dinner at the Fishwife, and then I found some parking along the ocean. I took a shower, photographed the sunet, made new friends with a nice family currently living in the Monterey area, possibly my new press agent, and then settled in to see what the night sky looks like.
They looked great! I took pictures until I couldn’t any longer. Then I went to sleep. I got rousted out of where I was sleeping in the middle of the night somewhere near Pebble Beach. The kid was super nice, and I thought I was going to talk him into turning a blind eye for a few hours, but he apologized and said he couldn’t. I moved down the road another 20 minutes or so to a Safeway. That looked and felt very safe, oddly enough 🙂

Day 55:
Today I met Nola, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
12,900 miles and counting.
I spent the entire day meandering south on the Pacific Coast Highway. I got almost nowhere. I ended my night in San Luis Obispo. I didn’t get very far south. But I did have a day full of amazing views, picture opportunities, a handful of short to medium hikes, I met some fun people, and I found a bunch of great geocaches. It was somehow a very uneventful, and overly stimulating day. I finished in SLO, just as the sun was setting. Sadly, it was very hazy, and there was no amazing PCH sunset to speak of.

I did start an album of this trip that I am updating as I process. HERE.

Boring, nothing happened, skip this

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Day 51:
Today I met Sammy, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
The only place I will be traveling today is .4 miles to drop my van off at the service center. Then I walked back and had second breakfast at my hotel. Not everyone has heard of second breakfast. I spent the entire day in my hotel room, catching up on real life stuff. Work, pictures, etc… I can’t believe how much time I spend in front of a computer in normal life. Hardly any for the past 2 months, it’s been great. If you really want to know what I did today in all it’s boring details, reach out, I possess a certain set of skills.
I think this is the first day in a couple months I have not found a geocache…there is not even one in this hotel parking lot…

Day 52:
Today I met Rebar, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.

The man in green

I woke up this morning in a hotel in Sacramento without my van yet. I slept as long as my body and eyes would allow me, before forcing me up and open. I got cleaned up, had a continental breakfast, and then got a ride to downtown Sacramento. My plan was to do a walking tour, like I do anywhere I’m at. Usually navigated by geocaches, because they always take me to the most interesting, funny, entertaining, and creative locations. I ended up logging about 10 miles around Sacramento.
I started in the old town, around the museums and the water. I did a walking tour of old town Sacramento. Very interesting stuff. Not crowded on a Friday morning. I looped there twice for various GC things. From there I made my way to the Capital and the capital park. I took in some history, some art, some heros, and some fun. About midday I got the call that my van was ready for pickup. Now I need to plan ahead and find somewhere to replace a couple tires ASAP. End of next week at the earliest, and hopefully latest, it being a Friday already. The fun never ends!
After that telephone call I made my way back to my hotel, got my van, picked up laundry, and will spend the rest of the day finishing up work stuff so I can get back to my roadtrip tomorrow morning! Back to the PCH, and onward south.

I did start an album of this trip that I am updating as I process. HERE.

Yosemite! I love it so much it’s my tire cover picture

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Day 48:
Today I met Roald, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
11,850 miles in counting.
I woke up at the Golden Gate Bridge rest area this morning. That’s two mornings in a row I woke up at the Golden Gate Bridge, nothing to complain about, I guess. Yesterday was such a fun and successful day, and completely unexpected for the things that I have planned, that I slept better, as long as my body would allow me. I woke up to the sun high in the sky, got cleaned up and got moving. The only thing certain is I have a campground reservation in Yosemite starting today, through the next few days until my van repairs on Thursday.
I toil with what to do and where to go and what route to take to get to Yosemite. Like every other day of this trip, I have changed my mind 100 times in 20 minutes. Originally, I wanted to go back and visit Jeremiahs Gold again. That final is going to haunt me forever, unless I find it. But I think I decided to head out towards Bodie and then work my way into Yosemite from the other side.
I drove East all day. The most beautiful area being Lake Tahoe, obviously. The weather was perfect, and the skies cooperated for me to get some of the most amazing views from above, down onto the lake.
My first real stop of the day was Bodie California. Bodie is an abandoned mining town, that CA maintains as a park. I made it out there about mid-day. I spent a couple hours wandering around, taking pictures, being unbelievably fascinated about this time period. This kind of stuff has always fascinated me. I know I say if I had one I wish, I’d lived back then, I’m wrong. But I wish I could travel back in time for a vacation. you know, kind of like a dude ranch? West World style. If anyone has connections with robots and AI, get in touch.
Since I was driving right past, I had to make a stop at Mono Lake on the way from Bodie to Yosemite. I first heard a mono lake in 2013, the first time I visited Yosemite. But I’ve never been here. Glad I made a little pitstop, it was the perfect time of day. The sun was behind everything and casting that beautiful “sun is setting” light.
Now into Yosemite where I will make my home for the next few days. I’m killing time, and giving my van a rest, before hopeful repairs on Thursday in Sacramento. I guess I just called 3 days in Yosemite “killing time”. More examples I’m the luckiest person alive. I’ve never driven over Tioga Pass before, I don’t believe. I’ve been to Yosemite a few times, but don’t think I ever left the park on the eastern side. That’s one of the more unbelievable passes I’ve ever passed through. I pulled over so many times to look and take pictures I lost count.
I love Yosemite so much. I saw a big brown bear wandering around shortly after I entered the park. Also, it’s the only place where I can enter the gates and think to myself
“Yay I’m in Yosemite!” And then I still have a 2 Hour drive to get to where I’m going in the valley.
What a great place.

