Sunday, July 15, 2012

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.
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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!!


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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 *^$@* !



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

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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.

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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!

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

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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!

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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!

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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!!
Gina and Jolee- July 2012
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..

9 comments:

All Because Two People Fell In Love said...

That's ashamed you cannot ride your four-wheelers on most of those trails. Gina and I loved riding them with y'all. Glad to see you got your cache updated and had a beautiful hike to go with it. I sure wouldn't want to mess with mom. She looks like she could kick butt and take names. LOL That recipe sure is good for sure. Gina cooks it enough. It's too hot down here for it now but by winter she'll be cooking it again. That picture of Gina and Jolee is one of my favorites too.
Love Y'all,
Your Kids

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much from all your readers for the Taco Soup recipe. I am sure we will enjoy it. This one fits, especially with the Rotel tomatoes. I use them alot.
Too bad about your trails. The forest service can be a real pain. Always overstepping.
Enjoy your blog. Always so positive. Never criticizing. PRAISE JESUS!

Sam&Donna Weibel said...

Made it back to the Ranch today, and I must say I am going to catch up on rest. I started reading some blogs, and I hope you guys are safe from that fire. So far we haven't had any in our area. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna...

Al Bossence said...

Sure like the looks of that countryside your in. Big rock formations & big trees are always a favorite of mine. Accidentally found a Cache on top of Ghost Mountain near Borrego Springs one time about 3 years ago. Sure was a lot of neat-O stuff in the army ammunition box. Signed the log & left a few 'Bayfield Bunch' cards. Groovy:))

The Odd Essay said...

I haven't looked that cache up yet, but it must have a high difficulty and terrain rating? One I'd like to find, but probably never will.... I can dream, can't I?

Sherry and Charley Dilworth said...

If I know my Charley he is going to want to try out this soup recipe but maybe we will need to wait until cooler weather? So sorry to hear about the changes in the trails that you used to ride on your "bikes". Any idea why?

Stay safe and keep having fun!!

Anonymous said...

The reason it's closed here and there might be because some rancher objected to the vehicles crossing over his pasture. Maybe. I know the area near Rucker Ranch in AZ is like that.The cranky rancher nearby has more than once tried to close and lock the legal right-of-way through BLM land he uses, and the Dept. of Fish and Game has to remind him periodically of legalities. So maybe the FS is trying to be politically careful with the "neighbors."

Emjay

Paul and Marsha Weaver OCT. 17, 2009 said...

Ms. Pat looks like a forest ranger. WOW.

We have never done a cache. It is still on our bucket list.

The Jolee is a DOLL!!!

THANK YOU for the Taco Soup. I thought it might be a secret and didn't want you to have to tell me. YUMMMMMMMY!

Elaine said...

great sounding recipe will have to try that thanks for sharing...we also have never done a cache but its on our list...Jolee is a darling...great pic of two gorgeous ladies...have a super week-great looking countryside you have there