SPRING BREAK 2012

"What did you do on your Spring Break?" As kids, we looked forward to the time away from school and homework. We looked forward to sleeping in, watching cartoons, or maybe the annual family trip. Spring Break also meant Easter and a visit from the Easter Bunny. Having just finished my Spring Break, I have to admit that the excitement of time off is still a HUGE thing! It was a great way to recharge my batteries and get ready for the final trek to Summer vacation (we'll ignore the fact that I work year round).

                                                 A shot near the Casino on Belle Isle

The two week long vacation began with a Geocaching adventure on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan (seems fitting, as this is a caching blog). All the new caches for 2012 were released at the end of March, and several hundred of us took an opportunity to find as many as we could.  Happy to report we found about 23, with a few of them being from last years series.  We are hoping to make a few more trips between now and next spring to locate them all.

The next adventure took my son and I to The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, to see the Titanic Exhibit.  I wish I had more pictures to share, but due to licensing rules, we were prohibited. Here are the only few pictures I was able to grab. If this exhibit makes its way to your hometown, make sure you check it out! It may be a bit pricey, but well worth it in the long run.

                           Here is the line for the 1:15 Boarding of the Titanic Experience.

Lent/Easter is a VERY busy time for me, as I am extremely active in my church.  I always look forward to the hustle and bustle of Holy Week, and make it a point to get to one service everyday to prepare my heart for the joy that Easter brings.  The only non church thing we did this week was a service project for Cub Scouts. 

                             The Boy & his Aunt transferring Koi into the Japanese Garden


We again traveled to Belle Isle, where we helped transfer the Koi fish from their winter digs, which were under the aquarium (way cool!) to the Japanese garden, located next to the aquarium.  The kids and adults all had a blast, and are already preparing to help out in the fall, when the Koi need to be returned to their winter abode. A special thanks to the Belle Isle Aquarium for giving us the opportunity to help out. Afterwards, a few of us took an opportunity to walk through the Belle Isle Conservatory, as well as, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum.

The Belle Isle Conservatory, a unique opportunity to explore plants that are not indigenous to the United States. Walk through the aromas of other countries, without a Passport.










This swan used to be a floating attraction from Michigan's Bob-Lo Island--Detroit's favorite amusement park. Sadly, it closed in 1993.




Yesterday was my last day of break, and not wanting to stay home to take care of the things I really should have (you know, like an adult), I instead took the chance to go searching for art--okay, and a few geocaches. The Detroit Institute of Arts hosts an outdoor exhibit (along with several local cities), where replicas of famous paintings are displayed in... well, for lack of better words.....more unusual settings.  I decided to take a portion of D.I.A Inside/Out, and see what I can find.  Here are some of the portraits from the Eastpointe/Roseville area.  This trip allowed me to find eight pieces of incredible art, locate four more caches and allowed me to appreciate the things I normally drive pass in any normal day. Here are my top two favorites:

                 The top picture is entitled, The Nightmare, a painting from Henry Fuseli (1741-1825)
                                                                               and
                 the bottom picture is, Reading of the Story of Oenone, by Francis Millet (1846-1912)

So, for those of you who had time off of work: What did YOU do on break?!?

Share your stories here:D

Happy Caching,

Robyn

Cacher MIA

Like a cache that seemed to have fallen of the Earth, I have resurfaced.  Hard to believe that we haven't chatted since August, but that is exactly what has happened.  Since than, the school year started, we completed a few Fall caches and of course, celebrated Christmas.  The midget and I have also grown a year older, and somewhat wiser. 

It's been kind of a anti climatic Winter here in the mitten, as there was  just a little bit of snow--and VERYmild temps.  Now we are hours away from the beginning of Spring, and dreams of geocaching some more are dancing in my head.  So what am I waiting for?!? Actually, we have been caching off and on throughout the Winter, and even nabbed 8 tonight after dinner. That's one of the many things I love about geocaching! You can do this hobby 24/7.......as long as you pack the right supplies.


Tackling a geocaching challenge

So, what have I been up too????

We have had the pleasure of attending a few Meet and Greet events, where other crazy geocachers get together and meet face to face, sharing all their best caching stories.  It is nice to be able to start putting faces with caching names, although truth be told, I've only been to one of these events.  Unfortunately, the local M&G happens the evening I have another engagement.

So, what are the future plans????

We are looking forward to the Geocachers Potluck and cache release in a couple weeks on Beautiful Belle Isle, located on the Detroit River--across the way from Canada.  So far, over 300 cachers will be there to eat, fellowship and searching for all the new caches that will be released into the wild for the 2012 season.  We have been tackling many of the 2011 caches, and hoping to finish those off while looking for the new ones.  Maybe we'll get our very FTF (first to find).
The family is also preparing for a few geocaching themed camping trips--so needless to say it's going to be a very busy Summer!  The midget will also be preparing to put together his first cache to hide, so hopefully we'll have some fun stories to share about that one.  Right now, we are working on the theme, so stayed tuned!



The Mighty Midget looking for a well hidden cache--still haven't found it:o/

My darling hubby admiring the surroundings of Belle Isle, Detroit, Michigan

Happy Caching!

Robyn