Photo Reference Day Trip
Being in need of a break with the added bonus of a beautiful day, we headed out for a part work, part pleasure photo reference day trip.
Stillwater is on the eastern border of Minnesota. It is a town filled to the brim with fun touristy destinations like antique shops, restaurants, and parks. Our trip was also an opportunity to truly test the GeoNavigator application on my Blackberry for geocaching.
Right away the GeoNavigator located some caches. The first one, the Veterans Memorial, was only 0.3 miles away. Piece of cake. So we started to walk. The photo may not do justice to this, but believe me, it was a brutal climb. Guess things are pretty flat in our neck of the woods. Climbing hills is not in my ken.
We found the geocache at the Veterans War Memorial fairly easily. The traffic in town was picking up. Everyone had the same idea apparently.
The memorial is stunning, a huge dedication to the men and women who served and gave their lives for our country. It was very moving to read the names of the fallen, sometimes parents and children of the same family.
We left the memorial by the same way we came. Ouch! Maybe one day my legs will forgive me. We browsed around down town. Sadly, so many shops advertised huge sales, telling me Stillwater has not been untouched by tough economic times.
After having lunch at one of our favorite restaurants in Stillwater, Luna Rosa, we decided to go walking. A virtual cache, meaning one that you only have to visit and gather the necessary information, was our next stop. We approached this one all wrong though. Stairs that looked like they were running vertical dared us to follow. And so we walked.
I’m not a great one about heights, so these were a challenge. After huffing and puffing, we finally made it to the top. Here, then, is what I came here for—stunning views to capture and reference.
