Photo Album for Saturday, August 4, 2012

     I suppose the easiest way to get the pics out to everyone is to just post them in an album of sorts.  Lots of smiling faces on cachers and dogs alike, at  Queens' TB Rods and Dogs Meet and Greet. 

     Here's a bunch of pics taken by Bailie, aka WeenieQueen, and myself; also photos that have been shared on Facebook.  If anybody has more that they would like to share, it is never too late.   Enjoy !

McCarthy guys with D Force Dale

ShadowAce the human TB with Penni Parrish - SchnauzerQueen

Team Bugman and Team ShadowAce families

One of the McCarthy men manning the grill.

Sort of looks like 'coins by the pound' !

Penni with Ashton (I think that is his name)

SchnauzerQueen's family, here to support with her very first event.

A second album will follow shortly.

It Was A Family Affair

     I will give SchnauzerQueen for pulling off a great event. Queens' TB Rods and Dogs Meet and Greet was such a great success. But more than anything, I love that it was such a family affair.

     Georgia, no aka but Penni's Mom, Penni Parrish aka SchnauzerQueen and little sis, Bailie aka WeenieQueen.

Ray Parrish of Team Tucson Bass Player aka Penni's dad and Bailie again, munchin' on some juicy watermelon.

Sara, aka Sunshine Sara, and our family bud for the past 45 years, with Bailie.   Love the foo foo drinks and the fact that Bailie pops up most family pics.

Sara, Ray Parrish, and myself, aka BeachBounde34.  Thanks Bailie, for getting me stuffing my face.  Then again, may have been difficult to get me not eating.  There was a ton of great food. 

And our Hostess, Penni, SchnauzerQueen

TB Dogs - love them

     As a lover of dogs, this is one of my favorites when it comes to caching.  The Travel Bug Dog.  I had read about them and seen a few pics on sites but when attending the Yuma Event #9 in February 2012, I got to meet my very first TB dog.  And my second.  And my third. 

 

     SchnauzerQueen, WeenieQueen and I headed out on the Poker Run  and ran into Tiger, a beautiful and so well behaved pup.  It was obvious that Tiger was as excited to be at the event as we all were.  Later in the day we saw that her owners, Cwolvs,  had come equipped with her own little pop up crate so she could chill out in style.  

     Next up was Serang Nanake.  WeenieQueen and I headed out to meet a couple who had a lot of memorabilia, and willing to let their fellow cachers thumb thru their scape books full of photos, newspaper clippings, coins, tags, and more.  And there she was, the little Serang Nanake.  Our interest shifted quickly from memorabilia to the pup.  She is a petite little thing, comfortable with these busy surroundings even tho she is blind.  Yep, totally blind.  At first a little tear comes to the eye just seeing her there, not able to see the beauty of her surrounding.  That doesn't last long, not even long enough for the tear to fall,  when you see the confidence she has and the ability to be social with all these strangers and enjoy herself.  Great little girl. Her owners, Rainbirds, told up the meaning of her name but for the life of me, I can’t remember.  Darn.  Tho we adored this pup, her owners were a couple of the neatest and most knowledgeable people at the entire event.  Love them.

     Again, WeenieQueen and I went in search of interesting people and photo ops.  We found our TB Dog number 3.  Spikester, a long hair Chihuahua, was in the arms of one of is owners, Bronco Busters.  Again, a super neat dog; it was a little later in the day and I think he was ready for a nap. 

     Here's my thought.  My partners in crime, when it comes to Geocaching, are WeenieQueen and SchnauzerQueen.  They each have two dogs, who they love dearly, consider their children, thus their caching names.  So - Why no TB Dogs in my group?  This is an issue I believe needs to be addressed.  I will ask each of them and share their response. 

     And then it will be time to figure out TB Vehicles.   

S.W.A.G. Yuma Event #9 Fun Photos

     There is absolutely no rhyme or reason for these pics except for  the fact that they are fun and some of my favs.  Also - a few people have asked that I share them.

When, other than this event, will you see a grown man playing with bubbles, out in public, on a crowded street, and not afraid to show that he is having a good time !?  I may be wrong but I think he has done this before.

   


     The art on the walls at Lute's Casino was a blast to look at.  Altho it did cause a bit of a problem.  A person tends to run into people when walking around with their eyes turned up wards.   Sorry to a couple of waitresses who had to dodge us.

