Well, won’t get much today, as it’s actually Saturday, what, I’ve seen midnight!!!!!

Had a mixed day. Went out early for a drive to cap the very special rainbow trails that have been created as a fund raiser for the Zaidee Foundation. Had breakfast just around the corner from the hotel, then Lisa went off to a meeting, and Duncan and Ade went off as well, so I had a nice little walk in the park. Met up with both of them and then did some street walking and munzee capping. They were then heading off to far flung pastures and so I returned to the park and sat for a while.

Lisa picked me up and we went and sorted out our Eventzee clues and photos, did some quick shopping and then back to the hotel. I then set to work putting out the virtual munzees for our events.

Left the hotel just after 5 and met up with everyone at the park, where the Mayor of Shepparton opened up our event and talks by various people before we headed off around the lake, meeting other players, chatting and capping.

From there we went to dinner at the Aussie Hotel and had a gift thank-you ceremony for Rob and Louise who came out from Texas & England respectively for our events. Had a nice meal and then walked a couple of blocks with other WA players. Back at the hotel we sat and talked about all sorts of things. Eventually found a nano geocache outside the hotel, very much a group effort, lol. From there we headed back to the hotel, sorted out Munzee, Eventzee & raffle prizes. I finished off deploying virtuals for our big event tomorrow, typed this and as it’s 12.45 it’s definitely time for bed! xoxo

Lilydale Lake 25th

Lilydale Lake 25th

Hot air balloons over Melbourne 26th

Albert Park 26th

Port Phillip Bay 26th

Sorry, this is going to be another photoless entry, it’s 10.45 and I need to shower and get to bed as we are going out again at 6!

Anyway, we left the Melbourne hotel just after 7.30 and headed down the hill to Avis for the car. We stopped at Albert Park for a very short time and then made our way over to Elsternwick Park for the big munzee event. Didn’t have time for breakfast! We got a great parking spot and then headed off to the streets to get some prize-wheel munzees before heading back to the event. I discovered I didn’t have my Fitbit on me, and thought I might have lost it, but when finally back at the car the phone found it so I knew it was in my suitcase somewhere for much later unearthing, LOL

Did a lot of walking around the park, then down to Port Phillip Bay, and then back to the park. It actually tried to rain 3 times, but only amounted to a tiny sprinkle, but having it overcast for most of the day was good! Had a sausage for lunch at about 2 and then did a little socialising, won third prize in the event munzees (a premium membership) and also a raffle prize, a jar of vegemite and some munzees, LOL.

After saying goodbye to everyone and noting that several of them we would see again tomorrow, we headed out of Melbourne and took the highway up to Shepparton. Drove around a bit munzeeing and then got to our hotel just before 9. A quick trip to the local kebab place for dinner and now it’s nearly 11 and time to get organised!

I promise some photos sometime, LOL. xoxoxo

Will have to add photos later as it’s really late and we have an early morning tomorrow.

We had a busy day today, after a late start.  Breakfast at around 10 in Degraves St which is a collection of cafes whose tables are all out on the street. Very nice hotcakes!

Walked around the CBD for a little while and then back at the hotel for a quick sit before Geraldine and Redman picked us up and took us for a long scenic drive. We stopped off at Lilydale Lake and had a lovely walk around it, got a little sunburnt on the arm!

From there we went back to Geraldine’s for a drink and then on to the restaurant for the first event of our trip. Had a great meal of spare ribs and salad! Capped a few munzees in the vicinity and went back to Eric & Nats place for a cuppa, then Geraldine drove us back to the hotel, It was a long trip back it’s 11.30 and we need to be out by 730 tomorrow! Just over 8 kms today!

