While attending Tealeaf’s Pooh bah event and talking to Rodr88, Bruce came up to Rodney and told him some log sheets were on the table. So of course I had to ask, “What’s that?” Bruce said go to the NMgeocaching site and read about The New Mexico Challenge. So I did. Two Counties did not have someone to place a cache in yet. So we volunteered for Quay and set out about the business of site placement. As the next couple of weeks unfolded we read more and more about this thing and were so pleased to be a part.

So therein we found an opportunity to get a really difficult FTF under our belts, if we do it right. So we set out to do just that. Built a box for the truck, stocked up on traveling munchies, added some personal items, camping gear, caching gear, water, other supplies, moved clients around to clear about a week, and waited. Seems like it took a long time for the 25th to finally come around.

April 25th: 12:02AM

Can you believe Sam woke me up to check on line and see if they had been published yet. Nope, man I’m going back to bed.

8:17AM

“We’re live” pops up in my email.

So I spent the next 2 ¾ hours getting hard copies, loading waypoints, solving puzzles, and doing everything computer I could to get ready to go do this thing.

11:30 AM

We are on the road.

Cache #1 Valencia Co.

12:05 PM, 3rd TF

I have never in my life had four layers of Goatheads on my shoes, ’til now that is. What a great way to start this adventure. T- a map, L- chip clip, SL.

Thanks Suz55tbird.

12:15 PM

Oh shoot we forgot to take a photo, gotta go back. Took a picture by the tree with Tome hill in the background. With a dead opossum in a tree. (by the way, not really a opossum, but that’s our story and we’re sticking to it.) Okay on to the next.

Cache #2 Soccorro Co.

2:00 PM, FTF

Muggles are parked here under the shade tree sleeping. We proceed to go about our business, up over the fence an off into the woods. This was a nice easy find. We hope all are this way. We took a photo with the sign in the parking lot. TNLNSL.

Thanks NMFirfeHorse

Cache #3 Catron Co.

4:15 PM, FTF

Well really we got here at 3:05 PM, but we worked and worked on this one. Grid search, triangulations, and elevation checks, finally we get it. It was right where we looked in the first place. We had never been here before and we will come back, it’s nice here. Took our photo with the Patterson sign. Thank you for the FTF gift. LNSL.

Thanks Cougarox

Cache #4 Cibola Co.

7:30PM, FTF

This is a nice area. Too bad we feel like we are in a race, we’d spend some time checking this place out. Too bad we left the dogs at home, they’d love it here. This was a simple direct find. Took our photo at the spot requested. Sam loves the FTF pin we got from this one. L -old marble, SL.

Thanks Plugge’s.

Cache #5 McKinley Co.

10:05 PM, FTF

Hey it’s really dark here tonight. The gate is closed, but hey it’s close, let’s just walk to it. By 10:10 PM we are back in the truck and on to the next cache. Almost an hour later it hits us, Oh no, no photo. This time of night we could make lots of mistakes, we have to be more careful in the race thing. TNLNSL.

Thanks Zuni kid and his Enabler.

Cache #6 San Juan Co.

1:30 AM, 2nd TF (behind Tuxawuxa of course)

Driving in to this one feels like we are on private property, but we see that the road goes on past the buildings so we ventured on. The moonlight was so bright. Sam walked right up to this one without a flashlight. I just followed him. Not really much in the cache, although Sam did find a pin. This one is really out here in the middle of nothing. Hum. Well it was an easy find. It was too dark and we did not want to flash out here this time of night, so we took the photo at the sign just off the road as you pull into this road. LNSL.

Thanks W4MK

4/26

Cache #7 Rio Arriba Co.

7:35 AM, 2nd TF (behind Tuxawuxa of course)

We got here at 4:05 AM laid back the seats and went to sleep. This was the prefect spot. Do you know we pass by this spot at least four times a year and we have never seen it? So we warmed up some coffee, ate a small bite and off to the cache. This was a real nice hike up the hill first thing in the morning. What a great start to the day. This is a really interesting place. Somehow when we left the house yesterday, I did not have the hard copies for this one. Good thing I had put all the waypoints in the GPS before we left. So hey this was a paperless find. Only one of about six we have done. At this point we spent some time plotting the caches to come on a map. Oh no we have problem with Union Co, our cords put it in Colo. So I put in a call to our friend Rockclmb and his wife Red. After some confusing minutes we discover that what the cache page says is different than what I have a hard copy on. Number positions are moved and changed. So they agree to spend some time figuring this one out and we will call them back as we get closer to it. TNLNSL.

