CENT5

I was at the WSGA meeting also. (Quiet newbie in the back) The GSAK presentation was great. (Registered my GSAK today and am playing with it.) Looking forward to the WA Geocoin. Sign me up for 20 and let me know where,when, how. (Don't care how much.)

Sept 1971 Fort Gordon GA I had attempted over the previous 4 months to prepare my family for the news as 85% of the people in my MOS went RVN. When the orders came down I called my folks. It did not go well. I have tears in my eye's now at the memory even tho both of my fol have long passed. My Dad did OK but my mother did not. If you can imagine a mothers terror manifesting itself over the phone. If I had a chance to do it over I would have made the effort to fly home if even for a day and do it in person. Hugs are wonderful things. When I did finally get home for my pre-deployment leave thing did get a bit better but I have to tell you there is no way to mitigate the fear your family will go through while you are in harms way. I did try to shield them from my experience as I kept my letters upbeat even in the worst of times. (I was a helicopter gunner and it wasn't pretty.) My Grandfather who was an aircraft mechanic in WWI pulled me aside before I left and told me to write to him if things got real bad and I needed to vent. Having that outlet really helped me get through some of the rougher parts. On the flip side. When I showed up in the driveway 5 days early a year later the sight of my Mom flying out of the house (in her PJ's no less) was a memory I cherish to this day. Dunno if this helps but if you wanna talk at ANY time fell free to drop me line. My thoughts and prayer will be with you and your family. CENT5

10 for me and 1 silver PUULEEEEZZZZZZ

Being a newbie and still flush with my newfound sport I have an idea I'd like some feedback on. I'd like to get an idea of the interest level for the following. I work for Alaska Airlines and have these passes burning a hole in my pocket. I'd like to take 3-4 fellow geocachers on a 1 day trip to Alaska (Probably Anchorage with Fairbanks an alternative.) These are , of course, standby tickets but I carry a 20 year seniority with Alaska and am very careful when and where I fly. I would provide tickets round trip with the cost of vehicle rental split amongst the group and food/hotel a personal deal. (I know some of ya'll will go for days but I'm an old fat fart and need my sleep LOL) This is not going to happen in the short term. I am looking at the following dates. Aug 23-24 (probably iffy due to flight loads) Sept 6-7 (Also Iffy) Sept 15-16 Sept 22-23 (Need to do this during the week as my schedule has me working most weekends and my wife (definitely NOT a geocacher) pretty well has me busy with the weekends I do have off) My schedule is actually a bit more free in Oct but is dependant on Duck hunting season being posted. Then again the weather can be iffy in ANC then also. What I would like to do is put out 24 TB's over the next 2-3 months that people that were interested could seek out. At some time (perhaps early August) at some event (Perhaps a local CITO or some such.) I would put the copies of the TB tags in a bin and pull out the winners. I also intend in the next couple months to put out what I think will be a challenging cache and would put 1 TB in the cache for FTF that guarantees one of the 3-4 slots and another of the 24 TB's for STF. That leaves 23 TB's to scatter around in my travels. This is just the start of an idea and look forward to feedback and guidance. Jim