Tag: Warwick MA

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Celebrating 10s: Third Week of 2022

Prologue

I told you in my last post that I planned to update weekly since daily is not an option. Honestly, if you care that much to follow my daily adventures, go to Instagram. In any case, I thank you for any support you provide, even if it is just liking my photos or reading these posts. I came up with the title for this particular post when I discovered that (a) I found a cache for 140 consecutive days, (b) I found 80 caches in the month of January already, and (c) I have 440 total finds. And, so, I am celebrating 10s this week

Maybe I mentioned this already, but Covid-19 finally hit our house. Liam tested positive first, followed by Quinn, and now Christine took a rapid test that came back positive. I think both Aiden and I had it. We think he caught it early in the pandemic and I’m pretty sure I got it over Thanksgiving break. None of that it worth celebrating. Especially since it messes with my posting schedule on the other page. Oh well, I have another idea to fill in the gap. For now, join me in celebrating 10s.

Third Week 2022 (37 Found, +14 on pace for 1000, 440 total) – Celebrating 10s

The week started and ended the same way. Driving around the area in single digit temperatures to find some park and grab caches. Last week I went in the Erving and Warwick area. Today, I went the other direction to Erving and Northfield. Both times I spent more time than I probably should, but I also had fun and got some good pictures

Adventures in Erving, Warwick, and Northfield

On Sunday (the 16th), I took advantage of comparativey warmer weather to visit a place I put on my list earlier in the week. I never heard of the place, but I saw a waterfall on the map and that’s enough for me. When I told Christine where I went, she responded, “Oh, I’ve heard of that place. I would have gone. But, I wouldn’t have climbed a mountain.” That’s because when I got there and then, when I recounted my adventure, I said, “Oh, I have a mountain to climb here.” I survived in spite of having to take a couple of breathers on the way up and a likely concussion on the way down. See the video for more.

Near concussion after falling down the mountainside.

All in all, I found 5 caches on the day. I swapped out some geocoins and got some more ideas for travel bugs once they come in the mail. And, I just checked the mail and they came! Maybe I will write a midweek update explaining travel bugs and my bugs that I’m sending out into the wild. I, for one, am excited to see if they fulfill their destinies. Getting back to Farley Ledge, I took so many pictures and I want to finish out the other part of the trail, which is actually a part of the WBT. You probably recognize that from previous posts.

As I wrote on Instagram, “I respect God for making the Sabbath a day of rest. But, I have a mountain to climb.”

Instead, I more or less took Monday off. It snowed, then rained, then iced. So, I found a cache that I thought I found almost a decade ago when I first started geocaching. On Tuesday, I drove to Peterborogh because I found a small hiking area with a few caches. I also promised the girls that I’d go to the basketball game, so I needed something quick.

As a bonus, the morning sky at my school.

That’s when, as they say, the wheels came off. I got a text from Christine that Quinn tested positive. Because she just started a new job, I needed to take two days off with him, one to test and the other becuse his school made him quarantine for 5 days. While in Greenfield getting the tests on Tuesday, we found a couple of caches. Quinn grabbed a beanie baby owl from one of them. On Wednesday, I went to the dump and rewarded myself for finally getting caught up on grading by going to another wildlife reservation and trying to find a series of caches. I also thought I found a spot for another cache, but misjudged the distance. So, I need to go back and move it about 50 feet.

Correcting music, a few cache containers, and visiting an old haunt to pick up some ghosts.

Epilogue

I never expected to meet my goals this well. I thought maybe I’d keep up on the daily streak because that one means quite a bit to me and I’m over a third of the way into it right now. But, the finding 1000 caches has been so far quite easy. *knock wood*. Though, I will say that I’m finding less and less park and grab caches close to home on days where I can’t hike because of the cold. This week we were celebrating 10s. What comes next week?

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Personal Space

Prologue

Well, I half-assed the entry two days ago and completely skipped yesterday. Usually, that portends the end of my commitment to updating the page. Not so this time, true believers. I’m back today with both a new hike and a question to answer. The theme of today’s journal, personal space, refers to the purpose of this journal.

Question: To what extent is your blog a place for your own self expression and creativity vs. a site designed to attract readers? How do you balance that? If sticking to certain topics
and types of posts meant your readership would triple, would you do it?

I think we all know the answer to that question. Nevertheless, I will do my due diligence and write the post as if we are all in suspense about my intentions with this (and, honestly, 2 Guys Gaming) page. This morning, Christine asked about a local place to hike that wasn’t too hilly. I suggested the first part of the Tully loop. She thought it might be too busy there. Then, she said something about Warwick State Forest. If I’m being honest, I probably drove by the place several dozen times and it never registered. Off we went.

The Hike

We loaded Christine, Quinn, the dog, and myself into her car and drove that way. There are two entrances off Athol Road in Warwick. We took the first one coming from Orange. It led straight and had a a turn off to the right. Initially, we started to drive straight, but the trail/road washed out from the recent rain, so we turned around and went to the right. After a short drive, you see Sheomet Pond. We parked in a small turn off and started walking.

This part of the hike was short and only took us about a half an hour before leading back to Athol Road. However, on that hike, we saw several place to get down to the water for fishing. Also, we found (that’s a bit of a strong word as it is pretty well seen from the road) a small area with a make shift fire pit, a stone bench, and a partial damn with the waterfall shown in the featured image of the post. A side road just past the waterfall led to a small beach and a trail around the pond.

Once we got back to Athol Road, we turned around and took the washed out portion of the trail that was straight ahead when we pulled into the area. On this stretch, we found several babbling brooks and not much else. We stopped hiking and turned around when the grade started to get too much and we realized we walked for almost an hour and a half at that point. So, still quite a bit of the area to explore the next time we’re looking for a day hike.

The Journal (Personal Space, duh!)

I make no secret that I use this journal as a personal space. Granted, I don’t write everything in here. A guy has to have some secrets after all. However, in the first entry back, I talked about death, mourning, depression, and the road to recovery. Since then, the entries have been less personal, but that’s just the nature of the questions as opposed to a personal choice to offer less of me.

I never cared much for readership. Okay, that’s not entirely true. I always say that if I could cultivate 2 Guys Gaming into a community of like minded individuals either through my writing, YouTube videos, streaming, or some other method, I would gladly welcome that chance. Initially, I hoped to do the same with this page. To that effort, I have an Instagram (the one the students know about) and Twitter that haven’t been updated (well, this auto posts to Twitter) in several years.

I ordered a new phone, so the Instagram might become more active in the coming weeks and months. Who knows what that will do for readership of the page. If something tripled my readership? I don’t know? What’s 3 times 0? I don’t even think my mother checks this page anymore. She reads 2 Guys Gaming every now and then as she’s remarked about it more than once. I doubt that I’d change anything to increase readership. I write because I like to write. If others find my writings and like it, too, then all the better. But, I’m not going to change what I do simply to cultivate new readers. If I wanted to do that, I’d apply to be a free lance writer for one of the pages that I follow.

Epilogue

We have our answer. I told you it wouldn’t take very long to get to an answer. This blog is one personal space among many. I already mentioned in a previous entry that I have a journal that I update not nearly as much as I should. It’s May 1 again and I always convince myself on the 1st of every month that I will start updating the journal again. I do have to update my super secret journal (oh no, now you know about that one!), so maybe that will inspire me to write in the other journal, too. How’s that for a cliffhanger until tomorrow?

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