Wednesday, July 22 through August 4, 2026 : Kaibab Lake, Making Money, Pickleball, and Geocache Activities

Preston and I went over to Kaibab Lake. I wanted to look for a new cache hide somewhere inside the lake grounds. I parked at a small turnaround area at the end of the tent camping section. Lo and behold! There were two bull elks lounging in the nearby woods.

 

A fellow on a bicycle pulled up next to my truck. He did not see the two bull elks until they got up from the grass upon his arrival. It was now a good time for me and Preston to get out of my truck and survey the surroundings for a possible geocache hiding place.

 

The two bull elk never left the area. I think that they were puzzled by Preston --- this white with polka dots animal!

After about fifteen minutes, I decided that the best placement for a cache in this area would be by the lake. That is where the views were. That evening, there was a beautiful sunset in my Highland Meadows neighborhood..

I now have ten geocache hides. On the geocaching.com website, there is a toggle to see all of the newest hides in my geographical area.

On Friday, Preston and I went back to Kaibab Lake. We walked the perimeter of the lake. There were beautiful cloud formations.

I decided that the best place to hide my geocache #11 would be on the campground side of the lake. Before finding the perfect hiding place, I had to once again admire the views of this area.

Preston and I found a jagged stump among some fallen trees.

I placed the camouflaged small cache container there.

It was a fairly hot afternoon, so I gave Preston some time to rest in the shade.

My friend Mark Burson was on a road trip with his two dogs. He and a friend were taking a lazy way from his home near Charleston, South Carolina to Malibu, California. Mark texted me a photo he took at Mt. Rushmore. He was captivated! And, why not!

Saturday morning, I saw that CanyonDen had THREE new geocache hides. I decided that I would like to put a few more "First to Find" caches under my belt. Two of his new caches were in a similar location. So, as a solo warrior, I drove and parked to the closest location of one of the new caches entitled " I hear that train a-comin' " CanyonDen did not make it easy. I had to walk almost a mile to locate this cache. But, I earned the FTF! 😊😊😊

I saw that the other new cache hide was about .8 miles from this location. So, of course, I hiked to the "I Shot the Sheriff" cache hide. Another "First to Find"!

 

On Sunday, I asked Tom if he would help me find CanyonDen's cache that was mostly a "Park & Grab" cache entitled "I am the lineman for the county." In Tom's youth, he actually was a splicer and lineman. To find this cache, we had to go through a gate that had to be opened and closed. Thank you, Tom!

Tom and I were successful in finding my cache #370!

After finding this cache, Tom and I went to downtown Williams. I am not able to hide a cache in Cureton Park. There is a mystery cache with multiple waypoints --- one of which is in Cureton Park. There is no place in that park where I could hide a cache that is further than 528 feet from the existing mystery cache waypoint. So, I decided to put the "nut & bolt" cache container on Railroad Road.

The cache is behind this Centennial sign --- honoring 100 years of Route 66.

Later in the afternoon, I drove and parked at the Kaibab National Forest Headquarters near Buckskinner Park. I took Preston with me.

 

I want to place a new geocache hide at Buckskinner Park. Preston and I walked to the far end of the reservoir. 

 

To get there, we had to walk down into the spillway and then up to the dam top. The water level is higher now --- due to the monsoons. The cache I placed at Buckskinner Park is the fun brown plastic container that looks like a pine cone. I placed it in a tree near the water's edge. 

Several weeks ago, I received a flyer about a company that buys silver and gold. That company, Heartland, was in Flagstaff for five days. I have been sorting through all of my jewelry and I had a small bag of gold jewelry that I no longer wanted. I had a larger bag of silver jewelry. Tom joined me for a Monday afternoon car ride to Flagstaff's Doubletree Inn & Suites ---  to meet with this group. We met with Kimberly. I walked away with a check for $1,500!

 

My former neighbor from the time my family lived in San Marino --- Darlene Lloyd --- celebrated her 93rd birthday. I am still close to her oldest daughter, Laurie Lloyd Sams.

On Wednesday, July 29, the Highland Meadows Ladies went to lunch at Dara Thai Twisters Cafe. It was a nice size group.

 

 

A friend of Martha's was house sitting her home for almost a week. Ross Hopkins is a pickleball pro at Lifetime Fitness in Scottsdale. Ross joined us for pickleball. He was very nice and fun to play with.

 

 

That evening, I saw that a new cache of CanyonDen was published. It was very close to one of my hidden caches by Santa Fe Dam. I wanted to claim another "First to Find." So, off I went! And, I found the "Bridge Over Troubled Water" cache.

The evening was beautiful --- colorful skies.

The Santa Fe Dam looked like it was tucked in for the conclusion of the day.

On Friday, July 31, I took Tom to geocache with me. We found a cache in Parks off Ol' Route 66. It was called "Rest Stop along Ol' 66."

 

Sunday, July 5 through Tuesday, July 21, 2026: Rodeos, Geocaching, Flagstaff Appointments, and Life in Williams

Throughout the summer, the Williams Rodeo grounds hosts a number of Rodeos. There are the Cowpuncher's Annual Reunion Rodeo and the Night Rodeo Series. It is fun having this venue and its activities in our town.

 

My brother Peter and his wife Terry are house sitting for friends who live in Ventura. Their friends are in Europe on an extended vacation.

