Geocaching August 2025

The month started with our trip to Minnesota, so we made finds along the way out.

Our first find was in Hancock, Maryland. Old National Pike Mile Marker 96 is a mystery cache that was an easy and quick find, after solving the mystery. Our next stop was the next day in Ohio at one of the rest areas along their turnpike. What Is Your Final Destination? leans into the fact that cachers would only be here because they are on the road to another destination. Nobody jumps on a toll road just to get geocaches. At least, nobody I know. At least, they haven't admitted it. Also at that stop is the multi-cache Turnpike trivia 2 which requires an NFC device and then solving a simple crossword. We walked back to the car and drove away, forgetting it was a multicache. Once the crossword was solved, we got the final coordinates. Hopefully there will be another Minnesota trip in the future and we will remember to stop here?

On our way, we took a short jog off the highway to visit Michigan where we have never cached. I found sarepo.gnitsujda.gnirots, a mystery cache that was easy to solve before we even got there. The other Michigan cache was Oaklawn Shelter at a park with a playground that my children enjoyed. 

Playground at the shelter

We drove on to Janesville, Wisconsin, where I found Circle of Friendship, 50 Below, and Thank You Rogheff from Alex after dinner (so mostly in the dark). 

One of the Janesville parks

The next day we visited UW Madison which has a garden with a cache hidden in it.

Allen Centennial Garden cache

We finally made it to Minnesota. Our first full day there I found Rainbow Colors Challenge (a cache I have been working to qualify for), Stop (at a stop sign, naturally), and MnSQ: Green Lake Cemetery (a multi-cache). The finds were fairly easy though the neighboring grass was pretty high.

Cemetery

Tramping out a trail

In Cambridge (Minnesota), I found Smell Good For Church Pt. 2, which is part of a small series in town. The container made the title make sense.

A church to smell good for

We drove down to Eden Prairie and found a lot caches, including EP Veterans Park: Semper Fidelis, a multi-cache that takes some information off a list of locals who died in service of our country. The final was on a nearby bridge where I pretended to be a maintenance worker.

Veterans Park

Daniel R. Olsen

More of the memorial

Finding the final

"She Blinded Me With Science!" was a favorite of ours, a library cache. The first stage of this multicache was under a lamp post just outside the library. Unfortunately, it was also a wasps' home, so I had to use a lot of spray to make it accessible. The message pointed to a book inside, which we found quickly and safely.

Signing the book

Leaving a Pathtag

We also found a trivia series: Sports Team Trivia #2, #4, #8, #10, #11, and #12. The solutions were tricky, which is why I didn't find the other numbers since I couldn't solve them quickly. Maybe I will work on them for that next trip. A similar challenge limited me to Training Puzzle #2 Alphabet to Numbers, Training Puzzle #4 Google Is Your Friend, and Puzzle to Solve Puzzle to Solve Puzzle. 

In Isanti, Grandpa and I found Wayside Welcome!, Hwy 65 Tour: Cambridge, MARS Evil Lead Scout, and PANDA-ACME : PTG Part 1. Then we got a beer.

Best find ever?

Then we headed home and made some finds along the way. In Wisconsin, I found Guardrail #9 in the rain (thankfully a quick find), then later on in Indiana an earthcache--Richey Woods Nature Preserve Earth Cache, Righty, IndyScan Hide #6 Trucker Sam, and I signed Emilie's 3/4 Challenge, which requires 100 finds with the numerals 3 or 4 in the title (I am at 70, so not too far).

Nature trail

Bus stop in the woods!?!

On the final push home I found I-70 EB Rest Stop Cache in Ohio. Then, to fill out my counties in Maryland, we found a couple in the panhandle that are a long way from home--Mountain Light and Footer's Dye Works. 

The mountain light!

The dye works!

