28%

After today's round of work, Arizona is 28% DONE with GPS coordinates. I'm actually really happy about that since trails will be hard to handle.

Plus, there was a bunch of campgrounds that we just couldn't find -- mostly out of the Tonto National Forest. Look for the update to happen over the weekend.

Next state up: Colorado








(I think!)

Overland Expo

Our friends Brad and Stephanie from Overland Journal put on the Overland Expo 2009 at the Yavapai County Fairgrounds this year. The EatStayPlay.com team was lucky enough to get to wander the grounds, listen to the speakers, and look at the wicked-cool vehicles.

This one, with the luau lights, was my favorite!

The day was beautiful but COLD!

Arizona GPS Coordinates

Okay, we've got EXACTLY 120 attractions in Arizona with GPS coordinates on them as of today. Having the students find the coordinates is really working out. Today, we added GPS coordinates to over 40 attractions in just one day. That really makes me happy.

Our percentage done for Arizona is: 10.5%

I know that doesn't really SOUND like a lot, but it's a fantastic start. Plus, there are whole bunch of attractions that we won't be able to GPS to begin with -- like the National Forests or the trails that don't have an easy-to-identify trail head.

What's really helping is all the people out there who are supporting EatStayPlay.com. It's making a big difference. Find out how you can help.

Google Maps are Up!

That's right, all pages have their Google Map link up and live. I've got a crew starting on Wednesday to start adding the GPS coordinates so we can also have geocaching on all pages -- starting with campgrounds.

I Won!

Woot! I've been working for this trip for 11 months. It's a 5 day trip to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic this June. Thank you Pre-Paid Legal! (A-hem, it's a PAID vacation!)

Can you say 13 pools!


Dad and I both qualified. He's taking Mom and I'll take Alvin. Can't wait!!!

Upload Problems

So my webhost, which is usually very reliable has had a security breach so they need to change all the FTP passwords. GREAT!

Just when I'm trying to get the geocaching stuff up! Okay, I can live with this. But, it means that I'll also have to hire my programmer to change the FTP password that is part of my upload script. THAT I'm not well pleased about.

So, I guess my happy email that says: "Google Maps are Up!" will have to wait a few more days. (It can take 3 days just to UPLOAD the site, never mind challenges.)

Exciting New Features Added

I have exciting updates for you regarding EatStayPlay.com. 2009 is bringing many additions to the website, which will make it easier to use, increase the amount of information, and offer a whole new type of outdoor recreation.

As you may already know, or have guessed, I've had to do things a little differently to keep EatStayPlay.com operating. In 2008, I took several jobs (working in a tax office, teaching, direct sales) so I could continue to run EatStayPlay.com in my "spare time." I also did away with the members-only site and opened up 100% of our information, free and without registration, just like I'd always planned for EatStayPlay.com.

Read on to find out how you can help and to see what changes I have in store for you. I'll send out an email about each update as it happens.

Coming in April 2009:

Geocaching is a new outdoor sport that I've recently gotten involved with. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is a treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. I'm adding GPS coordinates to the attractions on EatStayPlay.com and linking each attraction to Geocaching.com. That way, when you visit a campground, you can also find out what geocaches are located nearby!

You can read about some geocaches that I've found on my blog at: http://eatstayplay.blogspot.com/search/label/geocaching

Adding a printable driving map to our attractions. This is one of those cases where technology had to catch up to the idea! We've always wanted to take our "Driving Directions" information one-step further by offering printable maps. EatStayPlay.com has partnered with Google Maps to offer printable maps to the attractions. These use either the GPS coordinates or the attraction name.

The launch of the new and improved newsletter. I know you've missed receiving it and I've certainly missed writing the newsletter! The newsletter will be back, with an updated format. And, I'm also adding a searchable database of all our articles.