Thanks WeatherBug & XRN

Cache #8 Los Alamos Co.

9:30 AM 3rd TF

We parked the truck at 8:00 AM. See we are still in this race mode so we jump out, lock the doors and head out, hey it’s only 1.5 no sweat right. Ha, famous last words. We know better, we have the gear in the truck yet we did it anyway. About three quarters of the way to the cache it hits “how stupid!” no water, wrong shoes, no hat, dummies. I had spent lots of time in this canyon when I was younger, it never seemed this far then. Darn; does that mean I’m am old fart now? We followed the GPS to the cords but did not believe it. Searched all over, still don’t believe the GPS. Okay If I really try to go where it leads I have to be very careful, yet sure enough there it is. This is one of the largest ammo boxes I have ever seen. We took our photo where requested. TNLNSL.

Thanks Mouser Williams.

Cache #9 Taos Co.

12:00PM

Oh what a beautiful day to be caching. Feels really spring-like here in Taos today. This is the second cache we have found in one of these areas. Always gives us a somber, peaceful feeling. We use to just wander through some of these reading them. Now we wander, read, and cache. Oh, what fun. We spent a few minutes resting ourselves in the shade here. The cache hide was clever. We took our picture with the sign at the gate. TNLNSL

Thanks Geowalkabout.

Spent some time in the parking lot here trying to get some more help with the Union Co. puzzle. Rockclmb and Red had been in contact with us while we were driving here. They had gone to the site to answer the questions and being as they had never been there before were having some hard times finding the answers, but they did give us the ones they could find. Many of them were the same ones I had. So what’s next to do… well Sam’s brother, ah, yes, he’s puzzle savvy. Okay Clydetheduke goes on line and what does he find? His cache page is yet different than Rockclmb’s or mine. So he volunteer’s to try his hand at this thing, although also not familiar with the site. (He lives in Nevada.) Okay off to the Taos library of course. Computers are down for the day, oh man. Local coffee shop free internet, 45 – 60 minute wait. Gee I wonder why? So we decide to go on to the next cache and call back for help from Clydetheduke later. After all remember we are in a race.

Cache #10 Colfax Co.

3:00PM 2nd TF (behind Tuxawuxa of course)

Just love the drive through Cimmeron canyon, use to do it at least once a year. Really really want to jump out and throw a line in the water. Oh yes we are in a race aren’t we. Totally enjoying our drive and discussing a huge plum of smoke, we forgot about watching the GPS and drove by our road to this cache by about eight miles. Backtracking in a race, bummers. As we are almost at the turn a blue SUV turns right onto this road ahead of us (now we have to make a left on to the road) behind them. A couple of miles down this road the cache is .75 away out the drivers window, the blue truck turns left. “No Sam stay on the road it will go around and come back up at the cache I’m sure. My map shows it.” 7.5 miles and 25 minutes we are just past the .75 mark. With a little dirt two track road leading right to it from the main road. Okay so now we’ll follow the GPS past the suggested parking and go further up toward the cache, park, step out of the truck and Ah ha very, very clever. If you haven’t been here yet try it. Okay now we get it. Off on the trail to the cache we go. Hey the top on this one is really hard to open. Sam sat on the ground and put his feet and hands into it. I laughed when it gave. Oh my gosh, Tuxawuxa was here 20 minutes ago. What does he drive? Oh yeah. Ah geeze once again. Pay attention to the GPS. So we took our picture out here where the fishing is probably good and we are in a race. Boy is it nice here. TNLNSL

Thanks to The4fishies.

Okay let’s call Clydetheduke, Union Co. is next. Well he has gotten the answers as best he can, answered them all and went to the cords checker. Wrong. Hmm. So he tried a few different numbers but it’s hard when you don’t know what numbers are wrong. But he gives us his best bet, second best bet and even his third. Maybe once we get there, try them all in and see where they lead us. We tell him how to log on as us, and attempt an email to the owners requesting some info, hints or helpful suggestions. So off we go.