Day 49:
Today I met Pierre or PeePee as he is affectionately known, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
12,270 and counting.
I woke up in a Yosemite valley campsite this morning. There won’t be a lot of miles today, because I’m in Yosemite and may not even move my little girl. I got up at about five and drove out to Valley View for sunrise pictures. It was a bit hazy, understandably. But beautiful for all the right reasons. Then up to Tunnel View. I watched the sun come up over the mountain and took some pictures. What an unbelievable life I have. I made conversation with lots of other traveling strangers. It was an amazing way to start my day. Then back to camp where I made myself a wonderful bacon and eggs and fruit breakfast. I think that’s the first time I’ve actually “cooked” a meal in my van. I’ve made a lot of boil in bags, sandwiches, dry foods. But I broke out the cooktop and whipped up some eggs and bacon.
My possible plan for today is to at least make a big walking loop around the valley. I can’t believe there’s still so many geocaches I haven’t found in Yosemite? I’ve been here twice before, both times since I started Geocaching. But there are just a whole lot of unfound geocaches. Lots of them found, but way more than should be unfound.
The way I had to get campsites in here is strange, but I’m just grateful to have them at all. I was in one spot for one night and then the next morning I had to move a quarter-mile to another site for the next two nights.
I did about an 8-mile walking loop around the valley. I got back in the perfect time to move my van from one site to the other. I still cannot believe there are so many geocaches that I had not found in two prior visits here. I walked a big loop. It was about 8 miles, a couple virtuals, whereIgo, very unique question mark in the middle of a national park, and earth caches of course. I had to move my mobile home from one campsite over to campsite number 69 in upper Pines. Hee hee.
I slung up my hammock and rested for a while, just taking in the sky. At the time of day when the sun was highest in the sky, a sunshower came through. Bright blue in one direction, and terrifying gray in the other. The drops were as big as quarters, they felt great in the blazing sun, and that smell of the ozone in a thunderstorm in the trees is delightful.
I finished the night with pictures on the famous bridge that looks into the valley. I set up there a good two hours before I needed to. That gave me the opportunity to have at least a dozen wonderful and meaningful conversations. Most notably I met the most fascinating person so far of the trip. A young fellow from New Jersey named CJ. He’s an inspiration to what we can be.
Then it was back to the campsite. I made a steak and mashed potatoes, and went to bed for the night.

Day 50:
Today I met Ozzy, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
12300 miles and counting.
I woke up in Yosemite Valley, campsite #69. Coolest part of the trip so far.
I had nothing planned. I had to drop my van off for service in Sacramento in 24 hours, so I had that long to play. I made myself a lovely breakfast at the campsite, eggs and bacon. I turned my back for 5 seconds to get my water and walk it to the picnic table, and a crow stole all 4 pieces of my bacon. That left me very depressed. Thankfully the delicious cheesy eggs fixed everything. I spent a while wandering around the campground, enjoying the sounds and smells, and chatting with tons of strangers. About mid-morning, I wrapped up everything, packed up nothing, and got on the road. I had a hike I wanted to do in Yosemite before I left. I parked at Tunnel View, and hiked straight up the side of the mountain, toward Glacier Point. Glacier Point is about 13 miles straight up. I only went about 2 up, almost 4 miles round trip. I found this awesome and old virtual geocache there. Thanks for brining me to this hike. Sadly, the haze was really bad today, and the views were all silhouetted outlines. Still amazing in its own, but different way.
From the park, it was time to get to Sacramento, I had a bed in a hotel waiting for me there. I took my time driving, enjoying the scenery along the Merced River. No picture opportunities today, sadly. I made it into the city, got Pervvie to a nearby truck wash, picked up some stuff at an amazon locker at a 7-11, stopped at the auto depot for more Pervvie liquids (she loves the green stuff), and finally checked into my hotel. Tomorrow morning I take my baby to the infirmary to hopefully find out what ails her.

