Water Water Everywhere

DH Mr. GAIN and I went for a walk along the Des Moines River Thursday afternoon. Here is a photo of the overfull river near a local geocache (that we never found). Click on the photo and read the sign on the railroad bridge.

We also drove to Ames Thurday, and to Boone twice last week -- Sunday (not today) and Friday.
The big difference between Sunday and Friday was that standing water in the field was lower and river water was higher. Here is a picture of the Des Moines River at Highway 17 southbound -- it is almost up to the road!

The USGS link in my sidebar is pretty interesting. I think the flooding is not as bad in Des Moines as it was in 1993 because this year, only the Des Moines River has flooded. In 1993, both were flooded. The Raccoon River is high, though. You can check real-time data at the USGS site. Stay dry and safe!

Use sunscreen or sunblock

This afternoon, I'm at a ball game. No surprise. My grandparents show up. No surprise. My grandpa wraps his left forearm in a towel. Whoa. What is the towel for? During his many years driving trucks with his arm resting on the rolled down window, he now suffers from skin damage. He gets a burning sensation and pain from exposure to the sun. His skin there is thin and bruises very easily. So geocachers, learn from my grandpa and protect yourself from the sun. Even filtered through the trees, the sun's damage gathers in your body and banks up for later. Info here on choosing proper protection.

Park and Rec finds #2 and 3

We're out at the park. I am searching for terribly easy finds #2 and 3. My kids see the sand volleyball court. It's a wading pool from all the rain, but without the other kids, the concrete, the lifeguard whistle, and age restriction. It's got sand. Those park and rec people were smart in getting people to visit their parks through geocaching. I'll get a picture up here after this new camera becomes second nature to me (which may be never).

Bikers and First Park and Rec Find

My first note comes from our walk home from my first park and rec find. Three of my kids and I were on the sidewalk. A young man and woman on bikes came behind us. We heard no call alerting us of their presence. The street was very loud and busy (it's almost always very loud). The man was leading and decided to take the grassy easement, going around and leaving the sidewalk to us. My son saw him
too late and almost walked into him. I really do not like accidents. Bikers, please call out something to the effect of, "Biker on your left!" We walkers can judge your distance and speed fairly well, and will give way to you. I know that it feels funny the first time you call out. Walkers feel funny if they are new to hearing it, but they appreciate it. It's basic bike safety that kids learn.

My first park and rec find was great. I realized as I searched that the website description gives no difficulty, terrain, or size ratings (or hint). So it was a little more fun (or maddening) than caches with all the attributes at gc.com. I now have 8 more words to find before solving the puzzle!

Wishing

Totally wishing for dry weather. Just one dry week would be great. While I wait, I found this from the city's park and rec site:

"Welcome to the Geo-cach (sic) scavenger hunt! Get out your GPS and get ready to play! We have placed "clues" in nine [city] Parks. When you solve the puzzle (complete the sentence) you can bring your answer to the Nature Lodge to get your small prize! So, are you ready? Here are the parks to visit and the GPS coordinates!"

The placer told me about this WAY before the coords were released. I totally forgot about them until this last week. You can go here for specifics. Probably won't count for your geocaching.com totals, but the placement in parks almost guarantees my kids' interest, even without the small prize. They love visiting our local parks.

Yes, the rain gauge is overflowing. From one day's worth of rain.

Wet land

The weather is crazy! We woke up to 3.7" of rain in the gauge. If we could get one week between rains, I would be happy.

Today we visited a marsh under the leadership of a county naturalist. We have liked all of the naturalists from the county conservation board. We explored the sand prairie before heading to the adjacent wetland. I had never even thought of staying dry during a visit here. In our previous visits, we headed straight for the water. I like having different programming at the same place. Keeping things new is great for us. This is why I like geocaching -- I can visit the same place and have something new to do each time I visit.

My family has used the WDM Park and Rec wetlands park pack for this area. Polk County Conservation Board has park packs as well. I have considered an earthcache for places like this, but then I always think, "I really do not want a lot of people to visit here. I like to come here and not cache. We like exploring without the urgent agenda of a cache. And I would want other people to appreciate this place and linger. Would people stand here, scratch their heads and wonder why we thought this place was cool enough to place a cache. Will people get it?"