Cache #11 Quay

I chose to put this in here so that at this point we will have one third of the caches done. This was our cache and by this day it had already been found.

Okay we get to the union county line at around 6:00 PM, call home to have mom check the email for a reply. Well the reply was there, but no help: “You need to go to the site and solve the puzzle.” Okay.. Mom offers to reply informing owners we are in the field and need help. But mom is not very computer savvy and her email must have been confusing. This answer is about the same. Well when we put the best bet coords in, they get us near Folsom. Let’s go there and look for a cowboy. So we drove around for awhile then went into Folsom and stopped at the local pub. Asked about a cowboy and got directions to four different ones. Also we had to explain what we were doing to the two ladies inside and why we needed an iron cowboy. We went back to the best bet cords and really did find an iron cowboy on top of a sign. We spent about an hour here looking, then followed the two track through two unlocked gates over a grazing field to nowhere. So we went back to the pub where they were feeling happier and had even more suggestions, all to no avail. So still hoping, we have mom email one more time asking if it’s near Folsom. Man if we don’t find this one, we are done. You can’t get the FTF on this thing if you have a DNF. This sucks. Well, reply says you have two wrong, and it has nothing to do with Folsom. Okay then we are done. Yes it was fun. It’s 8:30PM, we are 225 miles from home. 11 finds, 5 FTFs, 3 2ndTFs. Four and a half hours later we are at home and in bed.

4/27

This morning I spent some time logging and loading photos. After publicly displaying my unhappiness on the Union Co. cache page I feel better but still it’s a solemn day. Then there in my email is a really nice letter, I can barely read it, my eyes are all wet. Ah Tealeaf you are very sweet. Next thing you know we are on the phone with folks that really want to help. The words, the support, who wudda thunked it? Really, it was very overwhelming. So we called a couple of clients and they came in to Sam’s office today to help us make enough money to go back out. There’s not a good chance at getting any more FTF’s since we are four days into it now by the time we can leave.

Thanks for all your support and well wishes. At this point I would like to say that things happen for a reason, I believe. Up until we were stopped we were in a race, remember? Well if you’re in a race and fail for what ever reason, you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start back at it again. So we know we won’t get the FTF but we should finish what we started. Let’s do it, take our time, and have fun. With this now in mind, and not the race mode, we set back out to finish and have fun doing it. What a concept. Thanks!

4/28

Cache #12 Sandoval Co.

9:50 AM

I had read about this place at the NMgeocaching.com site and was really happy to be coming here, until now we had thought it was Res land. We spent some time here playing on the rocks, and sending out a prayer for the owner’s son. We took our photos playing on the rocks. About 5 miles down the road, oh man I left my GPS on the hood of the truck and it’s not there now. Backtrack but its okay we’re not in a race and the GPS was on the ground where we turned around. Thank goodness. T – 2 pins, L – Tick removers. SL

Thanks Rodr88 and CachingWidow.

Cache #13 San Miguel Co.

2:15 PM

Growing up in Santa Fe, the Pecos was where we went to get away. Many many happy times spent here. Now we haven’t been here in a number of years and it was strangely the same, yet different. It was raining and a group of Cub scouts had just come off the trail, so we spent some time waiting for them to round up and clear out. Then we set out to find this one. Sometimes I’m so stubborn, wrong side of the river. Sam found it no problem, except for the mud on the bottom of the shoes. Lots of nice SWAG in here. Great for the kids. There was a broken flute in the lid so we took that and left nothing. SL

Thanks CowlesCachers

Cache #14 Mora Co.

5:30 PM

We got here around 4:45 PM thought about not paying for parking and hiking in, but naw let’s picnic a little take a hike and find a cache. Wow, we went up the steep way. It really was steep but I made it. This was a wonderful hike. I think finding the spot for the photo was harder. Should we spend the night? Naw, let’s go on to another one. T – smelly pencil, L – fuzzy critter SL

Thanks Team Donutdog.

Cache #15 Harding Co.