Back in our home area, I found Big City Cacher Challenge X since I made it to ten big cities with an Indianapolis cache. Other mystery/challenge caches filling in my calendar were Fetchez le Vache, A Mystery About Dragons, Falling Snow, and Omnicache. I also found a traditional cache that looks like a mystery: Gur dhvpx Trb-Whfgvpr Ntrag whzcf bire 14 ynml qbt, quite the mouthful! Translated, that's "The quick Geo-Justice Agent jumps over 14 lazy dog"--why no "s" at the end?

We made a quick visit to the Museum of American History in DC and I found The DC Bioretention Cells across the street--an earthcache about rain gardens in the city.

No spoiler photo

The next week had a trip to Baltimore, where I found the garage rooftop cache Light of Baltimore 2 along with Carter's Forgotten Legacy, No Malady Here, MDCT - John Cadbury, Cenosillicaphobia #11, and LoZ Series: Theives' Den Intro. 

On the rooftop

Fun sign at a local coffee shop where I got a drink

The Cenosillicaphobia Location

I finished out the month with the multicache Calculate & Dismantle, The Maryland Virtual Challenge II, 365 Challenge, and MDCT - Domenico Ghiradelli. The MDCT is the Maryland Chocolate Trail, a series that has been mostly archived, so I won't find many more. We did stop in at the local chocolate shop and got some truffles to go. We also did the Adventure Lab: Tour of Catonsville which started near the chocolate shop. 

Random picnic bench near the 365 cache

Box of chocolates (sort of)

The month ends with 57 finds in August 2025 and a grand total of 2029 finds. 

Book Review: Conversations of Socrates by Xenophon

Conversations of Socrates by Xenophon

Socrates is one of those historical characters who is famous but never wrote anything himself, so people rely on others' testimonies. Plato is the most famous source, though scholars readily acknowledge that after the first couple of writings, Socrates turns into a mouthpiece for Plato's philosophy rather than Socrates' own. Aristophanes wrote a satirical play with Socrates portrayed in a lesser light. Xenophon, like Plato, was a follower of Socrates. He wrote several Socratic dialogues, collected here.

First is "Socrates' Defense," a recounting of Socrates's trial when he was accused of impiety and corrupting youth. Socrates cites examples of him offering gifts to the Athenian gods and that he has always taught that people, especially youth, might improve themselves. He's a bit arrogant and might come off as self-righteous. Even so, Socrates does not resist the death sentence, claiming it is better to die under the law (even with a false accusation) than to live to old age where his faculties will deteriorate. He offers no alternate punishment and refuses to let his friends do so. The style of writing is not as polished and vivid as Plato's, who presents Socrates with a more humble attitude toward the jury and accusers. Also, Plato's Socrates says nothing about senility while accepting the judgment of the state.

Second is "Memoirs of Socrates," a collection of random dialogues where Socrates investigates various topics. Socrates asks a lot of questions, looking to find the truth. The topics ramble a bit and there is some repeated material from other works. Each little section has some moral or some opinion that Socrates wants to get across, almost like Aesop's fables with people rather than animals. This part is interesting enough but has nothing great to offer.

Third is "The Dinner-Party." After a meal and a libation to the gods, the attendees discuss various subjects and entertainers perform. In this text, Callias, an ambitious but young man, invites Socrates and his friends to a dinner party to show off his learning. Others state their finest abilities as a young couple provides acrobatic and musical entertainment. The narrative has less of the moralizing of the "Memoirs" and has some nice, funny moments. It touches on love, like Plato's Symposium (another dinner party narrative), but not in nearly as much depth.

Fourth is "The Estate-Manager," a discussion about managing one's possessions well. Socrates plays the usual naive interlocutor. The first part has a discussion with Critobulus, where Socrates clarifies that the best possessions are what are useful to the owner. Also, hard work and self-discipline are the key to success in estate management and life in general. He gets into more detail in the second part where Socrates recalls a conversation with Ischomachus, a farmer reputed to be a "good man." Ischomachus describes how he trained his wife to managed the household, how they both govern their slaves, and some technical bits about farming. The Isomachus discussion is interesting as he is the active questioner/explainer and Socrates has the passive learner part in the dialogue.