I did start an album of this trip that I am updating as I process. HERE.

Jimmy vs Jeremiah’s Gold: The Squeakquel

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The mission was simple, I’ve done it 1000 times. Actually, now I have done that 10 times. I put all my best hiking gear on, filled my backpack full of water and camera equipment, go for a hike, find a very specific geocache, and any others that fall along that hiking route. Not too complicated. Something that is right in my wheelhouse. Recently, in some foothills near San Francisco, I thought I met my match. I went to Morgan Territorial Regional Preserve to find a geocache dating back to the year 2000. One of the oldest in the country, probably the world. It was going to be a few mile hike round-trip. There were several other geocaches along that route, so I knew they would get my whole attention. I was moving right along, minding my own business, and Jeremiah shows up in my life. It is an entire series that culminates in a final puzzle, put out by a young brother that runs by the name of Jesse. Very little I like more than a puzzle. I did like all these ammo boxes that were lugged up here. 1 was the size of a coffin. Others were the size of a really big ammo box. And yet another was so big it had to come in by copter.
There were six or seven, each with a hint on where to find the final. I found one and immediately dismissed the bigger picture. It was just a traditional geocache I found, great, plus one for me. Then I found a second one. I thought to myself, I better take a look at this. So, I found one of the four spots of shade in the county, and I sat down for a few minutes to figure it out. The route I was taking to my ultimate goal, if I veered off of that just a little bit and doubled my original plan, I can get all of these! That’s not bad. doubling only goes from 3 to 6 miles, or something like that. Still no big deal. I decide that’s what I’m doing. I even study the Geocaching map and notice an empty area where I am hoping the final will be. That would mean it was put there strategically so that you could do this loop and wind up back at the final on the way back to wherever you parked. I got to about the fourth or fifth one and realized I had went the wrong way. I look to my right and realized I had to be 500 feet above where I was right now, almost straight up. I missed the turn to walk along the ridge line. I thought to myself OK, I wasn’t meant to find Jeremiah‘s gold anyway. I didn’t know about it until a few hours ago, I can’t be too disappointed.
I just had to accept the fact that this is where my quest for the gold ended. About 10 minutes later I kicked myself in the ass and said no, I got to do this. I walked backwards adding about another mile of uphill walking to get back to the ridge line. And then I walked along the most spectacular ridge line, stellar views, and some of the most unique trees I’ve ever seen growing out of rocks. If for no other reason I’m glad I double back for that. So, I was back on track! I had already completed the task that brought me here, now I was 80% of the way to a new bigger, even better task. I find the last geocache with the clue in it. I find one of those other spots of shade. I sit down and put the puzzle pieces together. I plug-in the coordinate numbers of where this geocache wants me to be. Oh bother. It is all the way back past even the farthest point I was all day.
On a normal day, that would be no problem. But this was a different kind of hot desert hiking that I wasn’t used to. It was over 100°. Completely exposed, no shade. I’m used to hiking in trees and forests. And earlier today I had put on another 15 or so miles of hiking. So I’m tired. It is rare that it happens to me, but I was completely wiped out and couldn’t do anymore.
I barely slept for the next few nights. All I could think about was not completing the task that I didn’t even know I had. Tossing, turning, lashing out at strangers, breaking things that I haven’t paid for yet, just a wreck of a human. I can’t believe how close I came to Jeremiahs gold, and it slipped away from me. I should’ve just grit my teeth and walked back. But I did not.
Sometime shortly after that, the young gentleman that owns these geocaches, and my new best penpal in the world, Jesse wrote to me to say hello, and that he was happy I had a great time finding all his geocaches, all the things that I would want to hear. Jesse went so far as to offer me a free “find” on the final puzzle. Quoting Jesse in his original communication with me, “Dr. Sellers: You seem really cool. Please help yourself to a find on the final puzzle, based on handsomeness alone.”
I was so flattered, but I knew I could not take that. I have cheated plenty in GC’ing, but only in the ways we all agree is OK. Plus, in the back of my mind, I thought I might still go back another day. I was going to be in the “area” for a bit longer. But I knew that was ridiculous to drive hours out of my way to do a hike I already did, but I’m not on any real itinerary.
It is very well known by my friends and family that I will go way out of my way, do almost anything, just to make 1 person laugh. I’ve done things like drive 12 extra hours, buy domain names, spend too much money, lie cheat steal, whatever it takes to make someone laugh or smile. My specialty is overdoing it for 1 person. I thought to myself, if I went way out of my way just find this one geocache, I bet that would make Jesse smile. But I just couldn’t fit it into my busy schedule. My calendar was wide open with nowhere to be any particular time at all. The one day I was going to go, I’m glad I didn’t. I have nothing but respect for Jesse. But I ended up having an amazing day in San Francisco. I did a walking tour, smelling the smells, and I even took in a baseball game. I had to because my Phillies were in town. I just kept meandering around the San Francisco area for different reasons a lot longer than I expected. Take pictures of the Golden Gate bridge sunrise one morning, middle of the night the next day.
Finally, I was done with San Fran/Sacramento area, and I’m heading to the PCH to pick my road trip back up! And wouldn’t you know, the optimal route to get from Sacramento to Monterey includes Morgan Territory Road! I had to do it, and I better take a picture because people are gonna think I’m a liar and a cheater. Mainly because I am 100% a liar and a cheater
Finally, the day came. It was 9 days after my initial discovery of Jeremiah’s Gold. These were days 44 and 53 of this mad road trip. I’m so glad I did not throw away those shoes and socks. They are definitely gone after today though. I took off walking after packing up my water and needed supplies. It is a very well defined trail system, easy to navigate. VERY up and down, lots of quick elevation. I jogged everywhere it was downhill or flat-ish. All in all, it only took me two hours round-trip. I got a message from Jesse later saying that I made his day and maybe even his year. Since then, Jesse and I have become best friends. I believe I am now godfather to his imaginary children. And I have even named him executor of my upcoming will.
I just love the amazing things that I accidentally get myself involved in, mainly because I try to leave myself open to all the nonsense.

