Driving and Geocaching Route 66 with Rich Havlik: 2020 Geocaching, Alien, and Route 66 Road Trip!!

Driving and Geocaching Route 66 with Rich Havlik: 2020 Geocaching, Alien, and Route 66 Road Trip!!:  Hello Everyone, Just got home a few days ago from my latest road trip. I ended up putting 6110 miles on the Man Van. Today, just sharing wh...

2020 Geocaching, Alien, and Route 66 Road Trip!!

 Hello Everyone,

Just got home a few days ago from my latest road trip. I ended up putting 6110 miles on the Man Van.

Today, just sharing where I went and a lot of pictures to go with it. 

So I started out in Minneapolis/St. Paul area and my first targeted stop was the Mingo geocache in Kansas.

After that, it was off to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to get a couple of old geocaches to help me complete my Jasmer Challenge.

the Tarryall geocache in Colorado which was placed in July of 2000

If you are unfamiliar with the Jasmer Challenge...It's finding geocaches that have been placed in every month since geocaching started which is May of 2000. There is a grid on the Project GC website that helps geocachers keep track of where they are at. Below is mine before I left for the road trip and as of September 18th, 2020.

As of August 28th, 2020

As of September 18th, 2020

As you can see, I am only 2 month away from completing the challenge, September of 2000 and August of 2020.

After Colorado Springs, I trekked to Duchesne, Utah, where my daughter, Hailey, and her boyfriend, Jordan, live. Before I picked them up, I did get a couple of geocaches that helped out my grid and to hit a milestone of finding 2000 geocaches. GO ME!!

The Xmas Tree Cache, placed in March of 2001

Finding 2000 Geocaches near Nine Mile Canyon in Utah

I picked up Hailey and Jordan and we did a couple of geocaches on our way to Rachel, Nevada...aka Area 51.

We explored around Area 51 after we stopped at the front and back gate of Area 51.

A painted boulder on the ET Highway

Hailey and Jordan at the Black Mailbox near Area 51

Hailey and I at the beginning of the ET Highway

I brought them home after a couple of nights there and headed out to Phoenix, Arizona to get a couple of geocaches to help out me finishing my challenge. I only had time to get one of the two targeted caches....that's why there is an empty space for September of 2000.

the Senda de Tonto geocache which was placed in December of 2000

I drove to Roswell, New Mexico, to check out the Alien hype there.

Then finally I headed North to Santa Rosa, New Mexico, which is on Route 66. I headed Eastbound on 66 until I ran out of time and got as far as Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

I'll go more in the details of my trip in later blog posts. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Look forward in sharing my trip stories. 

Please share this on your favorite social media.

Speaking of Social Media, feel free to friend me on Facebook and feel free to follow me on Instagram and Twitter @richhavlik.

Until next time, stay out of trouble and Cache In Peace

Rich

Dang...It's been a long time...

Hellooooo....

Anybody still reading this?

It's been a long time since I have written anything new. Sometimes things happen that are out of your control and sometimes the results make one rearrange personal priorities and most of the time that's okay.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, and THE UGLY

The GOOD that has happened, over the last three years, is that I haven't stopped geocaching and I have continued to travel Route 66 including revisiting some parts of the Mother Road.

2015 was the first year I started my obsession with the Mother Road and visited her in sections.
That year I started in Chicago, Illinois, picked up my girlfriend from the airport in St. Louis, and we made it all the way to Miami, Oklahoma.

The following year I started in Miami, explored Route 66 in Oklahoma, and then picked up my girlfriend in Amarillo, Texas. We made it as far as Flagstaff, Arizona.