Offering information about private campgrounds. You asked for it and we're providing it! Sometimes nothing beats camping at a fully-developed private campground. You know, one with showers, cable TV and wi-fi? Well, we're expanding our listing to include private campgrounds across the US. To suggest a campground or find out how to list yours, go to EatStayPlay.com/Add/SuggestPrivateCG

What you can do to help:

Now, all of these new changes and additions will take time and operating capital -- that's business speak for moolah, cash, money, the green stuff, etc. So, here's how you can help:

Buy something from us:


I have expanded the product section of EatStayPlay.com. You know that we already offer EatStayPlay.com tee-shirts and other merchandise through CafePress.com. One of our top sellers is the Fishing Princess tee shirt. Mother's day is coming up, and graduation, and SUMMER, so check out CafePress.com today for tees for the favorite woman in your life.

We also offer Grandma Lamure's Spice N Slice and the EatStayPlay.com line of eGuides. I'll continue to expand the offers with other strategic partners. Keep an eye on the "Store" for more products you can buy.

Link to us

Spread the word! You can find banners promoting EatStayPlay.com at EatStayPlay.com/Banners that you can put on your website, blog page, etc. I've also got text links that are perfect for emailing, putting on Facebook, Twitter, etc. The more people who know about us, the better off we are!

Donate your time & services:

Can you write up something about your city or your favorite place to go? Do you have great photos that you want to share? I can't pay you, but I'll give you credit and it'll help me a lot! To find out what I need, go here.

Donate your money:

All of these updates are on the way, but I need your help. EatStayPlay.com is bare bones already: I've cut expenses, I don't take a salary, and I write checks every month from my personal bank account straight to EatStayPlay.com. Nobody is getting rich off this.

Here's what your money will be used for:

• I'll be hiring student researchers this summer to put GPS coordinates onto our attractions, starting with campgrounds. More GPS coordinates means that you'll be able to find more geocaches and better printable maps.
  
• We'll be adding information about camping (both private and public campgrounds) in more states. This means that I need to have money to pay the researchers who find this information and get it up on the website.
  

So, if you like EatStayPlay.com and if you want to see these updates, then I'm asking you to donate just $10.00. (More is good too, but I'm really just asking for $10!) Even a few bucks can really help offset the costs of keeping us up and running.

I promise that there will be tons of exciting changes in the months ahead. I'll be in touch!

Great Review

Book Review - Fantastical Visions III

December 6th, 2006 by SCBryce |

Edited by: W. H. Horner, Christina Stitt
Cover Artist: Stephanie Pui-Man Law
Publisher: Fantasist Enterprises
Binding: Paperback
Publication Date: July 2005

The anthology “Fantastical Visions III” contains an introduction by Elizabeth Swanstrom and fourteen short stories by Cindy Ellen Hill (“Singing Dragon”), Jeremy Yoder (“Always Greener on the Other Side”), Eliza Chan (“Blood of the Blade”), Michail Velichansky (“Paper Shadows”), Michael Penncavage (“Affliction”), Christine Ricketts (“Thick as Thieves”), Jane Guill (“No One Marks My Passage”), Carole McDonnell (“Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair”), Dennis C. Wilson (“Red Silk, Silver Dagger”), Traci Normandeau (“The Mordred Hour”), Sarah Totton (“The Pear Thief”), James Cain (“Happy Birthday, Pinko”), Kimberly Eldredge (“Cuts and Folds”), and Tom Steckert (“Calico”). All illustrations are by Stephanie Pui-Man Law.

With its eclectic, well written stories and beautiful cover illustrations, “Fantastical Visions III” easily rivals better known anthologies put out by major publishing houses. In fact, these stories and characters are arguably more memorable and—a rarity, it seems—there was not a single bad story in the book.

Stand-outs include the clever “Affliction,” in which a surgeon risks stony death to try to cure a patient suffering from her family’s curse in a combination of mythology and science fiction. A recurring typo (it’s “TriBeCa” or Tribeca,” not “Tribecca”) was distracting, but the tale was entertaining enough to survive it.

“Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair,” the story of a battered knight’s return from the Crusades, has a wonderful fairy tale rhythm. In contrast, the strength of “Happy Birthday, Pinko” is its cast of struggling mental patients.

