Our "Cache" Needs Attention! Plus "TACO SOUP" recipe..

Back a few years ago we started getting into finding local "Caches".  After we found a few, we decided to make our own “personal Cache” somewhere near our place. We looked and looked before we decided to put it near an old Gold Mine that is just a couple miles from where we live. We call it the “Old Gold Mine” cache and listed it on the National Geocache Web Site, "Geocaching".

A lot of people look for it and several have found it.  They made notes at the cache and also on the website.  The last person that located it advised that the Cache needed attention, as the lid was crushed and water had leaked into it.  The log book was soaked and so was everything else.   We headed for the "Old Gold Mine" with all the material to restore it.

We jumped on our trusty Polaris Sportsman 500s and headed out. We used to be able to ride right up to the Old Gold Mine and then just hike a few hundred feet up the mountain and be there.  Not any MORE!!



Our wonderful Forest Service decided to post these beautiful signs on dozens of the trails we used to ride for years.   Foot or horse traffic only. That makes a bunch of us locals very unhappy.  There are still a few trails around us that we can ride but very few.  Now if you want to load all 4 wheelers up and truck them 25 miles North, there is an area there where you can ride all the trails.. Forget that!!! I guess we were all such a wild and destructive bunch that they wanted to get us all up in one area.   I won’t go any further but I think you get the drift that I’m a little unhappy about the whole deal. But you know what, I don’t think they give a *^$@* !




Anyhow,we parked and hiked on up the road to our Cache at the Old Gold Mine…


Soon we arrived at the opening to the mine. It is an easy hike, probably only about 1/2 mile.  We could cut across the woods but we decided to just walk the road that leads right to it.  We have brought a lot of our friends up here.


It is a neat old mine shaft and goes quite a ways back into the mountain.  But that’s not where our cache is. You have to hike up the hill a ways!


Ms. Pat has hiked on up towards our Cache…… If you look close at the top of the picture you can see her…


Here is a close-up of her using my telephoto lens. You can see she is loaded for bear...well, maybe a mountain lion...no bears in this country!  If you think she can’t handle that pistol, you're dead wrong!  We have had South Dakota gun carry permits for over 10 years but every since she took that course on self protection at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility north of Phoenix and spent 3 hours training every Tuesday for 4 months at the Wickenburg gun club, she almost always has a pistol on her person. Even in Wal-Mart!! She has been trained that if you are going to carry a gun, you should know how to safely use it and you should carry it everywhere!


She soon found the Cache and we replaced the container, added a few goodies and placed a new log book in it.  The last finder was right, it definitely needed attention. Everything was wet and the log book totally soaked!


When Greg and Bonnie get back from Canada this Fall, we want to bring them up here and at that time we will check it again. Then we won’t see it again until next spring in 2013…… “Good Lord Willin'"!


We were blessed with a nice 1/2” rain Thursday night. WOW, was that ever a welcome sight!! I’m telling you, it is DRY!!!! Even with that rain, it is still dry.  "High Fire Danger" warnings are out all over and we pray that a we don’t have a fire. If we did, it would be CATASTROPHIC! 

Slip on over and see Rollie and Gina’s blog.  He just posted a new one and it has some outstanding pictures of the kids, them and of course, Little Jolee!!

But this is my FAVORITE!!!!!    What a beautiful picture of two beautiful GIRLS!!! 

For those of you that asked for the Taco Soup recipe, I finally got Ms. Pat to sit down and type out the recipe.  Here it is:

                                     Healthy Taco Soup

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground turkey or buffalo (or lean ground beef)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (15ounce) can black beans, with liquid
• 2 (15 ounce) can kidney beans with liquid
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, with liquid
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (14.5 ounce) beef broth
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers (optional)
• 2 (10 ounce) cans Rotel tomatoes (regular or spicy)
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix

Corn and/or Tostito chips, for serving

Sour cream, for garnish

Grated Mexican cheese, for garnish

Chopped green onions, for garnish

Pickled jalapenos, for garnish

Directions

Brown the ground meat and onions in a large skillet; drain the excess fat, then transfer the browned meat and onions to a large slow cooker or a stockpot. Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, tomato sauce, green chiles, taco seasoning,  and simmer over low heat for about 1 hour in a pot on the stove or cook in a slow cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours .

To serve, place a few corn chips or Tostitos in each bowl and ladle soup over them. Top with sour cream, cheese, green onions and jalapenos.  

This is actually "Gina's" recipe but Ms Pat has added a couple of ingredients.
Now I'm hungry! :-),,,,It's Oh So Good!

Thank you for stopping by......we hope you are all enjoying your summer.

May the good Lord take a likin' to ya!!!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..