7:45 PM FTF (wow)

This place is amazing. You have to come see this for yourself. What a nice view. It is only a short drive from the Mora co. cache and well worth the trip. What a place to build a house. Yet up here at the cache it is spectacular. T – pin, and 2007 Geocaching permit. L – necklace and small clothes pin. SL

Thanks Team Tuxawuxa. Could be why we got this FTF.

Cache #16 Union Co.

11:00 PM

With a little help from some friends we got the coords right and this one was a simple find. It was dark and so we took the photo of the log not the cowboy. Anyway I already added a cowboy photo, even if it was the wrong one. T-Keychain trinket, L -a keychain. SL

Thanks very much Hartman-CatWoman Team.

After we found this one we went back to the pub we had been to a few days before, and yup, same people inside. So we stayed awhile talked about caching to a few of the folks. We gave the bartender a trinket we had gotten in the cache, this made her day and probably made a new cacher.

At this point I need to tell what happened on the way to this cache. We took some back roads in the middle of nowhere to get from Harding to Union. About an hour into the middle of nothing we came upon a van stopped in the road with a flat. Out comes an older man looking kinda peak’ed. He told us that they were not doing so good. Him with multiple sclerosis, his wife,a diabetic, and his paraplegic brother had been sitting on the side of the road for six hours now. Very little food and only a little water left. And that this was his second flat today. His spare was flat. No phone service out here in the middle of nowhere. The tire on the van was shredded. The other one was whole but flat. Sam changed the shredded tire for the flat one, filled it up with our compressor, filled their water bottles, they didn’t want any food. We took the phone number for a nephew and promised to call him ASAP. They told us they would travel along slowly on this air and see if they could get to pavement. About four miles away our phone beeped and we had service, so we called the nephew. We decided to go back and tell them we had made contact. When we met up with them the gentleman started crying he just couldn’t believe we cared that much. (in our opinion, how could we help but not?) Anyway we gave them another shot of air and went on to the cache. About an hour later, after we had found the cache and were heading on out we passed them again. Sam stopped them, inquiring if their help had arrived. They were now only about 5 miles out of Folsom. Nope, no help. So we lent them the phone, and their rescuer’s had not even left the house yet. No wonder they thought we were nice. Well, with only 35 miles to go to their home, we filled up that very low flat again and on their way they went. See, if we had been in a race this time delay may have annoyed us, instead we were very happy to do it. What a nice thing this slowing down to enjoy ourselves is. Once again I find myself saying Thank You.

4/29

Cache #17 Guadalupe Co.

9:45 AM

Neither Sam nor I had ever been out to the lake past this cache. We knew where to go and GPS took us right to it. The flowers near the cache were so pretty here today. You see, I love purple and the whole bank was covered in them. Once again it’s a great day to be caching. We took the required photo as directed and enjoyed the flowers for a little while longer. T – pin, L – Ball, and dog bone, SL

Thanks Justice League of NM

Cache #18 DeBaca Co.

12:30PM

We sorta drove around on the road in front of this one once or twice ’til we figured out our road choice. Finally we figured out which one lead across the tracks. This is a really interesting spot. After reading the write up of this cache we kind of felt like old ghosts should be near by. We choose to take the road up to the top of the hill and it is a very nice view. The cache was a great find. We spent a lot of time up here looking at rocks. Lots of really pretty ones. Near the cache was a big rock. Carved into the side of the rock was “Manuel”. We found that interesting. While taking our photos I climbed up on top of the rock. I found more carvings. These looked even older. I thought I saw the kid himself there for just a moment. After we got home and logged this cache, Hugable did some research about this spot and found that once a grave yard was near here. Well that explains it. Thanks Hugable. TNLNSL

Cache #19 Curry Co.

2:45 PM

Well, we thought the write up said the school was closed. Not in our opinion. It was a nice walk through the trees here. Our GPS bounced a bit here and there yet all in all it was relatively easy. We knew even if the school was really being used, good chances not on a Sunday. So we had fun out front of the building taking photos. Any way this made us look like silly tourists. TNLNSL Thanks WARRENGSR

Cache #20 Roosevelt Co.