Up at 3.30 as normal, and started packing at 4. Having a list to work from makes it much easier. Fed Lucy at 5.30, packed the car and headed for the airport. Parked the car and caught the airport bus at 6.30, and met Lisa in the Business Lounge. Had pancakes for breakfast! Plane took off just after 8 and arrived in Melbourne at 14.15, just under a 3 hour flight.
Duncan met us at the baggage carousel and after a long wait as a Sydney flight had landed just before us our cases appeared. I caught a hotel drop-off bus as Lisa said there was a big hill to walk up to the hotel which would have been difficult pulling a case up it! Not a bad trip though, managed to get a lot of munzees along the route.
After check-in we went for a walk down to the tram stop and then off at Fitzroy Gardens. Went for a lovely walk around the gardens, lots of munzees. Cook’s Cottage is in the gardens. From there we caught another tram down to Federation Square, where we had a very nice Japanese meal at the Chocolate Buddha. The tennis was playing on a big screen. We then had a nice walk along the Yarra river. Walked back to the hotel and Lisa & Duncan are relaxing with a gin and watching the cricket! Just under 9 kms today!

Lets see if I can remember what we did as it’s a long time ago now, LOL.

Had breakfast about 8 and then packed up the car. Once again it was cold! There were a few virtuals in a shopping mall just north of the motel which we had thought of doing in the morning, before heading off to the airport. The virtual resort had the intriguing name of ‘Zombie Mall’, but we just thought it was someone’s sense of humour. However when we got there we discovered that was exactly what it was. A huge mall and car park that had been closed down early 2014 and was just sitting there. There was a movie theatre and one outlet shop still alive in the entire complex, but that was it. Everyone else had moved over to the new mall across the road! Brendan and Rachel turned up to say hello as it was their munzees scattered around the mall.
From there we headed off to another small area of virtuals and then decided to head for Dallas/Fort Worth airport. Even though it was about 11 and out flights wasn’t until 8, we wanted to get there early as there were masses of virtuals just sitting around waiting to be capped! Just as well we did as it turned out. I directed the GPS to their airport offices and that’s where she took us, not to the drop off point, so we had to get the proper address and yeah, dropped off the car. She was rather dirty poor thing, and from the receipt I received, we drove 2419 miles, 3893 kms. I obviously hadn’t remembered the correct mileage when we picked her up, LOL.

We caught the shuttle into the airport, over a mile away, and started on the electronic check in. Got our boarding passes but then it wanted $25 for each suitcase, so we went to the counter. Well, just as well we were early. Apparently because it was an internal flight, we weren’t allowed to check the baggage all the way through to Brisbane, but had to collect it at LAX and then go through customs etc and recheck in again. When she saw the flight we were taking and that we only had about 90 minutes between landing and takeoff again, we were told we did not have enough time and it would be best to take an earlier flight. So we opted for the 3 pm flight which entailed an extra $75 each to change to, plus we still had to pay the $25 for the luggage. Just as well we were early. Anyway, found our gate, had a bite of lunch and then sat in the monorail 3 times around the circuit capping munzees all the time.

I think that about a 4 hour flight, it’s all blurred in together, and then we had a long wait in LAX because we had to take off 2 hours because of the time difference between the states. The flight took off about 11.30 pm and was just over 13 hours flying time. Not much sleep, and completely lost Tuesday, but did get to watch the new Star Wars movie. We actually landed in Brisbane at 6 am, an hour earlier than expected. Collected the suitcases and through customs, and then just did a bag drop as my case was already booked through to Perth. We had to wait a little while for Ron and Anna to appear, traffic not good that time of the morning.

Found the Qantas Lounge, have had breakfast and thought I may as well finish off my blog now as had 4 hours before my flight, which is 5 hours duration. Added up the Fitbit and have basically walked 250 kms whilst away. So this is it, catch you later once I’m home again, I have lots of unanswered emails & Facebook messages and all sorts of other things to sort out, but I will be home, always a good place to be. Thanks for joining us, be good and take care, L 🙂 xoxo

Well our last full day on Texas soil, and it’s still bitterly cold!!!!!!

