Log by travisl for The Pipeline* (Traditional Cache)

Log by travisl for The Pipeline* (Traditional Cache):

travisl found The Pipeline* (Traditional Cache)

Of all the caches that I wanted to hit on my road trip home to Tacoma from Reno, this was the one I wanted to get the most. I wasn't disappointed.

I think the pipeline was turned off today, because there was no water spraying anywhere, and no indication that anything was flowing through it. About a quarter mile from the end of the grated trail, I had to scramble over a pair of generators which had an extension cord going down into the pipeline. At the end of the trail, the cord was visible down in the air vent. That's a long cord.

Left a Team Supergenius geocoin (#16) and a Cannonball Run II racer. Took nothing.

On the way back, I thought I'd take a safer way than to walk along the railroad tracks. I ended up making a wrong turn, and found myself in an apple orchard way uphill from the parking lot, but walked around and back down.

Neat place. Thanks.

Log by travisl for OR History Lesson #26 - Barlow's Road (Traditional Cache)

Log by travisl for OR History Lesson #26 - Barlow's Road (Traditional Cache):

travisl found OR History Lesson #26 - Barlow's Road (Traditional Cache)

Wow. Driving back to Tacoma from Reno (with an overnight stay in Burns), I was way ahead of schedule when I got here. I found the cache, then brought my laptop over to a picnic table and plotted the rest of my route home. Thanks for the stop!

Log by travisl for Welcome To Shaniko (Traditional Cache)

Log by travisl for Welcome To Shaniko (Traditional Cache):

travisl found Welcome To Shaniko (Traditional Cache)

The audio book for ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' is just over 20 hours long. That's also how long it takes to drive from Tacoma to Reno, then to Burns, then up to Shaniko -- the end of the book finished just as I pulled up to the cache site.

Easy find, and traffic was very light. Thanks.

Log by travisl for Digging Fossil! (Traditional Cache)

Log by travisl for Digging Fossil! (Traditional Cache):

travisl found Digging Fossil! (Traditional Cache)

Wow -- I met the nicest person here today. I'd signed the log, and was placing it back in the film canister, when this friendly looking lady drove up. By the way she smiled, I was sure I'd met another geocacher, but she got out of the car and asked, ''Interested in the fossils?'' She was the caretaker of the display and the exhibit in the trailer near the fossil site, and we discussed the fossils, and I told her about geocaching. She was OK with the cache being there, and seemed glad that it was bringing more people here.

She said she was headed to lunch, but if I'd like, she'd be happy to show me the displays inside of the trailer, and to give me some fossils to bring home. I checked it out, and politely declined to accept some of the nice looking fossils, but went and got a few of my own off of the hill.

I then had lunch at the restaurant a couple blocks away, right in the middle of a Harley Davidson rally.

Thanks for the fossils, for letting me meet this really nice lady, and for finding a good turkey/pepperoncini sandwich.

Log by travisl for Fossil Fields Forever (Virtual Cache)

Log by travisl for Fossil Fields Forever (Virtual Cache):

travisl found Fossil Fields Forever (Virtual Cache)

Easy find. I stopped by nearly all of the geological markers between here and the north side of the national monument. By all means, don't miss the overlook a few miles northwest of here, just before you drive into the canyon (which reminds me of the pod-racing canyon gap in Star Ward Episode I).

Log by travisl for John Day Cache (Traditional Cache)

Log by travisl for John Day Cache (Traditional Cache):

travisl found John Day Cache (Traditional Cache)

After spending the night in Burns (on my two day road trip home to Tacoma from Reno), I figured this would be a good first cache to hit today. It was 47 degrees out, windy, and the nearby neighbors were standing out on their deck watching. With the bad coordinates, I looked briefly behind each small tree, but couldn't find it. Time to move on.

Log by travisl for Alkali Steel (Traditional Cache)

Log by travisl for Alkali Steel (Traditional Cache):

travisl found Alkali Steel (Traditional Cache)

Easy find -- the ziploc was visible from the car. Hid it better than I found it. Thanks.