This book is interesting as a different perspective on Socrates, though the editor comments that, like with Plato, often Socrates is more of a mouthpiece for Xenophon's ideas than for Socrates. I found it interesting as a student of philosophy but probably won't reread it.

Mildly recommended.

TV Review: Reacher Season 3 (2025)

Reacher Season 3 (2025) adapted for television by Nick Santora based on the novel Persuader by Lee Child

Reacher (Alan Ritchson) gets involved in an attempted kidnapping in a small Maine town he's wandering through. Local teen Richard Beck (Johnny Berchtold) is almost snatched off the streets. Beck is the son of Zachary Beck (Anthony Michael Hall), who is a very rich rug merchant. His son was kidnapped once before for ransom, so it is plausible that Beck Senior wants to hire Reacher as security for his son, even though they live in a highly secured seaside estate. Viewers find out pretty quickly that Reacher is really trying to infiltrate the home because Beck is involved in blackmarket shipments, using his international rug trade as a front. DEA officer Susan Duffy (Sonia Cassidy) has recruited Reacher because she wants to bring down what she assumes is drug trade and to find a young woman, Teresa (Storm Steenson), who was an inside informant working at the estate. Reacher signs on because he sees a guy he thought he had killed in the past. Reacher wants to finish the job. As part of the new security, Reacher has an ongoing feud with the even larger security guy Paulie (Olivier Richters), who usually mans the front gate (which includes a very large, tri-pod-mounted machine gun). This situation gets more complicated and violent as the story plays out.

The story has an interesting, well-crafted plot that slowly builds up the tension and excitement. Reacher has something of a fatherly relationship with Richard, as much as Reacher ever could. Ritchson does a good job as Reacher. He has the physical menace and enough smarts to make a good action/thriller hero. The rest of the cast is good too, especially Cassidy as the DEA agent trying to keep her investigation going with all the chaos that Reacher introduces. Some moments are a bit preposterous, including the typical Reacher sex scene that takes a surprisingly long while to happen. But this season is not as preposterous as the previous season, which had too many over-the-top moments for my taste. This show isn't perfect but it is very entertaining.

Recommended, highly for Reacher fans.

As of this writing (September 2025), the show is only available streaming on Amazon Prime. 

Book Review: Destro Vol. 1 by D. Watters et al.

Destro Volume 1: The Enemy written by Dan Watters, art by Andrei Bressan and Andrea Milana

In a continuation of the Energon Universe storyline, James McCullen Destro XXIV is a high-tech arms dealer whose family has a long tradition of selling weapons to any and everyone who is willing to pay. He has some competition, as any business would, but he has a star client in Cobra, an up and coming military force trying to sew war all over the world in hopes of achieving world domination. Before that can happen, Destro has to reckon with several competitors, especially Tomax and Xamot Paoli, the "Crimson Twins" who offer highly-trained soldiers to whoever will pay. They naturally want to muscle in on the high-tech end of the business, which makes Destro a prime target. Especially when he hosts an arms sales convention in an Eastern European country he has just taken over, putting his cousin on the throne. When the convention gets attacked (and the twins didn't even show up for the convention), a war breaks out among the weapons manufacturers of the world. Can Destro come out on top?

I played with the G. I. Joe figures of the 1980s and Destro was my favorite villain back then. He's given a lot more backstory here, which is good and handled well. The whole conflict between various villains is not so interesting--obviously readers are meant to root for Destro and he does have some clever tactics. But there's a lot of scientific nonsense and less than convincing alliances among characters. The plot became dramatically unconvincing about half-way through the book. I was very underwhelmed by this and am bailing out on the series. Sorry, G. I. Joes!

Not recommended.

Movie Reviews: More Marx Brothers Films

Here's some more reviews of Marx Brothers' movies. After they left Paramount, the boys made films at MGM for Irving Thalberg and then for other studios. See my review of the Paramount movies here.

