Parking is available at either end of the trail. Street parking is permitted on both sides of Lincoln Avenue which will put you close to 2-3 caches on the north end of the trail. Parking in the UMOS lot at Chase Avenue and Rosedale Avenue will put you close to 3 caches on the west end of the trail. The distance from cache 1 to cache 6 is about .6 mile. Bike, hike, or roller skate your way to each hide.
For this cache, a small tool might be helpful.
When I was 2 or 3 years old, my uncle Chet, called me FURF. No one in my family remembers why, probably my mispronunciation of some word or another, but for whatever reason, the nickname stuck. Whenever we reminisce about days of yore, the name FURF is sure to be resurrected. It therefore seems appropriate to use that nickname for this series of caches as I reminisce about the 1950’s and the fun times I had within a stone’s throw of this new bike trail.
Memory 2 has to do with the field to the south. Now, part of that field houses the Klement’s Sausage Company. In the 1950’s, this was a vacant lot, a semi-wilderness area that provided a shortcut from the neighborhoods on the east of the tracks to Chase Avenue and points west. There was a weekend each spring that transformed this desolate spot into a bustle of lights and sound. That was the weekend the carnival came to town. Imagine the fascination of a young boy when he suddenly sees carousals and ferris wheels spring up in a place that, a week before, was completely barren. We would visit my grandparents on Friday or Saturday night, then take a short walk over the train tracks and down the hill to this wondrous place. I often kid Burrgirl about how poor I was as a kid, but I remember my carnival experience was usually relegated to two rides and something to eat, or three rides and a growling stomach. Occasionally, my grandmother might press an extra dime in my hand before we headed out the door. I only remember the good times, the strings of incandescent bulbs, the sounds of the calliope and the screams from the roller coaster, the smells of popcorn and cotton candy. It was a time to believe in magic.
Permission to place this cache has been granted by Michael Loughran, Public Works Coordination Manager.