A Picnic at the Summer Home Event Cache

Welcome to Sandlanders' Summer Home!
(so named by labrat_wr almost five years ago when he placed a tribute cache in this park for our find #1000)

In July of 1985 we spent the first of well over 100 nights camping in our tent in Hartman Creek Sate Park. On that first visit, we made friends with another couple, and the guys really hit it off bass fishing together. After that, the four of us planned our camping trips during the same week every July, and we had many good times here. Then Mr. S's fishing buddy fell ill, they sold their place on the Upper Chain, and he died a couple of years ago.

While the bass fishing on Allen Lake is still good, the last couple of years haven't been the same without our friends, and after our knees and backs complained too much last summer, we decided that thirty years of sleeping on the ground was enough for us, so we did not make our usual camping reservation for this July.

The good news, though, is that we live only an hour or so from Hartman Creek, and we can still visit here all the time in all seasons, and that's what we're doing this year during our usual camping week. On Monday, July 13, we plan to have a picnic at the Allen Lake shelter and are inviting all of our geocaching friends to join us for lunch and a couple of hours of cache chat.

If you have never been to Hartman Creek before, this is a great time to visit. The camping is good, the fishing is good, the swimming beach on Hartman Lake will be busy, and there are all sorts of great caches to be found in the park, at nearby locations, and in and around Waupaca itself. From park-and-grabs to long hikes on the Ice Age Trail, you will find plenty of newer and classic hides to keep you busy!

Now, you might wonder why we are having this event on a Monday. We usually arrived for our camping on a Sunday afternoon after the weekend crowds had cleared, and by Monday noon we had already made our first fishing foray on the waters of Allen Lake in the canoe, and the first breakfast of pancakes and sausage had been cooked, consumed, and cleared. By noon on Monday we were ready to explore the park. We know that work and other commitments may keep you from attending this event, but we hope that there are enough of you who---have the day off, are retired, do shift work, are camping in the park, can take long lunch hours, can otherwise free up some time---can make it to all or part of the picnic.

As we said, there are plenty of caches to find in the area, and right near the event is the fishing dock that worm-eating bluegills like to frequent. There is also some playground equipment nearby. You can walk to this location from the campground, but if you drive, you will have no problem finding a place to park in the large Allen Lake parking lot.

Bring whatever picnic food, drink, utensils, paperware, etc., you will need for you and your group. There are grills available, but we will not be using them ourselves. We will, however, be providing cookies for any and all! Lawn chairs are always nice to have in case the picnic tables aren't comfortable enough.

The weather can be anything: hot, cold, stormy, breezy... even nice! Last year camping we froze in 50-60˚ temps, but the year before we sweltered in the 100˚afternoons. We have struck camp in heat and rain and high winds and even during a tornado warning! We have enjoyed so many nice days at our summer home in past years, but now we will be missing the campfires, the starry nights, the hoot owls, the scavenging raccoons...