On Sunday, I took my pipe and cache container up to Benham Trail. There, I placed the cache --- perfectly placed --- by the cement bases. I am really quite pleased with this cache called "Pipe Dreams."

Tom's computer has stopped talking to our printer. He has not been able to print documents. So on Monday, I called Best Buy and I spoke to several folks in the Geek Squad unit. They were given access to his computer and finally solved the problem. It took about 30 minutes of my time.

Tuesday early afternoon, Tom had an appointment in Flagstaff at Barnet, Delaney, and Perkins Eye Center. His first appointment was with Dr. David Felsted for his periodic glaucoma check.

 

Tom's right eye has good pressure, but now his good eye --- his left eye --- has elevated pressure. Dr Felsted recommended that Tom see Dr. Christine Funke again. He needs the procedure she did for his right eye done on his left eye. The second appointment was a three week follow-up on the retina surgery done on Tom's right eye by Dr. Brendan Girschek. Tom saw Dr TJ Johnson. All look good!

 

That evening, Gary and Suzanne Preston hosted a gathering with Kerry Lynn Moede. Kerry Lynn is running for Williams mayor. It was a very good conversation with Kerry Lynn.

 

My next door neighbor, Jim Ramsey, recently had cataract surgery. So, he no longer needs to wear glasses. While he has enjoyed this eye makeover, he decided to shave all of his facial hair as well. I told Jim that he looks at least ten years younger!

July 9 was my grandniece Sophie's 6th birthday.  She and her mother, Molly, celebrated this birthday in Ventura.

I am very fortunate to have a wonderful masseuse in the form of Julie Donbrosky. I am back in schedule to see Julie every three weeks for a ninety minute massage. Lovely!

On Saturday, July 11, I took Preston to look for a CanyonDen cache hidden off Forest Service Road 124. This cache was named "We will rock you!" It took a little bit of time to find this cache. There are SO MANY rocks in this location! But, I finally did it!

 

There was one final cache I needed to find of the 31 geocaches hidden year-to-date by CanyonDen. To avoid the heat of the day, I took Preston out at 7:00 a.m. and we drove up Highway 64. It was at 7:34 a.m. that I found "Songs from the Wood." 

 

While walking to this hidden cache, I saw several mule deer on the hillside. Preston liked the woody area.

While out in this area, I thought that it might be fun to hide a cache nearby. On my way back to Highway 64, I saw a Juniper tree that might be a good hiding place.

At the base of this Juniper tree was a perfect "cradle" for a cache to reside.

Later in the day, I took Preston for a walk in the neighborhood. This is the first time that I have ever taken a dog photo by the Cataract Lake County Park sign.

 

Tom had a 1:00 p.m. appointment for a hair cut at Alie Rico's salon. She had a baby girl on May 15 and is now --- once again --- starting up her cosmetology business.

One of my geocaching friends has a cache hidden near our gym. Somehow, the original cache container disappeared. I decided to be a Good Samaritan and donate a cache container. The old log was water soaked, so I also added a new log. I placed the container as best I could. This replacement container is not magnetic.

On Friday, July 10, I placed a new cache container at across Interstate 40. "Broken Pine" is only one mile away as the crow flies. This is my 9th cache hide.

The cache container is a plastic pine cone. The cache was reviewed and published on July 11.

Preston enjoys our walks on the east end of Cataract Lake. There is always a nice breeze off the water.

On Wednesday, July 15, Tom and I had breakfast at Goldie's Route 66 Diner.

This dinner was originally a Denny's Restaurant. It is a colorful place.

That evening, there was a very fiery sunset.

Preston likes to sit in the sun in the mornings. He enjoys the cement slab in front of the RV barn.

Six of us played pickleball at 10:00 a.m. Craig was the photographer.

In the afternoon, I finished hiding a geocache container at Cureton Park. I placed the magnetic cache behind this sign.

The cache container is a plastic nut and bolt. Very clever!

My girlfriend Chris Peterson is up in Alaska helping a friend who had a stroke. On her recent birthday, Chris took a helicopter ride around Mt. McKinley (aka Mt. Denali).

Another girlfriend, Cathy Kelly, is in her home state of Nebraska. Over the 4th of July weekend, she did her favorite sport --- water skiing!

The monsoons are here in Arizona I took Preston for a walk in town on Friday, July 17. Look at those dark clouds!

On Saturday morning, I went to the Kaibab National Forest off Coconino County Road 124. I decided to place a cache near the walking loop I enjoy making with my Dalmatians. On Forest Service Road 15B, I found a good location for my 10th cache hide. While on this walk, I saw some nearby cattle.

In the afternoon, Tom and I went to our Results Fitness gym.

My sister Carrie and her husband, Brent, are in England with their son Blake and his wife Nicole. They began the trip in London.

And, they finished their trip in Liverpool.

Saturday afternoon, I went back to Forest Service Road 15B and placed my cache in a Ponderosa Pine tree. The actual cache container is a black bison tube. I placed it in a pocket of an unattached branch.

Then, I placed the branch between two tree limbs.

 

Sunday, July 19, is the 3rd birthday of my first cousin's granddaughter. Steve and Kathy Boggs' son, Jason, is the father of this precious girl named Madison.

Maddie's birthday party in Stockton, California, was a pool party with 50 guests!

Monday, Tom had an appointment with a Flagstaff nurse. Jamie drew blood for Tom's prescription of Vital Tears. Vital Tears then processes drops with his blood to combat the condition of dry eyes.