Log by travisl for State Quarter (Traditional Cache)

Log by travisl for State Quarter (Traditional Cache):

travisl found State Quarter (Traditional Cache) You know, if I was a girl -- and I'm not -- and I felt like making out with a guy -- which I don't -- and I thought it'd be a good idea to do it on a mountain pass in chilly, windy weather -- which I wouldn't -- don't you think I'd remember to bring my bra and my skimpy nightgown back to the car with me? I would.

I left the clothing there, in case there's a more gender-appropriate geocacher who these clothes might fit.

Log by travisl for Steep Grade (Traditional Cache)

Log by travisl for Steep Grade (Traditional Cache):

travisl found Steep Grade (Traditional Cache)

A quick easy drive-by cache, 91 miles from the last one, and 63 miles to the next one. Thanks for giving me a place to stretch my legs and to expectantly watch the GPS for.

Log by travisl for Filet of Sole (Virtual Cache)

Log by travisl for Filet of Sole (Virtual Cache):

travisl couldn't find Filet of Sole (Virtual Cache)

Left the previous cache 48 miles earlier, and had another cache to hit 91 miles ahead. Had ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' audio book in the CD player. Stopped a few times along the way to check out the geological formations in the area.

With all this, I'd forgotten about the cache until the GPS said it was six miles behind me. Sigh. Onward.

Log by travisl for Honey Lake Rest Stop (Traditional Cache)

Log by travisl for Honey Lake Rest Stop (Traditional Cache):

travisl couldn't find Honey Lake Rest Stop (Traditional Cache)

Old McDonald had a farm
Gee ee gee ee o
And near this farm he had a cache
Gee ee gee ee o
It's not over here
It's not over there
Where's the cache, where's the cache, nowhere is the cache cache
Old McDonald had a farm
Gee ee gee ee o

(GPS was pointing me 45 feet into the farm, with 14 foot accuracy. I didn't feel like trespassing with the farmer watching, and didn't have a lot of time to stand around in the rain. Looked behind two telephone poles and a telephone electrical box, but no luck.)

Log by travisl for Start Your Engines....Road to Reno (Virtual Cache)

Log by travisl for Start Your Engines....Road to Reno (Virtual Cache):

travisl found Start Your Engines....Road to Reno (Virtual Cache)

I don't know if I found this one or not. Let me know if I didn't, and I'll change my log type.

At the coordinates, I found a billboard (photo attached). It looks like it may have had dates on it at one point, but there were none today.

Log by travisl for Jordan EJ11 (Travel Bug Dog Tag)

Log by travisl for Jordan EJ11 (Travel Bug Dog Tag):

travisl retrieved Jordan EJ11 (Travel Bug Dog Tag) from GBES Geocachers Reno Travel Bug Port

I was looking for travel bugs to take home with me to Tacoma, but unfortunately three of the bugs in this cache were Cannonball racers, so I couldn't take it two states away. I did the next best thing with this one, and brought it up to Hood River, Oregon, just off of eastbound I-84.

Log by travisl for Tuke, the moose (Travel Bug Dog Tag)

Log by travisl for Tuke, the moose (Travel Bug Dog Tag):

travisl retrieved Tuke, the moose (Travel Bug Dog Tag) from GBES Geocachers Reno Travel Bug Port

I found Tuke in Reno, and as I'm road-tripping back to Tacoma, WA, he's getting a big bump along his route from me. Yay!

Log by travisl for GBES Geocachers Reno Travel Bug Port (Traditional Cache)

Log by travisl for GBES Geocachers Reno Travel Bug Port (Traditional Cache):

travisl found GBES Geocachers Reno Travel Bug Port (Traditional Cache)

Hit this one after spending the week in Reno. This was the first of ten caches I hit today and tomorrow on the way home to Tacoma. Left the Two Brothers Traveller and took the moose and a cannonball run racer travel bugs.

I waved goodbye to Reno from this point, and thanked it for the $70 I came out ahead playing roulette. Great view from here!