1)3:15 PM 2)3:55 PM

Right in the middle of town across from the café, gas station and next to the museum. Yup lots of muggles here. Stealth is mandatory. Even on a Sunday. But it was exactly where we thought it was. Then on to the second stage. We knew where, we had passed it on our way into town. Followed the GPS, nothing here, hmmm. Looked around and around and around. Well, pooh. I’ll spread out, maybe the coords are off. Nope. Well we can see the photo spot. That’s obvious we are in the right place. Maybe it got muggled. Finally Sam says “got it” but I still had to find it. Now I know it’s here and that’s more frustrating. Anyway, I finally found it. What an excellent hide. Hats off to you by the way, very ingenious. TNLNSL.

Thanks Dezert Dawg.

Cache #21 Chaves Co.

6:30 PM

We know the way to the bottomless lakes, we camp here in the winter and early spring. It’s great. Now for the funny part. When we come here we always stay in the first sites you come to once you enter the park. There are two small lakes here in deep blow outs. Very good fishing. The acoustics are excellent for Sam’s flute. We have been here at least five times. So we follow the GPS the correct way, get to the other side and oh my gosh Sam, look there’s a big lake here, and lots more camp sites, a tower, and a swimming area. Geeze, don’t we feel silly. I was looking for Rod Serling. The rocks up here at the cache site are really neat. They crumble easy so we had to be very careful here. What a view of a place we’ve loved for a long time and never even seen before. TNLNSL

Thanks Frogdog & Corker.

4/30

Cache #22 Lincoln Co.

8:30 AM

We took the long way around to this one. Had we paid attention to the GPS we’d have saved about 15 miles and 30 minutes. But hey it’s all good, we follow our directions and on the way to the cache a small puppy runs out in front of us and darts under a large tree into a coyote hole. Well we’re here in the middle of nowhere again, and no house, no nada. So we finally get the pup to come to me and load her in the truck. We go the other mile or so to the parking area for the cache. So we make some room for the pup inside the truck, get it some water and try to find some food from our munchies a pup might like. Anyway, after she drank she only wanted to sleep so we left her asleep and went the few feet on to the cache. After taking the required photo, we had breakfast here, made coffee, hot noodles, cookies, dried meat, and fresh fruit. It was quite a feast. TNLNSL.

Thanks Mermaid & Hornytoad

We spent the rest of the morning trying to find this dog’s home. Obviously she had once had a collar. No avail. We left a found dog sign at the local pub. And got ourselves a new dog. Her name? Lincoln County Cache (Cache for short) of course.

Cache #23 Otero Co.

1:45 PM

This was a straight forward puzzle so the cords were correct when we got them at the house before setting out on this thing. That helps. This is a really nice spot, very pretty. I love the waterfall. I wasn’t sure if I was the Billy goat or troll but it was fun. Three different groups of muggles here today. We had lunch here, woke up the dog, fed her, and played in the water awhile. Very nice area. TNLNSL.

Thanks Starman99.

Cache #24 Lea Co.

4:00 PM

Drove right to the area for this one before I remembered to turn the GPS on. Once that was done we followed it to the coords, but where is it? There’s nothing out here, where could they put it? Then I hear “Well Well very clever, excellent excellent”. So I know he doesn’t mean me, I only get one excellent. Still I don’t see it. It’s small I know this. But hmm. Okay, Sam gives me a hint. Heres his hint: “Clever, very clever”. Okay now I’m determined. Oh my gosh, is that it? Wow. Clever, very clever. What else is there to say? Job well done. Will have to use this idea at home, that will stump em. We took our photo with the cache in it, but how would you know? TNLNSL.

Thanks KelticKacher.

Cache #25 Eddy Co.

6:00 PM

This is a nice place. Lots of muggles no matter what you do. We spent some time on the grass taking photos and being tourists ’til we could get to this one. The hint helped here. At first we were on the other side of the river. Then we figured it out. TNLNSL.

Thanks Rock13.

5/1

Cache #26 Dona Ana

7:30PM

Sam grew up near here. He’s what they called a mountain boy. Organites we call them. We have some very happy memories on this mountain. It is really different nowadays. Thought this one would be easier than it was. Coords were off a bit for us. Finally Sam spotted it. Then, how easy it was. The ocotillos were very pretty here this morning. TNLNSL.