 
    Great to run into old friends from the past.  "Good to see ya, Woody."

     Such an intriguing piece of equipment.  I could have taken pictures all day of this one.  We did get some great ones.

   
      There were a ton of coots feeding in the grassy area and along the water.   It was fun to watch them take off in such a large group.

     One little guy decided to stick around and do the poker run with us. 

       SchnauzerQueen &     WeenieQueen                                                            Isn't this cute !  Sisterly love.  Now - if they can just get along on that long ride home !                                                          

       Remarkable Travel Bug Hotel !  I have never seen anything like this.  Must be great to have connections.                                       We explored this one with Black Cat, Cute Kitty 1, and Johnny Cache Az, who were the ones who led us in this direction.  Thanks so much to them.  This is amazing. 

                                                                          We loved the event and all the people we met.  And will for sure be back again next year.  I am hoping that S.W.A.G. enjoys sponsoring this as much as we enjoyed attending.

                                                                       Next year we will know a little more about how to find the special caches and check those out also.

     WeenieQueen rocked out to her favorite tunes all the way home,
 while SchnauzerQueen caught up on some much needed sleep.  All and all, a great little road trip. 

Food - Prizes - Clean Up - Saying Good Byes

      The sun is warming things up, the poker run is complete and we all know what it takes to have the WINNING hand.  Everyone is catching up with fellow cachers.  You can just imagine what it must sound like.  Instead of telling stories about that big fish that got away you hear about the really well hidden micro with a difficulty of 4 that had escaped many a cachers keen eyes – only to be captured by the new master.  I do like these stories better than the old fishy ones.  

     The sweet smells of tri tips had been filling the air for hours and now that the tables are being set up with all the sides, plates and utensils, the crowd seems to be gradually shifting in that direction of the park.  This is when the strangest thing, to me happens.  I have to tell you a little bit of back ground about this first.  Earlier in the day I had told SchnauzerQueen that it would seem better if all those people with their chairs would not line them up around the short block walls that form the tree wells.  Ya know – then people without a chair could have a place to sit.  Right?!  That is a lot of seating there being wasted by chairs.  Right!?  Now for the realization that hit me like a ton of bricks.  All those people turned their chairs around to face the block wall and voilà !  They have instant table.  Man – I am such a newby when it comes to Geocaching events.  

      Back to the crowd – they have managed to form a line just about the time the food was brought to the serving tables.  From the looks of things, I figured it would be a good 45 minutes before the end of the line got fed and since I was in no hurry I decided to take a walk and check out more of the scenery, pet a few dogs and meet more cachers and even some locals.  Much to everyone’s surprise the line moved right along and seconds were being offered within 30 minutes. 

     Prizes were great and aplenty, from custom containers to the Garmin GPS.  A ton of lucky winners walked away with smiles.  After a bit more mingling, the crowd began to thin.  The brief clean up didn’t take long and that is the way the day ended. 

 
 Now it is time to find the next event to attend.

     Before that we have to cover some of the TB dogs that attended.   That’s coming soon

Yuma Poker Run - Photos

     S.W.A.G  Yuma Event #9 Poker Run time was great - and a different experience for me.  A hunt on foot - great.  The caches were fun and easy - perfect for everyone in attendance.  The pics tell the story better than I can, so pictures it will be.

 SchnauzerQueen - getting the inside scoop and instructions on the run. 

                      
                              And the race is on to cache # 1

    


 Cache # 1 gathering

Number 1 getting
replaced for the next group.





Now to Number 2 - I felt like I was back in
school again.  Following the rest of the class.

A little exercise is great on such a beautiful day.  I am wondering tho - doesn't the guy leaving the cache have a suspicious grin on him face.  Maybe he knows something about this game that the rest of us do not.

 
Number 5 was my favorite.  I love that old
piece of equipment.
We took a lot of pictures there the day before.
Neat angles - sort of a 'Steam Punk'  look.

Please don't confuse these people with Hobos waiting for the next passing train.   They are cachers !  I know - some days there doesn't seem to be a big difference. 

'The  BOARD'
It's the winners board -
absolutely no losers that day. 



Coming next -  all about the TB dogs.  Love them.