Herbs

By Mary

Last week I caught the tail end of the farmer's market at Lake Tahoe. I didn't realize when it was so we just happened to be going by at about 1 pm when a lot of the vendors had already left and the rest were packing up, we stopped anyway because I just love farmer's markets.

We got some beautiful, large purple onions to grill that night. I also got some oranges that looked kind of rough but tasted good. We also got some peaches. Unfortunately, the weather in this region has not been great this spring so the produce was not very good looking. I did not see one tomato and the green beans looked terrible.

Now on to my great purchase. I have been thinking for a while I would like to grow some herbs, and lo and behold there was a guy selling plants. I got sweet basil, lemon basil, and flat leaf parsley. So Friday when I went to Carson City to get groceries, I need to get some potting soil and pots for my herbs...guess what??? I found more herbs. So now I also have sage, oregano, and rosemary. I have been using them in everything and really am enjoying my little herb garden!!

GEOCACHE #4

WRITTEN BY REX

TODAY WAS A GEOCACHING HIKE DAY. TODAY'S ADVENTURE TITLED "MEADOW WALK" WAS JUST THAT, AND LEAD US DOWN A BEAUTIFUL TRIAL WITHIN THE LAKE TAHOE BASIN, IN A WONDERFUL MEADOW ALONG THE TRUCKEE RIVER. THE MOUNTAINS SURROUNDING THE BASIN ARE STILL SNOW COVERED AND BEAUTIFUL. THE CACHE ITSELF WAS DISGUISED IN BARK AND HANGING IN A PINE TREE. WE WERE THE SECOND PARTY TO FIND THE CACHE TODAY AND LEFT A GOLF BALL.

Sudoku

By Mary

I have always liked solitary games. Growing up without anyone else around you do things that you can do by yourself. I have spent many hours playing solitaire, I also like crossword puzzles, and have been known to play free cell on the computer. Now I have a new one...SUDOKU. For those of you that haven't seen it, it is a game that consists of a big square made up of 9 rows and 9 columns(9x9). Within this big square are 9 smaller squares of 3 rows and 3 columns(3x3). To begin with some of these boxes have numbers in. The object of the game is to fill up as many boxes as you can with the numbers 1 to 9. Each of the rows and each of the columns must contain the numbers 1 to 9 in any order using each number only once. Easy, huh?? But wait...to make it more challenging each of the 9 smaller squares (3x3) must also be filled with the numbers 1 to 9 used only once. Not so easy now is it?? Anyway this is what I now occupy my time with while on break at work. Rex has even tried it a time or two.

GEOCACHING

WRITTEN BY REX

"Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for GPS users. Participating in a cache hunt is a good way to take advantage of the wonderful features and capability of a GPS unit. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache."

AS I SAID LAST WEEK I BOUGHT A HAND HELD GPS UNIT. WE TOOK A COUPLE OF UNSUCCESSFUL TRIES AT GEOCACHING , BUT FAILED. THE UNIT DOESN'T WORK UNDER THE TREES, AND STAY LOCKED ONTO THE SATELLITES. THE NEXT TRY TOOK US ONTO PRIVATE PROPERTY AND WE JUST WEREN'T COMFORTABLE SEARCHING AROUND SOMEONES BACK YARD.

WE DROVE OUT TO WASHOE LAKE STATE PARK AND BEGAN OUR SEARCH FOR THE DEADMANS CREEK CACHE. FIRST YOU ENTER THE LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE INTO THE GPS RECEIVER:
N39(DEGREES)14.119 W 119(DEGREES)45.932

WE STARTED UP THE TRAIL AND THE GPS UNIT INDICATED WE WERE .3 OF A MILE FROM OUR TREASURE. AS WE'RE HIKING ALONG ENJOYING THE SPRING FLOWERS THE GPS UNIT INDICATES WE ARE GETTING FARTHER AWAY FROM THE TREASURE. I CONCLUDED WE WERE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE CREEK, SO WE GO BACK TO THE TRAILHEAD AND START WALKING UP THE OTHER SIDE. THE GPS UNIT INDICATES HOW FAR YOU ARE FROM THE WAYPOINT (TREASURE) AND SHOWS THE DIRECT LINE YOU SHOULD BE TRAVELING. THE GPS IS HAPPILY COUNTING DOWN THE DISTANCE, AND SUDDENLY CLICKS OVER TO FEET, NOW I'M 500 FEET FROM THE TREASURE. DAM, THIS IS GOING TO BE EASY, BUT NOW I'M GETTING FARTHER AWAY? THE GPS SAYS I'M HEADED SOUTH AND I NEED TO BE HEADING DUE WEST !!!

AHHH......... DUE WEST IS STRAIGHT UP THE SIDE OF A MOUNTAIN............ I AM GOING TO FIND THAT TREASURE I DON'T CARE IF IT'S STRAIGHT UP THE MOUNTAIN!, I DON'T CARE IF IT TAKES AN HOUR, A DAY OR ALL WEEK !

NOBODY WAS HURT, BUT I DON'T THINK MARY WILL BE FOLLOWING ME UP ANY MOUNTAIN SIDES EVER AGAIN! LESSON LEARNED, THE GPS INDICATES HOW FAR YOU ARE FROM THE WAYPOINT IF YOU COULD FLY. THE ACCURACY IS AMAZING, TO WITHIN 5 FEET OF THE POINT.

SUCCESS !!! I FOUND THE TREASURE UNDER SOME ROCKS ON A ROCKY OUTCROP OF THE MOUNTAINSIDE. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY I FOUND THE TRAIL WHICH WOUND IT'S WAY SAFELY UP AND AROUND THE MOUNTAIN.

WHILE ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP I TURNED THE GPS OVER TO MARY TO LEAD THE WAY AND WE FOUND OUR SECOND TREASURE. THE BENEFIT OF THE SEARCH WAS A BEAUTIFUL HIKE UP THE MOUNTAIN AND A MOST BEAUTIFUL SITE DOWN TO WASHOE LAKE AND ACROSS THE VALLEY TO THE SNOW CAPPED SIERRA NEVADAS ON THE OTHER SIDE. THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT !!!

WE'VE CREATED A NEW PAGE ON OUR WEBSITE TO LOG OUR GEOCACHING HIKES.THE PICTURE ON THAT WEB PAGE IS A TREE WE FOUND AT THE TRAILHEAD OF OUR FIRST HUNT. A SILVER TREE IN THE SILVER STATE.

TRACY SHAGER

WRITTEN BY REX

TRACY SHAGER IS IN RENO, NEVADA FOR THE WOMAN'S NATIONAL BOWLING TOURNAMENT. WE MET TRACY POOLSIDE AT THE ELDORADO CASINO AND HOTEL DOWNTOWN. TRACY IS NOW THE TABLE GAMES MANAGER AT THE ISLE OF CAPRI IN MARQUETTE, IOWA, THE FIRST CASINO WE WORKED AT. TRACY IS FROM POSTVILLE, IOWA AND I CAN REMEMBER HER TRYING TO GIVE MY KIDS SWIM LESSONS.

SHE FILLED US IN ON ALL THE STORIES FROM MARQUETTE, AND WE ASKED HER ABOUT ALL OUR FRIENDS THAT STILL WORK THERE OR HAVE MOVED ON. THE BEER WAS ICE COLD TOO.

IT'S ALWAYS GREAT TO SEE FRIENDS FROM HOME !!!!