We were both woken up at 3.45 by someone knocking on the door next to ours and it was hard to go back to sleep, so we had a latish breakfast. Chatting with the guy on reception (while eating breakfast, which is in the reception area, lol), who has family in Lilydale, Melbourne. He was there last year and he was going to show us all his photos, but he had removed them from his phone. With promises of bringing in his laptop tomorrow so we could see them ringing in our ears we made our get-away whilst someone else occupied him. Will see what the morning brings, lol.

Headed off to the Cottonbelt Trail, which proved to be a nice pathway behind some very large, expensive looking houses (with their own private park between them and the fence) and a railway line that didn’t have a single train go by on, but that might have been because it was Sunday or something as it didn’t look disused.

Even though it was once again blue skies and sunshine,the wind was very nasty, but we enjoyed the trail itself, lots of birds, but not a squirrel in sight! Probably sensibly staying in their dreys!

From their we visited a couple of other small parks and then headed back to the sports grounds where last years Christmas event had been held. Did that lot, then popped into Walmart for a cup of popcorn shrimp for lunch and for Maria to grab some t-shirts. Sat and ate lunch in the nice warm car and then kept driving. We ended up at the end of a 7 km impoundment road. It had been a through road once upon a time, but was obviously closed for quite a while to judge by the vegetation growing through cracks in the side of it. It separated a large grassed area and houses from what we assumed would be a large water body during heavy rains. Munzees where on the guard rails on either side of the road, so we zig-zagged up it for about 1.5 kms before turning back. It was very English looking the countryside, lol. We then drove to the other end and found the body of water!

From there we drove back to the motel, sorted out our packing and then walked across to Taco Bell for dinner. Very nice it was too.

I probably won’t be able to add anything tomorrow, but will try and write a finishing post when I get home, with our final mileage and kms walked! So will catch you then!

Had a great sunrise this morning and actually managed breakfast abut 7.30 and headed out to the AT&T Stadium for the virtuals there. It was bitterly cold, about 5 C and a very strong, very cold wind blowing as well. First day that I had to put my coat on, way to cold not too!!!! Most of the car parks around the stadium had been roped off,but we managed to find an entrance here and there, so stayed warm while we could. We did venture out eventually but not for long lol.

Across the road was the Ballpark, and so used their car parks as well. Whilst there we had a message about an Easter Event happening in Southlake that afternoon and would we like to go. It is about 30 minutes north of where we were, so happily sent our agreements. We left the car park about 10 and headed a little further north and discovered where their Christmas event had been held, lots of nice jewel munzees around the place, but far too many to finish off in a limited time, so maybe back tomorrow. Headed off to fuzzy’s tacos in Southlake which was the meeting place at 1 and we didn’t find anyone there, lol, it’

s hard when you don’t really know who you are looking for. However, they started to arrive as they had been out the back in Bicentennial Park capping the new Easter munzees. After a quick lunch and a few chats we headed out. Blue skies and sunshine, but still that biting wind. Bicentennial Park is large with all sorts of areas for many different sports, baseball, inline hockey, tennis, basketball, outdoor stage, amphitheatre etc. Lots of grassed & picnic areas, lakes & fountains, it was lovely. We wandered around looking for the Easter munzees, the normal ones and also did Eventzee, the photograph scavenger hunt which we managed to get all 20 clues. Hard work trying to do the 2 things at once, easy to get carried away with one and forget the other, but we cleared up the lot! One of the clues was for a photo of a 1775 flag. Asked several of the others what it was and none of them knew! However, at one of the entrances is a display of the 6 flags that US has had, and the first, 1775 one had the Union Jack in the place the stars are today. Stopped for chats with others scanning codes along the way, met a very nice couple, she was originally from Adelaide but moved here with her US husband, they geocache more then munzee, but were enjoying it all as well. When finished we headed back to fuzzy’s to catch up and thank the organisers, for the invite and the great day. More chatting and then a recommendation for dinner at a Texas barbeque place, so headed off again, but not too far to the Feedstore BBQ. Ordered the meat (ribs for us) and then had a selection of sides which to choose from. I had beans and turnip greens, Maria had mashed potatoes (but not plain!) Then the sauces and other condiments. It was very tasty! Maria’s birthday dinner. Then back at the motel by 6.30, must be one of our earliest evenings yet!