I did start an album of this trip that I am updating as I process. HERE.

3 days of nonstop moving and shaking

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Day 42:
Today I met Twinkie, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
11,000 miles and counting
I woke up this morning in Arcata. I came to town last night and visited very old and great friend. We spent a few hours together while I interrupted their band practice, and I saw no practicing at all. I was looking forward to seeing some live music. Instead, they just hung out and did things Humboldt County people do.
After that I found a nice community center that was friendly for sleeping, and got a few hours rest. I was up long before the sun and moving south. I had quite a few things I wanted to get done over the next two days before I had to be in Sacramento on Thursday, so I need to get moving.
Obviously when given the opportunity to stay on a main road or detour south on something called Avenue the Giants, I must choose the Avenue of the Giants. That was a beautiful drive right at sunrise. It was still dark but every once in a while, a little light leaked through. Of course, everything was constantly befuddled with the clouds and fog and that is relentless.
My first destination the morning was going to be at Bovine Mountain for the Cow stash. It’s been a while since I’ve drove any insane Forest Road off-roading in the van, so it seems like this might be the place. I drove my baby Pervvie as far as I was comfortable with. I parked and did the rest by foot. It was 3.5 miles, and an hour fifteen, and zero shade. I jogged anywhere flat or downhill. Glad I parked her when I did. It got gnarly immediately. I’m used to going up and then down. This hike was backwards to what I was accustomed.
After leaving the bovine area it was time to head to the rabbit stash.
The rabbit hole was not a huge success for me. I got the old one, but I left with a few DNFs. I put in a lot of work too, so that’s a little upsetting.
There’s a good chance that with these clear skies this is where I’m going to clean myself up, have dinner, and plan to be to take pictures of tonight‘s night sky.
The night was amazing. The sky was crystal clear. There was a sliver of a crescent moon. That was gone quickly, and the milky way danced across the sky in front of my eyes.

