Morton Fox's journal

I actually had a turkey this Thanksgiving because I got a free 10-lb bird from BJ's Wholesale a week ago. At the warehouse club, I only had to spend about $25 on turkey fixings to get the free turkey, so that was easy. (In comparison, I'd have to spend over $100 at the local supermarket and that's only to get a discount on the turkey.) So I stayed home the whole of Thursday because one turkey, with stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce was more than enough for both lunch and dinner. (and for at least two meals next week, since I froze the leftovers)

On Friday, it was time to venture out of the cave again since it was a nice sunny 60-65°F day. I thought I'd start a bit later to allow time for the Black Friday shopping traffic to dissipate but I needn't have worried. Since everyone was already inside the malls and stores, the roads were clear all the way. Ironically, the first 3 geocaches I did were around the Granite Run Mall in Media. What should've been the worst day to do these geocaches was actually not bad. I also geocached in Newtown Square, Radnor, and Wayne. 16 geocaches was not bad since I started late and sunset came early.

After that, I picked up a chocolate turnover at Arby's in Broomall on the way to dinner, which was back in-state at Chili's in Newark. I had chicken quesadillas and chicken nachos since they were doing this free-appetizer coupon thing today. In retrospect, I should've gotten something else either for the entree or for the appetizer because those two items looked rather similar. The only Black Friday shopping I did was at BJ's Wholesale because there were breakfast cereal specials. (Never mind that I already have enough to last me until March!)

( The caches... )

All the wooded areas were soggy from the previous day's rain but it didn't rain today and the temperature was rather autumnal. 63-68°F. I went geocaching in Orange County. Got 17 in that county and one just across the Delaware River in Pennsylvania.

The town of Monroe is rather uptight about barring non-residents from its park. Apparently, one has to get a special Park Photo ID to enter Smith Clove Park. There are dire warnings posted at every entrance about this and a guard posted at the main entrance. That's insane but it's their prerogative though. Since the town pays for the upkeep of the park, they can exclude non-residents using whatever method they deem necessary. Still, I think it would be fairer to all to charge a user fee. Let individuals decide if they derive sufficient enjoyment from the use of the park to justify paying the fee.

The other odd thing I noticed is among the list of rules posted at Benedict Farm Park in Montgomery is a rule against profanity and offensive language. D**n! Uh, excuse me. :) This is a interesting park though. It was recently converted from a farm so you can still see the barns and silos, the farmhouse, the "Pumpkin Express", and the pasture. (for the cows that used to be there. I saw a milking station too.)

All the restaurant mailing lists I'm on sent me birthday coupons a week in advance of my birthday. So I had about a dozen choices depending on what's available in the area. This time, I went to Chili's in Middletown because it's just off the highway on the way home. I had a Jalapeno Smokehouse Bacon Burger and a White Chocolate Molten Cake. How decadent!

( The caches... )

Friday was a rainy day. I hadn't been to Lehigh Valley in quite a while so there were many new geocaches that were close to parking and doable in the rain. Ran into BillyPilot at a cache site so I wasn't the only one out in the rain. I also tried my hand at some Fren-Z geocaches, knowing that I would fail to find most of those, but I got lucky at his Stockertown cache. I'd been there previously to take a look around but had not felt like turning the whole area over to look for the micro cache. This time, the first thing I picked up was where it was hidden! In the evening, I went to Welcome to . . . (Branchburg NJ) 2009 geocaching event at Moe's back in NJ. By the time I got there, it was near the end of the event but I still had about half an hour to trade travel bugs and eat. I had Billy Barou with pork. They used shredded cheese because they ran out of cheese sauce.

Saturday was a sunny day and warmer than Friday. I went to Western NJ along I-80, crossed over the Delaware River to Portland and Mount Bethel, and finished in Stroudsburg. I saw NJ's Longest Traffic Light, a 3-minute red light on Old Mine Road in the Delaware Water Gap. The traffic light has to be that long because of a stretch of one-lane road next to the mountain. The cache was near the traffic light so I didn't actually have to wait. I just turned the car around, parked, and got the cache. I also stumbled across the Lakota Wolf Preserve. It is behind the campground where the "Camp Sight" geocache is located. Dinner was at Chili's in Parsippany to use this month's coupon. I had the Oldtimer and chips and salsa.

On Sunday, I had planned on doing a mascot gig at Manhattanville College in Westchester. However, the event organizers hadn't supplied parking passes and with no pass and no credentials, I had problems with security at the gate. So I decided to skip the gig and switch to Plan B, which was to go geocaching in Westchester. Yes, it was a disappointment but not a major one because that was a fine day -- sunny and breezy -- to be outdoors. The difficult geocache of the day was supposedly "Little Green Men: Tron, Master of the Bull Ship". Once I found it, I realized the problem. It wasn't placed in a way that most geocachers would expect for that area. It was an area with rock formations but the cache wasn't in the rocks, where I saw most of the signs of searching activity. For a late lunch, I had chicken taco and chicken burrito at Taco Bell in New Rochelle. Wasn't planning on eating at Taco Bell but I used their restroom so I might as well get food. For dinner, I just came home and cooked because I wasn't that far from home.

9968 geocaches found, 32 to go.

( The caches... )