Thanks Erfunden.

Cache #27 Luna Co.

10:00 AM

I think this county has more border patrol agents and minutemen than it does residents. They’re everywhere. We were stopped four times on the way to this cache. Way down in the bottom of the state, the country, and maybe even reality. At 10:00 am on may1st the temperature is already 85. Wow! Wonder what it’s like in July. Well maybe not. We took our pictures out here with what we could find. TNLNSL.

Thanks Weeds19.

Cache #28 Hidalgo Co.

12:05PM

The camo on this cache made it a great hide. Others had been here we saw the tracks. This was almost a GPSless find, but not quite. We took our photos on the road in the shade. Looks like other cachers did the same thing. It’s hot down here. Not really, here it’s in the high 70s. It was a good day. TNLNSL.

Thanks Racer57.

Cache #29 Grant Co.

2:30 PM (our 200th find)

This is a great place for a picnic. So we did, once we got all the way out the road and through the gate. There were folks picking up big rocks by the gate when we got there, yet we just went thru the gate and continued on. We woke the dog again, ate lunch, played on the coral and took some pictures. We were here for about 2 hours even tho the find was easy and straight forward. We are here to enjoy ourselves right? TNL – a coin, SL.

Thanks Mr. Waldo.

Cache #30 Sierra Co.

5:05 PM

Again we have traveled this road many times. Even watched a big truck pop a rattlesnake right by here once, never knew this area was here. Thought this was all private land. The things we learn caching, amazing. We read the write up on this one and figured it would be fine in our truck. So we went through the gate and past the recommended parking area. From here on you’re committed to the road with its sharp jagged rocks until you get to where you have to park anyway. I don’t think a passenger car should try this part of the road, but it’s <.5 mile hike from the suggested parking so it’s really worth doing. I love purple. These rocks are purple. Can you believe it? How pretty! We walked down the arroyo to the cache. It is very pleasant in here. We took a picture near the cache at a really big rock full of crystals over six feet tall and three feet wide, just full of crystals. It was amazing. TNLNSL.

Thanks to the GreatHornyToads!

5/2

Cache #31 Torrance Co.

8:00 AM.

Well we waited at the gate for this one to open. It rained all night and was really muddy here today. There was kind of a funny look on the gate opener’s face, but he didn’t say anything and we went on in. The hardest part on this one was trying not to leave footprints in the mud. It’s another great day to be caching. T – small light, and a Geocaching sticker, L – Chip clip, rings and a pink train. SL Thanks Av8ndv8 and Tealeaf.

Cache # 32 Santa Fe Co.

9:45 AM

Well like I said, it had rained all night. We saw some county workers removing flood waters on a road near where we had to turn for this cache so we asked them if the road was passable. They laughed and said sure, “just don’t stop on it.” So we locked in the wheels and went for it. Sam was so happy to finally use the 4 wheel drive on this adventure. Wow really slippery on this road today. Slow and easy got the job done, but we had to park on the grass in order not to sink in. Very tricky here, mud wise. The find was easy enough. The log was very wet, so we tried to dry it out some. We took the required photos at the special spot. TNLNSL.

Thanks Lesslost2.

When we got back off the road we found the road crew had watched us the whole time, taking bets on if we’d make it or not. Wonder who lost that wager?

Cache # 33 Bernalillo Co.

11:00 AM

Sam hikes these trails a lot with his friend Rockclmb. I think the truck was still rolling by the time he’d found this one. So up the hill I went. Very easy find, great spot for the kids. Also a real nice spot to finish this Challenge with. You’ll have to see our pictures and look at the smile on our faces, we really finished this thing. Congratulations to us. TNLNSL.

Thanks Luckystrike1

As we drove away from this one I made a phone call, telling of our completion. We had to stop the truck and jump around a little when we were informed that we had the FTF. Oh my, how’d that happen? I don’t remember the trip from there to the house. But when we got home I needed some sleep.