Day 43:
11,300 miles and counting.
I woke up this morning after taking night sky pictures over the ocean near the San Francisco Bay where the rabbit stash is. Last night was amazing. The sky was crystal clear. There was a sliver of a crescent moon. That was gone quickly, and the milky way danced across the sky in front of my eyes. I was up until about 3 AM taking pictures of the Milky Way over the ocean. I have a feeling this could be some of the best photos I’ve ever made. I’m very excited to process them. Update after processing, these are 100% definitely my favorite pictures I have ever made.
My plan today was to continue to circle around San Francisco area. Hopefully I don’t have to enter the city proper at all, but my goal is the rest of year 2000 geocaches that lay nestled in the San Francisco area. My ideal plan would be to make a big loop south on the coast and then come back up and around the city, and then make it to Sacramento by tomorrow night. I don’t think I have nearly enough time for all that, but knowing me I am going to go as hard as I can until I run out of steam, or the wheels fall off.
I made my way to Stinson Beach and then navigated into the forest for the firestone hide. I guess I got here too early for everything, thankfully the one main gate was open, but everything else was still closed. I parked much farther away than I had planned, but that gave me the opportunity to go for a sunrise stroll. I can’t imagine this is what it looks like here every sunrise?! Above the clouds? Yet so low in elevation? I don’t even understand how to explain the climate and skies here.
After I wrapped up at firestone, which I loved! It was time to keep heading south and down to the dog poopy one. Another old hide that happens to be a multi.
Another easy to drive, and wonderful trail system. Not like most of the year 2000 geocaches I found on this trip.
I had a very successful loop around the open space where born free is located. It was shade off and on, thankfully. I made good time and found everything I looked for. Lots of two thousand’s I am finding today. Also walking in a lot of parks which is the greatest thing ever.
I made my way to Igor next. I’m hoping when I get there it’s a place I can stay for the night. It is not, they have an actual gate. So, I ended at the nearby WallyWorld.
Now that I proofread this day, this was quite a successful day of checking things off an imaginary to-do list! I am so proud of myself right now.

Day 44:
11,700 miles and counting
Woke up in a Walmart parking lot somewhere near San Jose. I intended to sleep at a park last night, but that park closed and had gates. So, I went to the always safe backup plan, WallyWorld. I started first thing in the morning to find a multicache and a WebCam nearby and then off to Igor from 2000.
Today ended up being a pretty big day for me. I hiked at least 15 miles overall, with some pretty serious elevation changes. I saw some beautiful scenery that looks like another planet compared to where I come from.
I say it all the time, and I stand by it, the trails feature is worth the price of premium alone for Geocaching. I was planning to be at Igor when he opened, but I was about eight minutes late. Thankfully the gates were open, I parked, and I jogged out to Igor and back. A beautiful first thing in the morning jog to get my blood flowing, my day started perfectly.
From here I will drive over to the mother of dragons hide.
I am in a different part of the world from home. I’m in a part of the world where this morning in the coffee shop, I was eavesdropping on, and then interjected myself in a conversation. The conversation was amongst the employees. The lady was making suggestions for nice places for her coworker to go with a new girlfriend on a day trip. That suggestion was Yosemite. That’s right, Yosemite. I’m in a part of the world where people take Yosemite for granted as a potential day trip. Nothing like where I’m from. The answer to that question would be, hey why don’t you take her to the Strausburg railroad and play putt putt.
I made a nice long jogging loop out of the dragon ball hide, and found all those on that loop that I looked for. What a beautiful park! Golf course nearby looks great too, it almost makes me wish I brought my golf clubs on this road trip, but not really.
Now to go check out what’s going on with this world famous lightbulb?
From there I’ll head to the survival cache just north of here.
I think the survival part is surviving Morgan Territory Road. Boy that road is a lot of fun! I parked at the trail head and proceeded to start walking and looking for hidden treasures along the way.
I would have made a lot better time on the survival cache hike had I not had to stop countless times and pick ouchies out of my socks and shoes. I don’t wanna throw these shoes away, so if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.
So much poop everywhere, yet I saw absolutely no animals who made it.
I thought I might have bit off more than I could chew here, but I am not choking to death, and I survived to sit here and type this.
These ridgeline tree clusters or nothing less than beautifully fascinating.
I did not know anything about this Jeremiah’s Gold geocaching series until I got here. I assumed it was something for locals, and it was not on my radar to complete. I didn’t even know about it. At least now I have the final coords for the slim possibility that I’m never back here. I guess the way I traveled the route would require me to have done 2 loops to get this final. I was very tempted, it was hard not to, but I did not, I was close to my end.
Without a doubt this hike around this preserve is in the top 3 or 4 hikes that I’ve done so far on this road trip.
I scrapped a couple other things that I plan to do today. I’ll follow up with them over the weekend hopefully. But right now, I need to get to Davis, through Stockton and Sacramento. Perrvie’s van window repair scheduled for tomorrow, hopefully this time it will happen. I am staying in a hotel in Davis for at least the next 2 nights. So not much will get done for geocaching.

I did start an album of this trip that I am updating as I process. HERE.