Handicap parking

We packed up the car again and had breakfast a little earlier than yesterday and checked out for real this time! LOL.

As check in in Arlington was after 3 pm, we spent most of the day driving around and about McKinney picking up a few strays here and there. We did however, start with a long walk around another shopping centre car park! We have been amazed at the number of food outlets in these shopping centres. There is a plethora of variety available, and how they make enough money to survive is beyond us! Another thing we were a bit taken aback by was the hardware/nursery type shops situated on the ends of the shopping malls. The had lots of stuff like pallets of mulches & gardening stuff, ride-on mowers, and plants etc. all out on the sidewalks and beside the buildings. When I asked, I was told that they leave it all out every night, it’s was too hard and not enough space inside to take it all in at night. They would lose an occasional mower or 100 bags of mulch every so often, but not enough to make them move it all!

Once again it was a cold, grey, bleak looking day, and in the afternoon a very fine rain started so it looked all misty on the distance. We left McKinney about 3 for the hour drive which took 2 hours, lots of traffic and a bit of rain!

We had dinner at the local Whataburger, which was very nice, the onion rings were good! And now going to have a reasonably early night, it’s only 7.30.  I did try to take a photo of a male red cardinal singing in his tree, but it just didn’t work, so here’s a photo of the view from our room, the only one we have had a reasonable view from! 3 nights here and then home!

St Patrick’s Day and what a day lol.

We packed the car up, had breakfast and then handed the swipe cards in at the Front Desk. The lass said ‘oh, you are checking out a day early’ we said ‘don’t think so’, Maria dashed off to get her paperwork from out of the car, and guess what, it was a day early! What a laugh we had! Whilst we were waiting for Maria, one of the receptionists said ‘I do love your accent’ which then prompted the ‘but we don’t have an accent, you do!’ She was amazed at this and the accent conversation continued!

We then returned all our belongings to our room and then headed out to MHQ to pick up the virtual puppies and then headed out for a nice trail of aquamarines. Well, the sky was very dark and it got darker. We had parked and walked a little way when we decided that it was time to turn around and the rain started, not too heavy, but we were a little damp by the time we got back to the car. Headed off to finish some of another garden we needed to do and then as the weather wasn’t looking much better, thunder and lots of lightning we decided to go to Denton, about a 50 minute drive, and tackle the green wheelchair virtual garden over the grounds and surrounds of the University of North Texas. The rain had eased off and had almost stopped, until we turned on to the highway and we were headed for some very dark clouds! Well, the heavens opened and down came the rain and then the hail. Couldn’t see anything, the noise was incredible and the road was completely covered. We then thought of heading home, so found a place to do a u-turn but it was still coming down so heavily that we then turned off the road completely and sat behind a building until it finally stopped. It looked like the whole countryside was under ice, the roads were starting to run with melt and enormous puddles! We figured we may as well head back to Denton as the storm was going the other way now, but there was miles of road with hail sitting on the sides. An accident slowed the traffic down for a while, but even though the sky was still completely clouded over it had stopped raining, but it was still very cold.

Found the University of North Texas and as it was spring break it was quiet so we drove around, doing lots of stopping and capping. We did have a walk through the grounds even though it was still cold. We saw lots and lots of squirrels, fascinating to watch. Wonder what all the householders think of them! We ended up with 1600+ green virtuals!

Back at the motel Maria had her coffee and then we walked up the road and under the highway to a shopping centre car park on the other side and did some wandering around there. Fascinating sight was the boat-tailed grackles obviously getting together for a pre-roosting chat on the power lines! Home again for another late dinner (well mine’s still in the microwave) and we will checkout tomorrow and head for Arlington lol.