Rio Aribba revisited

About a week later we found ourselves hauling a truck for my father from Las Cruces to Chama. This is one of our aforementioned regular trips up north. We stopped by this cache on the way home. It had to be moved from its original spot due some placement issues. Sam parked the truck, found some track and walked straight to the cache, while I was busy looking around everywhere. We left the GPS at home, thought we’d be too busy for caching. How silly of us. It seems that this is a better place for the cache, yet we hope others go to the top and see the ruins, and view. Well worth it. Although now my folks >70 can come find this one in their home county. TNLNSL again. Thanks.

DeBaca revisited

Well we really wanted to go check on our Cache (Quay). We saw that the DeBaca cache had to be removed and placed elsewhere. So.. This new place is great too. Lots of pretty rocks to look at here too. We drove right by here about a week and a half ago on our way to DeBaca Co. cache after doing Guadalupe. Never been to this lake before. It’s beautiful, a must come back to. TNLNSL again. Thanks.

We still want to find San Juan in its new home. Hopefully soon. Gas prices are making it rough to go anywhere right now. So we are glad we used this trip, race, adventure, caching event what ever we choose to call it, as our summer vacation.

5/25

The 34th Cache

3:30 PM Jam&Jhelley New Mexico Challenged by Tealeaf. (Thank you)

One afternoon we were out back in the woodshop. I know I heard my name. See, there it is again. I turned around to see what it was and Sam was already gone, headed out front. There out front of our house was Bruce, Maere, her daughter and a friend, calling our name. We had a great visit. Then they went on about their business. We went back to the shop. About half an hour later we went to go into the house and there was this little note with some cords on it with the title. Now how’d they do that? Four dogs, a gate, and Sam’s really good ears. They are magic. Well, off we go and within 10 minutes we had found it. We really like this cache for a finishing idea. As we put the cache back in it’s resting spot we turned to each other and almost simultaneously said “now we feel like we’ve done this thing.” What do you get for finishing the New Mexico Challenge? The best gift in caching world! A cache in your honor. Very special! T – FTF signature item, L – Chip clip, SL.

Thanks Tealeaf.

Here are our answers to some of the questions asked at a recent event:

How long did it really take you? Almost eight days exactly. We could have done it in six but we lost two days along the way.

How many miles did you travel altogether? 3,780.

How much gas did you use? 180 gallons.

What do you do for a living that allows you to have done this thing? Sam is a massage therapist and I do computer work. This was our summer vacation a little early.

How much money did you spend? Around $500.00

What was your favorite cache? Sam Sandoval, , Shell Grant

What was your hardest cache? Sam Catron, Shell Catron

Which was the prettiest cache? Sam too many to pick one. Shell Harding

Which was the worst cache? Sam San Juan,, Shell Union (first attempt)

Which was the most fun? Sam Bernalillo, or the 34th cache. Shell Mora

Which was the easiest? Sam Rio Aribba revisited. Shell McKinley

Which one was the most difficult find? Sam Catron, Shell Roosevelt

Which cache was the best hide? Sam Lea, Shell Colfax

Which cache had the best view? Sam Quay, Shell on the road between Catron and Cibola through the malpais.

How about the best camo? Sam Hidalgo, Shell Lea

How did you guys stay so one sighted? We only put in the challenge caches and did not even look for any along the way. See, we are not into numbers so we just stuck to it. Just recently found out about the list, stuff. It’s still mind boggling to us.

If someone told you that they could only do one of these caches which would you recommend? Sam That’s a good question, Shell DeBaca.

Which cache area will you go back to and find the nearby caches, and why? Sam Again, too many to put in here. Shell Catron, Cibola, McKinley, Sandoval, San Miguel, Mora, Harding, Lincoln, Otero, Grant, Sierra. About a third of them.

What did you learn from this adventure? Sam Where some of the New Mexico counties are that I didn’t even know about. Shell Trust your GPS, Always be prepared, slow down and have fun.

Lastly I would like to take this time to thanks Av8dv8, Tealeaf and Rocky Mountain Reviewer. And the 32 other cachers (teams) that volunteered to place these statewide. These folks did all the work. We just went on the adventure. We recommend this challenge as a wonderful way to learn about our State. If you have a week, a little money and a caching vacation in mind, try this one. It was so fun. So, as of this writing five cachers or teams have found all 33. We are only five weeks into this thing. See; if you hide it they will come.