Log by travisl for Steamboat Cache (Traditional Cache)

Log by travisl for Steamboat Cache (Traditional Cache):

travisl found Steamboat Cache (Traditional Cache)

Ricky's got a gun...
Ricky's got a gun...
Pigeons are on the run...
'Cause Ricky's got a gun...

Very close to the cache site, Ricky (10 years old?) and his brother with no name (7 years old?) were taking pot shots at the pigeons with a BB gun. That's OK with me, 'cause I detest the buggers. I'm sure they thought I was gonna say something when I walked past them to the cache site.

I spotted the cache easily (you guys don't have much ground cover or douglas fir boughs to hid caches under!), and began to sign the logbook when I heard Ricky and little Ricky coming. I blocked the cache with my body, and wrote about the pigeon potshots in the log when little Ricky came into view. He didn't realize I was there until he was about ten feet away -- I sure gave him the jibblies! I kept writing until they left to go home for dinner. Or so they said.

As I walked back to the car, they came back down the hill and began their failed attempt to cull the pigeon population again.

Spectacular views of the city from up here. Thanks.

Log by travisl for Trouble with the Beaver (Traditional Cache)

Log by travisl for Trouble with the Beaver (Traditional Cache):

travisl found Trouble with the Beaver (Traditional Cache)

I figured in 80 degree weather at 6:30 in the evening, this spot would be crawling with people. Nope. The only thing I saw crawling was a termite, and the only other guy I saw was leaving the park with his dog.

A cache like this would never stay dry back home in Tacoma. Signed the log and replaced it like I found it. Thanks for the hunt.

Log by travisl for FLUME RIDES AGAIN (Traditional Cache)

Log by travisl for FLUME RIDES AGAIN (Traditional Cache):

travisl found FLUME RIDES AGAIN (Traditional Cache)

I had to do a u-turn to find the trail, then had to scramble back up the wrong hill when I tried to take the direct route. Caches out here are sure a lot easier to find than the ones under the trees back in Tacoma.

Still... no rattlesnakes. Lots of pigeons, though. Or ''mourning doves'', if I'm being politically correct. The result on statues is still the same.

Neat spot. Thanks for bringing me out here. I'm not sure if I was trespassing, but it's a cool spot.

Log by travisl for Basque Sheepherder (Traditional Cache)

Log by travisl for Basque Sheepherder (Traditional Cache):

travisl found Basque Sheepherder (Traditional Cache)

Came in from the wrong entrance, coming in from McCarran, and scraped something nasty sounding along the underside of the GeoSaturn as I'm avoiding oncoming 45 mph traffic. Yee haw!! (Cue the General Lee's horn here)

A nice stroll to the cache, and I read all the plaques along the way (''Believe it or not, wet areas have different plants than the desert.'' Duh.) and didn't realize those weren't the plaques you were talking about until after I was attacked by Quincy the black lab, wondered what a Basque Sheepherder was, and then checked out the monument. Ahh... those plaques.

I then went after the cache, which was an easy find, but a bit of a stretch for my short arms. Dropped off the Encompassed travel bug, took nothing.

I've not had this much contact with the history of sheep since a friend of mine told me about a warm night in Montana, but that's a story for another time, and definitely another place.

Log by travisl for Mardi Gras (Traditional Cache)

Log by travisl for Mardi Gras (Traditional Cache):

travisl found Mardi Gras (Traditional Cache)

I'm not sure what kind of 2WD vehicle you think could make it to this cache, but the old GeoSaturn sure couldn't. I parked at the ''Keep our forests green'' sign (you wacky Nevadans -- whose sense of humor prompted them to post this in a desert with no green, just various shades of tan?), and hoofed my way in.

This marked the third cache that I didn't see a rattlesnake at. Aren't you supposed to have them guarding every cache? I'm so disappointed.

Dropped off the Psyduck travel bug that I brought from home in Tacoma. Didn't take anything out of the moldy but dry cache.

Amazing views from up here -- I can see my hotel!