A Night at the Opera (1935) directed by Sam Wood

Otis B. Driftwood (Groucho Marx) has attached himself to Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont), a widowed millionaire who wants to get into high society. Driftwood's plan is for her to donate to the opera. He knows Gottlieb (Sig Ruman), an opera producer who wants to hire a star to go to New York. Gottlieb has his eye on Rudolfo Lassparri (Walter King), an arrogant star who is abusive to his dresser (Harpo Marx) and romantically pursues young singer Rosa (Kitty Carlisle). Rosa actually likes the young tenor Barone (Allan Jones) who does not have enough reputation to be a star. Driftwood goes to the opera house to hire the best singer. He runs into Fiorello (Chico Marx), who is pals with Barone. Driftwood makes a contract to hire Fiorello's guy, not realizing the tenor is not Lassparri. Everyone gets on a boat for America, including stowaways Fiorello, Barone, and the dresser. Antics ensue on the boat and in New York as the young couple tries to be a success and the Marx Brothers try to stay out of jail.

This movie is a small departure for the Marx Brothers in that the plot is a lot stronger and ties in better to the routines. The contract signing scene is the classic "Sanity Clause" routine. Other famous routines are the overpacked stateroom on the boat (Groucho has a small room and too many people squeeze in) and an apartment-switching scene. Chico and Harpo get to perform musical numbers on piano and harp. The movie has some opera numbers too, giving some respect to the art while skewering the pomposity found in opera. Groucho goes through his standard wooing and mocking of Dumont that is less funny ninety years later. She handles it so well. Overall, the movie is a delightful, madcap time.

Highly recommended. This and Duck Soup are their best films.

A Day at the Races (1937) directed by Sam Wood

In Upstate New York, the Standish Sanitarium (this is the old meaning "sanitarium"--a place where sick people convalesce, not an insane asylum) is failing economically. Judy Standish (Maureen O'Sullivan) is about to default on their debt. Even with the help of Tony (Chico Marx), she can't get enough people to come there--all the town's visitors want to go to the race track and casino nearby. Judy's boyfriend Gil (Allan Jones) is a singer at the casino, earning some money. He has sunk his life savings in a horse that he's sure will win enough to save the sanitarium. The trick is to keep the sheriff from seizing the horse because of Gil's debts (feeding and housing a horse is not cheap). Tony overhears the wealthy convalescent Mrs. Upjohn (Margaret Dumont) singing the praises of Dr. Hackenbush (Groucho Marx), a Florida doctor who got her into her hypochondriac state. Chico sends an invitation to Hackenbush, who is actually a horse doctor. Hackenbush gladly comes and hopes to cash in with the job and Mrs. Upjohn. Meanwhile, the track owner is scheming to get the sanitarium and turn it into a hotel. Chaos ensues when Hackenbush arrives and has to bluff his way through the sanitarium and the race track.

This movie ticks all the Marx Brothers boxes. It has the ridiculous romantic relationship between Groucho and Margaret Dumont, who are both on top form. It has musical performances by Chico and Harpo. It has gratuitous musical numbers, including an extended Jazz scene with an almost entirely African-American cast. It has a classic comedy routine between Groucho and Chico. It has an absurd pantomime between Chico and Harpo. The movie is delightfully madcap from beginning to end.

Highly recommended--this is a top-tier Marx Brothers film. 

Room Service (1938) directed by William A. Seiter

Groucho is Gordon Miller, a stage producer who can't get his production going due to lack of money. He and the company have been staying in his brother-in-law's hotel, racking up a huge bill. The hotel brings in a hardliner to get the books straightened out, which spells trouble for Miller and company. The comedy antics flow from there.

The movie has a fun premise but is hampered by being limited almost entirely to the hotel room sets. While it has funny moments, it's not the brothers' best work. Lucille Ball has a supporting role and does quite well against the veteran comedians. 

Mildly recommended.

