Sunday, November 21, 2010

Home again, home again, jiggety jog

We returned today from a weekend trip to Springfield, MO.

We searched for three caches in Joplin. We found the first cache without much effort. It was a type of cache we have seen before and knew right where to look.

The second cache was more challenging. We did not find it until the next day. The cache information on the internet said it was not inside the opening but could be found hanging in the area. As it turned out, the cache was inside the opening to a tree in a cemetery. I suspect what happened is that a recent cacher did not replace the cache where it was found, but instead made the cache more difficult to find by hiding it inside the opening in a tree. So if you are out caching and cannot find the cache, expand your search to include those places which the cache information excludes.

The reason we did not find the cache until the next day is that while looking for the third cache, the wife of a local cacher saw us looking for a cache and struck up a conversation with J. We were talking about caching. I asked her about the cache in the cemetery and she said it was hidden inside a tree.

The next day we went back to the cemetery and found the cache quickly. It was a log only micro.

The third cache we looked for, we never found. The wife of the cacher we spoke to knew where the cache was hidden, but she was unable to find it. We suspect the cache had been “muggled.”

Thursday evening we ate dinner at Red Lobster. I had noodles with shrimp and scallops. After dinner we went back to our motel room and read. I continued reading The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins on my Kindle.

Upon arriving in Springfield, we went directly to the Expo Center on St. Louis where the convention was being held. We had already pre-registered. A green marker was used to mark my left hand with an “X.”

We heard two speakers at that time: Amanda Marcotte whose topic was “The Role of Irrationality in Sexism,” and David Fitzgerald who spoke on “The Ten Thousand Christs and the Evaporating Jesus.”

The next morning, we did the year-round volkswalk along the Galloway Creek. The walk starts at Sequoita Park on Lone Pine and goes along the Galloway Creek south from there. You go to where the walking trail is blocked off and then return to the start point.

We finished in time to go by Braum’s pick up some lunch, make a quick trip to my parents to eat and clean up, then go back to the Expo Center. While waiting for the next speaker, I walked down to Hoover Music and looked at the duet music they had on hand. I bought three selections: “The Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues,” “Walnut River Rag” by Melody Bober, and a collection of pieces under the title “Spotlight on Duets.” When I walked back to the Expo Center it was time for Dan Barker to speak. He spoke about the work of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. He was followed by Richard Carrier speaking on “Are Christians Delusional?”

For dinner a group of ten of us from Oklahoma got together and went to Milly’s on Jefferson Avenue. I had the seafood pasta meal. Our time at Milly’s ran long and we missed hearing James Randi’s talk. He was followed by P. Z. Myers whose lecture was based on biology. We did not stay for Rebecca Watson’s talk.

We did not hear all the speakers. Those we did not hear include Lauren Lane, John Corvino, D. J. Grothe, Julie Galef, Greta Christina, Joe Nickell, Rebecca Watson, Victor Stenger, and J. T. Eberhard.

The next morning at 10:00 we heard Sam Singleton delivering a humorous sermon titled “Patriarchs and Penises.” Sam Singleton is a persona created by Roger Scott Jackson. Singleton is on the internet. If you Google his name, you can view some of his creative work.
We headed back toward Sand Springs after we heard Singleton. As we passed through Joplin, we stopped and ate at the Golden Corral.

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