Morton Fox's journal

I didn't go out anywhere on Christmas Day. I got a spiral-cut ham from the warehouse club a week ago, so I baked it and had that for lunch and dinner. After two meals, there was still enough ham and side dishes left over to pack four lunch containers for the coming work week!

The day after Christmas was sunny and 45-50°F. I went to work in the morning to take care of a few things but left in the afternoon. I figured there was plenty of time to do after-Christmas shopping in the evening, so I went geocaching in Downingtown first. Nothing fancy; just a few simple ones in area parks and a walk on the Struble Trail.

( The caches... )

I checked the NYC parking calendar and Christmas Day is a free parking day. Also, I figured most of the restaurants in Flushing Chinatown would be open for business as usual so a trip to NYC seemed like a winning plan for the day.

There were lots of new geocaches in the Bronx in the East Tremont and Throgs Neck sections so that's where I started. I solved the restroom problem on the first drive through by noting that there were porta-toilets at Ferry Point Park next to the Whitestone Bridge toll plaza. All of those geocaches were fairly easy and located at or near sidewalks. Parking spaces were easier to find than usual too. So I was done with the first 12 geocaches before 2pm. Then I went to Queens and found a few more. Then I got a new geocache in New Hyde Park before heading to Flushing.

As I expected, Flushing Chinatown was mostly open for business on Christmas Day. Only a few restaurants were closed. I went to Curry Leaves again to try two more items from their menu. Then I went shopping on Roosevelt Avenue. Got some dumplings for breakfast tomorrow and some Asian pears. All in all, it was a good day.

( The caches... )

I went to two Christmas Party geocaching events, Holiday Party!! on Tuesday night and NW CT Christmas Party on Wednesday night. The two events were originally not intended to be on two consecutive nights. It only happened that way because "Holiday Party" was postponed from last week to this week due to a snowstorm. It's a good thing it was postponed too because I was in Delaware last week and could not attend. Of course, I went geocaching in icebound Connecticut both days. I knew most of the geocaches would be challenging but I tried anyway and was successful a number of times. Some caches were in hiding spots that were sheltered from the snow, e.g. rock overhangs and tree holes, so they were still findable. As for the rest, success depended on luck, tools, and educated guesses.

"Holiday Party" was at Tailgators in Derby. This was a lively, raucous affair with lots of attendees. I think we filled up more than half the bar/restaurant. We had homemade cookies. I ordered the deluxe nachos after I saw another geocacher eating that and noted that this appetizer was big enough to be a meal. We also collected donations of toys for Toys For Tots. I donated a Gund plush leopard. At the end of the party, there was a raffle. (gift exchange) I won an ammo box filled with goodies.

"NW CT Christmas Party" was at a family restaurant in New Milford. Compared to "Holiday Party", this was a low-key affair, a smaller gathering of geocachers. We had a gift exchange at this event too and Santa made an appearance. I got another ammo box and also an LED flashlight. (because they know how I keep going for geocaches at night :) ) I had spaghetti with sausage. We also shared a bunch of appetizers and ended the dinner with cookies.

Today, I ran a lot of errands that needed to be done. Went to the bank, post office, fruit market, supermarket, drugstore, and Chinese supermarket. I also finally went to Proline Auto Body in Elmwood Park to get the new front shield installed. It was pretty quick because I had an appointment. When I arrived at Proline, the mechanic had the part ready and started work right away. He was done in a few minutes. That should be the end of the deer damage.

( The caches... )