At the Circus (1939) directed by Edward Buzzell

Circus manager Jeff (Kenny Baker) needs to pay off $10,000 to Carter (James Burke) to own the circus free and clear. He'll get the money with with one more day of performances, but Carter wants the circus and gets some of the performers to conk Jeff on the head and steal the money. Luckily (though whether it is good or bad luck is up for debate) Antonio (Chico) works for the circus as an assistant and hires Attorney Loophole (Groucho) to handle legal affairs. Loophole does some private investigation to figure out who stole the money with the help of Antonio and Punchy (Harpo). Jeff wants to marry horse trainer/performer Julie (Florence Rice), but needs to clear up the debt before he can get married.

The plot is the usual excuse to string together routines and musical numbers, though the individual bits are more tied to the plot than usual. Jeff and Julie have a love song, Chico has a piano solo, Harpo has a harp solo, Groucho and Chico have a routine about badges to get on the circus train, and Margaret Dumont shows up at the end as a love interest/comic foil for Groucho. All the typical elements are on display with plenty of funny moments, including Groucho singing "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady." This is not their best work but it is entertaining.

Recommended.

Go West (1940) directed by Edward Buzzell, co-written by Buster Keaton

It's 1870 and the railroad is making its way across the United States (and the territories). Young man Terry Turner (John Carroll) wants to marry Eve Wilson (Diana Lewis) but their families have been feuding since his grandpa sold some worthless land to her grandpa in a swindle. He's trying to fix the situation by convincing the railroad to buy the land for their line. Other locals are set on selling their own land or swindling the lovers out of their land. Enter the Marx Brothers, obviously on the side of the young lovers. The usual antics ensue--sight gags, absurd conversations, solos by Chico on the piano and Harpo on the harp, musical numbers, etc.

The movie has a lot more plot to it than most other Marx Brothers films. The gags are well integrated into the story and the finale is a chase on a railroad train that was clearly inspired by co-writer Buster Keaton. A lot of the comedy stunts on the train are classic Keaton fair, done quite well by the Marxes. The film does not have any really great routines but is a lot of fun.

Recommended--this is the top of their second tier films.

The Big Store (1941) directed by Charles Reisner

Groucho is Wolf J. Flywheel, a private investigator and body guard. He is hired by Martha Phelps (Margaret Dumont) because she is worried about her nephew Tommy Rogers (Tony Martin). Tommy has inherited half of Phelps Department Store (Martha has the other half) but some crooks want him out of the way. The manager has been cooking the books and wants to stop Tommy from selling his share which will reveal the irregularities. Wolf has an assistant Wacky (Harpo) who runs around with him. Ravelli (Chico) works at a conservatory teaching piano, the same conservatory where Tommy learned music and where he wants to invest the money from the sale. Tommy is also dating Joan (Virginia Grey) who works in the music department of the store. The typical antics ensue.

The Marx Brothers formula is wearing a little thin by this point. A lot of the contrivances of the plot, which normally slip by unnoticed in the comedic chaos, stick out. The set-pieces (the automated bed department and the musical numbers) look big but don't deliver the laughs like in other pictures. They have a chase on roller skates through the store that is entertaining. Otherwise, this is an unremarkable outing for the Marxes.

Mildly recommended.

A Night in Casablanca (1946) directed by Archie Mayo

In what starts as a send-up of the Humphrey Bogart classic Casablanca, Groucho is hired as the manager of a hotel that has had a string of managers die in mysterious circumstances. It turns out that Nazis want to get control of the hotel so they can get some stolen WWII treasure out of there and over to South America. The undercover Nazi Henrich Stubel (Sig Ruman) has Harpo as his incompetent valet, always messing up his clothes and other things. Chico is a camel merchant who helps out at the hotel. There's a handsome young American Pierre (Charles Drake) who also wants to recover the treasure to clear his name of wrongdoing--the Nazis forced him to fly from Paris with the stuff and he contrived to crashland in Casablanca. He's been stuck ever since and has fallen for local girl Annette (Lois Collier). 