My third year, of my Route 66 travels, I drove to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I explored Route 66 from Santa Fe to Albuquerque and then revisited the Mother Road until I got to Flagstaff. From there, I drove to Phoenix to pick up my girlfriend from the airport.  We went back to Flagstaff and the next day we did a day trip to the Grand Canyon. When we reached Kingman, Arizona, we went north and did a day trip in Las Vegas and then spent a day on the Extraterrestrial Highway geocaching and driving in the desert. What made that special was that on my 51st birthday we visited the back gate of Area 51 and took lots of pictures even though there are signs stating that pictures were prohibited. We eventually made it back to Route 66 and reached the pinnacle of the trip, the Santa Monica Pier. We had an extra day so we did our best to drive north along the coast. I wasn't expecting the extra time and had no clue what we'd see. Because I didn't plan for it, I felt lost most of the time, but Becky thought it was great!!

Sadly, no long distant road trips in 2018.

Last year I took my father to the Red Carpet Corridor event. He was born and raised in Chicagoland and visiting the cities along Route 66 was special to him. But his interest in Route 66 didn't go beyond that, but I hold that trip close to my heart.

I saw on Facebook that the Boots Court Motel was for sale this last Spring and found out how much they were willing to sell for it. The price was within my means. I bolted to Carthage, Missouri, along with my girlfriend's son to take a look and speak with the realtor. We spent the night there and examined the very cool neon lights, the lit up sign in the front, and the outer structure. I would be lying if some air spilled out of excited balloon after seeing some of the worked that needed to be done regarding some of the stucco. We met with the realtor and got to see every room. The air that escaped the night before was nothing like the air I lost that day. I could afford the place, but I didn't have the capital to keep up with the expense of maintaining and remodeling that it would take to keep the 1940s vibes alive.  The sisters, who own it now, did an excellent job achieving their goals while they were, but I can see time taking its toll on the buildings and owners. The Coronavirus was the straw that broke their backs. I only wished I had the resources.

After our time at Boots, I took my girlfriend's son, Ty, eastbound on Route 66. We had a small handful of days to spend in Missouri. We didn't make it to St. Louis, but I was able to get us to what I thought he'd be most excited to see, the Meramec Caverns.

The BAD is dementia. My mother developed this disease that slowly sucks the life out of you one brain cell at a time. She needed more of my time and I lovingly and willingly gave it to her. My step-father bore the brunt of the caregiving until he wasn't physically or mentally able to do so anymore. We ended up putting her into a group home that specializes in this kind of care. The group home was great, but she ended up having a medical accident. None of us, family or doctors, totally knows exactly what was the accident (small heart attack, stroke, seizure, etc...) but whatever it was, it caused further brain damage. It caused such bad damage, we put her on hospice, and kept her at the hospital until she passed. That was exactly 1 year ago, to the this very date, when I decided to sit down and try to revisit my blog. I guess this one's for you Mom. I love and miss you!!

The UGLY is me. Remember Becky, the girlfriend I have been mentioning? Well, it didn't work out. I've been dragging my feet. It's a long story with very few details and you can probably guess that what I wanted and what she wanted became two different things. I don't blame her for anything. She is awesome. I'm the one at fault, but perhaps those are stories for a different time further down the road.

So, I have most of the evenings to myself now. This gives me more time to spend slowly getting back into blogging. I warn you, my postings will be at irregular times. I am not scheduling anything specific. I am going to give myself some time to sit down at this computer, bang out some words, post some pictures, put some bad videos together, and re-continue to share my travels with you....all two of you...with the hopes of writing and sharing with more people in the future.

What will I talk about next? Heck if I know....

Some teasers?
Got a trip planned for my 3 weeks off in September.
Got a new and weird traveling buddy.
Been geocaching for travel bugs and I am close to 2000 finds.

That's it for now. Do me a favor and share this blog with your Route 66 Roadies and/or Geocaching Pals on your favorite social media.

I'd love to hear what you think, so feel free to write something down in the comment box down below.

I had the time of my life on Route 66. I know you would too!! But don't take my word for it, go experience it for yourself!!!

Enjoy the random pictures....

Smiles for the heck of it.

Really need a reason to smile?

Okay then. Here are some memes to help you smile.

Thanks for scrolling through,
Rich