I drove all the way across CA, to drive back across CA

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Day 40:
Today I met Sandy, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
I woke up in the most perfect location after sleeping along the PCH. I got up, rub my eyes, stretched, brush my teeth and got ready for another day. I wasn’t sure where I was heading yet, but once I started looking and thinking about it my brain was racked with decisions and choices. I think I changed my plan 100 times over the course of 30 minutes. I even turned around from where I was heading , and then re-turned back around around. I know I have to land in the northeast corner of California at some point. That’s about six hours from where I was. So, I think right now my plan is to head there, backtrack, hopefully for the night at Crater Lake, and then back out to the coastline immediately after that.
Everything turned out as planned, even better actually. I left the coast and head inland. I passed through Veneta Oregon. Home of the Oregon country fair. I’m an East Coast person, but that fair holds a lot of amazing memories of my adolescence. I used to spend two weeks each year out here with friends in Eugene, around the country fair. I did that for four or five of my most formative life years. I had to stop in. Luckily there were a couple of geocaches that brought me exactly where I wanted to be. I think the best memory I now have of the Oregon country fair is driving my van all over the empty fairgrounds, at the end of August, a month after the fair. Seeing all the permanent hippie dippy structures and signs, with nothing else around or nobody else around, that’s a memory I’ll have forever. It put a giant smile on my face and still has me giggling.
Vitreous here I come. Most of the morning I drove through the forest of southern Oregon making my way to Northeastern California. Vitreous falls into the category of things I’m looking for on this trip. Only by one single day, but it made the list.
I pulled up to the diesel pump and parked next to this guy with unbelievable log cabin on a pick-up style RV. We got to chatting and he said “I guess we’re heading to the same place?”
I thought quickly. I’m driving about 14 hours out of the way to find one geocache from the year 2000, so I doubt it. But I simply answered, “Doubt it, where are you heading?”
Burning Man he said. OK now maybe I’m going to burning man for a day. I found out later, the guy I met buying diesel is a bit of an internet celebrity: Truck House Life https://www.youtube.com/c/TruckHouseLife
I made great time and found Vitreous and one of it’s neighbors. I chatted with some ladies that were finding obsidian ‘needles’. I got an interesting education about that. Then it was time to boogie toward Crater Lake. I made everything in perfect timing somehow. As I got into the park and did the ring road, the sun was setting. Every corner presented a new sunset view. It might be the most epic sunset I have ever seen. I shot it from many angles. Then I found a pull off to call home. The sky is crystal clear. I parked, ate, and got my camera set up in perfect time to catch the galactic band passing by. So unbelievably amazing.
I set up camp and had a giant pull off all to myself all night. It was a perfect southwest facing view. I was able to photograph the stars in the Milky Way and the galactic band all night with crater Lake as the foreground. It was hypnotic and mesmerizing.

Day 41:
10,700 miles and counting
I woke up in crater Lake this morning. I have no idea how I got here, but I’m sure glad I was here. I got here just before sunset last night. So, I had to race around and take photographs from different angles before I lost the good light. Then I set up camp and had a giant pull off all to myself all night. It was a perfect southwest facing view. I was able to photograph the stars in the Milky Way and the galactic band all night with crater Lake as the foreground. It was absolutely hypnotic and mesmerizing.
When I say I woke up in crater Lake, I was awake most of the night taking pictures. But I had to be ready for the sunrise. I was! I made it around to the other side of the lake around 6 AM to catch the sunrise pictures from there. After that was done, I then took the time to drive the rim Road and investigate each of the virtual and earth caches around the lake.
After all those tasks were complete it was time to clean up for the day and make my way back to the coast. I spent all day yesterday driving from the PCH, inland, to Northeastern California, just to turn around today and head back to the PCH to continue my journey south on that.
Crescent City is where I will pick up the PCH again. I will travel south from there, hopefully stopping around Eureka. I have a very old, dear friend that lives there. He used to be the front man of a very famous rock and roll band back in the 90s. I don’t want to say much more and give away this persons location.
I continued south, keeping the ocean on my right for the entire afternoon. I had to be in Arcata around six. I leisurely drove and stopped for random tourist options, and mostly non-traditional geocaches.
Boy those redwoods sure are impressive.
I caught up with an old friend for a few hours, had a blast, more fun than I deserve. It almost makes me wish I could live a normal life. Then it was to a nearby community center and tuck myself in for the night.

Here is my longest and probably best time lapse so far. Around 400 images:

I did start an album of this trip that I am updating as I process. HERE.