Typical Marx Brothers antics ensue, with comic set pieces and musical interludes. The satire of Casablanca gets dropped pretty quickly once the Marx brothers start their routines. A big action set-piece ends the film, a bit of a change from their regular shtick. The film is entertaining enough but on the low end of their works.

Mildly recommended.

National Museum of the Marine Corps

The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia, is south of Washington, D.C. We stopped in on our way back from Williamsburg, though we arrived late and it was only open for an hour. To maximize our enjoyment, we decided to focus on the World War II exhibit.

National Museum of the Marine Corps

The lobby features many vehicles (mostly aircraft) used by the Marines in their recent history. The lobby leads into the galleries along the perimeter of the museum. The exhibits run through the history of the Marine Corps starting with the War for Independence in the 1770s all the way to the 2000s.

The main lobby

More of the lobby

Before visitors get to the history, displays explain the experience of young men and women who join the Marine Corps today, including some interactive experiences of boot camp, where people learn the fundamentals. 

Marine hair cut

Getting chewed out by a drill instructor (not sure you get a choice in the real experience)

Sample of an obstacle course (not interactive)

We headed over to the World War II exhibit, called "Uncommon Valor." Most of the exhibit is focused on the Pacific Theater, where Marines were the first to storm many of the islands as the United States fought its way across the ocean towards the Japanese homeland.

Entrance to WWII exhibits

States of the nations going into the war

A bit on dancing back in the day!

This machine gun nest shows a M1917A1 Browning, a .30 caliber weapon that could fire between 400 to 520 rounds per minute. The effective range was 2,500 yards, just under a mile and a half. It was used for anti-aircraft fighting as well as ground fighting.

Gun nest

The Montford Point Marines exhibit talks about the training and deployment of African Americans as Marines during World War II. The 51st and 52nd Defense Battalions were, other than the white officers, manned entirely by African Americans. Segregation was still the status quo in World War II. A separate battalion allowed the men to serve. They fought in the Pacific theater, serving on Guam, the Marshall Islands, and various atolls.

Beginning of the exhibit

On a tank

Plenty of weapons from World War II were on display.

Various personal weapons

An artillery nest?

A jeep

The Marines expanded their recruitment to include women. During World War II, they did not fight on the front line but did take on other roles, especially in the United States, freeing up other Marines to be deployed. 

Recruitment poster

This Japanese flag was captured on one of the islands and many of the soldiers from the fight signed it.

Trophy of war

The flag raised on Iwo Jima is on display, along with some information about the event. Marines used a nearby water pipe as the flag post. Originally a small flag was put up, but then with a photographer nearby, a larger flag was raised and the iconic photograph was taken.

The famous Iwo Jima Flag

Another exhibit tells the story of the Navajo Code Talkers. These Native Americans were used for communication because the Navajo language was so hard for the enemy to decode.

The Navajo Code

Once islands within bombing range of the Japanese Islands were conquered, the end of the war was only a matter of time. To avoid a costly invasion of the Japanese main land, the United States dropped two atomic bombs, one on Hiroshima and one on Nagasaki, to convince the Japanese to surrender.

The ending

We still had some time left and look around some more. We visited the Korean War exhibit.

Helicopter used by Marines during the Korean conflict

Other weapons

Korean city simulation

Some of the winters were bitterly cold in Korea and one room is kept very cold to let visitors experience it. Since the museum was about to close, we assumed the air conditioning had been turned off because it was not that cold inside.

Experiencing frigid temperatures

At least my son put his hands in his pockets!

A landing vehicle, LVT-3, is on display and visitors can walk up into it. The vehicle is amphibious, allowing landings at different places and in different situations.

Boarding the vehicle

Ready to come off

As we were walking out, I saw this display of various insignia used by the Corps in the 1800s.

The museum has a lot more to see, including extensive outdoor displays. Maybe we will get back at an earlier time in the day, and in cooler weather, to enjoy more of the museum.