The best two stories of the anthology are Guill’s “No One Marks My Passage” and Eldredge’s “Cuts and Folds.” These two stories alone make “Fantastical Visions III” a worthwhile purchase.

“No One Marks My Passage” features Gervais the Dwarf, an ill-treated and disfigured fellow who sold by his father to be a temple servant. Gervais’s first-person narrative is vivid, but also has the distanced emotion of one accustomed to abuse. The beauty of this tale is its conversational tone—complete with digressions—rather than a straight-forward plot. Gervais is a unique and fascinating protagonist and his story never ceases to surprise.

In “Cuts and Folds,” an unappreciated master scientist seeks to make real a myth of sorcerers folding time matter to create dark and powerful creatures. Eldredge skillfully mixes traditional Japanese culture, futuristic science, fantasy, and ambition into a superb story.

*** I found this review online today. TOTALLY made my day! ***

FTF

Our cache was found for the first time today:




FTF #160 for Garyp47!!!!!. I guess everyone else wasn't up for the uphill hike. Had to slog through some mud on the trail and even some fresh white stuff (yes snow) after leaving the trail. I think it will be gone by tomorrow and my footprints will vanish hiding the spotty path to the cache. Took the FTF gift certificate prize and signed the log FTF!. I guess I am too old to hunt Easter eggs so this was the next best alternative. TFTC and great exercise.

New Geocaching Banner

Isn't this a COOL banner? I made it to promote geocaching on EatStayPlay.com.

THEN I realized that vertical just wouldn't work.



I ended up with this one instead! I'll have to add both of them to my Banners page.

Office Popcicle Party

Wow, tax season. Thankfully, it's almost over. Today, at the office, we had a popsicle party. I asked Dee, if after she went to the post office and bank, if she could pick up a box of Orange Cherry Grape popsicles.

When she got back, the WHOLE MDI staff (even Mike and Dad!) stood around in the break room and ate popsicles. It was the perfect Monday afternoon break.


Hmmm, I see a new tradition in the making!

Placed Our First Geocache

Alvin had this amazing idea and location for a geocache. We've been "working" on it for weeks, but we actually have some TIME today to get the cache put out into the woods. Yesterday, after work, the family and I went and bought some "swag" for the cache.

And, a cache box. A waterproof container. It fell to me to cover it with camo duct tape.


Let me tell you, this is harder than it looks! Of course, I want it to look nice -- not just slapped on or anything. Plus, I figure the tape will last longer if I take the time NOW.



Ahh! The finished product. My fingers weren't even TOO sticky from the tape.


The first order of business when placing a geocache: HAVE LUNCH! Actually, we were all starving so we wanted to eat first. And this wasn't even close to the first step. Before I even left the house I did some VERY complicated research to make sure that there were no caches within .10 of a mile to where we would be putting OUR cache.

Of course, I didn't exactly know WHERE that was since I'd never been there before.


Welcome to the "High Gear" geocache. Can you see where we got the idea? Alvin had known about this place for a while. AND, he's friends with the owners of High Gear Bike Shop. So, we got them to donate swag for the box.


The box!

It has:
$15 gift card to a local bike shop for First to Find
a bike bell
Prescott bike trail map
2 tire tube kits (from High Gear Bike Shop)
2 tire patch kits (from High Gear Bike Shop)
camo lanyard (for bike keys)
water bottle carabiner (this is what EatStayPlay ALWAYS puts in!)
bike multi-use tool
bike license plate 'Spoiled'


The stump at our feet? Yeah, the secret hidden location!

After we placed our cache, we hiked to the bottom of the hill (*hint*) and then went looking for some caches.


Found! Mom found this one so she had the honors of first peek.

This cache had the best swag I've ever seen. We took a little ladybug button.


Then, after two no-finds, it was getting dark. So, we found one more small cache and then took Alvin home. I went to my folk's house for KFC and a movie.


Happy hunting! Now, I have to post our cache on geocaching.com and then WAIT for somebody to find it.